Is it possible to make a stop-motion animation using a Canon XL1?

Most pro level editing applications will give you a 'capture now' type facility.

Set your camera up on a tripod/rostrum run it off mains, set focus, exposure WB etc (switch image stabiliser off) run the firewire cable into your pc, set the applications device control to 'non controllable' or 'none' then capture short bursts.

Trim each captured clip to 2 frames (to give you an animation rate effectively of 12fps)

Also switch the XL1 to 'frame' mode, as this will suit your subject better. Forget recording stills to tape, just capture the output fromthe camera straight to your hard drive.

A better way might be to use a digital stills camera with manual contorl of focus exposure & WB etc.

Most editng programmes will let you import stills, and any camera over 3.0 MP will give you enough resolution for an animation in massive 1080p HD resolution.

You would probably want to set your project up as a 'progressive' or de-interlaced project to begin with.

So the upshot is that, really it's down to the software you use.

Even the lite versions such as Premiere Elements 3 (PC) and Final Cut Express HD3.5 (Mac) will do all you need.

I am not sure about the xl1 but other miniDV of that

vintage used the "still" picture feature of the DV system. That is essentially 5 seconds of frozen video, not a jpeg file.

The best way for stop motion is to just use a standard digital still camera and transfer to computer as jpeg files. Your video editor should be able to work with jpeg files and construct a video sequence from them.