Dragonframe: Stop Motion

Dragon Stop Motion is the leading stop-motion animation software for Mac OS X and Windows (PC) computers. Designed to meet the needs of working professionals, yet intuitive enough for beginners. It is used widely for feature film, commercial, broadcast television and independent film.

Here are some things to check if the camera isn't connecting with Dragon:

1. Click on the Window menu and choose Cinematography

2. In the bottom right of the Cinematography window, click the Test Shot button. If Dragon takes a test shot, congratulations, it works!

If that doesn't work, hit command+R to refresh the connection or Restart Dragon. This solves 90% of all connection problems.

If Dragon still can't see the camera, check the following:

• Is the USB cord connected properly? It could be loose or unplugged.

• Is the camera on?

• Is the camera in the right mode? (Set both exposure mode and focus to Manual)

  • Dragon will tell you the camera is in the wrong mode, and happily that means the camera is connected. 

• Sometimes the USB ports in the front of MacPros go bad. Try using a different USB port, like one in the back, or the one in the keyboard.

If you change any of the things above, hit command+R to refresh the connection, and/or restart the Dragon software again. (Quit Dragon and go back into it.)

This video from the company's website gives a great overview of the software.  It's enough to get you started, and you can see additional videos below for a more in depth look at specific features.

The above link takes you Dragonframe's website where you can view additional tutorials.

Free Trial: You can also register and download a 30 day free trial of the software if you want to try it on your own computer. Note that the free trial version is limited to 50 frames per take.