I use:
WMV as format
1280x720 resolution
I forget what I use for audio.
15 fps

I don't crop my videos, that is the resolution I film in. Hope this info helps.

800x600 isn't HD, though YouTube may include a higher quality setting than the default if you upload in that. Most of my HD videos have been filmed at 1600x1200 and then cropped to 1280x544, though the 720p resolution option is still available for these on YouTube. If I were you, I'd film at a much higher resolution even if you don't absolutely need to. HD will be deprecated someday.

Aeternal Films

It actually can go quite a bit higher, but when it does it gets bigger than our computer screen.
Do you think we should upgrade and buy a program such as istopmotion?  If so, what should we get?

Last edited by BuilderBrothers (July 27, 2010 (10:55am))

I'd say AnimatorDV+ Simple should be able to handle HD, although don't hold me to that, I've never used it to film HD. It's free, and a good program; lots of extras, pretty stable. I'd at least give it a go and see what you think.

Wait... If you want your film to LOOK HD you have to have good lighting and a pretty high resolution. If you want Youtube HD just for the heck of it, it just depends on how you export it. A 6 mbps .wmv has got 720p HD on youtube for me. Of course this just exports the video in HD and doesnt really improve the quality.

-Tejas VIM

Actually, I used to use it, and the reason I switched to Helium Frog is because when I exported my movie from AnimatorDV Simple+, even though I filmed in 1200 X 720, it could only go to a max of 740 X 480 pixels or something like that.

I would suggest you use Helium Frog then, instead of Monkey Jam. Helium Frog allows for HD capturing and it has lots of other good features (i.e. onion skinning and a bunch of that stuff.) But I wouldn't suggest using Helium Frog's chroma keying function. It gives you a pretty sloppy result.