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| Digicams and Brickfilming |  |
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- Basic knowledge
- Tutorial
You see them more and more on brickfilms.com and also brickboard.de: Brickfilms with crystal sharp images, excellent colors and high resolution. (After George Lukas' pioneer work on Episode I, [den Teil würde ich weglassen, im Grunde sind Webcams ja auch digitalkameras, der Vergleich hinkt also etwas]) digital cameras have finally arrived in the world of brickfilming. But how do people use them? I was asking this myself and couldn't find the answer at first. With a little help from Mirko from Brickboard and Haukinger, however, I have found a good solution.
In principle, filming with a digital camera is the same as with a webcam: you connect the cam to the computer, install software, take the images and put them together with a video editor [Virtual Dub] - done. But that is just in principal. For starters, one of the biggest problem is finding a camera that can be remote controlled from the computer. Most digicams don't offer this feature and connect to the computer only to view and copy images..
However, there are cameras that can be remote controlled, namely the following from Canon:
Pro-series: Pro90IS, Pro1
G-series: G1, G2, G3, G5, G6, G7
S-series: S30, S40, S45, S50, S60, S70, S80, S1 IS, S2 IS, S3 IS
A-series: A30, A40, A60, A70, A75, A80, A85, A95, A300, A310, A400, A510, A520, A620, A640
Digital IXUS: SD100 (Digital IXUS II), SD110 (Digital IXUS IIs), S230 (Digital IXUS 330), S400 (Digital IXUS 400), S410 (Digital IXUS 430), S500 (Digital IXUS 500)
| Canon Cameras not listed here are most probably not remote controllable. |
Why remote control?
Why does the camera have to be remote controllable, you may ask. It doesn't have to be, as you can also take the images with the camera and save them on its memory card. That isn't very convenient, though. First, you'd have to use the camera's trigger to take the image, which will most probably move the camera somewhat, even if it is placed on a tripod (which is recommended anyway). Second, you'd have to copy the images from the card to your computer manually again and again, which is more work..
There is one advantage when using the camera's controls directly, though: You have full control over zoom, framing, focus and so on, but not so via remote control or at least only very restricted. Usually, this would mean that this tutorial doesn't make sense because brickfilming with digital cameras doesn't work properly.
But yes, it can be done! Sure, you have look into the subject a bit more because you deal with almost semi-professional photography here. And if you think about the results this is not a disadvantage. However, I can only recommend this to people who want to buy a digital camera anyway. For others, a digital camcorder may be better, one that can take single images in high resolution, too. Unfortunately, prices for such camcorders are much higher than for digital cameras.
Just to make this clear: On a digital camera, the settings are not as easy to adjust as on a webcam but it is possible if you are willing to put more effort into it.
What you need:
If you are still seriously interested in brickfilming with a digicam, you should:
- Buy a tripod, preferably one with gears that allow for vertical and horizontal pans
- Clean your Lego! You will see even the smallest pieces of dust, fuzz, hair ect.
- Install VirtualDub to render the images into a video later
- Buy enough rechargable batteries or a power supply because these cameras need a lot of energy. I used 14 (!) batteries in one night with my first experiments.
Everything else you need is a little patience! Firstly, because you do not see the result immediately as you might expect. Secondly, because transmission of the image from the camera to the computer needs a few seconds. Remember that you will take a few thousand images...
Software:
Canon
The Canon cameras come with a program to capture images, which is not really suitable for stop-motion. The program is cumbersome to use and doesn't offer functions like onion-skinning, which you will need more than with a webcam! With a digital camera, you see every little change in the set. So, forget about this program, there is something better!
SMP V.5,
SMP is a commercial and rather expensive program and can be used to capture images with Canon Powershots. It has onion-skinning and quite a lot of other features. But do you really have to pay that much money again for a hobby? No, there is other software that is just as good...
CSMC,
CSMC is the name of a program Haukinger has written for his Canon A520. It has many functions found on the commercial programs and yet it's free. The following tutorial is based on this software.
>>Click here to get to the digicam tutorial>>
Translated into english by: Mirko
www.mirkokosmos.net
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