What if The 7th Voyage of Sinbad Had Smoother Stop-Motion?

What if The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1957) had smoother stop-motion animation for its effects scenes made by the famous Ray Harryhausen? I used an AI program to interpolate the scene to a higher frame rate to see what that would look like.
What do you think of the results?
✨ Programs used:
-I used Flowframes with RIFE to interpolate the framerate from 23.98 fps to 191.74 fps and then used my video editor to output a 60 fps video. Flowframes is free and you can find it here: nmkd.itch.io/f...
I'm #captrobau and I like to make interesting videos about AI. Don't forget to like this video and subscribe to my channel if you want to see more videos like this. I regularly upload AI upscaling examples, reviews/tutorials for AI software and more.

[@mastereppsreturns6586]

The stop motion makes the monsters freakier and scarier imo

[@ppsiruffo]

Exatamente! PQP! É sobre isso que eu verso!

[@nicholasferguson6499]

The jerky/discrete motion always terrified me as a kid. It makes movement uncanny.

[@Michael_Johnson_5446]

Precisely.

[@williamwebb8908]

It does give the creatures an eerie, surreal look. I prefer it the way it was originally done.

[@Banefane]

I like the cyclope vs dragon fight more though.

[@rapatacush3]

Have the same problem with the bad guys and spiderverse, they look like stop and motion.

[@ToguroCrypto]

for someone born in 80s, this is laughable comment 🤣

[@andyrandall9289]

While it flows more smoothly now, part of the magic was Ray Harryhausen's use of stop motion animation. They'll never be another like him.

[@necrofinger]

The smoother look has taken all of the 'weight' away from the animation, and it makes the creatures look like little stag beetles fighting.

[@seancrawford7632]

EXACTLY!

[@Liam-lx8xb]

Agreed

[@HallofWisdom]

that's the first thing I noticed - it makes the models look like... models...

[@Denizen-Unknown]

Completely deludes the charm of Harryhausen's look and feel, only adding a nauseating aspect to the effect.

[@blakespower]

the stop motion is what made it cool and freaky weird because it doesnt move in a natural way. you know you are dealing with something strange!

[@Bat-Twenty-Two]

When things are too smooth, you get the problem with CGI where the objects don't seem to have weight or gravity behind their movement and impacts.

[@4absentfriends]

The soundtrack/music along with the stop-action motion created a fantasy world that stands the test of time. This movie is hard to beat !

[@joxer96]

The great Bernard Herrmann composed the soundtrack. He also wrote the soundtracks for Mysterious Island and Jason and the Argonauts, two other Harryhausen films. Check them out if you haven’t! 👍🏼

[@Rikki0]

I've actually thought about this very thing since I first saw it as a kid. It would not have been half as scary with smoother graphics. One of the greatest horror movies ever made.

[@jamesbrowne5842]

Ray Harryhausen was a league of his own and this was a brief period of cinematic history that was lightyears ahead for its time and terrifying being the most advanced technology of its time and we watched it as kids with the family....parents dont sit down with their little kids to watch horror these days haha

[@ClannerJake]

Ray Harryhausen did good with the skeletons; i watched a timelapse of him working on a scene, the amount of work that went into it is insane.

[@donalddube3145]

The whole idea of these films is that it is one man’s work WITHOUT computer assist.

[@robertocamacho1814]

It’s smoother, but there’s something about it that makes it look weird to the eye. Almost like the remote is stuck on fast-forward or something.

[@yaffayafo82]

One of the coolest films of all time along with Jason & the Argonauts.

[@JohnDonovanProductions]

According to Ray, “The giant crossbow was actually a miniature construction about two feet in length . On the beach at S'Agaro , in Spain , we only constructed one eight - foot wheel of the carriage of the machine . This wheel was large enough to act as a background for the actors who were performing in front of it . The only other section of the full - size crossbow that we had to construct was the 15 - foot arrow seen in the foreground above . All the performers had to be placed very carefully in exact positions to allow room for the inlay of the miniature . The later addition of the crossbow would not take place for many months .”

