by 
Who doesn’t love making their own movies? Maybe it is difficult to find a star for your feature-length film. Maybe you don’t have enough dialogue to make a two-hour epic adventure. Maybe your special effects budget is five dollars. If you are better at animated shorts than feature films and you’ve got more action figures than friends, then you can make all of the movies you want using iStopMotion for iPad.
We reviewed iStopMotion in December of 2011, when the iPad 2 was still new. Boinx Sofware recently updated the app to included full audio support in the clip editor, so we thought we’d try it out again.
Users take single frame shots of their subject and then add audio to create a stop motion animation. This app makes it so easy to do, it is a wonder that Trey Parker and Matt Stone ever went digital.
The new audio addition for iStopMotion allows users to add audio tracks either by importing them from an app, like GarageBand, by adding them from the iPad’s music library, via SoundCloud or DropBox or though iTunes File Sharing. You can also record audio right from within the app. You can either create your movie based on audio you’ve already added, or make your movie first and add audio later.
To make your movie, start by setting up the scene. You’ll want to pay attention to the background, and maybe even create a nice backdrop from construction paper. Then, find your subjects. Personally, I like to have my Star Wars action figures start fights with my Star Trek action figures because it is so funny to see Riker get punched out by Han.
To turn your boring old stationary items into an action adventure, simply start taking pictures of them with iStopMotion. If you have an iPhone, you can download the compatible remote app and use it to take shots while you are adjusting your subjects. That way, you don’t have to keep running back to the iPad every time you want to take a shot.
If you are less of a creative type and more of a documentarian, you can set up your iPad to capture events as they happen with the time-lapse feature. Set the timer to take an image ever second or every few seconds. You can adjust the time lapse for up to minute-and-a-half intervals.
Once you’ve finished filming and adding audio, you can share your animated movie with friends and family through YouTube, Dropbox or through email. You can also submit your work of art to Boinx so they can add it to the iStopMotion theater. You can visit the theater to see others’ films. Some of them are pretty impressive.
What I Liked: This app is great for facilitating creativity with simple objects around the house. Next time you’re stuck indoors due to bad weather, make an animated short using some yarn, paper clips, and construction paper.
What I Didn’t Like: This is a fairly complete app without being too complicated. However, I’d love to see the ability to edit audio into the movie instead of having to edit somewhere else and then import it.
To Buy or Not to Buy: If you have a creative mind and a few hours to make an animated short film, this is a great way to accomplish that. It is worth the download just for the easy time-lapse feature if nothing else.
Name: iStopMotion for iPad
Version Reviewed: 2.0.2
Category: Photo & Video
Developer: Boinx Software
Price: $4.99
Score: 
» Related posts:
Create Your Very Own Animated Shorts With Toontastic — iPad App Review
Tie a Proper Knot with Animated Knots by Grog HD — iPad App Review
Chillingo Goes Old School with ‘The Act’ – a 2D Animated Adventure
