Claymation - Easy to Make Stop Motion Animation for Everyone

Claymation is one of the oldest and most loved forms of stop motion animation. So you want to try to make your own classic?

Why not try our software - it's Easy - Click Here

First things first..

Don't be tempted to launch into your claymation movie without any plan. First you need a storyline for your claymation.

Claymation Storyline

Although it is very tempting to launch straight into your claymation character and movie set, it is the wrong place to start. First consider your story. The story is the most important part of any claymation, as it is with any movie. Just jot down some ideas as an outline for what you want to happen in the movie and from there you can create a storyline. Once you have the storyline you can create the dialogue.

You will find then that your claymation characters may need to be amended to evoke mood to fit the story.

Making the effort at the beginning to create a storyline (while it may be a discipline to some) will not take from the enjoyment of creating the claymation. You can let your imagination run wild once filming starts to mould the movie to entertain more and more while keeping the basis of your storyline intact.

Claymation Characters.

(Watch some movies made with iKITMovie)

The number of characters and how they appear in your claymation will of course depend on the storyline you have created. Normally you will have a hero/ heroine / main character. So lets assume you have a handful of claymation characters. If you are new to stop motion animation then keep the characters simple. There is no need for armature or complex and detailed body or facial features. Take Aardmans "Purple and Brown" for example. See how basic these characters appear. Yet they can are very effective.

The Best Clay to Use

Oil based clay is a must for claymation. Water based cheap clays will crack and crumble too much when trying to animate. An example of a good oil based clay is Van Aken claytoons clay. It's not expensive and comes in all colors you can imagine. You can always blend colors together to make new colors if needed.

Equipment for Claymation.

You will need a digital still camera or a good quality webcamera and of course some iKITMovie animation software. Also you will need at least one desklamp or source of light.

Claymation Lighting

The basic guidelines for lighting any claymation movie is have plenty of consistent light available. By consistent I mean a light source that will not change over the time you are capturing your images. So sunlight is generally not the best form of light to use for animation as clouds and objects will cast shadows during your moviemaking. Stop motion will look really bad with light flicker caused by different light levels between frames. So close the blinds and use a desklamp or even a few desklamps to light up your characters and set. For information on the classic "3 Point lighting system" click here.

The Set for your Claymation.

This does not need to be elaborate when starting out. Often a white backdrop with a few props in the foreground are enough. When you get more confident you can make furniture out of cardboard and paint or color it with details to further enhance the claymation movie.

Claymation, Clay Animation Software for Children

Dialogue

The best approach and the one most commonly used in any stop motion or animation movies is to record the dialogue first. With this approach you end up with a full story in audio to which you then animate your characters. It is a very good method and we recommend it as the best way to animate.
In your first claymation movies it may not be necessary to create mouth pieces for you characters when they are talking. It may simply be enough to have the character move their heads and maybe their hands to indicate they are talking. When you get good at it you can move on to making mouthpieces which you swap in to simulate the characters mouth moving.