[@aguilacalva2625]

The truth is that there is no noticeable difference

[@pschroeter1]

This is an intriguing idea, but it's strange how the slight offness of the motion contributes to a feeling of unease that makes the monsters feel slightly sinister. It's the uncanny valley in reverse.

[@mrcydonia]

It suffers from the same problem that the Hobbit movies had with their high frame rate: it looks like sit-com video footage...it's *too* smooth.

[@GenkiHero]

I remember seeing this as a boy - CLASSIC Harryhousen! This is great work - well done!

[@carmenmonroe7]

I love the old fashioned stop motion quality

[@mentecuriosa]

I prefer that jerky movement on those monsters, makes it more unnatural, more out of this world, therefore more creepy in my opinion.

[@Palsa-Achilleus]

I remember decades ago AMC (American Movie Classics) interviewed the animator that did all of these films, and he mentioned that when something interrupted him, like the phone ringing, it would cause him to forget which direction to move each of the monster's limbs, which was a big problem with the Hydra in particular, do to all of it's heads. He eventually started writing down notes for how each limb would move per frame. As for the touch ups, x8 just makes it feel uncanny in the other direction, have you tried 2x or 4x?

[@doctorrenegade839]

OH MAN!!! YOU F-IN ROCK!!! Thank you for slipping this into the mix so soon! The title made me double take 😄 in the 80s when I was a little guy, it always made my day when one of these stop motion films would be on one of the four channels we had. Mostly if there were skeleton sword fights, I was watching haha. Thanks for taking the time to make these videos, keep up the good work.

[@CaptRobau]

You're welcome!

[@WilyTuber]

whew amazing what a difference it's even BETTER that if it were CGI

[@jonahrains7483]

Why change it at all? The jerky motion marks the era in which this was produced. Some people can't control the urge to "reimagine" the past. This is the way it was. Movies like this help us understand the era in which they were made. Modifying them is an attempt to "reimagine" the past to be something other than what it was. Stop.

[@poluticon]

I've never seen this movie, looks pretty awesome, I'll have to check it out.

[@SenseiBonaf]

It's a must see if you like stop-motion or the works of Ray Harryhausen. Fantastic stuff.

[@pdrazka2413]

Give "Jason and the Argonauts" a try!

[@gerardofollano8417]

These are Classics and part of movie history

[@poluticon]

@@gerardofollano8417 like A Goofy Movie?

[@ulrichenry4881]

It is really good

[@bulbasaurbrutal5137]

Weird! I think the Cyclops looks more alive in the original format.

[@Destro7000]

The smoother it is, the worse it is.

[@Drrezzin]

It's not all about the frame rates though. It's the fact that stop-motion contains no blur. By adding blur, you get smooth motion. Have you tried forced-motion blur in AE?

[@pierreblain1424]

Man...my favorite movie as a child. Those jerky motions made it extra scary for me.

[@anzaeria]

Some may see this as improvement. But the added smoothness sometimes makes the movements look a bit videoish which can be off putting.

[@ProvVFX]

It still has that stop motion effect but it flows nicer now.

[@lucassalomon3144]

Maybe this is a stupid question, but after rendering the smoothing, can the frame rate be taken back to 24fps so as to not have that "game" feeling 60fps has? Would it retain the smoothness, or would it be lost?

[@PurpleNonIntelligent]

I always liked stp motion more then CGI. It looks way more realistic then CGI. Like if you have a animation in CGI it just looks fake but with stop motion it looks real the only drawback is the robotic movement and it takes a long time

[@cwescrab]

I feel like smoothness looked best if added like 2 or 4x.

[@frankjoyce76]

I like to play these videos at .75 speed. You can really see the difference when its slowed down slightly

[@CaptRobau]

Good suggestion for others!

[@bobcurtis3958]

You can make a valid argument either way, but each method has its merits. Nice job on this!

[@chicagovader2188]

Interesting experiment but really just makes the stop motion seem to have a soap opera effect. Motion blur added to the stop motion would be a bigger benefit than smoother motion as it is the lack of motion blur that gives it the surreal stacto movement.

