BB4 Stop Motion Desks and Stages

Butler Building #4 (BB4) is a stop motion animation studio that contains student desk space and shooting stages for animation students doing armature, puppet, and claymation work.

BB4 contains four private stop motion stage spaces – Stage I, Stage J, Stage R, and Stage K. 

Stage I contains a motion control rig with a dedicated iMac. 

Stage J contains the Kuper Motion Control Rig with its dedicated Windows computer system. 

Stage K contains an Oxberry-style camera stand with multiplane glass. 

Each stage space contains a platform table, a stop motion tool kit, and a ladder. Stages I, J, and R have a red rolling cart with C-stands, sandbags, and flags.

At the beginning of each semester, a meeting is held for all students planning on shooting in BB4 Stop Motion Animation Studio. Reservation requests are taken for that semester only. If the number of requests allows, students may shoot within these spaces for a total of a two-week period (14 days) per semester with an additional 3.5 days per semester allowed for reshoots. Students can only shoot in one space at a time. If there are conflicts with reservations, priority is allocated as follows: Classes, graduating MFA, graduating BFA, 2nd year MFA, 1st year MFA, 3rd year BFA, 2nd year BFA.

If you do not show up for the first day for your reserved time, it is counted as a “miss.” A “miss” is defined as not showing up or not notifying the BB4 Monitor by 10:30 am of your first day. In the event that you “miss,” anyone who is eligible (based on priority) may take over your reservation. If you repeatedly reserve time and “miss,” then you are no longer eligible. Using time in the shooting spaces based on your reserved time—or taking over due to another student’s “miss” time—counts as part of the total allowed shooting time per semester.

When using shooting space time reserved in your name, you must be present during the entire shoot.

To reserve shooting space time, please send a reservation request to: fvanimation@calarts.edu

Please use the calendars below to check and see when the space you want to book is available before emailing your reservation request.