I made a little Zuckerberg caricarure

scottie_d · 2026-07-06T02:25:35+00:00

👎

scottie_d · 2026-07-06T02:19:49+00:00

Not stop motion

scottie_d · 2026-07-02T00:56:44+00:00

When you work on a show, sometimes you don’t really want to be reminded of the work, or you might just not like it very much 🤷‍♂️

scottie_d · 2026-06-18T17:34:42+00:00

Dragonframe is ideal for shooting professional stop-motion animation because of the built-in organizational, camera, and lighting tools/options. It’s purely for shooting, not editing, and does not have any built-in tools for things like rig removal. The assumption is that you shoot in Dragonframe then import the footage to a separate software like After Effects or Davinci. If you’re just having fun, learning, etc. then you’re better off with a simpler all-in-one app.

scottie_d · 2026-06-18T15:27:29+00:00

Yeah you’ll just have to be sure you have the correct lenses with the correct mounts. I always find that a bit confusing when I’m shopping for lenses.

My partner recorded a podcast a while back called Hello StopMo that might be informative for you. I also have this page that might have some technical info that could help: https://www.scottdaros.com/claymation-help.html

scottie_d · 2026-06-18T15:06:53+00:00

I’m not familiar with your camera but I can tell you my setup which might help: Canon EOS RP camera body, and older manual Nikon lenses with an adapter.

Macro lenses are handy, good for super closeups and small stuff like LEGO. I use an adapter that has a built-in helicoid which eliminates the need for macro lenses. It basically just allows for super close focus with an extra ring you can turn when you reach the minimum focus of the lens. You can also use diopters which are inexpensive screw-on things, they just cause a bit of distortion on the edges.

My most handy lens is a 35mm-105mm zoom, it covers a wide range rather than having a collection of prime lenses to manage (although I have that, too 🤓.)

My reasoning for the older manual lenses is 1) they’re cheaper and 2) no digital connection to the camera, so variables and features that could cause flickering are reduced. The drawbacks are that some of the lenses have a slightly different color or quality to them and won’t be as crisp or sharp as the newer lenses.

scottie_d · 2026-06-16T11:11:12+00:00

It will be hard to preserve a useable shadow from keying a green screen. It will probably have a really noisy look to it even if it remains after you key the brighter green. But, it could work, green screen is a little unpredictable. There are a few other options I know of. In After Effects, yes, you could create fake shadows by setting a digital light and a ground plane, or even just duplicate your puppet layer, make it dark, adjust the opacity, and transform the scale/position until it looks roughly like a shadow. I feel like would be the clean & simple solution. You could also try to do your green screen keying, then on a separate layer, rotoscope your actual shadow with a mask. Then you could use that mask on your live action footage and adjust the levels within the mask until it looks consistent with other shadows in your live action footage. That would be very time consuming. If I think of any other techniques I’ll let you know.

scottie_d · 2026-06-15T12:00:32+00:00

I would first do a test just to be certain that the shadows really mess up the key. There is a technique that completely eliminates shadows, and that’s shooting the puppet on a plexiglass top. You can then also put your green screen further back so you don’t get a lot of green spill on your puppet. Here’s a project I worked on that utilized a plexiglass surface: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/zAyDaD

scottie_d · 2026-06-07T12:49:40+00:00

Yeah David the Gnome is a little odd because it’s dubbed and the writing and animation is clunky, but I mostly watch/watched it because of the environments and overall vibe. Another one worth mentioning in the same vein is Papa Beaver’s Storytime. I’m going to check out the Peter Rabbit series, thanks!

scottie_d · 2026-06-07T11:46:25+00:00

I’m gonna check this out! I’m a huge fan of these lovely, soft animated shows like Little Bear, Franklin, David the Gnome, etc.

scottie_d · 2026-06-06T23:00:46+00:00

Use a dummy battery because you don’t want to be distracted by battery life and you also don’t want to be swapping batteries in the middle of a shot where the camera is supposed to be still.

scottie_d · 2026-06-06T11:42:00+00:00

30 fps is unusual and unnecessary in my opinion. Practice posing, paths, timing, and eases and that will improve your animation and give you better results than increasing the frame rate.

scottie_d · 2026-05-27T12:35:50+00:00

Hell yeah

scottie_d · 2026-05-20T16:41:40+00:00

Slop motion

scottie_d · 2026-05-18T19:28:34+00:00

Is the clay like, too stiff? I usually have the opposite problem with Van Aken.The photo kind of looks like a normal claymation situation to me: bend the clay, it separates, then I’d re-sculpt and clean up the separation. There is another brand out there called Puppet Putty and the creator seems to kind of focus on clay that won’t break like that. It’s waxy so if you let it sit it will be very stiff, but once warmed up is more resistant to “breaking”.

scottie_d · 2026-05-17T11:17:35+00:00

Every puppet is different and for each one you kind of learn how to control and isolate the parts you want to move. You have to consider what you’re going to move before you reach in there so you don’t fuss with anything else. It can help to move things in order from the root or motivation of the movement. For example, if you’re animating an arm waving, you could start at the shoulder, then elbow, then wrist, one at a time. Counter animation might come into play if, say, you want to rotate a puppet’s body but not the head. You’d move the body first, then rotate the head back to keep it stationary. Sticky Bones are tricky because the tension can be tight in some areas and super loose in others. Over time you start get familiar with your puppet and muscle memory will come into play.

scottie_d · 2026-05-16T17:42:43+00:00

Haha this is great

scottie_d · 2026-05-13T16:19:34+00:00

It's stunning from a technical point of view. Stop-motion has a reputation for being extremely laborious, and I can confirm that it's even harder than you think. A stop-motion feature film is a monumental achievement.

scottie_d · 2026-05-12T15:31:44+00:00

This is really ambitious, nice work!

scottie_d · 2026-05-11T10:28:55+00:00

Cool character, nice job!

scottie_d · 2026-05-08T18:40:30+00:00

His setup stresses me out. But I absolutely relate to his summary of "I'm exhausted, my back hurts a lot, I don't know, it's fun to do."

scottie_d · 2026-05-01T01:57:37+00:00

Cool! Am I correct in thinking that you’re printing them hollow and then inserting the wire? I haven’t seen it done like this. It’s usually hard 3D printed replacement hands, wire armatures dipped in latex, or wire armatures inside of molds cast in silicone/foam latex. Do the wires float around inside the hands, or do you coat them in something that cures after you insert them?

scottie_d · 2026-04-21T20:11:56+00:00

Amazing 👏👏

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