[@HStyleTube]

👏🏽This is Spectacular ! Thnx fo Sharing .... I enjoy both versions , still astounds me 45 yrs later to think of all the manual hours & math to create this Classic . I'm a Painter & Designer but no way do I have the fortitude for this kind of animation. I remem seeing Terminator 1 & I automatically thought of this ... ✨

[@LarsBlock]

Love what you did! Call me old school, but to be perfectly honest, the slight frame stutter added to the magic and fantasy for me. All the best, Larry Block (the Dude who wrote ‘The Funhouse’). 😱😱😱 “Scare On!”

[@CaptRobau]

Glad you liked the experiment

[@elfpimp1]

Fantastic results. The biggest problem, as I'm sure your very aware of if you've ever worked in motion pictures, is cost. Harryhausen absolutely could have achieved higher frames but it would have been prohibitively expensive and time consuming. Damn good job with the AI redo tho!!

[@Mayydayy86]

Only the skeleton and the dancer look better. I don't think it's coincidence that those are the two things that are SUPPOSED to be human-sized. Smoothing out the other creatures just makes them look like, well, miniature clay models.

[@davidholman48]

Commendable work, undeniably. But we shouldn't discard the actual charm of the original 24 fps. Imagine taking a Daffy Duck cartoon and adding frames. It would probably look like bad cgi. However...and I don't wish to be disrespectful or insebsitive, using this technique as part of a new stop motion project just might work beautifully! It puts me in mind of some of Jim Danforth's works such as WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH. Still, great work you've done.

[@hamzron7056]

Anyone knows which is the movie where there is the black monster and the hero defeats it by attacking the leg and opening the back part of the heel/achilles and smoke comes out of it

[@dearwendy8590]

That is Talos from Jason and the Argonauts but he wasn't black he was bronze.

[@michaelnally2841]

Personally I kinda prefer the original cuts because I feel there’s a bit of a charm to the imperfection of the stop motion like someone did genuinely do it. If it’s too smooth then I feel that defeats the purpose of stop motion

[@CaptRobau]

You will need to watch at 720p or above to see videos at higher framerates. So check your resolution first, if you can't see the difference. EDIT: I've done a much improved sequel to this video, check it out: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p6nakoltg6qUbLs

[@RAFMnBgaming]

Very cool tech for this algorithm. Ironically though I feel like the smoother motion ends up leaving everything feeling smaller. Works great for the skeleton, not for the bigger creatures.

[@mopargaming7465]

I would like to know how they made the props? In my opinion they look better.

[@dearwendy8590]

A small metal armature (a toy skeleton with ball joints) is welded together in a workshop then a physical body is made over the top using latex rubbers and foam. This becomes the monster puppet and due to the armature it is jointed and able to be posed and moved. The live action is then projected onto a flat screen in the stop motion workshop and advanced one frame at a time with the puppet in front on a table allowing for the puppeteer to move it slight frame by frame with the advancing live action projection creating the illusion of life. Glass screens with black tape or paint are also used in scenes that require the monster to move behind scenery or live actors that need to move behind miniature props.

[@CaesiusX]

Now you're hitting me where I live! This is so great!

[@CaptRobau]

You live on the fictional island of Colossa?

[@CaesiusX]

@@CaptRobau Well, it's not as nice as it used to be. All the treasure is gone, and the Cyclops just watches TV all day.😕 But I can still walk around in just a toga! 😃

[@CaptRobau]

@@CaesiusX haha

[@micshork]

If possible could you also do the two other Sinbad films?

[@jbmbryant]

That last scene is me trying to get my cat back in the house..

[@takodachi8283]

Man, the last fight looks good! It would look even better with some work in After Effects, like dust and tumbling and maybe, zooming the camera with the hits to give it more impact. Good work.

[@berner]

Any plans to do the stop motion T101 from the first Terminator movie?

[@mattmccain8492]

I say leave these works as they originally were. That's part of what gave them character and the human touch . Computerized refinement only removes those characteristics taking the " feel" from the art created by human hands that a computer cannot replicate. Leave them be.

[@GleeChan]

I think it's funny how every comment is saying the same thing, but worded different.

