What Camera, Lenses and Capture/Editing Softwares do you use? (Stop Motion Discussion)

[Wifey Blocks]

Good day!

I would like to start a topic about the CAMERA MODELS, LENSES and SOFTWARES do you use for your brickfilm projects. I would like to learn from everyone here and hope to share some knowledge. I hope this topic can also continuously contribute helpful information and learning advancements about brickfilms for everyone.

CAMERA: Smartphone Camera
LENS: N/A
CAPTURE SOFTWARE: Osnap!
EDITING SOFTWARES: I-Movie, Lightworks

I will post my upgrades in the near future. Thank you for sharing! :)

Edited October 8, 2018 by Darkdragon
Please don't put all caps titles :)

[Ice Fox]

Hey, that's an interesting topic.

When I started out I was using an old Canon powershot camera. Over the years I updated my gear and now I'm using a canon sl1 with a bunch of old nikkor lenses. For capturing I use Dragonframe and Davinci Resolve for editing (which is free and really awesome). But I think what really matters is the story that you're trying to tell. Professional gear is nice but worthless if your story doesn't work.

[Wifey Blocks]

21 hours ago, Ice Fox said:

Hey, that's an interesting topic.

When I started out I was using an old Canon powershot camera. Over the years I updated my gear and now I'm using a canon sl1 with a bunch of old nikkor lenses. For capturing I use Dragonframe and Davinci Resolve for editing (which is free and really awesome). But I think what really matters is the story that you're trying to tell. Professional gear is nice but worthless if your story doesn't work.

I agree with that about the story, I've read or watched from somewhere when I started this that "Story is King!", and everything or everyone serves the king. That's a very good guideline for all brickfilmers :) 

What nikkor lenses do you have? 

[Ice Fox]

4 hours ago, Wifey Blocks said:

I agree with that about the story, I've read or watched from somewhere when I started this that "Story is King!", and everything or everyone serves the king. That's a very good guideline for all brickfilmers :) 

What nikkor lenses do you have? 

uh! some really old ones I found in the basement :) the one I use the most is a 55mm f2.8 macro lens

[mocbuild101]

I use a Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920, which if you're on a budget, is really the best camera you can get.

I can't really say what software I use though, as I haven't made any brick-films for a long time...

 

Here are some topics that might interest you:

Spoiler

 

 

[Wifey Blocks]

On 10/2/2018 at 5:03 AM, Ice Fox said:

uh! some really old ones I found in the basement :) the one I use the most is a 55mm f2.8 macro lens

nice lens you got there. I think it is kind of a standard for stop motion to use 55m nikkor lens. Although I've also read somewhere that they also use F/3.5 55mm vintage Nikkor lens. I'm looking to get one myself since they mentioned that it produces great quality shots because of it's micro contrast. I might post again soon on the things I'm going to get for upgrade. Though I finished the 5 parts of my Episode 1 using a smartphone camera. I'm excited to use a DSLR for my next episodes. 

On 10/2/2018 at 12:44 PM, mocbuild101 said:

I use a Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920, which if you're on a budget, is really the best camera you can get.

I can't really say what software I use though, as I haven't made any brick-films for a long time...

 

Here are some topics that might interest you:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

I've also read this from a post, and yes this webcam is a really great choice. A lot of great quality lego brickfilms have been produced using this particular webcam model.

[DigitalWizards]

We use a Canon 5d or Canon Rebel T7i, Canon L Series 100mm lens, Omni Slider and Omni Head for Motion Control and Dragonframe for capture.

 

 

[Darkdragon]

I generally use a Canon Rebel t6i or 5D2 with vintage Nikon lenses. For software capture I use Dragonframe and Adobe Premiere for video creation.

Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/3.5
Nikkor 35mm f/2.8
Nikkor 24mm f/2.8
Nikkor 105mm f/2.5

I just picked up a Logitech C920 webcam for quick films in small spaces, got it for only $25 on ebay so a good cheap alternative to hauling my big camera around. Haven't played with it yet, but it does come highly recommended.

On 9/30/2018 at 1:08 PM, Ice Fox said:

 But I think what really matters is the story that you're trying to tell. Professional gear is nice but worthless if your story doesn't work.

A great story is also nice but worthless if you can't manage the basics of animation. Not that anyone needs $1000s in gear, but most importantly learn the very basics of animating and storytelling.

Here's some Nikkor lens reviews done specifically for brick films

 

[Wifey Blocks]

On 10/8/2018 at 1:05 AM, DigitalWizards said:

We use a Canon 5d or Canon Rebel T7i, Canon L Series 100mm lens, Omni Slider and Omni Head for Motion Control and Dragonframe for capture.

 

 

for the Canon lens, how do you control the flicker? since I've read that canon lenses doesn't have manual aperture ring and the change on the aperture for every shot can cause flicker.?

On 10/8/2018 at 4:22 PM, Darkdragon said:

I generally use a Canon Rebel t6i or 5D2 with vintage Nikon lenses. For software capture I use Dragonframe and Adobe Premiere for video creation.

Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/3.5
Nikkor 35mm f/2.8
Nikkor 24mm f/2.8
Nikkor 105mm f/2.5

I just picked up a Logitech C920 webcam for quick films in small spaces, got it for only $25 on ebay so a good cheap alternative to hauling my big camera around. Haven't played with it yet, but it does come highly recommended.

A great story is also nice but worthless if you can't manage the basics of animation. Not that anyone needs $1000s in gear, but most importantly learn the very basics of animating and storytelling.

Here's some Nikkor lens reviews done specifically for brick films

 

thank you! this one is really helpful! learned a lot from this one!! I agree that the basics are very important. I am really working hard on doing research and practice to master the basics! 

Edited October 16, 2018 by Darkdragon
Removed quoted video

[Darkdragon]

On 10/13/2018 at 1:11 PM, Wifey Blocks said:

for the Canon lens, how do you control the flicker? since I've read that canon lenses doesn't have manual aperture ring and the change on the aperture for every shot can cause flicker.?

It "can" cause flicker. I haven't had trouble, but to be honest I do not use that lense very often for stop motion. My most-used lense is the 35mm Nikkor.

[DigitalWizards]

To reduce flicker you should: blackout windows, wear dark clothing, set your software to blackout during capture.  If you still have flicker you can use Deflicker plugin for Premiere.  It does cost some $$$ though.

[SteampunkDoc]

CAMERA: Logitech C910
LENS: N/A
CAPTURE SOFTWARE: Heron Animation, formerly Helium Frog.
EDITING SOFTWARE: Vegas Pro 14, (got it for $20.) Formerly Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 11 Production Suite. (Which worked just fine.)