Aardman Animations is using Blackmagic Design capture cards and Stop Motion Pro for their latest TV production, TIMMY.
TIMMY, a short-form series about a charming little sheep, is based on sketches by Academy Award-winner Nick Park (WALLACE & GROMIT IN A CLOSE SHAVE). Timmy was introduced on the award-winning series, SHAUN THE SHEEP, now airing on Disney Channels around the world. This 10 minute, 52 episodes, animated series has already been pre-bought by Disney Channels Worldwide, including the U.S. and by CBeebies in the U.K. TIMMY is scheduled for television broadcast in 2009.
The DeckLink HD Extreme and Intensity Pro cards, as used by Aardman, are the only HD capture cards to work with Stop Motion Pro. The Blackmagic Design and the Stop Motion Pro workflow have enabled the animators at Aardman to unlock new creative processes within the stop motion animation environment. The biggest advantage being that animators can now work in HD using the pristine quality of uncompressed video while being able to get instant on-set feedback, such as onion skinning.
By using Blackmagic Design capture cards with an HD video camera and Stop Motion Pro, animators can now film claymation and other forms of stop-motion animation at the highest quality uncompressed HD video possible.
"Blackmagic Design and Stop Motion Pro have breathed new life into stop-motion animation, enabling the highest quality stop motion productions to be made," said Stuart Ashton, General Manager of Blackmagic Design EMEA. "At any time, animators can play back the footage in the highest quality, even out to a dedicated monitor at the exact frames per second, and all in real time.""Filming stop motion animation with HD video cameras means the animators can see what they are filming in very high quality, this speeds up the animation process enormously. With the integration of Stop Motion Pro and Blackmagic technology, we are able to roll out a common standard of animation production across the company. Our animators can move between productions, using either digital SLR cameras or HD video cameras." said Ian Fleming, Head of Production Technology at Aardman.
"Integrating Blackmagic Design technology means we can provide an uncompressed, HD video capture solution that fits the fast workflow requirements in current and future stop motion animation productions," says Paul Howell, Co-founder, Stop Motion Pro.
