thanks so much for the feedback! when i remove the zoetrope from the shaft everything works fine. I am half stepping the motor, is that the same as microstepping? it's not whole stepping. i tried doing quarter steps and even 1/8 steps but that made it worse. i put it on whole stepping and the motor started up better but now the timing is off for the zoetrope effect. also...what do you mean by Mol? and i was also curious about amperage. would giving the circuit more amps help? right now it's getting 12amps which already seems like a lot...thanks again!