Using a web cam with traditional animation

[WillW]

Most of you may already know this but for those who probably use a scanner to get their rough tests into their computer, this can really help you out.
You can get hand drawn animated frames into your computer quicker by using a web cam. It will require some additional software, any stop motion animation program should do it. The program should enable you to capture frames just by tapping a button on the keyboard. So you end up with this kind of set up.

(apologies for the poor quality image)
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y7/tyokio/examplesetup.jpg

You could make a structure like that out of wood but it could also be easily made using make shift materials... for example, two tall piles of books and a pole of some sort. Either that or you could stick it to your wall and point it at an angle, just a couple of botch job suggestions :D

The stop motion program part is optional, you can get image capturing software which does the trick, It just feels more convenient to just press a button.

I tried a few pieces of software that worked well but I found that Cellsofts Take5 program worked really well for me. (link) (http://www.cellsoft.be/product/index.html) though mines a trial of version 1.02 which wasn’t limited by a 30 day trial but v1.3 seems to now have that limitation. The full license is £299 ($392.08) which I think is a bit much for what it does really.

A scanner is still recommended for final quality pencil tests due to the higher resolution and quality.


If any one knows of any other software that does this exact thing (either cheaper or free programs) then I would like to know about them : D

[Snapai]

I used to use something similar - an old videocamera on a tripod, wedged in the frame from an old dollar-store "portable closet" which had been coaxed into fitting around my animation table. Used a couple big rubberbands to keep the tripod legs together so they wouldn't hit me in the head while drawing on the table XD

[Regan]

Can you use a digital camera to do this? Maybe it can be controlled through the usb cable?

Then you could get larger images for HD or whatever.

[WillW]

You can use video cameras for that purpose if you have a fire wire connection. I havent tried that method as I dont have a camera that supports fire wire. there have been tutorials flying around about how to make a digital camera act as a web cam but I havent found one that works with mine. the best I have, web cam wise, is a playstation 2 camera so it doesnt capture at a good quality.

[Regan]

You can use video cameras for that purpose if you have a fire wire connection. I havent tried that method as I dont have a camera that supports fire wire. there have been tutorials flying around about how to make a digital camera act as a web cam but I havent found one that works with mine. the best I have, web cam wise, is a playstation 2 camera so it doesnt capture at a good quality.

When I get home tonight I'll mess around with mine and see if it works.

There was a stop motion program I saw somewhere online...I'll try to find it...

[Regan]

Here's the software: http://www.ikitmovie.com/

It looks pretty good for $50.

[WillW]

looks good, seems like it only plays things at 15fps though which will make timing the animation a little tricky D:

[lavallelee]

lol, awesome set up very inventive

im going to pick up flipbook pro and a scanner, when i move into my new place

from what i hear, flipbook actually see's the pegs on scanned paper and aligns it for you

right now, im using a camera on a tripod to get my images from paper to computer, its really a hassle :(

[WillW]

if you got one of those multi scanner things then that combined with flip book pro would make an awsome combination.. its a shame multi scanners are so expensive though :C.

[lavallelee]

multi scanner? you mean printer, scanner, copier and fax machines?

[Regan]

multi scanner? you mean printer, scanner, copier and fax machines?

He means a sheet-feeder I'm pretty sure.

[lavallelee]

that would be awesome!! :D

[WillW]

nah, its just a normal scanner but it automaticly scans multiple images so you can quickly scan 100s of frames. We had one at uni and it was a life saver.. but frames whould allways be out of line so you would have to re arrange them afterwards.

(edit) Didnt know what it was called, but yeah a sheet feeder.

[JayTea]

One button image capture with a scanner is possible - and can be cheep too.

I found a scanner at a second-hand store for $13 ( others there were less than $10 ).
I got the more expensive one because it can scan slides. The scanner I found was a Microtek Scanmaker 5900 (http://support.microtek.com/product_dtl_2.phtml?prod_id=17).

Many scanners, like this one, come with several buttons, one or more of which can be "programmed". Just pressing the button will scan at my preset resolution, cropping, color, contrast and save the numbered image.

Setting up an older scanner with a newer OS can be tricky. Mine was bundled with drivers originally made to work with Win98. It did not work properly on XP until I found updated drivers on the manufacturer's web site. You would most likely need to get the drivers for a second hand scanner off the web anyway.

As far as cheep software, If you are handy with MS-DOS batch files or VBS scripting, there is IfranView (http://www.irfanview.com/) which is a Windows photo browser/manipulation application that can be controlled from the command line (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_line). One of those commands allows you to "snap" a picture from most any TWAIN (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TWAIN) imaging device you have installed on your machine - including web cams and digital cameras. It doesn't work with all, you would just have to try it. It largely depends on the TWAIN driver that came with your imaging device.

IfranView appears to be "Donation Ware" - the programmer is only asking you to donate, thus essentially free if you choose.