[@half-lifescientist1991]

That Skeleton fight was fucking amazing with the smoother stop-motion

[@fclefjefff4041]

My knee-jerk reaction was "I'm not sure why you insist on fucking around with the work of a genius." But in the content of your whole channel, I get it. :)

[@joeblue6325]

Can anyone explain to me why this clip doesn't have 3 million views. It sickens me how KZbin algorithms favour influencer videos and goofball videos for search exposure instead of talented skillful videos like this one.

[@Eener1000]

The smoothing works great for the smaller greatures, but the big creatures look better with the old movements. You could maybe fix that by adding a very very slight slowmo to the smoothed bigger creature scenes. Edit, youtube playback at 0.75 already helps a bit to make the smooth scenes have weight.

[@tonysmith8779]

The originals are still better it gives them that gritty feeling

[@farmer-rama4244]

To me the jerky movements made the creatures more fantastical and for, some of the them, more scary

[@Guyverman01]

If stop motion was filmed in a frame-rate like this, it could make a comeback.

[@SmumplytheF2P]

Missing Link by Laika is practically so smooth though. I sometimes forget it's stop motion.

[@RootinrPootine]

Need an AI that adds motion blur. That’s what matters.

[@iamalandstander]

It's what LucasFilms did for the Original Trilogy. You don't need higher frame rates, just blurring.

[@carlosx1237]

Good job, Captain. The animal stuff looks fantastic. Harryhausen's take on animals/monsters is really interesting to look at at both speeds.

[@Dolores5000]

Fantastic!

[@t.stephen5086]

The thing with modern CGI is it's hardly ever scary. Yet as a kid these monsters were terrifying. While admirable on a technical level changing them takes away that scary factor & also some of the charm and mystique of that golden Harryhauson age of monsters is lost.

[@pacisparrae]

I feel like the more jumpy movements add to it tho. The only time the smoothed version improved the scene was in the snake woman's scene as her movements are supposed to be fluid.

[@psuedozardozz]

The scenes where humans and creatures interact directly certainly improve with the smoothing, but I agree with the others that the *uncanny * movement was part of the fear factor. Missing frames of articulation create the illusion of high speed, uneven movements where they don't exist. Some CGI is TOO smooth to be real, as I'm sure we've all noticed. Otherwise, the creature facial expressions and small figures (humans) do benefit from the added (interpolated) frames.

[@deckofcards87]

If stop motion continued to advance, even with the help of software, I think it would've looked so much better than CGI.

[@YO_channel100]

you can say the same thing about CGI.

[@dearwendy8590]

It already does look better than CGI.

[@howardmilstein9915]

I must admit, the work you did is excellent. Could Harryhausen have done this when the film was made?

[@mrcydonia]

No. One of the main reasons that the stop-motion animation looks jerky is because there's no motion blur. Later stop-motion techniques had a way of simulating this, but it was difficult. Computer animation has motion blur built into it, which is why it looks so smooth.

[@Abdullahs_World]

woah! at those time...

[@kuklafranandollie]

Great - can you add a motion blur?

[@maverickcorlas]

Y fix what was not broken

[@tonisiret5557]

Now just to mirror all the lighting & shadows, so it looks like it's actually there. Which may take about 5 years! Great job though 👌👍

[@DMDvideo10]

I really don't see a big difference in the 8x smoother clips. What's really missing for making stop motion look smoother is motion blur frames.

[@jetpigeon8758]

Not needed, the original is as good as it gets, how it is meant to be.

[@RonColeArt]

I need flowframes for Mac!!!

[@justintaylor9691]

Hey these are pretty awesome! Would you consider doing planet of the dinosaurs?

[@eljojosstyle8811]

Gorgeus

[@thomcolmer6564]

I love how you do this! Looks more realistic than CGI. Please do the pre release Jurassic park stop motion dinosaurs!

[@CaptRobau]

Didn't know it originally was to contain stop motion dinosaurs. I've only found a few seconds of those pre-release tests. Not long enough for an interesting video. But I can do One Million Years B.C. which features a lot of stop motion dinos.

[@thomcolmer6564]

@@CaptRobau there’s movement tests and storyboards from the T. rex paddock and raptors in the kitchen. I’ll be happy with 100 million BC though.

