Recently, There are many cases used Single Lenz Reflex Digital camera for stop motion animation. I think that there are many people who have used SLRD cameras even if they have not made stop motion animation. but there are not many people who have taken a picture in manual mode.
When making a stop motion animation, you have to shoot in manual mode. Although it is becoming one wall of a beginner, in here, I would like to introduce necessary things of the camera for making stop motion animation, white balance, focus, shutter speed, iris and ISO.
WHITE BALANCE
Light has colors. Fire and incandescent light bulbs are reddish and the sun’s light is bluish. The color of the light is called “ color temperature (unit: K Kelvin) “. candle fire is 2000k, fluorescent light is 4000k – 4500k, sunny weather is 5000k – 5500k and cloudy weather is 6000k – 6500k. (The lower the number, it becomes the reddish, the number becomes the higher the light become bluish)
Even if you shoot a white object, it appears reddish or bluish from the influence of color temperature. The white balance is the adjustment function that adjusts the color tone and reflects the white part properly white.
SLRD camera has “modes” such as “fine weather”, “cloudy”, “light bulb”, “fluorescent light” and “manual” in the white balance. The operation differs depending on the model of the camera. Manual mode is the method adjusting with the white paper setted in front of the camera.
FOCUS
When you shoot with the focus in auto mode, the focus will be adjusted to the background when the object moves, resulting in a hard-to-see image like the one shown below.
When you shooting, set focus on manual. Turning the focus ring and the object in the picture become sharply.
I think that there are many people who know the word “focus”, but is not there many people who do not know the word “ depth of field “? Actually, this “ depth of field ” is important in the case of making a stop motion animation. I wrote that focus on the object. In fact, there is a focused range from the focused point towards the back. This range is called “ depth of field “. And, this “ depth of field ” is affected by shutter speed. Details will be explained on the next page.
SHUTTER SPEED
Briefly explaining the structure of the camera, outside light enters the camera through the lens. When you press the shutter button, the shutter inside the camera will rise and light will hit the image sensor, and the picture will be recorded. Shutter speed is the time that shutter is kept open.
If you increase the shutter speed, the time when the shutter is raised becomes shorter and the time for light to hit the image sensor becomes shorter, so the picture will become darker. On the contrary, if the shutter speed is slow, the time when the shutter is raised becomes longer and the time during which light hits the image sensor becomes longer, so the picture becomes brighter. In other words, the shutter speed is the function to adjust the time of light hitting the image sensor.
When taking pictures such as children and landscapes, if the shutter speed is increased, the child may move or the hand holding the camera may move, which may cause the picture to be blurred, but in case of stop motion animation, the puppet don’t move and the camera is fixed to a tripod, it does not affect much.
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