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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Hi. I've for long time been suffering about camera bumps. I have no remote control for my camera, and when I take picture with my camera, it moves a bit. That makes the video look like shaky and it doesn't look great.
Is there way to avoid this without remote control?
And btw, sorry if my English is bad, it's not my mother tongue 
What sort of camera do you have?
It is nearly impossibly to prevent camera bumps if you are touching your camera every frame, basicly you would need a very heavy tripod and a very sturdy tripod head. I have found the gentlest way on my Canon SL1 is using the touch screen to take the photos, you can touch it very lightly but I still would not use that for animation.
If you have a Canon or Nikon you can use Dragonframe or the cameras tethering software to capture the image directly on your computer. If software tethering is not an option do some research and see if any remote shutter release is being sold for your camera, I find corded shutter releases to be better then cordless but both should do the trick.
What sort of camera do you have?
It is nearly impossibly to prevent camera bumps if you are touching your camera every frame, basicly you would need a very heavy tripod and a very sturdy tripod head. I have found the gentlest way on my Canon SL1 is using the touch screen to take the photos, you can touch it very lightly but I still would not use that for animation.
If you have a Canon or Nikon you can use Dragonframe or the cameras tethering software to capture the image directly on your computer. If software tethering is not an option do some research and see if any remote shutter release is being sold for your camera, I find corded shutter releases to be better then cordless but both should do the trick.
I have Sony HDR-CX115E, it's video camera. I try to touch the camera very lightly, because I have touch screen in it too 
I checked is there any remotes for my camera, and I found one, but it costs almost $200 
There is also one, what isn't made by Sony, and it's compatible with my camera, and it costs $20 I'm not sure is it really compatible, or is he just trying to get my money.
Is this the remote you are talking about, it looks like it is working for the one customer who reviewed it. If you can buy the remote from a reputable site (like Amazon) where you could get a refund for a falsely advertised product you should be in the clear.
The reason the Sony remote costs so much is it probably stopped being produced, and then it became rare and the price kept raising for the few that are still on the market.
Is this the remote you are talking about, it looks like it is working for the one customer who reviewed it. If you can buy the remote from a reputable site (like Amazon) where you could get a refund for a falsely advertised product you should be in the clear.
The reason the Sony remote costs so much is it probably stopped being produced, and then it became rare and the price kept raising for the few that are still on the market.
This was exactly the remote I am talking about Thank you for replying
Your welcome, by the way you don't need to quote what you are replying to if there haven't been any other replies separating your answer
and also welcome to Bricks In Motion Ovays!
For my film How to Not Rob a Bank I animated the entire film without a remote by touching the camera every frame. Bank is mostly without bumps, however, there still are some points where I did bump it, but was too lazy to restart the shot, so instead I animated a smooth short slide to hide the bumps. However, this only happens two or three times throughout the video.
For most of the film I just had the camera set directly onto the set, or simply at level with the set. Since my camera was relatively heavy, its position was generally sturdy enough. I then quite carefully used pressed the button atop the camera to capture frames.
Another important detail is to give your camera a short timer. This way, you can withdraw your arm from the camera and it will not cause inconsistencies in the light. This is something that happens very often if one captures by touching the camera.
The timer is also essential for situations where the camera is mounted atop a tripod. When it's on a tripod, touching the camera, even slightly, will bump it and cause it to shake. However, so long as it has a timer, the shake will finish and the camera will return to its default position before it takes the picture so long as it's only a light touch and nothing too serious.
It does require some skill, and it is not optimal, but animating without a remote is still possible.
While I do have Dragonframe to take shots remotely, I've been wondering how one would go about refocusing during a shot - for like a focus pull or something - while not bumping the camera. Granted, I don't have any lenses optimal for stop motion yet (I'm getting the Micro Nikkor 55mm in a little bit), so does turning the focusing ring without bumping the camera become a non-issue with one of those lenses?
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