Ikitmovie Animation Software Tutorial

iKITMovie Help Guide

iKITMovie User guide

Created with DrExplain

Table of Contents
iKITMovie Help Guide................................................................................................................................3
iKITMovie Welcome................................................................................................................................. 4
Interface Guide........................................................................................................................................ 5
iKITMovie 2.0 Interface......................................................................................................................... 6
Preview Window.................................................................................................................................. 10
The Timeline........................................................................................................................................ 11
Zooming The Timeline...................................................................................................................... 13
Editing Frames.................................................................................................................................. 14
Working with Sounds & Music..........................................................................................................17
Main Menu...........................................................................................................................................18
Full Screen Mode..............................................................................................................................19
Lets Animate..........................................................................................................................................21
Getting Started.................................................................................................................................... 22
Check Your Webcam...........................................................................................................................25
Choosing your Image size.................................................................................................................. 26
Capturing images................................................................................................................................ 27
The Timeline........................................................................................................................................ 29
Viewing your animation in iKIT........................................................................................................... 31
Adding Sounds.................................................................................................................................... 32
Removing Sounds............................................................................................................................... 34
Moving Sounds....................................................................................................................................35
Adding your Voice............................................................................................................................... 36
Adding Music....................................................................................................................................... 38
Publishing/Exporting Your Animation.................................................................................................. 40
Uploading to Youtube.......................................................................................................................... 45

iKITMovie Help Guide

This help file was written for iKITMovie Version 2.0. Some of the screen shots may not reflect
other versions of iKITMovie

Welcome to iKITMovie Stop Motion Animation - A world of unlimited imagination !

This help file was written for iKITMovie Version 2.0. Some of the screen shots may not reflect
other versions of iKITMovie

iKITMovie was desinged to be both easy to use for all ages but also powerful enough to be
capable of creating high quality stop motion animated movies.
iKITMovie has a very unique custom built sound engine with over 2,200 sound effects and
background music tracks included to make high quality movies.
You can also add your own sounds , voice and music to compliment the movie. So let's get
started.

The Interface
What do all the buttons do ?

Getting Started
Learn how to animate with iKIT now!

Sound Effects
Add sound to your images!


Interface Guide

All areas and buttons are explained in some detail in the next section..

What do all these buttons do ?


The iKITMovie Screen
iKITMovie 2.0 Interface
Click on the blue buttons to learn about each item of the iKITMovie Screen

New Project

Click on this button to create a new project. If you have a project open already, you will be
prompted to save it first.

Open Project

Open one of your existing projects. iKITMovie files will have a file extension of ".ikit" -
Do not try to open non ikit files.

Save project

Click this button to save your project. You should get into the habit of saving your project
regularly while you work on it.

Settings

Choose to set various project settings by clicking on this button.

Import Images

You can import images into your project at any point. iKITMovie supports JPEG files.

Open Export Folder

Open the folder where your exported movie has been created.

Export Movie

Use this option once you have completed your project to create a movie that can be
viewed outside of iKIT.

Help

Click on this button to bring up this help file.

Playback Mode

Go from capturing images to viewing them in iKIT

Zoom timeline

Use the zoom control to fit more of your captured images
onto your screen to make it easier to edit and plan your movie.

Images

This row contains all the images you have in your project shown in a timeline fashion.

Sound FX

This row contains all the sound fx you have added to your project.

Voiceovers

This row contains all the voice over tracks you have added to your project.

Music Tracks

This row contains all the music tracks you have added to your project.

Full Screen

Click on the full screen button to fill your screen with the live preview and playback image.

Sound FX, Music and Voiceovers

This section of the screen shows the sound fx, music tracks and voiceovers available
to you for your project.

Add your own music

You can add your own music tracks to your database of sounds. You can add WAV or MP3
files.
They will be imported in to "My Sounds" in the listing.

Search for a sound/ Music

Type in a keyword to find the sound you are looking for in your listings.

Take a Snapshot

This button you will use most when using a webcamera. Click on it to take a photograph /
snapshot of the
image in front of your connected webcamera.

Timelapse Function

This button allows you to take snapshots at regular intervals. It's a timelapse function.

