Exploring Movie Making with Stopmotion Explosion {Product Review}

My boys have always been fascinated with the different videos of Stopmotion involving farm scenes. They will watch them for hours and then go to their own toy farm and plot and plan all of their own adventures. They've always wished for their own way to make stopmotion films of their own. When I had to chance to review the Stop Motion Animation Kit from Stopmotion Explosion, both of my boys were jumping up and down with excitement at the chance to make a video of their own toy farm. I'm thrilled to present to you my review today, including their final movie creation for your viewing pleasure!

About the Product

The Stop Motion Animation Kit is the #1 bestseller from Stopmotion Explosion. Designed to help even beginners bring their stories to life, this kit contains everything you need to get started:

Stop Motion Animation Kit Components:
*1080p HD video camera with internal microphone, manual focus, and clip
*290+ page Stopmotion Explosion book
*Animation software

Unlike other programs, you do not need to have a CD-Rom to get the software, as it is also available as a download from their site; however, there is a CD included. Stopmotion is Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10 & OS X 7.5+ compatible. There is also an iOS app to bring Stopmotion to your devices!

While the program is ideal for independent work for ages 13+, younger children should be able to enjoy the kit with parental assistance.

The Stopmotion Explosion book provides in-depth instruction for the basics of getting started but then spends more than half the book demonstrating all the different ways to bring your story to life with sound effects, props, etc. It includes step-by-step instruction, tips, links to additional resources and more!

The 1080p HD video camera comes with an internal microphone, manual focus, and a clip to provide stabilization. It is easily plugged in via a USB cord to any laptop. The clip can be removed if necessary to allow for even greater maneuverability of the camera.

Our Thoughts

When this product arrived, my boys couldn't wait a minute. They tore open the box and were ready to get started! I had them slow down and read the startup manual so that they could share how to get started.

The setup was very very easy. I actually started by downloading the app onto my iPhone and immediately the boys could get started playing with it while I set up the actual software onto our laptop. The app uses just your device camera and with a simple tapping of the screen, snaps every single picture. You can even do basic editing from the phone, and there is information about how to use your headphones as a handheld "clicker" to take pictures as well. I think this is a great way to take the program with you outside! The boys had phone getting a taste of what they were going to be able to do with the full program.

The Home Page for the iOS app

The program was easy to set up on my computer. I chose to use the CD and just followed all the installation instructions. The camera works through a USB cord, although you can also use the camera on your laptop. There is a place on the program itself where you can choose which camera you are going to use.

Once we were hooked up and my boys learned how to "click" (simply tapping the mouse), I turned them loose! They discovered the best way to use it was for one boy to click while the other boy did all the repositioning of the stills. This allowed them to take HUNDREDS of shots quickly. Once they had a bunch of photos, we clicked the "play" button and set the speed per frame. This allowed the boys to watch the "movie" they had made so far. Something really nice is that as soon as the playback is done, you can simply start clicking more to add on. You are also able to quickly delete any shots you don't want (like blurry ones, or ones with fingers in them), as they are all numbered.

keeping an eye on their shots

positioning their toys just right

93 shots in! Time to see how it goes!

They don't even have to worry about where their toys were last set--there is a setting called "onion skinning" which gives you a very very faint transparent shot of the last thing you snapped a photo of. This is extremely helpful for placement. Both the computer version and the iOS app offer this.

The image here of my son is an onion skin. Where he was when the first photo was snapped!

So what about when something crashes? Do you lose all your photos? NO! The program saves them to a file on your computer as you go! If you have to reopen it, you can simply import the photos and it will return them to the software program in the order you took them. This was a lifesaver more than once! Also for simply when they needed to stop and work on something else.

Once all the pictures are done, your child can save their mini movie--but it's soundless. To really give it movie characteristics, your child is instructed by the manual to try out a movie maker program. We use Windows Movie Maker because I have experience with it already. It is so handy that the program saves all the photos--we simply opened up a new movie and added the photos--all 350+ of them. We made the transition time a mere .20 of a second to keep it flowing like a movie. We then used some FREE online sound effect sites to get the sounds they needed where I taught them (guided by the Stopmotion manual) how to add and split their sounds to make them work. He added his title slide and credit and then we were done with the first of what I'm sure will be MANY Stopmotion videos!

Learning how to add music and sounds!

And without further ado, I present to you Feeding Cattle from John Deere Man (aka. my oldest son). Make sure your sound is on!


(if the video doesn't show up, you can watch it here: https://youtu.be/FMMRy9sh2pI)

Want to Know More?

As you can see, we absolutely love the Stop Motion Animation Kit from Stopmotion Explosion. I hope that you will take a chance to go watch the other videos that kids on our review team made by checking out there reviews too!

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No matter the gender or age of your kids, they are SURE to find HOURS of enjoyment from this kit. It could possibly be the best $80 you ever spent! It is absolutely perfect for upper elementary students and higher and you will be able to feed their love of storytelling and movie making! While my oldest has officially completed HIS first video, my youngest is eager and ready to put together his own. My fellas are already plotting and planning how they are going to record their "planting" and "harvest" seasons in their John Deere world. This kit is going to bring hours of pleasure and fun for a long time to come!