How to Get Started in Stop Motion Claymation

Stop Motion Claymation is not a new concept. It has been floating around the media industry since the 1950 and many creators have utilized it to tell their stories to the world. If you haven’t heard about claymations so far, you are not alone. Unfortunately, a wide range of the global population is unfamiliar with the concept of stop motion claymation.

But, if you are someone who wants to get into animation, but don’t have an expensive budget, claymations can be a great tool to share your story with the world and attract a global audience. In this guide, we are going to talk about claymations, some of the most popular claymation websites, and the best ways to get started with stop motion claymation. So, if you also want to explore your creative side and be unique with the approach, continue reading. By the end of this guide, you’ll be running out to buy clay and make some high-quality clay stop-motion animations.

Part 1 Ways to Make Stop Motion Videos with Clay Using Your Phone

So, now that you are familiar with the basic concept of clay stop animation, let’s understand how you can get started with claymation animations. Ideally, if you are an absolute beginner, you would want to start by understanding the dynamics of creating clay models first. Whether you are going to create a animation or a simple stop motion clip, the models will play a major role in the story and it would be important that these models look appealing.

When it comes to capturing the motion, you don’t need any expensive cameras. You can easily shoot the entire motion on your phone as well. Today, even the basic smartphones come with recording features and they are enough to capture the movement of your clay models. However, if you want to keep the production quality as high as possible, make sure to invest in a decent tripod. A tripod will ensure that your stop motion claymation doesn’t feel jerky at all.

After you have crafted the clay models and purchased the tripod, the next step would be to write down a script for the animation. Whether you are creating a short video or a 3-hour long movie, a script will ensure that you don’t miss out on any important scenes while recording the animation. There are multiple script writing software you can find online that’ll speed up the entire process. However, as a beginner, you can also pen down your script in a regular MS Word document. Lack of resources should never come between your creativity.

Once the script is final, the next phase would be to record the stop motion animation claymation. This is the stage where you have to be extra careful because you’ll practically be recording the storyline of your animation. Simply fire up the smartphone’s camera and start shooting each frame one-by-one. Keep in mind that shooting a stop motion animation is pretty time-consuming and it can even take up to 5-7 hours to get the job done. So, make sure to grab your cup of coffee and stay patient throughout the process.

Part 2 How to Edit a Stop Motion Claymation Animation

At this point, you would have several hundred photographs and a script in mind to make your stop motion claymation. So, the next part would be to turn these raw images into an animation. To do this, you can use different types of video editing applications. However, we recommend using Wondershare Wondershare Filmora Video Editor for the job.

It’s a full-scale cross-platform video editing tool that’s designed to help creators showcase their creativity by turning RAW images/clips into visually engaging videos. Filmora is targeted towards a wide variety of creators such as YouTubers, social media influencers, production artists, and even animators. For an animator, Filmora is nothing short of an oasis.

The tool comes with a built-in media library where you’ll find hundreds of ready-to-use animation templates. These templates could be integrated into your video with a single click. The best part is all these templates are fully customizable, which means you can modify them to meet the overall theme of your claymation.

Filmora boasts a timeline-based interface that makes the editing process a hassle-free task, especially when you have hundreds of images to edit. You can simply bring all the images to the timeline and merge them together to make a stunning animation within a few minutes. The tool also comes with a dedicated audio editing panel where you can add the voiceover or background tracks to bring life to your stop animation claymation. If you have edited any videos in the past, you may already know that the audio is the backbone for any video, even if you are editing a stop motion animation using clay.

Here’s a quick recap of all the features that make Wondershare Filmora an ideal video editing software for stop motion claymation animation.

● Timeline based user interface for more convenient editing

● Built-in media library to find graphic, animation, and audio templates

● Export videos directly to YouTube and other social media platforms

● Available for both Windows and macOS

So, if you are also ready with your clay models and smartphone’s camera, get started with the shooting process and use Filmora to turn the RAW images to a visually enticing stop motion claymation.

Part 3 Best 5 Clay for Stop Motion and Ways to Get Started

In case you are getting serious about stop motion claymations, you would also want to understand which clays are best for such animations. To be honest, you can find dozens of clays in the market. But, not every clay is worth using in a claymation. Here are 5 of the best clays for stop motion animations you can use in your projects.

01Puppet Putty

Puppet Putty is one of the most popular clay brands that’s specifically marketed towards claymation fanatics. As compared to other available options, the Puppet Putty is comparatively softer, which means you can easily mold it into different shapes using your hands only. While the Puppet Putty works great by itself, you can also combine it with other types of clay to make your clay models more appealing.

02Van Aken

Van Aken is another popular clay brand that’s ideal for claymation animations. It’s one of the inexpensive clays and that’s the reason why many claymation fanatics use it to create clay models for their projects. One of the best features of the Van Aken clay is that it’s available in different colors, which means you can get creative with your models by mixing different color combinations. Some animators also mix Van Aken with Pupper Putty to make the characters look more stunning under the perfect lighting conditions.

03Sargent Art

Sargent Art is a brand that primarily designs clays for sculpting. However, you can also use it to create clay models for your claymations. Sargent Art’s clay has the perfect blend of Wax and Oil, which makes it quite easier for the animator to sculpt different models.

04Sculpey

Sculpey is a clay brand that designs polymer-based clays that are relatively better than the traditional ceramic mud clays. This type of clay is made up of plastic and it’s comparatively more pliable than any regular clay. And, once you have your sculpture ready, you can simply place the cay model in an oven and make it rock solid within a few minutes.

05Plastilina

Finally, Plastilina is also a great option for stop motion claymation models. You can use Plastilina to design parts of the model that need to look as natural as possible. For example, you can use Plastilina to create parts such as teeth, eyes, and tongue so that your animation characters don’t contain any distortions.

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