Change Speed of Playback

Here you can alter the speed at which your movie plays back onscreen. It can
be set to anything from 1 to 30 Frames per second ( FPS )

Adjust Onionskinning

This is a very useful tool for stop motion animation. It shows you the difference
between the last snapshot you took and the current live position of your character
onscreen.


The Preview Window

This area shows you the current frame of your animation and the live video that is coming from your
camera.
By default the preview window shows you the view from your camera, overlaid upon the last frame of
your animation, or the current frame of your animation (as selected on the timeline).


The Timeline

Once you have taken a photo of your character or scene by clicking on the snap button,
the captured images will be displayed on the timeline as shown below. One frame represents
each snapshot taken.
When you play your movie back each of these images is played back in sequence to give
the impression of animation. Small changes between the position of the character in the example
below from frame to frame will appear as animation when viewed on the live screen view.
The number of frames played back for every second in time is called the FPS (frames per second)
rate.

If you wish to vary the speed of playback you may do so by moving the FPS scroll bar left from its
default
of 15 FPS down to whatever rate you prefer.

First image captured - Frame 1

Using the Zoom controls on the Timeline
The slider on the left hand side of the timeline can be used to zoom in and out.

This allows you to see more frames at once and can be particularly useful when you are rearranging
the sound effects in your animation.

Simply pull the slider down to zoom out and push it up to zoom in.

Before zooming... Small number of images can be seen on the timeline.

After zooming ... more images on the timeline can now be seen.


Editing - Copying , Deleting , Moving frames etc.

Deleting Frames

If you have for example left your hand onscreen for one of the snapshots you can easily delete it as
follows:

1- Select the frame you want to delete by left mouse clicking once on it. It will highlight in red once
chosen.

2- Once highlighted "right mouse click" to bring up the floating menu.

Copying Frames

If you want to copy a frame (image) to another location you can do it as follows:

1- Select the frame you want to copy by left mouse clicking once on it. It will highlight in red once
chosen.

2- Once highlighted "right mouse click" to bring up the floating menu

3 - Choose Copy.

Now you can paste the copied image where you wish by clicking on the location you wish to copy it.
Then bring up the floating menu and choose paste after or paste before the currently selected frame.

Copying Multiple Frames

If you want to copy a number of frames (images) to another location you can do it as follows:

1- Select the first frame in the sequence of frames you want to copy by left mouse clicking once on it.
It will highlight in red once chosen.

2 - Now press and hold down the "shift key" on the left hand side of the
keyboard.

3 - With the shift key pressed use your left mouse click to select the last frame in the sequence of
images you want to
copy.

The series of images should now be shown as all hightlighted in red. ( Now release the shift key )

4 - Next right mouse click to bring up the floating menu

5 - Now choose "Copy" from the menu.

6 - Now you can paste the copied images where you wish by clicking on the location you wish to copy it.
Then bring up the floating menu and choose paste after or paste before the currently selected frame.


Working with your sounds
Adding a sound to your timeline

1 - Listen to the sounds in the Sound bank by double clicking on the sound of interest.

2 - Add the preferred sound to your timeline by dragging it onto the correct track in the position
that matches where you want the sound to play.

3 - When you release the sound icon to place it on the timeline you will be asked how many frames
the sound should cover.

The location of the sound will be highlighted by a music symbol on the frame where it begins.


Main Menu


Full Screen Mode

You can switch from the main screen of iKITMove to full screen mode in order to more closely view your
movie.

To fill the screen with the image on your preview screen simply click on the monitor symbol on the top
right hand
corner.

The timeline, Soundbank and main buttons will remain in the background while you view the image now
fullscreen.
To revert back to the main desktop in iKIT simply click the above shown image again.

Getting Started - The Welcome Screen
When you first open the program you are greeted by the Welcome Screen.

Here you have the following options:

Start a new animation project. This is the option you should choose anytime you start a new project.
This will open the "New Project" dialog box; where you can enter a name for your project, and choose
where you would like the project files to be created and saved.

Tip - Be careful to avoid using unusual characters in your project name, for example - do not use / or ?
or > etc.
Keep the names simple and descriptive .eg. My First Movie
Avoid names like My/Movie??+

This is the default option for capturing your images if you are using a webcamera. Make sure you have your
webcam attached and
your webcam software drivers installed.

