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Stop Motion Studio Pro: Bring Your Creations to Life.

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Who doesn’t love to make their own movies? Did any of you readers ever dream of filming the next Hollywood blockbuster? As a kid growing up in the 80s it was difficult for me to create stop motion videos, or videos in general. My parents never bought a camcorder and the closest thing I made was a stick figure picture flipbook. I wrote a lot of stories though, and would have loved an easier way to bring them to life.

Today’s students, and frankly anyone else who wants to enjoy stop motion, have a plethora of tools at their disposal. However, the one that my students and I use regularly is Stop Motion Studio Pro. It is affordable, easy to use, and has great tutorials and customer support. There is a free version, but it has limited functionality. While I try to focus on free apps here, Stop Motion Studio Pro is available for a one time cost of $5.99. It is also available on several platforms including iOS, macOS, Android, Windows, Chromebook, and Amazon Fire. This is great news for schools because districts use a wide variety of devices. 

Stop Motion Studio Pro doesn’t need to be downloaded on every device in the school building. Instead it is more cost effective to download it on several devices that can be signed out of a central location, like the library and used when requested for projects or for fun!

How Does Stop Motion Work?

Once creators decide on what object they’d like to animate, they set a scene and then move the objects in small increments. Each time they move the object they take a picture. Eventually, when played, the series of pictures produce an animation.

What can I animate using Stop Motion Studio Pro?

How can Stop Motion Studio Pro be used in an educational setting?

ELA – Students can animate their favorite scene in a book,  animate literary devices, create a book trailer, illustrate their writing, or create an alternate ending to a story.

Health – illustrate concepts like healthy habits, nutrition, social-emotional topics and conflict resolution skills

Math – use to visualize geometric shapes, explain math concepts, represent math operations, or illustrate fractions.

Music – use to add music and sounds to videos to portray specific types of emotions or themes, or animate their favorite song

Science – animate difficult concepts like cell division, plate tectonics, the water cycle, life in an ecosystem, or erosion.

Social Studies – reenact significant events, demonstrate how particular architectural marvels were built, or represent geography concepts.

Helpful Hints – 

• It is tempting to make movements in larger increments in order to finish a project faster, but it severely reduces the quality of the animation. Be patient, my friends!

• You need to secure whatever device you are using as a camera, or your video will jump around.

• Try a green screen in the back so you can edit your background later.

• This manual (click here) from the app website provides specific details that will help users make amazing creations!

So…what’s STOPPING you from checking out Stop Motion Studio Pro? It is user friendly, available on several platforms, tons of fun, and a great educational tool!