3 Tips for Animating With Dinosaur Action Figures

People collect dinosaur action figures for all sorts of reasons. Some of us keep our figures on a shelf to show them off, while others may use them alongside other hobbies. Since action figures have moving parts, you could use yours to animate stop-motion videos about dinosaurs. Keep projects fun with some must-know tips for animating with dinosaur action figures.

1. Invest in Quality

Every animation starts with a quality foundation. You’ll need a few essentials, including:

• Dinosaur action figures
• Camera
• Editing software

The dinosaurs will be the stars of your show, so you need high-end action figures that are detailed and accurate. As you shop for figures, evaluate the color and shape of each beast and compare it to scientific fact. Pay attention to whether the dinosaur had feathers, how it moved, and its key features. For instance, a Triceratops should have three horns, four legs, a frill, and a beak-like mouth.

Creative Beast Studio’s Beasts of the Mesozoic Ceratopsian series includes numerous types of Ceratopsian dinosaurs that are perfect for your project!

Your camera will let you take photos of the dinosaurs as you intricately move them. You’ll use the editing software to seamlessly blend it all into an animated film.

2. Set the Scene

Although dinosaurs are the main focus of your animation, creating a setting around the prehistoric animals adds interest to your film. You could draw or paint a backdrop or purchase small props to set around the animals.

How you structure the environment will depend on which Mesozoic period you set the animation in and where. During parts of the Cretaceous period, rainforests covered much of the planet. However, due to climate variations, the vegetation seen in polar regions was different from other parts.

3. Focus on Accuracy

The final tip for animating with dinosaur action figures is to keep accuracy as your focus. You should have fun making each film, but as a dinosaur enthusiast, you’ll also want your movie to remain factual.

As you form your storyboard, research the environment your dinosaur stars lived in and how they interacted. For example, if you have a T. rex and Triceratops, set up a lush Cretaceous environment for the Tyrannosaurus to hunt the Triceratops. Beasts like the Velociraptor should not appear, as they lived on the other side of the world.

Take your time throughout the project—animation isn’t a rush project. By moving slowly, you can create a lifelike depiction of dinosaurs.

Shop at Creative Beast Studio

When making a dinosaur animation, you want to use only the best action figures. At Creative Beast Studio, we pay close attention to detail, modeling our figures according to scientific facts. Only buy the best dinosaurs for your animation!