Topic: Alright, so I need some advice...
Here's how I currently animate...
I shoot the shot on a Lumix digital camera. I take camera to my desktop PC, download the frames and animate them by importing them into Premiere Pro, compiling them and exporting. Then I use that video file on the timeline for the whole scene.
I use the Lumix rather than a webcam because the macro setting is brilliant, and the short depth of field is really effective for creating a filmic look, and I use Premiere because it gives me full editing control of the shots.
As you have probably gathered, this is hugely time consuming and inefficient and what I would rather do is this...
Using the Lumix like a webcam, connect it directly to a laptop and as I shoot and have it automatically compile the frames and give me a real time preview (with the above method, I can only see the shot once I've finished and rendered the shot in Premiere). Then, when the shot is finished, I would like to export it and use it in Premiere where I will compile my sound effects and deal with colour correction etc.
Is there a piece of software (preferably free) that will allow me to do this? I realise there is a lot of software for doing this with a webcam, but is it possible to do this with my regular digital camera?