Stop motion is a popular endeavor among children, hobbyists and students due to its relative ease and the instant gratification it provides. Videos are created by taking a sequence of photographs of the same object, but changing the object's pose or position slightly for each picture. Stop motion software makes this easy to do and allows the necessary playback to instantly see your work come alive. However, most stop motion programs do not support sound. Any animation is made more believable when an effective use of sound is added to the photos.
Instructions
1. Download a free trial of the iKitMovie program from www.ikitmovie.com. There are four versions of the software available for purchase. Prices are competitive, but always demo the software before purchase to ensure it meets your needs.
2. Double-click the downloaded file to install the free trial of iKitMovie. Follow the onscreen instructions until installation is complete.
3. Open the iKitMovie program. You are presented with a welcome window. Choose the "Create New Project" button. A pop-up project window will appear. Enter a desired file name in the field at the bottom, and press the "Save" button. A new stop motion project has now been created.
4. Click the "Capture" button to begin recording stop motion photos. A pop-up window will appear. Choose your capture device in the drop-down menu. Webcams, camcorders and digital cameras attached to the computer may be used. Press the "OK" button when finished.
5. Click the "Capture" button again. A new button appears above the "Capture" button called "Snap." Click the "Snap" button each time you wish to take a photo. The photos will appear on the animation timeline in the bottom of the program window.
6. Scroll along the timeline to the location in the video where you wish to add a voiceover for character dialog.
7. Press the "Audio" button and then the "Voice Over" button.
8. Click the "Record" button and speak into the microphone attached to the computer. You can watch the video as you record the voice over. Press the "Stop" button when complete.
9. Scroll to the location in the video where you wish to add a sound effect.
10. Click the "Audio" button and then the "Sound" button. A pop-up window appears with a list of all the built-in sound effects in iKitMovie.
11. Click on any sound effect to preview it.
12. Click the "Add to List" button to place the sound into the video. Repeat as necessary for all desired sound effects.
