Here are some links and ideas for software for stop-frame animation

 As you will see when we look more closely at animation theory, there is an exciting and ever-present tension between creating movement that is believable and part of our real-world experience and creating exaggeration in the movement for comic and stylistic effect.

 

The process of bringing inanimate objects to life has been a central preoccupation with animators from the birth of the medium.  Classic examples include the
Links to an external site.Sorcerer’s Apprentice
from Walt Disney’s Fantasia where the broom comes to life.

 

Luxo Junior
Links to an external site.is an early computer animation by Pixar Studios, formally Lucas Films. They wanted to demonstrate the importance of using traditional animation techniques for the development of good computer animation.  With some exceptions, it is fair to say that prior to this animation the aesthetic and visual quality of narrative-based computer animation was very poor.  As viewers, we were supposed to be impressed just by the fact it was made on a computer.

Other examples might include Norman McLaren's which uses a stop-frame to add a character to a chair.
Chairy Tale (1957


 

Other ExamplesThere are lots of examples in this clip from

Look at how the objects are used in Jan Svankmajer's surrealist masterpiece

This example brings to life dots and lines
The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics.

See also the work of the Illustrator
Christoph Niemann



One of the most important aspects of creating believability in animation is to have an understanding of timing