Building An Animation Camera Stand

[Herb Montes]

Thought I would show you the animation stand I just assembled to hold my 16mm Mitchell camera to film hand drawn animation. Made mostly of slotted steel angle and other hardware pieces. Cost around $100 in parts. Being out here in the boonies I don't have access to an Oxberry but this will do just fine for what I need. I built something like this back in the early 70's to hold my first Bolex when I got into 16mm and animation.

[Super8rules]

Very nice. I would powder coat it black.

[Jim Carlile]

Very cool. Did you get it from a DIY project somewnere or is it totally custom?-- and the Mitchell, how is that working out? Where'd you get ahold of it?

Everytime I drive by the old Mitchell factory on San Fernando Rd. in Glendale I sigh-- it was an amazing place-- like a huge loading dock full of the greatest craftsmen-- you could look in and see all these guys at their worktables, with parts all over the place.

[Herb Montes]

Very cool. Did you get it from a DIY project somewnere or is it totally custom?-- and the Mitchell, how is that working out? Where'd you get ahold of it?

Everytime I drive by the old Mitchell factory on San Fernando Rd. in Glendale I sigh-- it was an amazing place-- like a huge loading dock full of the greatest craftsmen-- you could look in and see all these guys at their worktables, with parts all over the place.

It's custom built by me. I based the design on the wooden version shown in E.G. Lutz' 1920's book "Animated Cartoons". A similar setup was used by Walt Disney in his first studio in Kansas City. I used steel instead of wood because of the high humidity in my area and this thing just bolted together like a giant Erector set.

The Mitchell was sold to me a short while ago by someone on the Stopmotion animation forum. It has a Tobin timelapse/animation motor on it. Eventually I want to own a 35mm Mitchell as well.

[Ektagraphic]

That's great. Nice work.

[evgenia]

What are some of the best books to learn animation? It can be any time of animation, traditional; 3d with Maya, Max, or other programs; or 2d computer animation. Also any tutorials for lighting, shading, and any other help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Ektagraphic]

Has anyone made any super 8 or double 8 animation films?

[Charlie Blackfield]

Has anyone made any super 8 or double 8 animation films?

I've made three Clockwork Mouse films - two on Super 8 and one on Standard 8 (or Double 8, if you prefer). They're on my website at http://www.charlieblackfield.com/media.htm and also on vimeo.

As for books about animation, I've got two that I find very useful. One is called 'Stop Motion - Craft Skills for Model Animation' by Susannah Shaw. This only covers 3D model animation, but does so in much detail about techniques, and some of the stuff is also very useful for 2D animation.

The other book I've got is more interesting for those who want to learn about the history of animation. It's called 'Before Mickey - The Animated Film 1898-1928' by Donald Crafton. It covers quite a lot about the development of animation technique over the first few decades of its existence, so even though it's not a 'how to do' book, you may still get plenty of ideas from it.