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Scanning down the options for recording ("normal", "photo mode", etc.) I just discovered 2 new modes:
Time-lapse and Animation.
The Time-Lapse I'm not much interested in but I would occasionally like to animate some 3-D objects.

How do I do this and how many video frames will it record at a time?

Does it put all the tiny clips together in one scene or does each have to be put on the Storyboard and made
into a whole by the "Scene" function in transitions?

I did a lot of animation over 40 years ago but used 8mm movie film then.

Thanks for any information
Alan Simmons

Alan

These settings - new to Smart Edit 7 - are both cool. Yes, they are not something most of us will use every day but provide some new neat options for specific effects.

The Stop M. (Stop Motion - Animation) function is I believe the one you asked about above.

And yes, it can be used to create a stop motion animation sequence! To use it,
1. Connect live camera
2. Select 'Record M.' from Record menu options
3. I recommend going down to fastest Frame rate, which is 1.5
4. Under Display, I favor the 'loop' setting which toggles back and forth from the last recorded frame to the live source - this is perfect for animation as you can see where your object/subject was in the last frame! (If you select 'live' it simply shows the live camea)
5. Once you are ready to record a frame, click the record button and it will record that one frame.
6. You then adjust your subject/scene and so on, and so on, and so on.
Doing this even once for a short video gives you a great respect for the patience of those who have done this for a full feature like Nick Parks/Aardman Animation (Wallace and Gromit) or my all time favorite clay-mation short film 'Creature Comforts' which you can view online here: http://www.atom.com/funny_videos/creature_comforts/

This setting produces an animation sequence, automatically combining these frames together for you - as long as you stay in this window and do not go back out to the Edit screen.

However - if you do/need to (like a break in your production schedule, etc.) there is another cool option that developers gave us here -- the 'Select scene' button. Clicking this button allows you to 'join' the animation you are above to create onto the end of a previous scene in your Scene bin!

I have done a couple of animations with this setting and they are fun.

Hope that helps!

Regards,
Chet