Windows Computer system recommendation:
Windows 7 and Windows 8 and Windows 10
2 + Ghz CPU
2 GB + meg RAM
20 Gig hard drive space
Stop Motion Pro can work on Mac if Apple Bootcamp and a version of Windows is installed.
Capture devices - capturing frames with Stop Motion Pro.
Eclipse and Eclipse SD editions:
Stop Motion Pro can work with a range of capture devices:
- Digital Video (DV) camera and Firewire connection to PC.
- Webcam (We recommend Microsoft cameras)
- Analogue video camera and analogue video capture card
- Directory Scan ideal for use with scanners and digital still cameras than can save images directly to a directory.
Eclipse edition:
- Canon and Nikon DSLRs (Digital Single Lens Reflex cameras)
- BlackMagic video capture
Notes on video capture:
DV / Firewire
We recommend that you capture with a DV camera and a firewire connection. Any generic Firewire card will be fine (even the ones that cost under USD $30).
We use Sony and Panasonic cameras and they have proved very good. You budget will dictate what you can afford! The 3CCD chip cameras are the best, and you need one that lets you manually control the exposure and focus (this lets you prevent the camera changing settings from one frame to the next).
Analogue video capture
If you have a DVD or SD camera, or wish to connect via an analogue video signal, we recommend the SMP Video adapter.
You can test other cards using the free trial version of Stop Motion Pro. A tutorial using a web cam which connects in a similar way to an analogue capture card is available in the tutorial section of our website.
Digital still camera / DSLR (non Canon or Nikon)
Many digital still cameras will let you connect and capture directly to your PC. Please refer to the manufactures instructions regarding this. If you have a camera that will do this, set Stop Motion Pro to scan the directory on your computer that the images are being saved to. We call this mode of working "Directory Scan". As each image is captured to your computer, Stop Motion Pro will add them to your animation sequence. You can still use onionskinning and other tools that need live video by having a video source connected (such as a webcam or DV cam), using a mode called "video assist" - this is explained in the tutorial section of our website.
Canon or Nikon DSLR
Canon and Nikon DSLRs can be controlled directly from Stop Motion Pro. Canon or Nikon PC remote control software is not required, because Stop Motion Pro can control the capture and downloading of images. Use Canon or Nikon DSLRs in conjunction with a web cam, analogue video camera or DV camera to enable video assist mode in more detail in the tutorial section of our website.
Directory Scan
Set Stop Motion Pro to scan the directory on your computer that the images from a scanner or digital still camera are being saved to. As each image is captured to your computer, Stop Motion Pro will add them to your animation sequence. This mode is called Directory Scan.