This article first appeared on Popular Science.
Stop-motion animation has a rich and longstanding tradition that dates back as far as the 19th century, as seen with popular franchises like Wallace and Gromit. If stop-motion has inspired you, all it takes to make your own film in this style is your phone!
As with other uses for your phone–from map navigation to fitness tracking–finding the appropriate app will be key in crafting an engaging narrative on mobile. Once installed, create your cast of characters, set your scene, and work out what storyline would work best.
Choose Your App
A basic stop-motion animation project using your phone involves taking one photograph after another and stitching them together with movie-making apps such as iMovie (free for iOS) or Splice (both are available free with additional samples and features available at an additional fee).
If your plans are more modest, numerous apps provide GIF making services; ImgPlay GIF Maker (free for iOS or $3 to remove watermark and ads) and GIF Maker offer this functionality; both offer premium versions which offer all available features.
Select a more focused tool and you will take advantage of features like image overlays that provide you with an overview of what the previous frame looked like while setting up the current one (technically known as onion skinning). Plus, many apps–such as Stop Motion Studio–offer composition guides to help get everything in place quickly as well as options to loop multiple frames at the same time.
Stop Motion Maker for Android and iOS has an easy learning curve with extras like video filters that makes for fun experiments, though its full set of features requires paying $10 monthly in order to remove watermarks, ads, and watermarks from videos you create with it. I Can Animate is another worth trying as it enables easy frame manipulation and adjustments with only $3 for both versions available for each platform.
As it would be impossible to cover every stop-motion editing app out there, we chose one of the top options in Stop Motion Studio after spending some time exploring other programs. Our advice will be specific to this app but should apply equally well when working with another stop-motion editor.
Stop Motion Studio is available for both Android and iOS phones, making it the ideal tool to use when on the move, but there are also apps for Windows and macOS computers if editing becomes necessary. All your projects will sync seamlessly across devices.
Use of this software is free; however, for $5 you can upgrade and unlock additional features. These features may include sound and video effects, the option to change backgrounds (green screen effect), support for 4K resolution output and other extras. Please refer to the app for details on any upgrades available.
