Topic: Help/Feedback Wanted in Improving My BrickFilm's Production

Hi everyone,

I took a long (1.5 year) break from brick filming, but now I am interested in starting back up. However, every movie I have made looks TERRIBLE. I can't figure out how to avoid set bumps and light flickers. No matter how hard I try, my videos don't seem as streamline as other brickfilmers. If someone could please take a look at my videos and see how I can improve with the production process, that would be awesome!

Here is a link to my YouTube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/scproductions2911/videos

This is what I strive for my brick films to (eventually) be like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtGg2La2IUY

Thanks,

-Brandon (RBC)

Re: Help/Feedback Wanted in Improving My BrickFilm's Production

Well here are a few tips:

1: Practice all the time.  Or a lot.  Film stuff, make films, make tests.  Brickfilming is a skill, and needs work.

2: There are a plurality of different reasons for light flicker, and there are many tactics to prevent these things.  It would be good first to know which precautions you have already implemented.  Have you tried ducking under the table?

3: Something I do is try to make my sets really, really heavy and large.  Thus they are difficult to accidentally bump and move.  If your set isn't that big, you could try adding weight, or perhaps putting a special thing betwixt the desk and set to keep it stable.  These sorts of things are often put onto computer desks.

4: ease in and easy out, give your movements fluidity, and really work on that.  Get it up to a nice speed.

5: As for other bumping problems, try never touching the camera.  Also, try to exercise an extreme level of care when moving your hand in and out of the set, never touching anything unless it's meant to be.  Over time, practice can make you remarkably good at this.

Anyway, try practicing some more.  Skill comes with practice, and skill makes things feel much easier.  Once you have some more recent tests, perhaps like a very fresh test montage, the dear good people of BiM could give some more specific feedback.

Re: Help/Feedback Wanted in Improving My BrickFilm's Production

Squid touched on all the major points, but I would like to reiterate his point.

Keep practicing

I know you may feel like you have practiced and are not getting anywhere, but trust me, practice indeed does make perfect. Do lots of practice. Test out new techniques. Repeat old techniques. Make test videos and post them here for us to see so we can help you more. You cannot become the greatest animator ever overnight, but over time, you will get better if you stick to it. I started animating in 2007 , and when I look back on my older films, and I realize that I have come a long way. Even since the beginning of this year after a two year break from brickfilming, I see that I have made major progress. So keep on practicing.

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"Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." - 1 Corinthians 10:31b

Re: Help/Feedback Wanted in Improving My BrickFilm's Production

in less than 12 months I have learnt how to not bump the set or camera and how to get those fine ease in/out you thought you'd never master.  keep trying.  each movie will be better than the last.

Aka Fox
Youtube: My channel   Twitter: @animationantics
Best brick films: My selection

Re: Help/Feedback Wanted in Improving My BrickFilm's Production

On flicker, do you have manual settings on your camera?  It's a BIG plus!  If not, tips they've taught on BiM are: Wear Dark Clothing and Avoid animating in areas where sunlight can affect your lighting (as the sun moves, so does your lighting)

For bumping, Use masking tape to clamp down your sets.  I learned this in BrickJournal issue 14.  Masking tape doesn't leave any residue that adheres to/damage Lego parts upon removal.

If you have a camera that is of considerable cost, you may be able to get a remote shutter.  This will let you take the photo without touching the camera.

Also, watch my brickfilms, especially the first one, and you won't think the problems in yours are so bad!

https://vimeo.com/channels/holdingourown      http://holding-our-own.tumblr.com

"None practice tolerance less frequently than those who most loudly preach it."

Re: Help/Feedback Wanted in Improving My BrickFilm's Production

Rioforce and Squid nailed it.

HOO and togfox also provide great tips.

One thing I can tell you, from my experience is too never give up hope. Just when you feel like you're falling rise up again and prove yourself worthy.

One thing by looking at you're videos is the fact, I notice the Frame rate is very slow, looks at about 10 FPS, maybe a little less. You need to get that up.

Again practice makes perfect. Don't rush for perfection. No one is successful without failure.

Its a great feeling coming back to brick filming after being away for so long!

Sincerely,
Divine.

RELEASED! Check out my channel to watch it!
Check out my Youtube Channel New Vid every week: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy5NKN … 7cRn8gsNaw

Re: Help/Feedback Wanted in Improving My BrickFilm's Production

HoldingOurOwn wrote:

For bumping, Use masking tape to clamp down your sets.  I learned this in BrickJournal issue 14.  Masking tape doesn't leave any residue that adheres to/damage Lego parts upon removal.

