What is Stop Motion Animation?

Stop Motion Animation is one of the most primitive forms of animation with examples dating back to over a hundred years ago. Stop motion animation is a very simple concept. Essentially, it is a sequence of still photographs, strung together at a high frame rate to create the illusion of movement. Frame rate is the number of frames or photos projected per second. For example, most animations are on 12 frames per second i.e. Wallace and Gromit. In 12 frames per second you only need 12 motions (or 12 pictures) of the puppet or whatever your animating(stop motion animation can be done in various mediums including clay, sand, paper, latex puppets and much more), to get a full second. In 24 frames per second you need 24 motions(pictures) to get a full second. The process of making the object seem like it is moving is extremely time consuming and requires a great deal of patience. In the creation of stop motion animation the animator moves the puppet a little takes a picture, moves the puppet a little more takes another picture and repeats this process until the desired motion is achieved. While capturing the photos the camera should not be moved at all. It needs to remain stationary and secure through the duration of shooting. Also your hand should not be seen in the animation if your idea does not encompass the use of your hands. This process will take hours and out of that period of time only seconds will be produced. Besides good animation, a solid animation needs good lighting for the set or place where you will be animating. With poor lighting flickers will be produced which will degrade the quality of the animation severely. Understanding stop motion is much easier with a visual aid. So I will be creating a time lapse of myself creating an animation which will make what I tried to explain in words much easier to understand. Thanks!