[@rolliearcillas3031]

1:06 amazing nictitating membrane motion

[@ihalloway]

who uses smooth option on their gorgeous tv should do Sepuku

[@i.s.6165]

The snake woman scene always freaked me out as a kid. Not really sure why. It just scared me and gave me a weird taste in my mouth. Cant really explain it.

[@dearwendy8590]

Vandalism. Smooth isnt always better.

[@he-man5049]

FILMS FEATURING MINIATURE PEOPLE. 🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃 The Dwarf and the Giant (1901), The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), Amour de poche (Girl in his Pocket) (1957), Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959), Tom Thumb (1958), The Devil-Doll (1936), Dollman (1991), Dollman vs Demonic Toys (1993), Army of Darkness (1992), Dr. Cyclops (1940), Attack of the Puppet People (1958), The Big Lebowski (1998), The Borrowers (1973, 1997, 2011), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Alice in Wonderland (1993), Alice in Wonderland (2010), Mothra (1961), Ant-Man (2015), Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957), The Incredible Shrinking Women (1981), Innerspace (1987), Fantastic Voyage (1966), The Littles (1983), Here Come The Littles (1985), The Secret World Of Arrietty (2010), Honey, I Shrunk The Kids (1989), Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves❗ (1997), Honey, I Blew Up The Kid (1992), Hook (1991), The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013), The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014), The 3 World's of Gulliver (1960), Gulliver's Travels (2010), Night at the Museum (2006, 2009, 2014), The BFG (2016), The Indian in the Cupboard (1995), Downsizing (2017), Epic (2013), The Ant Bully (2006), Arthur and the Invisibles (2006).

[@cinehypo789]

Jack the Giant Killer 1962 Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark 1973 Cheers!!

[@SammySam7x]

The problem with the smoother motion is that the film is also shot in a low framerate, probably 24fps. It looks a bit sped up and gives the soap opera effect. It might look better if the animation was sped up to match 24 fps instead.

[@ColbyRichardson-MediaArtist]

You know that you’re completely ruining Ray’s animation, right? The frame rate is one of the most iconic stylistic elements of his work. It’s impressive technically that you can do this. But it’s so sad that the cinematic norms of today are so often imposed on films from the past. An old classic shot on 35MM is not meant to be watched at 4K, 60fps with your TV set on ‘Vivid’. I’ll keep watching Ray’s fantastic films at 24 frames per second, thanks.

[@encoderboy4859]

bro please make video to how to encode to x265(HEVC)

[@CaptRobau]

Encode what to x265?

[@encoderboy4859]

@@CaptRobau x264 to x265 without losing quality

[@CaptRobau]

@@encoderboy4859 have you looked at this video?

[@encoderboy4859]

@@CaptRobau sure ,and like ,subscribe

[@leatheredlife4861]

Some things don't work. It works fine with the skeleton, that fight looks great. But all the giant creatures lose a lot. They lose their scariness because they are moving to fast and now they really look like puppets.

[@DebuggedRobot]

like last time, ill suggest that you interpolate the frame rate of the animation, but then reduce the framerate back to the original 24 frames. You will end up with the cinematic footage, but better animation blending

[@RootinrPootine]

Agreed

[@CaptRobau]

I'll give it a try.

[@Nitrobotti]

You just need motion blur. That's how go-motion worked. Extra frames don't help as much.

[@curiouscat4697]

What's the catch ??? I couldn't spot any difference...

[@kongojira1788]

The Roc was 100% justified in killing those guys. This was really cool seeing it smoother

[@ReviveHF]

Please make "what if Honey, I Shrunk the kids had smoother stop motion?"

[@対決列島]

1:51　スペクトルマンのミドロンに見えてしまった

[@stupid_boi1581]

1:51 the original bowser.

[@y_s4021]

I wonder if stop motion nowadays uses these effects.

[@fernasenho]

It makes the movies Robocop and Robocop 2 of the ED 209 robots and the Robocain

[@KyklopesMajestic]

Holy Casseroles

[@JelloCastleCommunity]

It really looks like that the 7th Voyage of Sinbad is trying to use VERY early CGI in the amoother version and it looks a lot more interesting!!

[@Rudis_Garage]

Filmed in Babelsberg.