[feliceworkshop]

HHmm....interesting set up but how do you deal with the camera getting in and out of focus while adding sheets under it?... I'm asking this question because when the camera goes out of focus and then back again into focus changes the scale of the drawing in the camera framing.....:rolleyes:
Perhaps something of this sort is preferable when running quick pencil tests?....

[Hana]

HHmm....interesting set up but how do you deal with the camera getting in and out of focus while adding sheets under it?... I'm asking this question because when the camera goes out of focus and then back again into focus changes the scale of the drawing in the camera framing.....:rolleyes:
Perhaps something of this sort is preferable when running quick pencil tests?....

If you're camera is capable of it and I noticed a lot of newer cameras don't(oddly enough) you can often set the focus manually so that it won't change all the time.

[WillW]

I remember having difficulties with cameras that would auto focus in school, If you can set the focus manually then your good to go. If not then I'm not really sure what can be done. My ones a playstation 2 web cam so you have to set the focus manually by rotating the piece of plastic round the lense. Its a shame newer cameras are being built with out manual focus though, guess their aiming more for the general user these days.

[DNethery]

Web cams will work, but often the focus is a problem (if you can't disable the auto-focus it will constantly "search" for focus and your frames may be alternately in and out of focus).

A pretty good webcam for pencil testing is the UniBrain Fire-I (http://www.unibrain.com/Products/VisionImg/Fire_i_DC.htm) web cam. I've also used the Apple iSight (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ISights.jpg) camera (now no longer made) . The UniBrain Fire-i and the iSight are good because the White Balance, Exposure, Focus can all be manually adjusted.

The big problem I have web cams is that even the best of them tend to have low-res. fuzzy image quality. (with any type of camera always use as much bright , diffused lighting as possible to eliminate hotspots and shadows on the surface of the drawings.)

A better solution is to use a B&W CCD video camera that are typically used as "security cameras" . These cameras can often be found on eBay or at electronics surplus stores fairly cheap (between $40.00 - $50.00 , sometimes as hight as $100.00 - $120.00 if it's a newer model in good shape.) . The picture quality is much better. Be sure you get one with an manually adjustable iris so you can adjust the exposure , and manual focus adjustment. (ask first before you buy). Look for one with S-Video out as S-Video is better quality than BNC composite connector out. When buying one make sure the LENS is included. (sometimes they sell just the camera body, with the lens being a separate item.)

Here's an example of what they look like:

http://alpinealarms.com/store/shopexd.asp?id=115

http://www.camtechsurveillance.com/cotp.html

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_jL0PYTVd-Zs/SfiBVSypntI/AAAAAAAAAxU/NQEwW-sCdT0/s400/Pencil_Test_Setup.jpg

One thing to keep in mind about these type of cameras is that you'll probably need some sort of adapter cable to hook it up to your computer. Check with Radio Shack. You'll want something that will go from BNC out or S-Video out to your computer. The adapter cable will probably be the hardest thing to find.

Anyway, if you compare the image quality between a pencil test shot with a common web cam and one of these B&W security cameras it's like night and day .

[WillW]

We used to have some of those at our school, thought they looked an awful lot like security cameras. They took them away because people kept breaking the wires.. replaced them with awful auto focusing web cams.

[WillW]

Web cams will work, but often the focus is a problem (if you can't disable the auto-focus it will constantly "search" for focus and your frames may be alternately in and out of focus).

A pretty good webcam for pencil testing is the UniBrain Fire-I (http://www.unibrain.com/Products/VisionImg/Fire_i_DC.htm) web cam. I've also used the Apple iSight (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ISights.jpg) camera (now no longer made) . The UniBrain Fire-i and the iSight are good because the White Balance, Exposure, Focus can all be manually adjusted.

The big problem I have web cams is that even the best of them tend to have low-res. fuzzy image quality. (with any type of camera always use as much bright , diffused lighting as possible to eliminate hotspots and shadows on the surface of the drawings.)

A better solution is to use a B&W CCD video camera that are typically used as "security cameras" . These cameras can often be found on eBay or at electronics surplus stores fairly cheap (between $40.00 - $50.00 , sometimes as hight as $100.00 - $120.00 if it's a newer model in good shape.) . The picture quality is much better. Be sure you get one with an manually adjustable iris so you can adjust the exposure , and manual focus adjustment. (ask first before you buy). Look for one with S-Video out as S-Video is better quality than BNC composite connector out. When buying one make sure the LENS is included. (sometimes they sell just the camera body, with the lens being a separate item.)

Here's an example of what they look like:

http://alpinealarms.com/store/shopexd.asp?id=115

http://www.camtechsurveillance.com/cotp.html

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_jL0PYTVd-Zs/SfiBVSypntI/AAAAAAAAAxU/NQEwW-sCdT0/s400/Pencil_Test_Setup.jpg

One thing to keep in mind about these type of cameras is that you'll probably need some sort of adapter cable to hook it up to your computer. Check with Radio Shack. You'll want something that will go from BNC out or S-Video out to your computer. The adapter cable will probably be the hardest thing to find.

