iStopMotion 3.5 Review

Now, obviously my favorite way of reviewing software is to get to the dirt n' grit of it all. And by that I mean shoot a Test Animation and export into a GIF. (GIF is a new format that you can export your project in). Though I wanted it to remain high-res so I uploaded it to Vimeo. I'll email it to you in GIF form if you really want to see it though, email me at chefelepsy@gmail.com. Now the definition of a GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) is, and I'll quote Wikipedia here:
"The Graphics Interchange Format (better known by its acronym GIF; /ˈdʒɪf/ or /ˈɡɪf/) is a bitmap image format that was introduced by CompuServe in 1987^[1] and has since come into widespread usage on the World Wide Web due to its wide support and portability.

The format supports up to 8 bits per pixel for each image, allowing a single image to reference its own palette of up to 256 different colors chosen from the 24-bit RGB color space. It also supports animations and allows a separate palette of up to 256 colors for each frame. These palette limitations make the GIF format unsuitable for reproducing color photographs and other images with continuous color, but it is well-suited for simpler images such as graphics or logos with solid areas of color.

GIF images are compressed using the Lempel-Ziv-Welch (LZW) lossless data compression technique to reduce the file size without degrading the visual quality. This compression technique was patented in 1985. Controversy over the licensing agreement between the software patent holder, Unisys, and CompuServe in 1994 spurred the development of the Portable Network Graphics (PNG) standard. All the relevant patents have now expired."

Therefore:

"GIFs can be used for small animations and low-resolution film clips."

Pretty cool, and great for sites like Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, and it emails well also.

I made this short animation in a matter of 40 minutes of messing around with my Christmas tree and clay...

Clay Figure Animation from SMG on Vimeo.

I gotta say, sorry for the shakiness, I was using the remote camera
for the iPad with a bad tripod. Again, I filmed it on the fly. Christmas trees don't like to stay still very much...

Also, I shot this commercial (or entry for a commercial contest for Tech Deck), and have stayed quiet about it for sometime now. But, I think that it's safe to show you guys it now. They'll be announcing the winner the 20th so, fingers crossed..

Bus Stop Fun (Tech Deck Commercial) from SMG on Vimeo.

There is honestly not much to say that hasn't been said in my first review and my app review. Just that I love it and the GIF support is great. Also, for a while now I have been using the iStopMotion app and it is fantastic! I cannot recommend it more. Guys, one more thing: there is a DSLR live view option now! So the Canon camera's have live view! It's the goodness!

Boinx website: http://boinx.com/istopmotion/mac/

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Knitsune in Lost & Found . Photo courtesy of Andrew Goldsmith. Early on, while growing up in Adelaide, South Australia, Gerald Thompson – motion control artist and director of photography on the beautiful and heartfelt Australian short film Lost & Found – developed an interest in photography, and it didn’t take very long for him to became enamored with making “epic” Super 8 films with his friends. Knotjira (left) and Knitsune (right) in Lost & Found . Photo courtesy of Andrew Goldsmith. An engineer at heart – having gone on to design numerous motion control rigs as well as an incredible robot that interacts in real time with a dancer and musician – the element of filmmaking that Thompson found the most ardor remains the technical side of film’s craft, especially in the realm of special effects, specifically practical effects (for when Thompson – now a veteran in the special effects industry – began, CGI was still only in early stages of development, an...

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