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iStopMotion for Mac

31

10 / 2007

by Oliver

iStopMotion 2.1: Leopard Benefits

iStopMotion 2.1 to utilise Leopard features

"New features in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard will directly benefit our customers in the immediate future," says Oliver Breidenbach, CEO of Boinx Software. "iStopMotion 2.1 will be the first of our applications to be optimised to take advantage of Leopard improvements." The application is scheduled to ship in late 2007.

"Mac OS X Leopard offers over 300 new features and advanced technologies, including Core Animation which helps developers easily create animated user experiences," said Ron Okamoto, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. "We're thrilled that developers like Boinx Software embrace Leopard's technologies and find ways to further improve the user experience for their products."

Connecting an HD camera through FireWire

Ever since the first HD camcorders came out, users wanted to connect them to iStopMotion through their FireWire connetions. With iStopMotion 2.1, Mac OS X 10.5 and a codec that Apple delivers with Final Cut Studio, iStopMotion 2.1 can capture frames off the MPEG2 data stream from the camera and use it for the live preview. MPEG2 licensing issues make the purchase of Final Cut Studio a requirement for this workflow. Connecting the HD camera via HDMI provides an alternative that does not require Final Cut Pro for HD capture on Mac Pro computers.

Using Multiple Video Sources

Another benefit of running iStopMotion 2.1 on Mac OS X Leopard is that users can now use multiple video sources simultaneously, for example capturing different angles of the same scene to only one computer. This way, the scene doesn't have to be animated twice to cover different view points.

Image Manipulation with Core Image Filters

Mac OS X includes a technology called Core Image which provides a comprehensive set of image manipulation tools, covering everything from image blurring to color correction. These Core Image Filters can be applied to the image when it is captured with iStopMotion 2.1 running on Mac OS X Leopard.

Availability and pricing

iStopMotion 2.1 will be available later this year from http://boinx.com/download. A built-in assistant will guide users through the process of aquiring the proper license. The update to iStopMotion 2.1 is free of charge to current iStopMotion 2 license owners at their current license levels. iStopMotion 2.1 Home is available for $49, iStopMotion 2.1 Express is available for $99 and iStopMotion Pro is available for $499 via Kagi. iStopMotion 2.1 Home is also available at the Apple Store. For all purchase options see http://boinx.com/istopmotion/buy.

About iStopMotion

Stop motion animation is the easiest way to tell a story in a movie. No need for talented actors. No need for a budget. No need for a script. Just some toys, a table top or a clear patch of carpet and a bit of fantasy get you started. And, according to our customers, iStopMotion is the best tool to get the story into your movie. Teachers love it because their students love it and create short masterpieces within a couple of hours. Parents love it because their kids have fun doing something worthwhile. Professionals love it because they can work much faster than with traditional film based methods. You will love it because you have never been more creative before.

About Boinx Software

Boinx Software Ltd. is based in Puchheim near Munich, Germany. Boinx Software develops and publishes fun and easy to use applications for the creative user. Boinx iStopMotion is the leading solution for stop motion animation and time lapse capture for your digital hub and won the O'Reilly Mac OS X Innovators Award in 2003. Boinx FotoMagico is a tool to create and present professional live photo slideshows and has won the O'Reilly Mac OS X Innovators Award in 2004 and an Apple Design Award 2006 - Best Mac OS X User Experience Runner-up. Boinx iVeZeen turns your webcam into a digital camcorder. Boinx Mouseposé is the essential mouse pointer highlighting tool for everyone doing presentations, trainings or demos and those individuals with huge and high resolution displays. Information about Boinx Software and its services can be obtained from its website http://www.boinx.com .

iStopMotion for Mac

16

10 / 2007

by Vera

iStopMotion 2.0: Stop Motion Animation, The Next Generation (Ready for Leopard)

Home, Express, Pro

iStopMotion 2 comes in three flavors, targeting different users. The Home edition is for the family, where the parents want to spend a great weekend with their kids. The Express version is for the serious hobbyist animator, with all the great stuff appreciated by pro animators at a reasonable price. The Pro edition is for the animator who makes money (or plans to) with stop motion animation. A special education edition with a multi-user license key is available for educational institutions.

Virtual Stage

"Our goal was to add new capabilities that appeal to professionals while keeping it so easy that kindergarden kids love to use it. It was an ambitious goal, but we think we achieved it with iStopMotion 2", says Florian Albrecht, responsible for iStopMotion's development at Boinx Software. An example for this is the chroma keying that provides a virtual stage. Kids can have their toys walk on the moon or explore a coral reef deep down in the ocean. Meanwhile the flexibility of the feature brings ambitious movie ideas into the reach of the ambitious hobbyist and the pro.

Taking a Cue

Instead of painstakingly planning your animation and creating an "x-sheet", simply load in a cue video to guide your animation. This video is displayed alongside the animation window or composed into the animation video transparently. Before this, one of the biggest challenges was to animate dialog and get the mouth movement right.

Realtime Recording

Sometimes it is handy to be able to record a sequence of a specific number of frames in real time. A pro customer requested this feature for quickly and easily creating zooms and pans with a motion controlled camera that they use to record cartoons.

Non-Square Pixels, Keyboard and Voice Commands

As video pixels are not square in many video standards like DV, support for non-square pixels ensures that a circle remains a circle regardless of video source or destination format. Keyboard and Voice commands are customizable. Animators can configure their own keyboard commands or attach a programmable keypad to create a control console.

Availability and pricing

iStopMotion 2.0 is available immediately fromhttp://boinx.com/download. A built-in assistant will guide users through the process of aquiring the proper license. iStopMotion 2.0 Home is available for $49, iStopMotion 2.0 Express is available for $99 and iStopMotion 2.0 Pro is available for $499 via Kagi. Updates from iStopMotion 1 DV to iStopMotion 2 Home are available for $10, to iStopMotion 2 Express for $60. Boinx is currently working with retail partners to bring iStopMotion 2 to store shelves in the US in early 2008. (Price quoted in US$ excl. sales tax or VAT as applies. Check the Kagi Store for quotes in local currencies). For all purchase options see http://boinx.com/istopmotion/buy.

About iStopMotion

Stop motion animation is the easiest way to tell a story in a movie. No need for talented actors. No need for a budget. No need for a script. Just some toys, a table top or a clear patch of carpet and a bit of fantasy to get you started. And, according to our customers, iStopMotion is the best tool to get the story into your movie. Teachers love it because their students love it and create short masterpieces within a couple of hours. Parents love it because their kids have fun doing something worthwhile. Professionals love it because they can work much faster than with traditional film based methods. You will love it because you have never been more creative before.

About Boinx Software

Boinx Software Ltd. is based in Puchheim near Munich, Germany. Boinx Software develops and publishes fun and easy to use applications for the creative user. Boinx iStopMotion is the leading solution for stop motion animation and time lapse capture for your digital hub and won the O'Reilly Mac OS X Innovators Award in 2003. Boinx FotoMagico is a tool to create and present professional live photo slideshows and has won the O'Reilly Mac OS X Innovators Award in 2004, an Apple Design Award 2006 - Best Mac OS X User Experience Runner-up and the MacGeneration Trophée in 2007. Boinx iVeZeen turns your webcam into a digital camcorder. Boinx Mouseposé is the essential mouse pointer highlighting tool for everyone doing presentations, trainings or demos and those individuals with huge and high resolution displays. Information about Boinx Software and its services can be obtained from its website http://www.boinx.com.