Wellington author’s new ebook a guide to movie animation

Wellington author’s new ebook is a ‘how to’ guide to movie animation

10 February 2014

For immediate release
The most comprehensive guide on how to create animated stop motion movies on an iPad has been released by Wellington author Craig Lauridsen, and can be used as part of the school curriculum.

The guide, in ebook form, is the first of its kind in the world, with audio and images compiled solely on an iPad. It teaches hopeful animators how to weave together story, pictures and sound to create amazing stop motion animations right from the iPad.

With more than 230 pages of instructions, tips, examples and flow chart diagrams, the book is designed to assist in mastering the art of stop motion. It also includes 26 movies, 23 sounds and about 500 images.

“This is not just a ‘how to’ book, it is a ‘show me how’ book outlining a low-budget way of achieving quite cool movie effects,” Mr Lauridsen says.

For the past five years, Mr Lauridsen has been teaching children how to make movies and stop motion, through the Newtown Movie School. He spent the past two of these years compiling the book, entitled iPad animation – how to make stop motion movies on the iPad with iStopMotion, GarageBand, and iMovie.

Stop-motion is an animation technique which makes static objects appear to move when individual objects are quickly viewed consequently. Objects are moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement. Lego and Plasticine are popular choices for stop motion.

Many movies use time lapse, where pictures are taken at regular intervals and sped up on playback.

The interactive ebook, especially written for use on an iPad, outlines how to use iStop Motion to record pictures, and GarageBand to record dialogue and music, all on a low-budget. It has made it to #1 Top Paid Books in the category "Arts & Entertainment" at the US iBook store.

Mr Lauridsen says the book is a great guide for teachers, parents or children who want to produce their own stop motion movies, and says schools will benefit from using iPads creatively in the classroom by making stop-motion movies.

“We’ve had teachers tell us that their board has purchased a suite of iPads, and now they have to prove to parents that they are a benefit to leaning, and not just a browsing device,” Mr Lauridsen says.

“Children are great at making stop motion movies. As teachers, we find the best way to solve most challenges on an affordable budget, but to a standard that is the highest quality that can be achieved.”

All music was created by Island Bay musician Theo Corfiatis entirely on the iPad. Upon purchase and registration of the book, access is given to download all of the soundtracks used in the book ( high quality MP3 and unlocked fully editable GarageBand files) at no extra cost.

For a limited time an additional 15 free original soundtracks can be downloaded as a bonus.

Those wanting to license use of additional copies of the soundtracks can do so through the book’s website ipad animation.

The stop motion clips, which are embedded in the ebook, were edited on an iPad using Apple’s filmmaking software iMovie. The ebook embeds video clips, such as a water cycle project using origami .

“This book outlines the best way to solve most challenges on an affordable budget, but to a standard that is the highest quality that can be achieved,” Mr Lauridsen says.

The book is available for download with iBooks on a Mac or iPad, and with iTunes on a computer.

ENDS

© Scoop Media