As with many things, whilst animating I have learnt those little things that you can only learn by actually doing something but which can make all the difference. Though reading about the theories behind animation first was of great help, It as only when I began to put these into practice that I began to truly understand them.
Though I have struggled with the technologies involved slightly, I have found stopmotion pro to be a very useful programme indeed. It is very simple in interface, and It the video tutorial on its website have been invaluable in using the programme effectively.
http://www.stopmotionpro.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=285&Itemid=122
One large thing I have discovered is how useful loops are when animating. This has been helped by astutely observing when watch animated programmes, most of all the Simpsons, what in it is looped, for example in this clip we can see how homers dance is made up of a few simple motions reversed and repeated.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhrfhjLd9e4&feature=related
after a while you begin to realise far more of cartoon are on loop, or at least certain movements looped.
Looping has been incredibly useful not only in speeding up the animating process, but also in the producing a far smoother, more flowing animation. For example you can see bellow how a whole sequence is made up from the three frames highlighted in red, simply by copying and reversing the order.
another point worth making from this screen shot is the "hide" tool. This is a handy feature of stop motion pro as it allows you to remove frames in order to change the animation, but easily "un-hide" them as well, overall making the process of editing the film very flexible, allowing you to try out different edits as you animate.
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