Captain Zuloo

Cool. When I read "The thing that goes..." in the Recent Discussions column on the left of the frontpage, I expected the rest to be "bump in the night." Well, that's not what it was, but I'm glad I came here anyway. This isn't really my LEGO field, but it is interesting to see some more of the endless possibilities of the LEGO brick. Keep up the good work.

Well give me and whoever else contributes to put together a few tutorials, and then some more time for people to produce some, and I think you will be pleasantly suprised! EDIT: Here is the link to the second tutorial "Walking at 15fps" Say 5 tutorials before an index is created?

I just thought since we are now certain of a new pirate line, it was time to revisit this thread. We have all voted about the possibility of there being a better new ship than the BSB or SES, but now I thought it was time to decide which is best between those two. So come on! Let us know!

See, the head thing is a good idea. I like this "collection". The scary thing is though, in some terrible incidents, this has happened in real life!

Well here is the first one to go into the index. Would an index be the start of a forum? Because I can see a few people becoming brickfilmers and participating in a brickfilming forum when they have the know-how from these tutorials. Ok. That sounds good so take heed everyone. But DON'T post a tutorial until I have replied giving you the all clear or you may waste your time by creating an unused tutorial.

Keying is a little tricky as there aren't that many freeware programs that do it well. So if you happen to have Sony Vegas Movie Studio then I can give you expert advice on keying. However I will only be able to provide a brief tutorial for most other programs. so let me know what program you use and I'll give you a tutorial. EDIT: There is a freeware program that has keying capabilities. I'll release a tutorial on that in a few days to a week.

Yeah sorry. I just love it how we go to visit people and end up in a LEGO store. They still stock 9v rail and I'm hoping to clear out some of that, but I rang for an aprox cost for a box of points and the guy said $99AUD! A box of curved or straight is $30AUD. Ouch.

Adelaide's shop is called Toy Corner I think. It's pretty big. Whenever someone I know goes to Adelaide for any reason I always give them $50 and say "bring me back something nice". When you get a reply (probably not for the next 25 years in my experience) can you please PM the reply to me? Cheers.

Really? I don't get that until next month. Is that part of a LEGO world club membership?

Enough with the pikle jokes! Phred is going to come after us all!

That's ok. You said it was too long to type and it is, but not too long to google.

Yes SMA is free for all! Next tutorial will be walking at 15fps.

Hey, Recently there have been many responses in a poll I created saying a brickfilm forum on Eurobricks (or at least some tutorials as starters) would be a good idea. This is what prompted me to take the time to write this. Please note: I intend to create a few tutorials. Mostly software is expensive but I will try to demonstrate the methods involved in making a brickfilm with as much freeware as possible. Second Note: Do not attempt a brickfilm if you have a short attention span - brickfilming is very tedious and requires a lot of patience, but the results (if done correctly) should be worth the trouble! Part 1 - The Set-Up This is a very important part of producing a brickfilm as it largely dictates the quality of the final movie. There are things to consider such as lighting, space, hardware etc. They are all very important things that require a decision as to how much you want to make your film making budget. Lighting - is very important as it plays a huge role in the overall mood of the film. You should have a light for the backdrop (you'll see why later), the main subject, and one illuminating the whole set from behind AT LEAST. The more lighting the better. But remember, plastic gives off a shine so don't be discouraged if it takes you quite a few attempts to get the lighting right so as the subject doesn't give off a reflection. Backdrops - The most effective backdrop is a solid, well lit green or blue peice of card board. That is what they film all of the huge blockbusters involving action-packed sequences that would be impossible to film in the real location. eg. Starwars. The way it works is simple. The subject is filmed in front of a solid colour backdrop. Then, during post production (editing) the backdrop is replaced with any image or video. This image can be CGI or real - it doesn't matter. The point is, using this blue/green screening method, you can defy the laws of possibility This process is really called charoma keying, but you'll learn how to do that in a later tutorial. Power - This may seem simple, but trust me. There will be people that will get a huge desk all set up and then realise they have no where to plug their computer, lights etc. into. Desk - The best place to make a brickfilm is on a desk. I tend to have my laptop on my left hand side as you will see in one of the images, my backdrops bluetacked (adhesive putty) to the wall and my subject and set bluetacked to the surface of the desk securely. I then have my lights positioned accordingly. Computer - Yes it is obvious, but I just thought I will point out that you do need a computer for this. Camera - I use a Logitech quick cam go! but other webcams can be used. Some still cameras can be used with other programs, but not the one used in this tutorial. When you are positioning your camera, ensure that you won't accidentally bump the cord or camera as it will make for a jumpy final product. Frame Rate (FPS) A fim is actually made up of a number of still images that are played back at a set rate per second. This "rate" is known as the frame rate, or FPS (frames per second) The most common is 15fps which can produce a smooth image if animated correctly, however there are other speeds such as 5fps, 10fps, 12fps, 24fps etc. The higher the frame rate, the more images per second and thus the smaller your subjects movments must be to get a smooth animation. Filming This tutorial makes use of Anisazi Stop Motion Animator (SMA) which can be downloaded from here. You will need to download it for this tutorial. Firstly, open SMA. By default it should be set to 15fps. If not refer to the SMA help menu for help on how to change the framerate to 15fps. You should have your have your subject in the viewer. This means the camera is pointing to the subject. Stand you subject like so: in the first position of the movement. The screen should look like this. Click grab. You now have one frame. Next move your subject like this. Your screen should look like this. Click grab. You now have your second frame. Then move the subject like this. The screen should look like: After your movement is complete, play it back in the SMA viewer, and save the avi video to your computer.

