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About SAM Animation

What is SAM Animation?

SAM Animation is a software platform that allows the user to make stop-action movies using a USB or fire-wire real-time camera (i.e. web camera or webcam) and whatever props the user desires. The software is both Mac and PC compatible and free to all users willing to register with www.samanimation.com. SAM originally stood for "Stop-Action Movies", but we now refer it exclusively as SAM Animation.

A more detailed history of the SAM Animation project and major historical developments, click here.

Features of SAM Animation:

  • Snap images from a live web-cam feed or import pictures
  • Add narration of import audio files
  • Onion-skinning for easy frame-to-frame alignment
  • Adjustable frame-rate
  • Time-lapse functionality
  • Add text and shape overlays to each frame
  • Import movie files and parse them into frame-by-frame projects
  • Export your project into a variety of movie formats
  • Coming soon: Share your movie with the world by directly posting it to www.samanimation.com from within the software

Installing SAM Animation

For Mac OSX, the installation of SAM Animation is as simple as downloading the zipped file from the download page. OSX should unzip this file automatically and the SAM Animation icon will be added to the desktop. Clicking on this icon will run the software. (Note: If you do not have the most recent version of Quicktime, it is advised that you download that before running SAM Animation).

For PCs running Windows XP, there is an installer available on the download page. This installer will do three things:

  1. Install SAM Animation
  2. Install WinVDIG (this allows Quicktime to work with your webcam)
  3. Install most recent version of Quicktime

The whole process will take about 5 minutes and will require that you restart your computer. Users must agree to the SAM Animation End User License Agreement to use this software, which can be downloaded here.