iSTOPMOTION

Where to save your projects

You should back-up your iStopmotion projects on your network space. Click here for instructions on:

• How to connect to the ECI server from the Macintosh workstations in room 102

You can save projects -- temporarily -- in Students > Movies (i.e., using the Finder Window, select Student and click on the directory's Movies folder).  There are a variety of ways to make a new folder to save your work; for example, in the Finder go to File > New Folder; or context-click (control-click) in the Finder Window and choose New Folder.

Software notes

For your information, click here to read:

• A tutorial written by David Baugh at Digital Video in Education (from Digital Video in Education)

Project settings

When you start up iStopmotion, the software will open a "Create a New Movie Settings" dialogue box.  You should make the following adjustments:

• Preset: Choose "Small"
• Width: 320 pixels
• Height: 240 pixels
• Frame rate: 12 FPS (frames per second)
• Start Timecode: 00:00:00:00 (HH : MM : SS : FF or "hours : minutes : seconds : frames")

Press OK.

To rotate the image

If, by chance, the images you intend to shoot or animate are upside down, the software will rotate the video source for you. Referring to the Main Menu, go to Movie and choose "Rotated by 180 degrees." You can also choose from one of the following options:

• Normal
• Horizontally Flipped
• Vertically Flipped
• Rotated by 180 degrees

Important note

In order to play iStopmotion projects while you shoot, you must save the project first; that is, the software will not play what you have recorded until you save the file. You could save the project temporarily in Students > Movies.

To render a movie file

Referring to the Main Menu, go to File > Export to QuickTime. A "Save" window should then open. Under "Save As," give your project a name and save it in Students > Movies (temporarily). You should also add the files suffix [.mov] to the end of the file name. For example:

• dance.mov

Once you press Save, the software will open a "Movie Settings" dialogue box. From there, you should click on the following buttons and enter the subsequent information:

Settings > Standard Video Compression Settings:

• Compression Type: Sorenson Video
• Motion - Frame Rate: "Current" or "12" fps
• Motion - Key Frames: Automatic
• Compressor - Quality : "Medium" to "Best"
• Data Rate: Automatic

Size Export Size Settings:

• Dimensions: 320 x 240 QVGA

Sound:

• Not applicable at this point

Prepare for Internet Streaming:

• Not applicable at this point