That's almost $10 per guy! Wow! I suppose we can only hope LEGO produce the blue variety. IMO they are much better than their red counterparts.

I'm prepared to be dissapointed. LEGO have let us down a few times too many recently with big peices.

Wow. Ther's more soldiers there than you could shake a stick at. Damn if only I had of accepted that job...

Do you need to get it off the internet? Because in Canberra you can walk into Toys R' Us or various department stores and buy them for around $16.50 AUD. That equates to in GBP: £6.57.

Well keep building and you never know what you might find on Classic-Pirates.com...

"WRECK OF THE HESPERUS" It was the schooner Hesperus, That sailed the wintery sea; And the skipper had taken his little daughter, To bear him company. Blue were her eyes as the fairy flax, Her cheeks like the dawn of day, And her bosom white as the hawthorn buds, That ope in the month of May. The Skipper he stood beside the helm, His pipe was in his mouth, And he watched how the veering flaw did blow The smoke now West, now South. Then up and spake an old Sailor, Had sailed the Spanish Main, "I pray thee, put into yonder port, for I fear a hurricane. "Last night the moon had a golden ring, And to-night no moon we see!" The skipper, he blew whiff from his pipe, And a scornful laugh laughed he. Colder and louder blew the wind, A gale from the Northeast, The snow fell hissing in the brine, And the billows frothed like yeast. Down came the storm, and smote amain The vessel in its strength; She shuddered and paused, like a frighted steed, Then leaped her cable's length. "Come hither! come hither! my little daughter, And do not tremble so; For I can weather the roughest gale That ever wind did blow." He wrapped her warm in his seaman's coat Against the stinging blast; He cut a rope from a broken spar, And bound her to the mast. "O father! I hear the church bells ring, Oh, say, what may it be?" "Tis a fog-bell on a rock bound coast!" -- And he steered for the open sea. "O father! I hear the sound of guns; Oh, say, what may it be?" Some ship in distress, that cannot live In such an angry sea!" "O father! I see a gleaming light. Oh say, what may it be?" But the father answered never a word, A frozen corpse was he. Lashed to the helm, all stiff and stark, With his face turned to the skies, The lantern gleamed through the gleaming snow On his fixed and glassy eyes. Then the maiden clasped her hands and prayed That saved she might be; And she thought of Christ, who stilled the wave, On the Lake of Galilee. And fast through the midnight dark and drear, Through the whistling sleet and snow, Like a sheeted ghost, the vessel swept Tow'rds the reef of Norman's Woe. And ever the fitful gusts between A sound came from the land; It was the sound of the trampling surf, On the rocks and hard sea-sand. The breakers were right beneath her bows, She drifted a dreary wreck, And a whooping billow swept the crew Like icicles from her deck. She struck where the white and fleecy waves Looked soft as carded wool, But the cruel rocks, they gored her side Like the horns of an angry bull. Her rattling shrouds, all sheathed in ice, With the masts went by the board; Like a vessel of glass, she stove and sank, Ho! ho! the breakers roared! At daybreak, on the bleak sea-beach, A fisherman stood aghast, To see the form of a maiden fair, Lashed close to a drifting mast. The salt sea was frozen on her breast, The salt tears in her eyes; And he saw her hair, like the brown sea-weed, On the billows fall and rise. Such was the wreck of the Hesperus, In the midnight and the snow! Christ save us all from a death like this, On the reef of Norman's Woe! By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Well now that Guss has commented and thus I have commented, delete the other one. I really like your canons there. I assume you made the design then imported heaps in? LDD gets very difficult to work with so I respect what you have done. Just one peice of screenshotography (is that a word?) advice; Dont use LDD to take screenshots of your MOC from directly above. They look terrible because it appears as a two dimensional object rather than three dimensional because it lacks shadow.

And someone will create a directory for brickfilming tutorials in the LEGO News & General Discussion? And if you want to make a tutorial, PM me saying what tutorial you would like to make so we don't have 25 of the same one!

Well I bet you guys are all eating your words now! Ha! The report was true after all. What do you know?

Oh I'm sure he'll sleep well tonight. Lucky to find a letter like that, but I think food could have been nice. I mean after all, who would want to scavenge for food when there is a constant threat of being attacked by a zombie?

Great MOC Teddy! I'm looking foward to seeing it complete with great anicipation. And really, if you have enough bricks to build that and the Victory, you have absolutley no life! Only joking! Great work Teddy. You are a very skillful LEGO modeler. Keep it up!

I really like how you have used the 2x1 bricks to actually represent bricks. A clever idea that is not often used. Because truth be told, they do look like large stones in the wall. I really like this MOC although when you specify some familiar faces, I have no idea. Maybe it's just because I'm new to the castle forum?