• Location: France
  • Joined: April 3, 2010

Topic: Heron Animation - My free stop-motion capture software and web app

http://heronanimation.brunolefevre.net/images/heronbanniere.png

Hi !
Over the last week I have been working on a stop-motion capture software. It started as an experiment, but since after a day it looked quite well, I decided to continue working on it.
This is still a work in progress, but I have now a working version (although not tested a lot).
I know there are Biscuit and Boat Animator currently under development here. I don't want to appear to step on their toes.

http://heronanimation.brunolefevre.net/images/Screenshot.jpg

Features
* Connect to a webcam and take pictures
* Onion skinning
* Onion skinning : difference mode
* Playback animation at any FPS
* Loop playback
* Short play (play only the few last frames)
* Delete and move the frames
* Duplicate frames
* Export as frames or video

Shortcuts
Enter : Take frame
Space or Num 0 : Play
Num 8 : Toggle loop playback
Left/Right arrow or Num 1/Num 2 : Go to previous/next frame.
Delete or Backspace : Delete selected frame
Num +/Num - : Onion skinning opacity
Num 7 : Toggle difference mode

Download Links

Online web app : http://heronanimation.brunolefevre.net/
Windows x64
Windows x32
MacOS
Linux x64
Linux x32


------
UPDATE : You can now try the beta version!
Windows Beta
Linux Beta

It includes less app-breaking bugs, project management, auto saving, and customizable grids!
Now available in German!
------


The program has not been tested a lot, you could encounter several bugs. If so, please report them to me.

FAQ
Will it be DSLR compatible?
I've looked into that, and unfortunately it seems currently out of reach.
You might want to check out this solution : http://www.bricksinmotion.com/forums/to … -for-free/

Will it there be a mobile app?
Maybe. It's not impossible, I just have to get it work. I'll look into it when the desktop software is stable enough and with enough features.

Planned features
- More export options
- Installer
- Maybe masking

Also try Boats Animator!

Last edited by Aiwha (July 29, 2020 (01:25am))

Aiwha's Website

  • Joined: April 25, 2010

Re: Heron Animation - My free stop-motion capture software and web app

Fantastic! I'll give it a go sometime, looks like it might make a great free alternative.

mini/smile
  • Location: Vermont
  • Joined: December 3, 2015

Re: Heron Animation - My free stop-motion capture software and web app

Congratulations, this looks really well done!

I don't use a webcam, so I won't be using it, but I like the layout and styling, and will recommend it if anyone asks me about a good free animation software.

Keep it up. mini/smile

http://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=0B-S9Gk-8REITRVJVQXVwZkdBRk0
“But the enterprise in which I’m about to embark on is fraught with imminent peril.”

MarkNelsonMovies's Website

  • Location: Canada
  • Joined: April 22, 2016

Re: Heron Animation - My free stop-motion capture software and web app

This looks great.

Super user friendly, I'll update once I've tried something.

  • Location: France
  • Joined: April 3, 2010

Re: Heron Animation - My free stop-motion capture software and web app

Thanks!
I'm looking forward to read your feedback.


Update 1.1.0 :
Online web app : https://www.heronanimation.brick-a-brack.com/
Windows x64
Windows x32
MacOS
Linux x64
Linux x32

  • Added camera selection

  • Frame number in the framereel

  • Grid overlay

  • Aspect ratio mask

  • Speech synthesis

  • Speech recognition (activate it in the settings, then say "photo" to capture a frame. Doesn't seem to work in the offline versions. Other keywords : "next", "previous", "delete".)

  • Minor corrections and improvements.

Last edited by Aiwha (April 26, 2016 (02:23am))

Aiwha's Website

  • Location: Under a bridge
  • Joined: March 7, 2016

Re: Heron Animation - My free stop-motion capture software and web app

I just downloaded and tried your software, Aiwha. It's absolutely great! For so long I have been looking for a user-friendly free image capture software, and this one meets all my needs. Keep up the good work!

YouTube • THAC 2018 Entry • Flickr
  • Location: France
  • Joined: April 3, 2010

Re: Heron Animation - My free stop-motion capture software and web app

Thanks! If you wish a feature to be added, feel free to suggest it!

I updated the previous links to version 1.1.1, there were several bugs in version 1.1.0.

Aiwha's Website

  • Location: Under a bridge
  • Joined: March 7, 2016

Re: Heron Animation - My free stop-motion capture software and web app

Could you make it so the frames can be exported in .mov format? I can't drag movies with .webm format onto Premier Elements, but maybe I'm just doing something wrong. Also, will the software update itself, or will I have to delete and re-download it?

Last edited by Shawarma Studios (June 28, 2016 (08:41am))

YouTube • THAC 2018 Entry • Flickr
  • Location: France
  • Joined: April 3, 2010

Re: Heron Animation - My free stop-motion capture software and web app

.wav is a sound format, so I most probably can't.
.webm is good for online sharing, but it's not recognised by most editing programs.
I'm gonna make some research to see what formats I can provide for the export.

