Stop Motion Options

The Workbook Project is a fascinating Blog dedicated to helping "content creators" share resources and techniques. I found them via this great article HOW TO: Stop Motion on a Budget but I will be adding their site to my list of favorites. Most of the articles are for film wannabee insiders, but it's clear that a lot of their material will be relevant to us teachers too.

You should also know, that the folks over at Boinx have some great stop motion software that I've used with many of my students. iStopmotion works with digital still (usb) cameras, video (firewire) cameras including the iSight, and the cameras that now come built in on the iMacs and iBooks. They also have an educational license and volume discounts.

Oh, and if push comes to shove, you can also use Quicktime Pro to make animation or time lapse movies. All you need are a series of stills that are sequentially numbered. (01, 02, 03...99, 100, 101, etc.) Follow the directions for making a slide show but use a frame rate that fits your animation.