Creating stereoscopic & stop-motion effects with the S3 Stepper

For Mikael Ohlson, a stop-motion animator, creating stereoscopic 3D and stop-motion is something he has always loved to do. His recent project titled Wolfie’s two magic words is a fine example of his work, and you can watch the videos below.

He used MRMC’s S3 stepper rig to create the video and commented “it is the ideal choice when it comes to combining the two. The installation of the rig is very quick and easy, and the S3 is also very reliable using Dragonframe software”.

The short film consists of 1,124 individual frames for each eye -meaning the rig had to slide from left to right 1,124 times. Mikael commented, “By using the S3 stepper rig, I never encountered any problems with it whatsoever”. 

For previous work Mikael used a manual rig that he designed and built, where he would have to step over or around lights, cables and tripods to access the rig in order to slide it from its left position to the right for every single frame. In Wolfie's two magic words Mikael worked with three different characters that acted simultaneously and it was crucial to keep 100% focused on the animation. In some of the trickier parts of the sequence it could take up to one hour to shoot one frame of animation, so working with a rig that could accurately and smoothly slide itself from side to side saved lots of time, as well as preventing any accidental shifting of the camera position too far over.

“Personally I think a lot of movies that are made in 3D could take much more advantage of the 3D effect than what they currently do, so I like to make it a ‘Wow – experience’ to watch my 3D material, and I want people to take notice of the outstanding 3D as much as my smooth stop-motion” Mikael comments. See his animation video Wolfie’s two magic words below.

For more information on the S3 Stereoscopic Stepper click here