Zu3D Animation Programme

Zu3D is a stop motion animation software, available on the pc or as an ipad app. It has been designed to give adults and children of all ages the opportunity to create inexpensive animated films very quickly and easily; whether that be at home or in school. This means that Zu3D can also be used for education purposes and for budding animators!

All you need:

The software

A camera

A microphone

Some models

A background

So we know that you can create stop motion animations..but what else can you do with it?

• It allows you to watch your film at any time with instant playback
• 'Onion skinning' - Zu3D allows you to overlap frames on live video. This allows you to see how much you have moved your characters in the next frame and enables you to position them correctly if you've knocked them over
• Dynamically adjustable frame rate - You can slow down or speed up your film or individual clips.
• Cut, copy, paste and reverse sequences of frames
• Edit groups of frames to build up sequences of animation. Great for quickly animating repetitive actions such as blinking, waving etc.
• Delete frames - Delete any frames from your animation at any time - in case you accidentally take a picture of your hand!
• Import music and sounds - Zu3D comes with a library of sound effects and music which can dramatically enhance your films. You can also import your favourite music from your computer.
• Record narration, music, or your own sound effects.
• Speech bubbles - choose from a variety of different speech bubbles to overlay over your film.
• Titles & credits - Zu3D allows you to add exciting titles and scrolling credits using one of our many templates or build your own.
• Draw directly onto frames - Add lasers and special effects.
• Automatic chroma-keying - Blue/green screening with more than one key so that you can animate in front of moving images, just like in the movies!
• Time lapse - Create amazing time-lapse films. E.g. the growth of  a flower over time. This would be useful in science lessons.
• Magic Rubber or 'rig removal' - When animating 'flying' objects you can use the Magic Rubber to remove all trace of your rig, strings or hands. Simply magical!
• Import images & Videos - Import image and video files.
• Record live videos for backgrounds
• Have a go at animating objects against a live action background.
• Unlimited layers of audio
• Using a very simple drag-drop interface you can arrange your music and sound effects to create your very own audio visual masterpiece.
• Unlimited layers of video - combine animation with live video.
• Video editing - A ‘movie maker’ style interface allows for easy editing of your animations!
• Export to video file - Export to AVI, WMV or FLV. Turn your animation into a windows video file that can be shown on your interactive white boards, burnt onto DVD and even uploaded onto your website!
• Publish on Zu3D.com - At the click of a button you can share your film with friends, family and the entire world on our moderated animation gallery and even post to youtube!
• Create a flip book - print out your animation as a storyboard, posters or flip book!
• Network compatible - works with all Windows networks - you don't have to go back to the same computer to continue working on your film.

Wow, so that's a whole lot of positives right there! The possibilities are endless, and although this software is children friendly, it doesn't mean that high quality and professional looking animations can't be made, with patience and skill.

Below is a video of Ceri and I's first ever attempt of using the Zu3D software. We didn't finish the animation, so there is also no sound included either. 

In Space - Stop Motion Animation.