More fun, more features, less money
With stop motion animation experiencing a
surge in popularity over the last few years thanks to the release of films such
as Coraline, Fantastic Mr Fox and the upcoming Paranorman, more and more people
are trying their hand at creating their own short films.
In the past, iStopMotion has been the
choice of a great number of amateur animators due to its relatively low cost,
intuitive layout and full set of features. You also had the choice between
standard and Pro versions. The Pro package let you shoot HD animations, import
audio alongside your frames and other nifty features, but it was released at
the hefty price of $499 (about £314), which was unaffordable for many.
iStopMotion
3 can simulate a tilt-shift lens - an effect that really comes into its own
when used with the time-lapse feature for 'model world' effects
The good news is that the nice people at
Boinx seem to agree, and have packed all of the old Pro features plus a bunch
of cool new ones into the new iStopMotion 3. The best part is that it's now
available on the Mac App Store for just £29.99 (about $48.6).
When you first open the application, you're
greeted by a simple tutorial that nicely highlights the basics and how to get
started, but it's not particularly necessary. The layout of the software has
stayed the same, other than the addition of a few options and buttons, and
being optimized for the Retina display, so it remains fairly self-explanatory.
Even younger users should be able to get the hang of the interface very
quickly, letting them worry about what's happening in their movie rather than
overcoming technical confusions.
All of the standard iStopMotion features
remain, such as onion skinning to show you a ghost of previous frames so that
you can keep movement fluid, and simple frame swapping, removing and
duplicating, as well as the brilliantly easy and satisfying time-lapse shooting
option.
Colour correction is a very useful feature
that gives very simple but effective ways to treat a shot to give it the
feeling you're aiming for.
iStopMotion 3 works with a number of
cameras, from webcams, iSights and camcorders to DSLRs. If you happen to own an
iPhone 4, 4S or a third-generation iPad, then you can use those as well, as one
of the biggest additions to iStopMotion3 is the free iStopMotion Remote Camera
app available from the App Store. This app enables you to wirelessly connect
your device to the computer over a Wi-Fi connection and use iStopMotion to
capture 1080p frames from the iPad or iPhone camera without having to
physically interact with it.
The remote app works very well with only a
slight (and very understandable) delay when shooting frames, and the simple
touch focus and exposure controls make it easy to get your shot just right.
Boinx has missed a trick here, though,
because it could have taken this further by letting you use the iPad or iPhone
as a separate screen for displaying the live view from a different camera
connected directly to the computer, as well as allowing you to capture frames
with it. This could have allowed for a very dynamic work flow within a studio
environment and really helped to push the professional direction Boinx seems to
be trying to go in.
iStopMotion
3 works with a number of cameras, from webcams, iSights and camcorders to DSLRs
The ability to add your own audio track to
be displayed in a waveform right by your frame timeline is a brilliant and
incredibly well-executed feature that was previously only available in the Pro
version of iStopMotion 2, but now it comes as standard. To hear any part of the
audio, just click and hold over the waveform and let go to stop. This is very
handy when trying to sync up your animation to a beat or if you're having a go
at lip syncing.
The tilt-shift feature is also carried
across from the previous pro version; this allows you to simulate a tilt-shift
lens surprisingly well, which can be a lot of fun when used with the time-lapse
feature.
THERE IS
ONE slight nagging issue with the software, and it's a problem that's existed
in every release of iStopMotion. If you happen to be using a DSLR in order to
get the best optics, the chances are that you won't be able to use the camera's
live view function and you'll be forced to animate at a much slower rate of
productivity. This is because you have to capture the frame first to see what
it looks like, then, if you're happy with it, insert it into the timeline.
If the software had live view with these
cameras, you would be able to see where your character or object has moved, know
when it's where it needs to be and then take the frame, all in one step. This
limitation makes the animation process feel much more clumsy and tedious, and
it's one of the key differences between iStopMotion and the animation
industry-standard Dragon Frame.
This said, it won't affect the majority of
users, and you can find a full list of which cameras are supported and how on
the Boinx website.
Apart from that, iStopMotion3 is brilliant,
and anyone who has even wondered about the process behind stop-motion animation
should look into buying it. It's a great tool for kids, students and adults
alike. Animation is a great creative outlet as well as being immensely
satisfying, and iStopmotion 3 makes it available to everyone. As a professional
tool it doesn't quite come up to the mark, but at this price it obliterates all
of the competition.
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Information
Price: $48.6
From: boinx.com
Needs: OS X 10.7.4 or later
Pro: Very intuitive controls. Drastically
lowered price tag
Con: No live view with most DSLRs
Ratings: 4/5
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