Stop motion animation has been a huge trend. People use this technique to tell stories through their pictures. There are many videos editing software available in the market to create easy stop motion animations. It depends on the project you want to shoot and using what equipment.
You can create animation online or using an app. There is an extremely powerful desktop software to create simple stop motion movies-Wondershare Filmora Video Editor. You will also find many user-friendly applications available for both Android and iOS. One of the best apps out there is Stop Motion Pro, which lets you create movies on Stop Motion Studio in a better way.
For Win 7 or later (64-bit)
For macOS 10.12 or later
Part 1. What is Stop Motion Studio?
Stop Motion Studio is the world's easiest app for stop motion moviemaking. It has an easy-to-use interface to create beautiful animated movies easily.
You can install Stop Motion Studio Pc or go for its iPhone, iPad, or Android version. However, you must make in-app purchases if you wish to export your projects in 4K resolution or import images from your device to create the animation. Let’s look at its features in detail-
Basic functions:
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Overlay mode that shows the differences between frames
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Position the objects accordingly
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Copy, paste, cut, and insert frames wherever required
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Interactive interface to easily access it.
Unique features
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Add titles, credits, and text cards or create your very own with the built-in editor
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Enhance your movie with different video filters
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Add different foregrounds, backgrounds, aspect ratios, and fade effects
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Add built-in music, sound effects, songs from your music library.
Camera control
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Full camera control to capture with an adjustable time interval feature
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Adjust white balance, focus, and exposure, ISO, and shutter speed manually.
An image editor:
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Add titles and other text on the animation
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Enhance images, sketch, and paint
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Use the eraser tool to wipe away unwanted objects
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Merge frames to simulate fast movement
Part 2. How to Use Stop Motion Studio?
With the help of Stop Motion Studio, you can make animation by combining multiple pictures. You need to download Stop Motion Studio Pro for your iOS or Android device to use the app. You can also download it for PC.
Step 1: Once you have downloaded the app, install it to work on your animation project right away. To create a new movie, click on the plus icon to create a new movie.
Step 2: Set the object you wish to capture in the frame. Let us consider one example where we will turn over an object. Click the camera icon to capture the shot. Move the thing a little and again tap on the shutter icon. Repeat the process until you have moved it all the way around. Once done, click on the play button. It will appear as if the object is in motion and moving on its own.
Tip: To ensure that your object is in the right place, you can use different controls like grid and onion skin. The grid will give you an idea of where you placed the subject in the frame. The onion skin puts the last frame you captured on top of your camera's live view. In this way, you can see how far you moved your subject between frames.
Step 3: You can click as many pictures as you need to convey your story. After clicking all the pictures, you can edit them as per your requirements. To increase or decrease the speed at which your video plays, change the frame rate by choosing the number of pictures to be shown per second when you play the video. Play the video to see how your work turned out. If you like the end result, exit the editor.
Step 4: Now select the animation that you just saved. Click on the export icon which you will find at the top left of the screen—select animated GIF from the pulldown menu. Export the file to Google drive, mail yourself or upload it on your social media profile. AirDrop the file to other iPhone users if you are an iPhone user.
Step 5: You are done!! Yes, it was that simple and easy to create a great stop motion video yourself.
If you want to make a basic video and add audio, the Stop Motion Studio free version is ideal for you. But if you're going to explore more app features, you need to buy Stop Motion Studio Pro Windows, a paid version of the app.
Part 3. 4 Stop Motion Studio Alternative Software
1. Life Lapse Stop Motion Maker
Price: Free, offers in-app purchases
Compatibility: iOS, Android
User Ratings: 4.8 on App Store, 3.6 on Google Play
This app is undoubtedly a lifesaving stop motion apps ever created. Why do we say this? It offers unlimited tools to shoot on an unlimited number of projects. As well as use audio tracks and effects from the built-in library.
While shooting a video on the app, you can add and remove various objects from frames, adjust the focus, and apply many other effects. It has built-in editing tools to change frame rates, apply visual effects, or make soundtracks from royalty-free songs. Video creators can import photos from the mobile phone to add to the animation you create.
Life Lapse permits you to use other color correction tools to set saturation, brightness, contrast, or white balance values manually. You can import audio files to your projects or export videos without a watermark on this app. The pro version lets you record footage in 4K resolution. Isn't that amazing?
2. Stop Motion Maker
Price: Free, offers in-app purchases
Compatibility: iOS
User Ratings: 4.0
You can easily take a sequence of images and make your own stop-motion video on this app. Once you launch the app and tap on the Create button, the device's camera will open. Press the camera button and make a new frame.
Tap on the Done button once you are done arranging the photos.
You have the option to preview the result once you are done. Then, you can quickly proceed to export the video. The app doesn't allow you to record voiceovers or create soundtracks, and you must use another video editing app for iOS devices if you want to further edit a stop motion video.
Make sure you give Stop Motion Maker access to your phone's camera and photo library for it to function correctly.
3. Pic-Pac Stop Motion & Time Lapse
Price: Free, offers in-app purchase
Compatibility: Android
User Ratings: 4.0
If you are still learning to create stop motion animations, you should consider installing PicPac Stop Motion & Time Lapse. One can take photos or import images from the gallery or Instagram on this app. On the free version, you can even reorder pictures. It also enables you to change the order of frames and perform simple edits like removing small objects.
Users can search online music or add local music and record their audio on Pic Pac. You can edit existing projects and share your animations with the YouTube community if you are a signed-in user. To keep track of your projects, add a logo at the end of the videos. The Timelapse-manual mode enables you to bring your stop motion ideas to life. The pro version lets you export videos in resolutions larger than 360p.
4. iMotion
Price: Free, but offers in-app purchases
Compatibility: iOS
User Ratings: 4.4
This app lets iPhone, and iPad users create both time-lapse and stop motion videos. It has a quick and smooth interface to create good quality animations easily. You can also add an audio soundtrack to your movie with iPod import, microphone, and AudioPaste (In-App Full Version required).
On iMotion, the user can manually control focus, exposure, or white balance. It has unlimited movie length, and you can also preview your projects at different frame rates. There is an option to autosave and directly preview your creation. If you want to do reverse playback, you can do that too.
Export all the video projects iMotion in 4K, 1080p, or 720p resolutions. However, only newer versions of iPhones and iPads can support 4k resolution. The free version of iMotion offers only limited options; get the full version to use the advanced features.
Closing Word
Stop motion animation is a simple and exciting way to create movement on a screen. Taking hundreds of photos to create a stop motion animation is not a huge task anymore. Anyone can easily do it on their smartphone camera, or it's even better if you use a DSLR.
Stop Motion Studio is rightly called a studio as it has all the tools needed to create a stop motion animation. It gives you complete control over all camera settings and editing features.
So, bring your photos to life today with stop motion studio free or stop motion pro.