By default projects are saved in a folder called "ikitmovie" in the "My Documents" folder of your PC.
You can change this folder to a different one if you prefer by clicking the change button. ( 4 )

Click on this option if you want to import images into your project. You can also import images
when you enter the main screen.

The change directory button.

If you already have created a project and you wish to open it again to edit or amend it then choose this
option.
The file you open will have a file extension of ".ikit". Do not try to open files that do not have this file
extension.

This button indicates the name of the last project on which you worked. It is here for your convenience
to use to open the last
project rather than having to navigate to the correct folder and search for your project. If you have not
worked on a project recently,
this button will be blank.


Check your Webcam

If you have just created a new project or maybe you have opened an existing or last
project and you have the "Capture from Webcam" option choosen but you do not
have a webcam plugged in to your PC then you will get the following message

Click on the ok button and check to see if your webcam is plugged in and your webcam drivers
installed correctly.

If you find you do not have the webcam plugged in you may have to restart iKITMovie before you will
be able to
start taking snapshots.

Web Cameras are the easiest way to get in to stop motion animation. As long as you pay that little bit
more for a
good quality webcam you can achieve some very good results.

The important features are :

* 640x480 Resolution at 15 Frames per Second Capable at least
* Preferably a Glass Lens
* Focus control - Manual or through software on your compter
* Stable base or a Clip to attach to a base or stand

There are a number of brands available on the market. We have tested many of them. We like
Philips®, Microsoft®
and Logitech® Web cameras for stop motion animation at the moment.


Choosing your Image Size - From your Webcam
When you have opened or created a new project, and your camera is connected you will be asked to
choose
the size of the images for your project.

This is an important step.

You should make the choice of output size ( Image Size as it is sometimes described )
taking in to consideration the following things:

• The quality of your webcam ( can it capture images at greater that 640x480 ?)

• The amount of memory installed on your PC. 2 Gb of RAM minimum is recommended

• The size of your project. If you intend on having 7,000 frames of more, higher resolution images
may slow down your PC.

We recommend when starting out you choose 640x480 ( Option 2 indicated below )


Capturing Images - With your Webcam
If your webcam is up and running then when you enter iKITMovie's main screen you should see a live view
of the image in front of you webcam.

Live View from your Webcam
The quality of the image you see in live view screen will depend on two
factors. Firstly the
quality of your webcam and secondly the amount of light surrounding your
scene. Check
Webcam recommendations and lighting section for advice on this topic.

Play back captured images

You choose this button to move from capturing images over to "playback"
mode to view what
you have captured with your camera.

Take a snapshot ( Photo )

You click on this button to take a photo or snapshot as we prefer to say of
the image in front of your
camera.


Frame Numbers ..1 , 2,3,4 etc

Time at which each frame will play back. Frame 1 , the first frame is at time "0" ( zero ). Subsequent
frames will be shown on the time line in fractions of a second.


Viewing your animation in iKITMovie

To view the images in playback mode choose the playback option.
You will then have a number of options as shown below.

Click the play button to start playback- Press it also to pause playback - Press it again to continue playback.


Adding Sounds to your Movie
When you have taken all you snapshots or imported images you will now want to bring the movie to life by adding
sounds.
The screenshot below shows the timeline of the images you have taken with now sounds ,music of voice added.

You can choose the sound you want to add by auditioning the sounds in the Sound & Music databank. Double
click on the sound to hear it.
If you can't find the sound you are looking for try typing in a keyword to the search box under the Sound & Music
databank listing.

For example lets say we want to add footstep walking sounds. So we type in "walk" in to the search box and click
on the magnifying glass symbol.

The search facility will highlight the sounds matching the keyword "walk" in the listing. So now scroll up and down
to see the sounds relating to that keyword.

They will be highlighted in red likes the screenshot shown below.

Once you are happy with the sound you have found you simply drag and drop it onto the timeline where you wish
the sound to start.

Where the sound starts playing in time with the images is indicated with a musical symbol on that frame as shown
above.


Deleting Sounds from your Movie
If you are not are happy with the sound you have added to your timeline you can remove it by first clicking on the
music symbol on the frame.
This will highlight the sound for you .

Now right mouse click on the sound you wish to remove to bring up the floating menu.

On that floating menu you choose delete and it will remove the sound.


Moving Sounds on the timeline in your Movie
You can move any sound in the timeline left or right by first clicking on the music symbol on the frame to highlight
the sound and then dragging the sound left
or right.

