Bricks in Motion
We are a friendly filmmaking community devoted to the art of stop-motion animation using LEGO® and similar construction toys. Here, you can share your work, join our community of other brickfilmers, and participate in periodic animation contests!
A place to discuss, share, and create stop motion films.
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So I'm new to brickfilming and have been trying some things with a point and shoot, but I want to no what is the best place to start?
Welcome to BiM! You will probably get bombarded with links to various useful beginner pages by other members 
A lot of brickfilmers here tend to use a webcam and some sort of frame capturing software. Logitech's offerings such as their c920 and 9000 are pretty popular.
Using a point and shoot camera can be fine although unless you have a remote there is a high chance you'll bump it when capturing images. You also can't instantly see your animation playback to you which is a major benefit of frame capturing software.
First of all, welcome to BiM! If you haven't already, I would suggest reading the Beginner's Guide.
What point and shoot are you using? Typically, for brickfilming, point-and-shoot cameras are not a good idea, since they are really easy to bump and they are nearly impossible to keep from causing light flicker. A good, wallet-friendly option would be purchasing a webcam – these can hook up to your computer and are compatible with a (very, very) wide range of capturing programs. These programs are a big plus with brickfilming since they have features such as playing back the frames you’ve captured to see what your video looks like, or checking the current frame against the last frame to make sure your movements are smooth.
Members of BiM have compiled this really great list of free pieces of software, I would highly recommend that you read through that.
Hope this helps!
--Mighty Wanderer
Hi! First off, welcome to Bricks in Motion! Now, a good starting camera would be the Logitech Webcam Pro 9000, it has good quality and is quite cheap. A good frame capturing program is MonkeyJam, it's free and saves the photos automatically to your computer! Windows Live Movie Maker should be fine for starting out. If you want special effects I would recommend Wax, it's also free but it is quite old. Audacity is another great free program, it's for sound editing.
Here are the links:
http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Internet … B000RZQZM0
http://monkeyjam.org/
http://download.cnet.com/Windows-Live-M … 65753.html
http://www.debugmode.com/wax/http://aud … forge.net/
Thanks for all the advice. 
I've heard some good and bad things about both monkey jam and helium frog is one better? Also the link for wax doesn't work.
Helium frog has more features although some argue it is a bit confusing. Monkeyjam doesn't deal with high resolutions very well. I prefer HF. They're both free though so you might as well give them both a try
I'm not going to bombard you with various links or specific cameras and stuff you should get, instead, I'm just going to give you the recommended requirements of stop-motion and let you see if you equipment and software fits the bill.
Camera should have manual controls. Manual Focus, Exposure, and white balance. This way, everything doesn't change with every frame. However, if you're just starting, these things aren't as important as perfecting your animation technique and smoothness. (As a matter of fact, back in 2011, I filmed an entire 9 minute 33 second movie with a point and shoot camera with no manual controls).
Capturing software is not necessary, but it extremely helpful. As long as you are able to remotely control your camera and not keep touching it for each frame. Some people use remotes, some people use software for capturing images.
Video Sequencing software is a must. Windows Movie Maker (not Windows Live Movie maker though, because you cannot change the default picture duration, the old version found here is better) is an option, so is MonkeyJam (which has a sequencing feature even if you don't capture with it). Other programs like Sony Movie Studio, and Cyberlink PowerDirector are great for sequencing and editing.
Lamps. Use constant lighting like desk lamps. Even though that giant star that's 92,000,000 miles away is a free light source, it's inconsistent because out planet is constantly spinning. Move you animation desk away from a window, close the curtains, use desk lamps, and don't film outside. Brickfilming is a life of solitude.
I hope I could help you out a bit, if you have any more specific question, please ask. These answers are generic, but if you like links and things being thrown at you, then I've got a great pitching arm.
I think rio nailed it.
Thanks to everyone. I'll have to try power director since it was preinstalled on my laptop.
Last edited by Umbra-Manis (November 24, 2014 (11:47am))
Ok this is my camera.
I did some digging in the settings and found it can be set to 16:9 ratio, with a resolution of 4000x2248.
It also has a setting for remote control via HDMI but I haven't been able to figure that out yet, given it doesn't have an actual HDMI port.
If you want to invest a few $$$ into a great video program, Vegas Studio by Sony is excellent. The right balance between features and ease of use. Adobe AfterEffects sacrifices ease of use for features, and while it's the best one out there, NOT recommended for beginner.
Sony offers trials of Vegas Studio that are completely functional!
http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/dow … oviestudio
I'll look into that HOO.
Does anyone with remote capture experience have some tips?
Well, it depends on the software you are using. But as for tips in remote capture, I must say, do not touch your camera, or that will defeat the purpose of the remote capture. Also, try to make sure your USB cord is long enough so in case you bump it it won't pull your camera.
Adding on to what HoldingOurOwn said, Sony Movie Studio is the best software. I have used it for years (I had the very very original one called Video Explosion Deluxe) and I love it. Sony Vegas and Movie Studio are different products, but they are about the same software. Vegas is the professional (expensive) version, while Movie Studio is the cheaper version with a couple of features missing. I recommend that you get Sony Movie Studio 12, because they changed the interface in 13 making everything so huge that it won't fit on your screen (they are trying to make it for tablets now. 
).
Most of my older films, I made with a camera pretty similar to yours, with no remote shutter. I used it on the shortest timer so my hand wouldn't be pressing down on it well the picture was being taken. [I found that trick out by someone on this forum] Over all this method works pretty well until you start craving manual focus and stuff. Also make sure to put your camera on all manual settings.
Hope that helps
OsomStudios
Last edited by osomstudios (November 25, 2014 (09:40am))
I found the custom timer and it works really well thanks Osom!
My next thing to work out is what sound recording software works with well with a blue snowball. Any suggestions?
Audacity. I used to use it until I got a free copy of Sony Audio Studio with my new copy of Sony Movie Studio. It's great, and I still use it occasionally.
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