Actually, I recommend Sticky-tac (or Blue tac). It's reusable, stretchy, never goes bad, and always stays sticky. I recommend it all the way. It's relatively cheap for it's price, because it's so reusable and versatile.

YouTubeWebsite
https://bricksafe.com/files/rioforce/internet-images/RioforceBiMSig.png
"Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." - 1 Corinthians 10:31b

Re: Help/Feedback Wanted in Improving My BrickFilm's Production

Wearing black clothes isn't always enough.  If you've got pale skin, then that bright face of yours can cause a lot of trouble for your picture.  Generally it's actually best if you duck under the table when you capture the frame.

Re: Help/Feedback Wanted in Improving My BrickFilm's Production

I recommend sticky tape too it works wonders..

And Squid, ducking down after each frame mini/tongue You know my back would kill me if I ducked down after each frame after shooting a brick film for a few hours mini/lol Normally I am always behind my camera, and normally cover my whole body, in clothing. My face doesn't really make a difference to the sets thankfully.

Just wear long sleeves I would recommend.

Sincerely,
Divine.

RELEASED! Check out my channel to watch it!
Check out my Youtube Channel New Vid every week: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy5NKN … 7cRn8gsNaw

Re: Help/Feedback Wanted in Improving My BrickFilm's Production

Ah, yes, it can hurt your back if you do too much at once.  So I guess not for everyone.  But if you ease into it your muscles will adapt properly, and you should be able to take long sessions.
I did once really hurt my back in my first BRAWL because I hadn't been able to properly animate for several months.

Re: Help/Feedback Wanted in Improving My BrickFilm's Production

This is the camera I have used in the past:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/CanonEOS30D/Images/frontview.jpg

I will try and do a walk cycle this afternoon and then post it for you all to critique. Thank you so much for your encouraging words, and willingness to help me.

-Brick Paladin

Re: Help/Feedback Wanted in Improving My BrickFilm's Production

rioforce wrote:
HoldingOurOwn wrote:

For bumping, Use masking tape to clamp down your sets.  I learned this in BrickJournal issue 14.  Masking tape doesn't leave any residue that adheres to/damage Lego parts upon removal.

Actually, I recommend Sticky-tac (or Blue tac). It's reusable, stretchy, never goes bad, and always stays sticky. I recommend it all the way. It's relatively cheap for it's price, because it's so reusable and versatile.

RioForce, I never ever thought of that!  I'm going to try it.  The help BiM provides never ends!

https://vimeo.com/channels/holdingourown      http://holding-our-own.tumblr.com

"None practice tolerance less frequently than those who most loudly preach it."

Re: Help/Feedback Wanted in Improving My BrickFilm's Production

The main issue I have using sticky tack to stop sets from moving is it can raise them a little from the table and they can flex during animation. Masking tape is pretty ideal.

Re: Help/Feedback Wanted in Improving My BrickFilm's Production

SlothPaladin wrote:

The main issue I have using sticky tack to stop sets from moving is it can raise them a little from the table and they can flex during animation. Masking tape is pretty ideal.

I don't put it under the set because of that reason. I actually just attach it to the corners.

http://rioforce.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/dsc_0730.jpg?w=800

YouTubeWebsite
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"Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." - 1 Corinthians 10:31b

Re: Help/Feedback Wanted in Improving My BrickFilm's Production

I think what my problem is, is I have good ideas (and intentions) for a brick film, but I try to do to much, before getting the animation basics down.

Re: Help/Feedback Wanted in Improving My BrickFilm's Production

I started brickfilming in 2011 with a friend.  We spent a lot of time building sets and animating, but ours were at the speed of about 7-10 FPS.  To be honest, it was terrible.

When 2014 came around, I started animating again.  This time, I started at 15 FPS and worked my way to 24-25 FPS.  I watched a lot of brickfilms animated at both 15 FPS and 25 FPS repeatedly.  I then watched them again going frame by frame.  Finally, I copied/looked at what I saw on the screen and moved my figures accordingly.  After doing this for a while, I animated without a reference.  Granted, I am still not that experienced with brickfilming, but I learned using YouTube's video speed control.

If you still are having problems with light flicker, I have my lights set up almost the same as FancyPants' lighting tutorial.

Everyone else previously covered everything.  Just thought I would share.  mini/wink

Last edited by Lego Stax (January 21, 2015 (07:15pm))

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Currently on hiatus from making my own brickfilms. In the process of learning music production techniques.
Need a voice actor? Hit me up.

