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Export

• Export pictures
• Export video
• Export to Cinelerra

How to export the pictures of your animation

Stopmotion saves the animation project as an archive, containing both the captured frames and the text list of the frames.

To get the captured frames as .jpg files

• Right click on your project (a file with .sto extension) and open it with Archive Manager.
• Double click on the project folder.
• Select the images folder and extract it to a proper location.

The just extracted images folder contains all the frames of your animations. They can be loaded in Stopmotion or on other programs.

How to export your animation to a video file

Stopmotion lets you turn your image sequence into a single video file. Just go to File -> Export -> Video, select the location and write the filename for the file to be generated.

Don't forget to add the extension or the export will fail!

All the scenes of your animation will be exported at a default framerate of 12fps (in older Stopmotions it had different values).
The framerate can be changed in the Video Export configuration dialog.

Stopmotion uses different utilities for exporting to various formats. Every tool and format needs its own configuration. Choose your favorite tool/format and follow the instructions below.

Configuration for export to MP4

ffmpeg

First make sure you have ffmpeg installed with the following terminal command:

sudo apt-get install ffmpeg

• Go to Settings -> Configure Stopmotion - Video Export.
• Select ffmpeg.
• Apply.

Go back to the Stopmotion main window. Select File -> Export -> Video.

Use .mp4 as filename extension.

Some default settings can be modified. Just click on Edit when the ffmpeg option is selected. Adjust the command line to your desire.

• -r 12 (10 in older releases): sets the framerate to 12 fps. You can change the number to match the speed you chose during playback
• -b 1800: sets the bitrate for the video. To increase the quality you can increase this number to 2000 or even 5000 for HD content.
  If you want to be sure you get the maximum quality replace this option with -qscale 1

mencoder

First make sure you have mencoder installed with the following terminal command:

sudo apt-get install mencoder

• Go to Settings -> Configure Stopmotion - Video Export.
• Select mencoder - mpeg4 video.
• Apply.

Go back to the Stopmotion main window. Select File -> Export -> Video.

Use .mp4 as filename extension.

Some default settings can be modified. Just click on Edit when the >mencoder - mpeg4 video option is selected. Adjust the command line to your desire.

• fps=12 (8 in older releases): sets the framerate to 12 fps. You can change the number to match the speed you chose during playback

Configuration for export to mpeg1

mencoder

First make sure you have mencoder installed with the following terminal command:

sudo apt-get install mencoder

• Go to Settings -> Configure Stopmotion - Video Export.
• Select mencoder - mpeg1 video.
• Apply.

Go back to the Stopmotion main window. Select File -> Export -> Video.

Use .avi as filename extension.

Some default settings can be modified. Just click on Edit when the >mencoder - mpeg1 video option is selected. Adjust the command line to your desire.

• w=640:h=480: sets the width and height of the video. You can change the resolution to fit your needs.
• fps=12: sets the framerate to 12 fps. You can change the number to match the speed you chose during playback

Configuration for export to mpeg2

mencoder

First make sure you have mencoder installed with the following terminal command:

sudo apt-get install mencoder

• Go to Settings -> Configure Stopmotion - Video Export.
• Select mencoder - mpeg2 video.
• Apply.

Go back to the Stopmotion main window. Select File -> Export -> Video.

Use .m2v as filename extension.

Some default settings can be modified. Just click on Edit when the >mencoder - mpeg2 video option is selected. Adjust the command line to your desire.

• w=640:h=480: sets the width and height of the video. You can change the resolution to fit your needs.
• fps=12 (4 in older releases, a value that was not supported and made the export fail!): sets the framerate to 12 fps You can change the number to match the speed you chose during playback

Configuration for export to MJPEG

First make sure you have ffmpeg installed with the following terminal command:

sudo apt-get install ffmpeg

Then go to Settings -> Configure Stopmotion - Video Export.

• Click on the Add button. A new line will be created.
• Double click in the new Name text field. Type: ffmpeg.
• Double click in the new Description text field. Type: Exporto to MJPEG
• Click on the Edit button. If the text is not properly displayed, enlarge the window by dragging its bottom border downwards.
• In the Start encoder text field copy and paste the following command:
  ffmpeg -r 12 -i "$IMAGEPATH/%06d.jpg" -vcodec mjpeg -sameq "$VIDEOFILE".mov
  Adjust the framerate to your case.
• Leave the other field blank.
• Click on Apply and Close the configuration window. Stopmotion is now ready to export to mjpeg.

Some settings can be modified.

• -r 12: sets the framerate to 12 fps You can change the number to match the speed you chose during playback

How to export your animation to Cinelerra

Cinelerra is still the most advanced video editor for GNU/Linux. She is very good for editing animations too, allowing a precise audio editing, the addition of video transitions, fade in/out and special effectes.

Cinelerra has a very specific feature for animation: the framelist. To understand what is a framelist see the relative section of the Cinelerra for Grandma tutorial.

Stopmotion has the possibility to turn your project into a Cinelerra framelist, from the menu File -> Export -> Cinelerra. This feature is in testing fase and will be available soon.

In the meantime you can export for Cinelerra using one of her favorite formats: MJPEG.