Great Tripod to Film Live Action for Animation

One of the best ways to get live-action reference for a piece of animation is to film yourself acting it out, capture the footage on your phone, and then import the footage onto an image plane in Maya.

The best way to film yourself is by mounting your smartphone on a tripod. 

We're recommending this excellent (and inexpensive) tripod, made by Linkcool, for mounting your phone/camera, while you do the acting and give the performance.

Linkcool Tripod

The Linkcool camera is a great piece of kit; lightweight, easy to use and put away, and at £17 it won't break the bank. You can buy it here at amazon.co.uk.

Why Shoot Live Action

When you shoot live action reference, you will almost always find things you didn't anticipate, little bits of magic that your body will do without you even thinking about it with your conscious brain. Try it out - you'll be amazed by the power of your own acting skills.  To see how to use live action reference to make great animation, see this blog post.

Finally, here's a short video (just 6 mins) that explains why shooting live action reference is so useful.

Using Live Action Reference in Animation

For more information on how to use live action reference for animation, follow the links below:

• Using Live Action Reference to Plan Animation
• How to Use Live Action Reference to Plan Animation
• How to Fix Floaty Animation Based on Live Action
• Live Action Reference with Pernille
• How FrameStore Animators Use Live Action for Animation
• A Great Inexpensive Tripod for Filming Animation
• Endless Reference - Live Action Reference Resource for Animators
• Edward Muybridge - The Animator's Photographer
• How Disney Animators Used Live Action to Animate "Frozen"
• Live Action Reference for Character Walks

Planning Animation

MoCap cleanup and performance by Steven Lall

To see some examples of how to plan animation (including how to use thumbnail sketches and live action), follow these links:

• Medusa Thumbnails by Milt Kahl
• Why thumbnail sketches need facial expressions
• Thumbnail sketches by Pixar's Victor Navone
• Thumbnailing Mrs Copperbottom from "Robots"
• Thumbnailing "Boog" from "Open Season"
• How to Animate a Dialogue Shot
• How to Plan a Pantomime Shot
• How to Plan a Creature Animation Shot
• How to Use Live Action Reference to Plan Animation

To find out more about Animation Apprentice, click here for a link to Frequently Asked Questions. To sign up for our next classroom at Animation Apprentice, follow this link.