Animating

Today we finally got down to serious work on the Christmas animation, though J was a little teary as she's worried I'll run out of time for the tree. It always takes a long time to sort out the set-up, take test shots to determine the optimum exposure and to get all the equipment up and working. I've not shared any of the test shots, although some were pretty, because I'd like to wait till we unveil the finished work, whenever that is. We then embarked on the first sequence, J controlling the camera from the computer with her switch while I moved the elements of the image. The materials were much harder to manage than I had anticipated, so it was slow going, and after about 170 shots (25 frames a second) we realised there was a sudden, unexplained change in colour or light partway through. My guess is that we should not have left the white balance on auto: all the other settings were selected manually, and when something in the light has changed the camera has automatically compensated, giving the effect a sudden jump. There is nothing for it but to do it again tomorrow. Perhaps I'm a bit too perfectionist about these things, it's a card for friends not a BBC commission, but it really is very obvious. We are not unduly upset about it, we have done enough animation to know that it can take a while to get things the way we want them, but it does mean there's very little chance of being able to distribute it on Sunday.

The photo shows the camera on the horizontal arm of the tripod, and a pair of soft box lights, positioned at each side to try to avoid shadows or reflections. The camera is wrapped in dark scarves to avoid reflections in the glass surface on which we animate. I've left it all in place till tomorrow, and hope the foliage doesn't wilt too much in the warm room.