You can download a .zip with the individual frames and import the in Premiere Elements, though.

You have to re-download the new version and replace the older one. That's not very user-friendly, I'm going to try something to avoid that.

Aiwha's Website

  • Location: Under a bridge
  • Joined: March 7, 2016

Re: Heron Animation - My free stop-motion capture software and web app

Sorry, I meant .mov, my mistake. mini/tongue

Last edited by Shawarma Studios (April 30, 2016 (08:30am))

YouTube • THAC 2018 Entry • Flickr
  • Location: France
  • Joined: April 3, 2010

Re: Heron Animation - My free stop-motion capture software and web app

Update 1.1.2
Online web app : https://www.heronanimation.brick-a-brack.com/
Windows x64
Windows x32
MacOS
Linux x64
Linux x32

  • Added H.264 (MP4) export
    Added ProRes (MOV) export
    Added Xvid (AVI) export
    When an update is available, you will be notified in the software
    You can crop the H.264 or ProRes export to match the aspect ratio.
    Fixed a lot of bugs

There is still work to do on the export options (more settings, letterboxing…)
As usual there might be bugs, though I hope not.

Aiwha's Website

  • Location: France
  • Joined: April 3, 2010

Re: Heron Animation - My free stop-motion capture software and web app

Not an update, but I made a website for the software : https://www.heronanimation.brick-a-brack.com/
To access the webapp, you now have to click the "Try Now" button.
Download links are available on this page.

In other news, Heron Animation was used last weekend at a stop motion initiation workshop during a LEGO exhibition in France.
Here is Maxime Marion (creator of the Henri & Edmond series) and Alex (on of the two creators of Bestia) using it :

https://www.brick-a-brack.com/fichiers/uploads/documents/2/76A37A8479AD.jpg
https://www.brick-a-brack.com/fichiers/uploads/documents/2/5EBE1E585C48.jpg

Aiwha's Website

  • Location: Behind the Wal-Mart
  • Joined: June 18, 2011

Re: Heron Animation - My free stop-motion capture software and web app

Two problems.

First
http://i.imgur.com/ahWtoqa.png?1

Second, when I try to export anything except the individual frames, It always goes to %2000 percent. I go to the folder where I told it to save the file, and it's not there. Tried with the MP4 and AVI settings, and both aspect ratio options, but nothing.

uh oh!
  • Location: Under a bridge
  • Joined: March 7, 2016

Re: Heron Animation - My free stop-motion capture software and web app

Yeah, I have the same problem.

YouTube • THAC 2018 Entry • Flickr
  • Location: France
  • Joined: April 3, 2010

Re: Heron Animation - My free stop-motion capture software and web app

Thanks for your report.

There is currently a bug preventing the video export when using Windows 64 bits. I actually just fixed it, I'll soon upload an update.
And I'll fix this translation problem right now…

Aiwha's Website

  • Location: France
  • Joined: April 3, 2010

Re: Heron Animation - My free stop-motion capture software and web app

Update 1.1.3
Website/WebApp : https://www.heronanimation.brick-a-brack.com/
Windows x64
Windows x32
MacOS
Linux x64
Linux x32

Changelog

  • Fixed Windows 64bits export

  • Cleaned up the UI.

Known bug :
Cropping the images when exporting doesn't result in the same ratio as the preview.

Planned next :
More export settings
Save/Load project

Aiwha's Website

  • Location: The Shire
  • Joined: June 28, 2015

Re: Heron Animation - My free stop-motion capture software and web app

This looks really good. I think I will give it a go. mini/smile

YouTube

https://i.imgur.com/mjjp8lQ.png
  • Location: Cyberspace
  • Joined: April 12, 2012

Re: Heron Animation - My free stop-motion capture software and web app

Hey, the more the merrier! Biscuit, Boats, and Heron all look promising. mini/smile

My life goes by 24fps.
Another free stopmotion program? Possibly! View here! http://www.bricksinmotion.com/forums/po … 6/#p274396

CyberCom's Website

  • Location: Under a bridge
  • Joined: March 7, 2016

Re: Heron Animation - My free stop-motion capture software and web app

Ran into a bug today. I was opening the software as usual and the screen was frozen white for about 30 seconds. When it finally loaded, the options menu said "select video device" even though my c910 was connected. I exited out and reopened the application again, only to have the same issue. Another thing is, it usually automatically connects to my Skype camera every time I open it, but this was also not working.

I'm going to delete and re-download the application and see what happens.

Edit: Still won't work.

Last edited by Shawarma Studios (September 24, 2016 (08:48am))

YouTube • THAC 2018 Entry • Flickr
  • Location: France
  • Joined: April 3, 2010

Re: Heron Animation - My free stop-motion capture software and web app

Hum, that's interesting.

Does the same issue happen if you try the online version ?

Aiwha's Website