Everyone from the content creator and graphic designer to the video editor and social media strategist told me that making a proper stop motion is not a cakewalk. Everything from the camera angle to lighting needs to be spot on. Their reaction further intrigued me about Life Lapse Stop Motion Maker and the tall claims it makes. Throughout this week, I tested almost all aspects of the app and created some stop motion videos to see how challenging the task is and whether the app can simplify things. Here are my experience and review of the Life Lapse app.
Life Lapse: Create eye-catching videos 10X faster
The whole concept and effect of stop motion videos are very appealing; thanks to their artsy look, they grab instant attention. And whether you are a brand, entrepreneur, blogger, photographer, artist, content creator, or influencer, these videos can help push your content to a broader audience.
While all that is superb, the real trouble is creating attention-grabbing, awe-inspiring stop motion videos. This is where video editing apps like Life Lapse come in; they break down the whole process into bite-sized doable tasks that are quick to learn and easy to perform. And before I move on to explain the app and share its pros and cons, let me first introduce you to the women and the dog behind the app.
Sarah Boland and Jack, the co-creator of Life Lapse
During my research, the app’s about us page caught my attention. One for the humor-element of introducing Jack, the dog, as their co-founder. It is super adorable. The next notable thing is that Life Lapse is a female-owned and operated company, which nicely ties into my whole spree of supporting women in tech for March, aka women’s history month. The founder and CEO is a former professional videographer and marketer who understands the expenses involved in making eye-catching videos. Thus, she created this app to help budding brands ace their social media and marketing strategies. Interestingly, you will meet Sarah as soon as you open the app and learn the basics from her.
I love that the introduction and tutorial are to the point and not a sales pitch for the pro version.
Can Life Lapse make creating stop motion videos simple & easy?
Let me reiterate what my colleagues said to me, “Creating slow-motion videos is a complex process. For a good result, you need everything to be well-executed and pitch-perfect.” Now, doesn’t that sound scary! I love that the Life Lapse app does not intimidate or makes a fuss about it. Thanks to a simple and colorful interface, it invites and intrigues you to give it a shot.
Handy tutorials with the in-app academy
The moment you start the app, you are welcomed by a handy tutorial. A 2-part video introduces you to the concept, share tips & tricks in under 7 minutes.
As you scroll down, the page is packed with inspirational videos, showcasing all the possibilities. And that’s not all; click the video of your choice and get tutorials from the Life Lapse team. Furthermore, between the app’s Blog and the Instagram page, you get regular access to new ideas, hacks, and tutorials.
Camera Features
Not a pro-photographer? No problem! Life Lapse takes care of almost all primary tools you need.
Locks – Maintaining the exposure, white balance, and focus are crucial while you are clicking multiple photos and want the frame to look similar and steady. So, Life Lapse incorporates a setting to lock these three settings. Grids – A handy way to plot and maintain the position of an object. What’s great is that, along with regular grids, you also have an option to apply custom grids and Instagram crop guidelines to keep things concise. Ghosted image overlay – This one is my favorite; the app shows you a translucent overlay of the previously shot image. This allows easy guidelines for how much you want to move an object. 1-shot timer & interval timer – To ease the shooting process, you can take shots with a delayed timer or planned intervals during each shot.
Quite a sweet tool kit, right! But did you ever stop to think that all these features might make things too complicated? The developers have thought about that too. All you have to do is press the ‘?’ icon to discover which button does what.
Built-in editing tools
As crucial as capturing the images smartly is the art of editing them correctly. Considering the task at hand, Life Lapse includes some much-needed editing tools in its arsenal, such as
Basic editor – Manage the brightness, contrast, white balance, and saturation. You can also tilt, rotate, reposition, crop, and resize. Filters – Fade, vibrant, vignette, noir, and more. Timeline editor – Trim, move, delete, duplicate, or reverse clips. Boomerang – Make a continuous loop out of your stop motion video. Adjust speed Background music – built-in royalty-free music, sound effects, or import music from Apple Music. Save as GIFs
Most loved feature
You can also import photos from your camera roll, which means it is easy to convert your previous travel photos or selfies into stop motion videos. Though the video might be a bit choppy, it is still worth the effort.
Things that are missing
The editing section is quite wholesome, although I felt it’s not exhaustive enough. For instance, there’s no timeline or sound. I should be able to decide where it should start and end. There’s no text feature! It is disappointing that I have to use third-party apps or an iOS editor to do so. I feel there could be cooler filters added into the mix.
Did Life Lapse make AK Appy?
Quite Appy! I won’t lie; I had my inhibitions as ‘stop motion recording is not that easy,’ but the app made it a breeze. Along with helping me learn the skill, the video tutorials also inspired some amazing ideas. Unless a special requirement of text or something, you don’t need an additional app to capture or edit videos; most video-building steps are included. While some basic setup of lights or tripods is required for a proper video, the app does not limit you. In fact, the app has a fantastic article on tripod hacks, where it shows possible alternatives for several shots.
AK Meter
User interface: Features: Video output: Tutorials: Camera features: Editing features: Fun quotient: Price: Free (In-app purchases start from $8.99) Download
What is Appy Week with AK?
A unique series hosted by me, Arshmeet Kaur, aka AK. I am obsessively passionate about apps and how they can help us in day-to-day life. This series allows me to explore all facets of an app for a full week. At the end of the week, I bring my observations to you guys to help you decide whether the app is right for you. Feel free to share your views, comments, and queries in the comment section below. I will see you next week; till then, enjoy these previous editions:
Wysa – Mental Health Support (Feb 26-Mar 4, 2021) Notion – Notes, projects, docs (Feb 19-25, 2021) Koo – A worthy Twitter alternative? (Feb 12-18, 2021) Between – The App Couples Love (Feb 5-11, 2021)