You can also shorten the sound by grabbing the end of the sound and dragging it left.


Adding a voiceover to your Movie

Step 1 Click on the Voice Over tab in the sound section of the main iKITMovie interface.

This will bring up the section of the interface shown below so that you can name and make a recording of your
voice.

Step 2 Check to see if you have a microphone attached to your PC by clicking on the "Primary Sound Capture
Driver" box.

A selection of microphones will be shown in the list assuming you have some form of microphone attached.

Step 3 Name your recording at this point in order to allow you begin recording in the "Name Recordign Box"
In my case I decided to call this voice recording "My Name is Darth".
It can be helpful to name the voice recording with a hint to what is being said in the voiceover!

Step 4 Now you have named your voiceover you can click on the red Record button to begin recording.

Click on the red button once again to stop recording.
You can click on the play button to hear what you have recorded.

Step 5 If you are happy with what you have recorded you can click on the Save button to add the voiceover to
your databank of Voiceovers.

Step 6 Now drag and drop the voiceover from that list on to your voiceover timeline in the location you prefer.


Adding a Music track to your Movie
There are a selection of Music tracks ready to use in iKITMovie full version. You can listen to the tracks by
doubleclicking on them.
Once you have selected a track you simply drag and drop the music track on to your music timeline. The track
will being to play at
the frame you place the music on.

The below screenshot shows how I have dropped a music track on to the first frame of my movie.

The frame will be indicate a music track has been added by the music note in the top right hand corner of the
frame.

You may add your own music tracks to the Music soundbank by clicking on the + Add to Libray button indicated in
blue and white below.
When adding your own music tracks use MP3 or WAV stereo files for best results.


Publishing (Exporting) your new animation in iKITMovie

In order to view your animation outside of the iKITMovie application you must "export" the animation to
a
format that Microsoft windows can play back.

You must export the animation to either of two formats.

The two choices are:
• WMV - Windows Media Video
• MP4 - MPEG 4 Format

Read the notes about these formats below - important.

To export the movie you simply choose the "export movie" button on the left hand side of the
iKITMovie screen.

After clicking the Export movie button the screen shown below will appear. Start by clicking on the Step 1 Button.

Step 1

When you choose step 1 you will be given the choice to export either all frames ( the entire movie ) or a selected
number of frames.
In most cases you would select "All frames (Entire movie)" unless you have a specific reason for only selecting a
frame range.

Step 2

Step - 2 - Movie Properties

Youtube / AOL - Normal size - By default iKIT will export your movie as 640x480 ( thats 640 pixels wide by
480 pixels tall
- rectangular shape )

Youtube / AOL - Small size - You can select this size if you prefer.

Custom Size - If you wish you can make the movie larger in appearance. For example 800x600
or 960x720.
In this case you will be prompted to enter the Width and Height of your movie.

Tip - If you took your snapshots at 320x240 for example and you decide to export the movie as 960x720 then the
resulting export
will appear grainy, as the images will be stretched up from 320x240 to 960x720.

Double click on the width box first to enter your choice . eg. 320 or 800 or 960 etc. The corresponding
height can then
be entered e.g 240 or 600 or 720 etc. You enter any reasonable value here but the recommend values will give
best results.

Keep aspect ratio - 4:3 is the default selection. That means 4 units of measure wide by 3 units of measure
tall.
If you untick this option you can enter any reasonable Width and Height combination you wish. You may choose
widescreen for example which is 16:9

Step 3

Step-3 Movie Type

Name your movie here. You can have a name that is not the same as the project name if you so wish.

WMV - Windows Media format - This format will play in windows media player. This format can be used to
upload to video sharing sites such
as Youtube.

TIP - Use the WMV format if you wish to import the movie in to Windows movie maker.

MP4 Format - Export you rmovie to MP4 if you want to upload to Youtube or to your MP4 portable player
(IPad / IPod etc)

TIP - If you wish to play this format on your windows PC you will need the QuickTime player from apple. If you do
not have it you can download
it free from HERE

Finally click on finish to export your movie to your choosen format.

Uploading your movie to Youtube
When you have successfully exported your movie you will be given the option to upload it to YouTube.

If you choose to upload your video to YouTube the screen shown below will be presented to you.


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