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Want to create stop-motion films? We made an app for that!

Want to create stop-motion films? We made an app for that!

Want to create stop-motion films? We made an app for that!

There’s just no stopping the NFB’s web developers. Hot on the heels of the NFB Films iPhone, iPad, Android and PlayBook mobile apps, our devoted developers has come up with PixStop, a fresh new app that enables you to make stop-motion films on your iPad 2. Designed to capture as many as 10,000 images, Pixstop allows you to create mini masterpieces up to 13 minutes long. Excitement!

Pixstop was originally designed for our education clientèle (NFB/education). What this means is that the app is user-friendly enough to be used in classrooms, by school-aged children.

This is no limitation on the app’s potential, however, as the 2 clips (below) amply demonstrate. The first was made by NFB Hothouse alummus/full-fledged animator Sylvie Trouvé (director of the well-loved Orange); the second is a “test” our colleague, the multi-talented Mivil Deschênes, made while fooling around with the app at his house. (The song Mivil used is “Distant Faces” by the Montreal group Solids.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgFgK54LQ98

Pixstop is available on iTunes. The app is free in Canada; $2,99 elsewhere.

Have fun!

app | application | Bzzz! | Distant Faces | iPad 2 | iPad app | Mivil Deschênes | NFB/education | Pixstop | Solids | stop-motion | stop-motion animation | Sylvie Trouvé

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  1. Check out Pixelio-helpfull device with taking 360 timelapse, video, photo, stop motion movie.

    Pixelio can become a portable laboratory for 3D scanning and a mobile
    mini photo studio. It also offers a number of new features that similar
    older devices did not have. Compatible with GoPro, all smartphones.
    http://www.smart-3d.co

    — Paul,

  2. is this available for download on the ipad mini? my 10 year old is a big fan because they used it in school, but i can’t find it in the app store on his mini. thanks!

    — Daphne,

    1. Hi Daphne. We’re currently in the process of re-working the app, so it’s currently unavailable. But it should be back on the App Store in the fall. You can keep on eye on the blog for news around that time. Thanks!

      — Julie Matlin,

    2. C’est quand “Fall”? J’attends l’application avec impatience!

      — Sylvie Gagnon,
  3. Pingback: Want to create stop-motion films? We made an app for that! | NFB.ca blog « cleave21

  4. Is a playbook version in the works? Pls say yes!

    — dave,

    1. Hi Dave,
      Thanks for your comment. We’re currently tracking the progression of PixStop on iOS to determine the necessity/feasability of moving onto additional platforms. Our NFB Films app for the Playbook was built in collaboration with Research in Motion. We’ll be sure to share this idea with them.

  5. I am really enjoying the NFB app for iPad. Very useful for teaching.

    — Karen E Smith,
  6. Pingback: Comment fabriquer un trépied pour votre iPad | Le blogue ONF.ca
  7. Pingback: traitement photo | Pearltrees
  9. Pingback: How to make a cardboard tripod for your iPad | NFB.ca blog

  10. Thank you for PixStop! I’ve always wanted to play with the medium of stop animation but never had the tools for the video making. I made one silly little thing with some stuff on the table, then embarked on a more ambitious project. I’m going to animate a short story I wrote some time ago. I’ve painted my story boards and a bit of scenery.
    That’s when I realized, there is no import feature. I can export my paintings in a number of standard image formats, but pixstop hasn’t got the option to load an album of numbered images.
    Please please, please add this function alongside the camera? Then I could create an album for my video inserting all my carefully painted images with their numbers appropriate and the software would just load them all in order instead of receiving from the camera.

    — yolanda,

    1. Yolanda –
      Great idea, we’ll consider it for the next releases. We have no timetable for the next release yet.
      Best,
      Carolyne

  11. go to youtube and search for ipad + velcro for some ideas that should lead you to a tripod like device

    — Szin,

  12. Bonjour
    L’application est le fun à utiliser. Difficile d’immobiliser le IPad. Ça prendrait un genre de trépied ? Avez-vous une idée ? Comment peut-on se « patenter » quelque chose ?
    Merci

    Hi
    It is really fun to use PixStop but I was wondering how to have my iPad not moving at all ? Any idea of a home-made kind of tripod for iPad ?
    Thanks

    — Pierre Durand,

    1. Hi Pierre,
      We addressed your question in this blog post!
      Thanks for getting in touch, and have fun shooting!
      Kindest,
      Carolyne

  14. Awesome. I’m am going to love getting the kids involved, it’ll be a learning experience for all of us.

    — Brill,

  15. Any chance this might be available for blackberry playbook?

    — Ryan,
  16. Pingback: UPDATE: Record Breaking Stop-Motion Animation | Engage Learning Systems Inc.

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