Question about the Canon Plug-In for TVPaint 10

[D.T. Nethery]

Hello,

I have a student who is interested in purchasing TVPaint to use for stop-motion animation frame capture with his Canon EOS 7D DSLR camera.

I told him that some (not all) Canon cameras will work with TVPaint , via the Canon Plug In . I suggested that he could download the Trial Version of TVPaint 10 for Windows to test his Canon EOS 7D camera to see if it works.

But my question is : Does the Trial Version download for Windows come with the Canon Plug-In already installed , so potential new users can test their Canon DSLR's before purchasing the software ? . If the Trial Version does not come with the Canon Plug-In installed is there some way for him to obtain the Canon Plug In to test his Canon EOS 7D ?


Finally, if anyone at TVPaint or other users here on the TVPaint Community Forum happen to know that the Canon EOS 7D dslr camera does work with TVPaint using the Canon Plug In I'd appreciate having that confirmation , so I can pass that information along to the student.

[ZigOtto]

unfortunately, afaik, the canon's DSLRs (EOS family) are not supported by the tvpa's Canon plugin,
only the Canon's PowerShot family is actually supported, a least the ones with "Remote Capture" available.

[D.T. Nethery]

unfortunately, afaik, the canon's DSLRs (EOS family) are not supported by the tvpa's Canon plugin,
only the Canon's PowerShot family is actually supported, a least the ones with "Remote Capture" available.

Do you know if there a list of new Canon Powershot cameras that are supported by TVP's Canon plug-in ?
(the list of Canon Powershot cameras in the manual are from several years ago)

[ZigOtto]

...the list of Canon Powershot cameras in the manual are from several years ago

so is the plugin too, " ... from several years ago",
afaik, most of the recent powershots don't provide a remote capture control anymore, my last model I'm (still) using is the 10 mégapixels powershot A640, camera not referenced in the plugin manual, but working fine here (with some minor restrictions).
imo, a new EOS plugin (Live View finder of 1056x704 pixels as preview) would be very welcome for the time coming.

[Fabrice]

nb : We can provide the canon plug-in on demand if someone wants to try it before buying.

[D.T. Nethery]

nb : We can provide the canon plug-in on demand if someone wants to try it before buying.

Thank you, Fabrice ! I will let the student know . (although at this point I realize that his Canon EOS 7D is not compatible) But it's good to know that other students can request the plug-in to test their Canon cameras.

And thanks to Zig Otto for the tip about the Canon Powershot A640. I am trying to compile a list of all Canon camera models that are known to work with TVPaint. (other than the older Powershot cameras already listed in the TVPaint manual appendix) .


I suppose that apart from the handful of older Canon Powrershot cameras that can be used with the Canon Plug In for TVPaint , the only viable solution for using DSLR cameras for stop-motion frame capture in TVPaint is to use a webcam mounted parallel to the to the DSLR camera (using careful framing to adjust for the difference in view due to the parallax effect) as in this set up:




Two captures are made for each frame of animation: one capture from the webcam , to use the MIX ("onion-skinning") function in TVP's Video-In so that the animator can see the previous and next frame to accurately judge the spacing , and then a second capture made to the DSLR's memory card . Then after the sequence of animation is completed import the high-res. images from the DSLR's memory card to the computer and then import as a new Layer in TVPaint, to replace the previously captured images from the webcam .

OR this more sophisticated arrangement that is shown on Nick Hilligoss's webpage:







.




.

[ZigOtto]

...
OR this more sophisticated arrangement that is shown on Nick Hilligoss's webpage

artful !

[idragosani]

Nick's setup is even more elaborate now, I think he's doing 3D camera work.