Let’s lay down the law: stop motion films are cool and you can’t deny it. They are so delicate, so precise and strangely entertaining to make. That’s my inner fourteen year old boy speaking to me — remembering the good old days when I would painstakingly construct each frame, before piecing it together bit-by-bit on a Windows 95 PC.

Come 2007, we are introduced to the iPhone and a year later, the App Store. Whilst everyone and their mothers talked about how their new Facebook app would revolutionize the world, I was more worried about one thing: can I make stop motion animation with this? I was ultimately disappointed, even in 2013… until a little gem appeared on the App Store, one in the shape of Edumotion‘s Stop Motion – Animation Maker Pro app. This free application is everything I wanted it to be, it features onion-skin overlay, which ghosts the last few frames so that you can align objects in the scene. I can record in full HD, which is perfect especially when I want to share my short films with my friends and family.

Paired with my trusty Lego, my iPhone and a special tripod, I set out to relive my childhood. I instantly realized how easy the Edumotion’s app was to use — just tap the screen to capture a frame and the app does the rest. What was also extremely useful was the ability to go back to a previous point in the movie to delete/change parts, this is a freedom that I was lacking during my animation years. But here is where it gets interesting, the app actually lets you record sound, adding a whole new dimension to your short films — even if it is a faint cry or over exaggerated laugh. I could simply import one of my songs to play behind the animation – just for a bit of suspense.

What I really liked about the app was using the flash to illuminate a scene, this is more useful than you would come to expect, as stop motion short films can have a tendency to be dull-lit and unsaturated. Finally once my movie was finished, I was able to upload it to YouTube and Facebook with one touch — a helpful feature to say the least. Exporting took a fraction of the time it used to and that was probably due to the A6 chip that powers my phone. I can’t imagine how fast it would be on the A7! This app stays true to it’s roots, allowing you to create great stop motion videos without hundreds of useless gimmicks thrown in but it does have a few useful functions like the ability to add sound. Anyone can create animations with this, even me. You can download Stop Motion – Animation Maker Pro on the App Store for free by clicking here, however, there’s a single in-app purchase to unlock the full version.

Rating 4/5 Stars

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