Anyway, if you compare the image quality between a pencil test shot with a common web cam and one of these B&W security cameras it's like night and day .

I was looking around today to find an analog to digital converter and came across this thing (link) (http://www.homesecuritystore.com/ezstore123/DTProductZoom.asp?productID=1795&TXREFID=Nextag&zmam=55691497&zmas=1&zmac=4&zmap=AD02A) I was wandering if that would work at all. I only have analog cameras around :C.

or even this thing (link) (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/USB-2-0-VHS-to-DVD-Converter-Adapter-VIDEO-CAPTURE-CARD_W0QQitemZ220406471118QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Co mputing_LaptopAccess_RL?hash=item220406471118&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1683|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A2|240%3A13 18|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A24)

[Dave]

I was looking around today to find an analog to digital converter and came across this thing (link) (http://www.homesecuritystore.com/ezstore123/DTProductZoom.asp?productID=1795&TXREFID=Nextag&zmam=55691497&zmas=1&zmac=4&zmap=AD02A) I was wandering if that would work at all. I only have analog cameras around :C.

or even this thing (link) (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/USB-2-0-VHS-to-DVD-Converter-Adapter-VIDEO-CAPTURE-CARD_W0QQitemZ220406471118QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Co mputing_LaptopAccess_RL?hash=item220406471118&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1683|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A2|240%3A13 18|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A24)

Why not scan your drawings into the computer using Digicel's Flipbook program? A scanned image will give you a greater resolution and a sharper line to work with. There's a free version of Flipbook here; the only thing is it has a watermark in the freeware.
Furthermore, with flipbook, all your drawings are automatically registered when you scan the drawings. The software looks for the peg holes.

[JasonCampbell]

I think there are a couple of schools of thoughts here. While there is no argument that a scanned drawing is a higher resolution and a better result the camera setup is actually more ideal for a pencil test.

The camera setup would not be the solution for finale shot output, but having to go through a scan cycle for each drawing just to check the animation would be a bit draining.

For the competition I expect I will be doing a few pencil tests for myself and a scan run for anything I submit for review.

My two cents.

J.

[WillW]

Scanning the frames works, but if you have lots and lots of frames you can end up dedicating a lot of time just to get them in the computer. The scanning process itself takes up most of the time, even on a low DPI setting. If you have a good enough camera there is software that allows you to capture frames by pressing a button, and it instantly captures that frame. If you place all your frames on a peg bar under the camera it keeps everything in place so little re-arranging needs to be done.

It saves the pain of spending a while scanning lots of frames to find in the end that there are errors. The camera method still takes quite a while but because frames can be put straight into the computer it can speed things up. It does require a good camera though, a web cam is good for testing but not so good quality wise. With out a good camera you're best method of getting a high quality image is using the scanning method.

[DNethery]

Why not scan your drawings into the computer using Digicel's Flipbook program? A scanned image will give you a greater resolution and a sharper line to work with.


Yes, it is true that a scanned image will give a better image quality overall.

But the whole point of using a video downshooter is for speed in checking the animation on rough tests. As the first post in this thread said:

"Most of you may already know this but for those who probably use a scanner to get their hand drawn frames into their computer, this can really help you out. You can get hand drawn animated frames into your computer a lot faster by using a web cam. It will require some additional software, any stop motion animation program should do it. The program should enable you to capture frames just by tapping a button on the keyboard."

After the rough test is approved the drawings can be scanned for a higher quality "pencil test" . And of course the final images that will be colored should be scanned in high resolution (300 dpi or higher) . But it's better if even the rough test can be as high quality as possible, which is why good lighting should be used and the best quality video camera (such as a B&W CCD security camera with higher lines of resolution) should be used for video pencil tests.

"Furthermore, with flipbook, all your drawings are automatically registered when you scan the drawings. The software looks for the peg holes."

True, but the last I checked the AUTO SCAN feature in Digicel Flipbook Studio was still an extra feature (http://www.digicelinc.com/educationalpricing.htm) that costs $50.00. I think AUTO SCAN is included as part of the Digicel Flipbook PRO package.

Auto Scan is worth the $50.00 to be able to utilize an Auto Document Feed scanner if you are scanning a lot of drawings.

[WillW]

After the rough test is approved the drawings can be scanned for a higher quality "pencil test" . And of course the final images that will be colored should be scanned in high resolution (300 dpi or higher) . But it's better if even the rough test can be as high quality as possible, which is why good lighting should be used and the best quality video camera (such as a B&W CCD security camera with higher lines of resolution) should be used for video pencil tests.

I should edit that really, you dont mind if I quote that in the Origional post?