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	If a PC can play videos on blu-ray disks, then it can easily make stop motion animation with high picture quality by compiling many still images taken by a digital camera. Mr. K, one of our associates involved in Pioneer’s BD drive business, was a member of the independent film club during his university days, and his recent holiday project was making stop motion animation with his children. According to Mr. K, this hobby is helping him communicate better with his kids. On successive holidays, rather than going out to heavily trafficked recreation areas, they stayed at home and had a great time making animation films. According to Mr. K, his kids were delighted, even if it didn’t go over too well with his wife. Mr. K’s stop motion work with figures from the popular animated TV series “Gundam” as well as a multitude of other stop motion films can be found on popular video sharing sites such as YouTube by searching for “stop motion animation.” It is a craft with a global following, as can be seen from the comments and viewer data accompanying the videos. When we asked Mr. K how he makes such animated films, his explanation proved that it was surprisingly easy:
	Learn how Mr. K makes stop motion animation!
	1.	Get a digital camera. Two million pixels should do (because the resolution of high-definition video is around two million pixels), but if you think you might need to trim later, use the highest resolution you can use with your memory card.
	2.	Make a stage. Cover part of a table or floor with a packaging box and/or boards with pictures and/or photos attached (this will be the background/setting). You can also use the corner of a room.
	3.	Fix your camera. The recommended way is to put a double-sided tape under the digital camera and attaching it to a surface so that it doesn’t move. Mr. K’s child came up with this idea---it’s actually more stable than using a tripod.
	4.	Shine light on the stage as needed. Using only one kind of incandescent lamp or white fluorescent light is recommended. When lights from different light sources mix together, the same color may not always be obtained with some digital cameras.
	5.	Shoot a frame with every move of a figure, mini car(s), or plastic model.
	6.	After you have taken a fair number of photos, transfer the still images to your computer. Load them into the video editing software for testing. Of course, a high-spec computer is preferable---this process is easy if your computer has specifications that support BD playback. Reducing the size of the images can make loading smooth.
	7.	In the video editing software, set the display time per still image.
	8.	According to Mr. K, he generally uses 3 to 15 pictures per second. The more the pictures used per second the smoother the movie becomes, but his kids get bored if the work takes too long. Besides, the story is more important than smooth moves.
	9.	Using the video editing software, adjust the time by inserting the same picture multiple times or by cutting out unnecessary parts.
	10.	Add sound effects (they should be copyright-free!) and/or captions.
	11.	Finally, publish the video.
	12.	Reload the published video in the video editing software, and add BGM and sound effects wherever you feel it is necessary. This process can be endless.
	Mr. K says that even after you’re finished, when you sleep on it, you discover parts of the movie that you want to fix. It takes forever to complete the film because you keep tinkering with it. By this time, vast amounts of pictures have been taken. Mr. K saves one animation title, along with all the original images, to each BD-R. When he really likes a film, he uploads it to video sharing sites. Pioneer’s BD-Rs play a big part in the making of stop motion animation, which produce immense amounts of data that are more than a DVD can handle and that fill up hard drives in no time.
	We would like to introduce some of the animations produced by participants of the stop motion animation class for which Mr. K was the instructor. If you are interested, visit the webpage below.
	■Digest of animations produced by elementary school students* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0K6Njx5pS5s (When you access this content you will be leaving the Pioneer website. Pioneer is not responsible for the content on third-party websites.) * Please note that we cannot answer any inquiries with regards to site information, products, or services that are beyond what is covered on this website. Please directly inquire with the provider of the relevant product or service.