Bricks in Motion
We are a friendly filmmaking community devoted to the art of stop-motion animation using LEGO® and similar construction toys. Here, you can share your work, join our community of other brickfilmers, and participate in periodic animation contests!
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The Riddle
Will the prince quess the queen's riddle and get to marry her, or does he provide a wrong answer instead and lose his head?
Short animation based on K.J. Erben's fairy tale 'The Riddle' (Hadanka), originally made for our daughter.
NIce.
I liked this film well enough although the animation was just too choppy and the sound and music needed some serious work. But the sets of this film, along with the story (which could have had more aspects added to it) made me want to see it again. The lighting was also kept evenly but I just can't get over the animation; I feel like that is the most important aspect of a film (brickfilm especially) so I give you 3/5 stars.
The animation wasn't that bad.
3/5
I liked this film well enough although the animation was just too choppy and the sound and music needed some serious work. But the sets of this film, along with the story (which could have had more aspects added to it) made me want to see it again. The lighting was also kept evenly but I just can't get over the animation; I feel like that is the most important aspect of a film (brickfilm especially) so I give you 3/5 stars.
Fair enough. The detailed criticism is much much appreciated. After visiting few 'recommended' films and others from this website, this animation is surely inferior, you guys are on a totally different level - at least for now 
. This was my first animation - I was curious what does it take to make a StopMotion film. I will definitely pay more attention to the animation itself next time.
I am surprised you have no beef with the lighting. This was probably something I found the most challenging about the whole process, and I felt I did not succeed. I pretty much had no idea what I am really doing, though. I couldn't get rid of the flicker - I had a dark room, wore dark clothes, but maybe the mistake was I had the computer next to the scene to easily track the variation between the taken frames, and some of that caused the variation of the light? I also tried to turn this RightLight option in the Quickcam camera software, but no success. I tried different lamps/their combinations, but still nothing. Here's my setup:
The window was covered while I was filming. Do you see anything obviously wrong with this setup - something you'd suggest changing for better results next time? Where do you guys place the computer?
Otherwise I did not want to alter the story too much (please remember it is a traditional Czech fairy tale), so Czech non-English speaking viewers could follow without paying attention to the subtitles as well.
I also tried to turn this RightLight option in the Quickcam camera software, but no success.
I found your problem, try animating with that off and all the settings in manual.
The "Right Light" feature takes a while to ajust, so if you put your hand in front of the cam (to move something) and then move it back, the "Right Light" will see the darkness made by your hand and changes the exposure and brightness to make up for it. Once you move your hand out of the way, the brightness is still there until the cam sees that your hand is gone and changes the lighting back, but this can take several seconds and it doesn't always return to where it was before. If you turn it off, then it won't change anything and the picture will stay the same brightness and not flicker.
The movie was pretty good, until the music changed, it just didn't seem to fit well. Although I just muted the speakers and kept watching. 
You can check out this thread for a lot of royalty-free music that you can use in your animations for free. You might be be able to find something on one of those sites that might fit the movie a little better.
The picture is very overexposed. I used to have the same problem (I have the same webcam). I fixed it by turing down the light settings (the gain needs to go down a lot) and using 3 lamps. Your color intensity is a bit high, too. Just adjust the settings and see what works best. If you can't figure out where to put the settings, let me know and I'll help you.
The sets were next to amazing, but the animation really suffered. What FPS are you using? It looked like you were using 8 FPS, which is the highest for WMM. I'd download monkeyjam if I were you, and test the film out at 15 FPS. I usually don't give films ratings much anymore, but I'm leaning at a 2.5/5, but with a better FPS, the film is much more enjoyable. Good luck on future films!
EDIT: After rewatching it, it seems that some parts looked like they were filmed at 8 FPS, but others seem like they were at 12-15 FPS. Not sure what the deal is, or if my computer is just screwing up.
Last edited by legostudiosplus (January 21, 2012 (03:22pm))
.The picture is very overexposed. I used to have the same problem (I have the same webcam). I fixed it by turing down the light settings (the gain needs to go down a lot) and using 3 lamps. Your color intensity is a bit high, too. Just adjust the settings and see what works best. If you can't figure out where to put the settings, let me know and I'll help you.
OK, I will try that as you say. How strong lamps do you use and how close do you place them to the set? I guess this might be some FAQ, so I will also properly read all the resource materials available here. Thanks for the assistance offer! I will remember and might contact you later on.
The sets were next to amazing, but the animation really suffered. What FPS are you using? It looked like you were using 8 FPS, which is the highest for WMM. I'd download monkeyjam if I were you, and test the film out at 15 FPS. I usually don't give films ratings much anymore, but I'm leaning at a 2.5/5, but with a better FPS, the film is much more enjoyable. Good luck on future films!
EDIT: After rewatching it, it seems that some parts looked like they were filmed at 8 FPS, but others seem like they were at 12-15 FPS. Not sure what the deal is, or if my computer is just screwing up.
I was using MonkeyJam for filming, I used WMM only for the final assembly, adding subtitles/music and credits. I had it set for 24 FPS, but with each frame doubled, which makes it 12 FPS. But I was not consistent, and some frames were 'frozen' for a bit longer. So the problem is me, not your computer. Next time I will go with the full 24 FPS as you suggest. I guess I also fell into a lot of beginner pitfalls. I should have tested all the figures first to make sure I can get their limbs moving easily, I should have also made test runs to really figure out the various movements out (how much do I need to truly break them up) before getting to film the whole story. Well, we learn through mistakes. The animation still amused my family, and that was the goal. Anyways, it was very enlightening and helped to get a real appreciation for the skills and effort I'd have to put in to make a real nice brickfilm.
BTW I am visiting your films if you post in this thread, to get to know what you are talking about, or how it should look.
OK, I will try that as you say. How strong lamps do you use and how close do you place them to the set? I guess this might be some FAQ, so I will also properly read all the resource materials available here. Thanks for the assistance offer! I will remember and might contact you later on.
I use 40 watt bulbs. As far as positioning goes, I'd say somewhere within a foot vertically from the baseplate and as close as you can get them horizontally.
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