Viewing Animation

[dartzy]

Hi All.

I was wondering if anyone knew of software or any suggestions to view animation clips and films in slow motion? I use to have (I think I still do) a 8mm projector and some movies and I would watch animation in slow motion that way..the projector I had was a editing machine and was hand cranked. In this new age of technology, any one seen or know of something you can use in the same way? It would be great to watch some of the many clips on YouTube or any of the other video sites this way...anybody??
Thanks,

Kelley

[TimothyB]

It's kind of difficult to have an all in one app due to so many types of video and one that is free.

When I usually need to modify a video in some way, VirtualDub, or VirtualDubMod comes in handy. It's mostly for modifying avi files, but can often import mpeg files, and with a little luck and plug-ins, actual quicktime files. Not at home right now to test files from youtube.

It's a very very small app, opens instantly, doesn't need to be installed. You open a video, from there you can adjust the framerate to anything you want (not sure what happens to audio). You can preview that in the app, but not full screen. You could select part of the clip, or delete areas, then export it as a new video. Choose something like divx. You can also apply other filters, like adjustment levels to brighten a scene.

It does kind of show the original video on the left, and filtered video on right, but the framerate change effects both sides. Playing just the left side has an odd dither, but hit the play button that does both sides at one, the color then appears fine.

[Rodney]

Kelley,
For those serious about the digital aspects of animation I can wholeheartedly recommend one single product to fill in the gaps between codecs, screen capture, video analysis and publishing, 'Camtasia Studio' by Techsmith (http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.asp).

The ability to screen capture is an essential for artists and animators these days and one of the benefits is that you can easily scrub through the video you've captured.

At $299 it's not cheap but those who have a real need will find the program well worth the price of admission. I delayed purchasing the program for several years due to its price (Hey... I'm cheap!) but wish I'd have just saved my pennies and bought it before when I had that compeling need. Timing is everything.

If working digitally screencapture is an essential need.

Note: This is a different product than the open source 'Camstudio (http://camstudio.org/)' which I estimate gives you 1/10th of Camtasia's capabilities. If you haven't tried it though it may fit your basic needs on the cheap.

Also: There is a new version of Camtasia for the Mac but I have no reference point to compare it to the PC version.

[jeremyhopkins]

Quicktime works great and it allows you to step through the video. You'll have to use an older version than the Snow Leopard one though. Apple updated quicktime in Snow Leopard and removed most of the handy features for animation. If you go into window -> a/v controls, there's an option to watch video at various speeds or you can you use the arrow keys to step frame by frame through video. Hope that helps!

[lavallelee]

I use quicktime too, I never used to like it, but since joining here I have changed my mind and see the benefits. :D

[danparkerstudios]

Here's what I have.

There's Windows Movie Make. I use that program to turn my AVI files into WMV files and make my music videos. On it, play a video and keep clicking on the next frame button or the previous frame button.

I also use Adobe Premire. Use the same buttons as well.

[dartzy]

Thanks so much everyone who made suggestions to view animation clips. I was simply curious as to what was available and what everyone else used. There are more suggestions than I expected. I think I will look into the Quicktime idea. Seems to be the cheapest...but if anyone else has any ideas- keep 'em coming.

Kelley :)

Jeremy,
Do you have the pro version? Cause the one I have now doesn't let you do anything but view.
and fyi- I have a Mac and haven't upgraded yet from Tiger

[jeremyhopkins]

I have both the pro and free version. If you have quicktime 7.0, you should have the ability to frame by frame and toggle the slow down in the free version. The pro version adds more features like export, flip, and basic editing features but it shouldn't be required.

If you need to grab the older versions of quicktime, you can snag them here:http://www.oldversion.com/QuickTime.html

Then under window->show a/v controls and in the bottom right hand corner there is slider. Slide it back to 1/2 speed and it should automatically play at half speed. You can also use the Jog Shuffle in the bottom left hand corner and that will do a similar thing.

[DNethery]

If you need to grab the older versions of quicktime, you can snag them here:http://www.oldversion.com/QuickTime.html


Great link ! Thank you for posting.

Quicktime PRO was (is) great for viewing and quick editing of pencil tests and other movies. Up until Version 7.6 Quicktime was wonderful, but now Apple has ruined it (especially for animation purposes) with the new Quicktime X in Snow Leopard.

The most irritating thing about Snow Leopard is that even if you have QT 7.6 installed the default player is the new Quicktime X and you have to consciously remember to drag QT files to QT 7.6 in the Dock so they open in QT 7.6 instead of Quicktime X . There is apparently no way to disable or over-ride Quicktime X.

So if you've got Quicktime 7.6 then back it up to a bootable drive ! QT X is worthless.

[WillW]

Great link ! Thank you for posting.

Quicktime PRO was (is) great for viewing and quick editing of pencil tests and other movies. Up until Version 7.6 Quicktime was wonderful, but now Apple has ruined it (especially for animation purposes) with the new Quicktime X in Snow Leopard.

The most irritating thing about Snow Leopard is that even if you have QT 7.6 installed the default player is the new Quicktime X and you have to consciously remember to drag QT files to QT 7.6 in the Dock so they open in QT 7.6 instead of Quicktime X . There is apparently no way to disable or over-ride Quicktime X.

So if you've got Quicktime 7.6 then back it up to a bootable drive ! QT X is worthless.

That sounds really annoying that they force you to use the up to date player, I guess its not the same as in windows where you can right click files and select the program that opens that particular file type.

I've only recently been introduced to the frame by frame viewing of animations in quicktime but I will certainly be using it to view professional animations for study.

[DNethery]

That sounds really annoying that they force you to use the up to date player, I guess its not the same as in windows where you can right click files and select the program that opens that particular file type.



You can do that on a Mac too for any program (right click and select Open With ...) except now if I right click on a QT .mov file QT 7.6 is NOT in the drop down list of available applications , only the new QT X . (oddly enough other non-Apple apps like VLC and Real Player do appear in the list , but they've made it so QT X over-rides QT 7.6 . It's very annoying.

[jeremyhopkins]

Actually VLC (http://www.videolan.org/vlc/) works as a great alternative to quicktime and its freeware. Quicktime 7 still has a better step feature and it's made to do basic drag and drop editing which is perfect for finding out if your shot hooks up.
While playing a video in vlc, if you press the + or - key it'll speed up or slow down the video. Then you can step forward by pressing 'e' on the pc at least.. you might have to check the shortcuts for the mac. If you enable advanced settings in the menu, you'll get a second row of buttons that has step, take a screenshot and other features. If you just want to frame through video and you're looking for a 100% free option, VLC might be your best best. It works on everything too - PC, MAC, and Linux