Rig Removal

Remove wires and props holding up your puppets with the new Rig Removal tool. This incredible new feature of SMP v7 will save you hours!

The Rig Removal tool is in all editions of Stop Motion Pro except Action!. It is an amazingly simple tool for removing wire supports, stray hands, props and items left on set accidently.

Now your characters can jump leap and run, with as many supports as you need, you can remove them easily!

The Rig Removal tool uses the concept of a background plate, basically a frame or frames of the background with no rig in shot.
It can be a good idea to shoot this frame at the start of the shot. You can use any frame in your sequence as the background plate.

To start using the tool, you need at least two frames captured.

Access the Rig Removal tool via the sidebar Tools | Rig removal button. Or select main menu Tools|Rig removal.

Navigate and resize the frame image using the buttons to the lower left of the Rig Removal tool. You can zoom in on your image using by selecting the Move button on the actions tab, and clicking /rotating the mouse scroll wheel over the image.

	Use the Background plate tab on the right hand sidebar to select which version of your frames you wish to edit. If you want to export/make movie the rig removed frames from SMP, make sure you change the default option to Stored plus Full resolution.
	Step through the frames and locate the frame with the rig or part of image you wish to replace. Use the slider on the Background plate to locate the frame you wish to reveal when you erase the rig.
Then select the brush tool on the Actions tab, and erase your rig. The Action buttons (left to right): Erase any of the drawing using the currently selected drawing brush. Move the part of the frame being viewed. This only applies if you have zoomed into the frame (use your mouse scroll wheel over the image to do this). Create an edit masking area. Only parts within the mask will be affected by the Rig removal brush. Delete the edit masking area. Undo any painting you have done. Redo any Undo You can adjust your brush size at any time. When you are finished removing the rig, click Next (bottom of screen). You will be asked if you want to save the frame. Click OK.

Note, when you save a frame the original is not deleted. It is safely kept in the Editor as a hidden frame. You can of course at any time reveal these hidden frames. Users with DSLR cameras (and Action! HD or Studio editions) have the added ablilty to select which frames they are going to erase the rig from: Stored, Video assist frames or Stored plus Full resolution frames. Remember, these changes are reversible via the Editor. This is a great way to see live on set how your rigged shot is going to look. The video below shows this in action.

The butterfly was two puppets on wire rigs.