Re: Help/Feedback Wanted in Improving My BrickFilm's Production

A lot of good answers have been given, but here goes my two cents worth. mini/smile

Set bumps: This is one of the easier problems to correct. Mainly, don't touch anything that isn't being actively animated at that moment. Just by doing that many of your set bump problems would be over. About 50% of the time, I animate on sets that aren't taped down, and I never have set bumps because I take care on what I touch. But using masking tape as well as taking care is by far the best combination. Squid mentioned using sets that are huge and heavy, and I love doing that too, but some of my sets are as small as my hand, so ya, gotta do something sometimes. Mainly, just tape it down and watch what your doing.

Light flicker: If you have your camera set to all manual settings, then it is do to external influences. first make sure there is no outside light light that will be changing. It is best to do your filming after dark since it is very difficult to completely block out light from windows and doors, but if filming after dark is not an option, just do your best to block all light from said external sources. As far as clothing goes, just have something dark. I typically use a black or dark-blue t-shirt. Then when capturing a frame, just be in the same position every time. I lean back in my chair and wait 1 or 2 seconds and then capture the frame. It's relaxing and calming, and works.

Camera bumps: Just don't touch your camera or any cables coming off it. At first it may take some focused attention to watch what your doing, but it turns into a habit fairly quickly. Using some animation software is a must if you don't want camera bumps. I recommend Helium Frog, it is free stop-motion software, it has some bugs that you have to work around but it is still fairly decent.

That takes care of what you asked about, but here goes a few more tips. mini/wink

Sets: If you combine good sets with little-to-no set or camera bumps, it will drastically improve the look and feel of your videos. The first thing to do in your set is to have nothing but the set in the picture, no table, no wall, no desk lamp, ect.  If you lack a large LEGO amount just keep the camera closer in, also the set can be simple but still give a good impression.  Just try to build each set as detailed as your skill and LEGO amount can do. If a background is needed, using printed pictures of clouds or sky is a good way to give the feeling of larger scale. You may also have to rebuild the set for each change in view point, but the end product is worth it. (looking up some tips on set building in books or online is easy and worth it mini/smile )

Lighting: Check out the link that Lego Stax provides.

Animation: This is what everyone wants to get better at and what only a few have ever mastered. I am no master at animation, but I do know a few tips on how to do better. Some of them are best explained in a tutorial done by Fancy Pants, such as easing-in-and-out and movement pacing his tutorial. Other than those few things the only other main one is making sure that your mini-fig stays still. What I mean is if lets say you need to raise his arm, you do that, stick him back and take the frame. Looking back you see that even though his arm movement was right, his body noticeably jerked to the side on the second frame. Repeating this can make for very jerky animation. to solve it means taking your time. Lets say after you move the arm and put him back you take the time to align his body up so that their is little-to-no movement between the current frame and the previous frame except for the arm, you will have a seamless animation between the two frames. It may take much longer but it is much more worth it (this technique should be applied to anything that is being animated not just the characters). Also, try doing at least 12 fps, I use 15 but 12 also does great.

Audio: A video without sound (I'm talking more than just music) is very hard to watch, it just gets kinda boring. So adding decent sound is very important. I suggest going to freesound.org (unless you want to get super precise and record your own) and adding as many sounds to your video as you think it can use.

Well, if you made it through all the above without falling asleep, you must be somewhat dedicated mini/lol. You do really need to be dedicated to brick-filming though, that more than anything will make you better. I am not saying practice everyday, but you do need to keep that want to come back and do more.

You mentioned that you have the problem of trying too ambitious of projects, let me tell you, that's not a problem. If your animating, your practicing. No one wants to take a day animating a walk sequence just for practice, they want to do something with a story. So if animating a story gets you exited, do that, even if every time you sit down to animate its a new story. That's how I did it. I have tons of started, unfinished projects, and each one made me a better animator.

Keep going, you will reach your goal. mini/wink

Re: Help/Feedback Wanted in Improving My BrickFilm's Production

To add onto what GEF said about set and camera bumps, if you accidentally bump the camera or set (it happens to the best of us sometimes, unfortunately), there is always a way to remove the bump in post if it's not too big of a bump:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-pWxD9zj3o

This is a very good quote from GEF, so I'm going to repeat it here for emphasis mini/bigsmile:

GEF wrote:

If your animating, your practicing.

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"Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." - 1 Corinthians 10:31b

Re: Help/Feedback Wanted in Improving My BrickFilm's Production

Thanks guys, for the tips! I will try a walk sequence tomorrow.

Re: Help/Feedback Wanted in Improving My BrickFilm's Production

I'm glad I could be of help! And I'm sure the others will agree with me in saying that I'm looking forward to seeing your test when you finish it. mini/smile

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"Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." - 1 Corinthians 10:31b