Animating characters with armature skeletons takes time and patience.
Armature wire is a thin and malleable type of wire that is often used in character models in stop-motion animated films and videos. Because armature is strong and flexible, it is used to create skeleton structures for characters, which are moved a little for each shot, with the shots then edited together to create the illusion of motion.
Instructions
1. Design and build your characters using one-sixteenth-inch aluminum armature wire as a skeleton, taking two feet of wire, folding it in half and twisting it together to make it stronger. Twist and tie additional wires onto the skeleton to create legs and arms and a stem for the neck. Flesh out the characters by putting modeling clay or fabric over the skeleton to create skin and clothes. The characters can be basic or very detailed, but the key is to be as creative and practical as possible, making sure they can stand independently and retain their poses when moved.
2. Turn on your camera and make sure it is connected to your editing software. You can also shoot the footage first and import it into moviemaking software later; however, it is easier to troubleshoot and fix mistakes if you use your camera and editing software in tandem.
3. Shoot your scene, moving your characters only a small fraction every shot. Video is captured at 30 frames per second, so you can estimate that it will take 30 shots to create approximately one second of footage. Use your computer to compare the shot you are about to take with the previous one, to make sure the motion will stay consistent. Certain editing software packages like Final Cut Pro, have a still-frame and a stop-motion function, which automatically import each shot at a customized frame rate, allowing you to create your final scene quickly and efficiently. Other programs like iMovie do not have this feature, and you will have to go back through all of your footage after the shoot, and edit your shots down to one to two frames for each.
4. Add voices and music to your final scene in your editing software. Save and compress the project to a .mov or .mp4 file and it can be uploaded to YouTube, Vimeo, or another video-sharing site.
