Nudgemotion

Help

Nudgemotion makes stop motion films: photos of something moved a little at a time, played quickly so it moves by itself. It's free, with no account, on the web and as apps for iPhone, iPad and Android. Open Nudgemotion.

Set up

• Keep the camera still. Stand the device on a stand, a tripod or a pile of books, so it can't move between photos. A camera that moves makes the film jump.
• Keep the light steady. Lamps, or daylight that isn't changing. Close the blinds on a cloudy day.
• Lock the camera (in Last photo, where the camera can) so the light and focus stay the same as hands move round the scene, and the film doesn't flicker.

Make a film

1. Take a photo with the big clay button, the Space bar, or in the apps a volume button.
2. Nudge something a little.
3. Take another. The last photo shows faintly over the camera, so you can see how far things moved.
4. Play to watch it. Speed sets the photos a second: 8 is a good start, and more is smoother.

Small moves look smooth and slow; big moves look fast. About 8 photos make a second of film.

Tips

• Timer makes Take photo wait 3 or 10 seconds, so tapping doesn't shake the camera and there's time to get into the scene. Keep taking photos makes it a time-lapse: a photo every 3 or 10 seconds until you stop it.
• Grid (in Last photo) lays thirds over the camera, to line up the scene.
• Photos shown (in Last photo) shows the two or three photos before too, each fainter, to see how smoothly something moves.
• Select a photo in the strip, and new photos go in just after it. Move it, Duplicate it, Hold it for a pause, or Delete it. Drag a photo to move it further. Select more (two ticks), then another photo, selects every photo between, to move, duplicate, hold or delete them together.
• Undo takes back the latest change, and the one before, and so on: a photo, a delete, a move. Redo makes it again.
• Title adds a title card: the film's name, the credits or "The End", in one of six colours.
• Voice records a voiceover while the film plays from the start.

Keys

On a keyboard (a Chromebook, a laptop, or an iPad with one):

Films

• Films (top right) keeps many films on one device, so a class iPad can hold every group's. Each film's ⋯ menu renames, duplicates, exports or deletes it. Deleted films wait 30 days in Recently deleted.
• Export makes a video of the film, to share, show or keep, or a GIF, which plays by itself in Slides, Seesaw or a class blog. With Repeat the GIF off, the GIF plays once and stops on the last photo.
• Export film saves the whole film as one file, to keep a copy or move it to another device. Import brings it back, and makes a film from photos too, such as drawings or photos from the Camera app.

Keep films safe

Films stay on the device they were made on and are never uploaded. A device that's reset or shared loses them, so export the film first. In a browser, Chrome and Edge keep the films more surely once Nudgemotion is installed, and Safari on an iPad once it's added to the Home Screen (Share, then Add to Home Screen). The Films screen says when a browser might clear them.

When something's wrong

• The camera is blocked: allow it in the browser's address bar, or in Settings for the apps. On a school device, IT may have turned it off.
• Another app is using the camera: close the other app (a video call, say) and try again.
• No camera was found: plug one in, or use a device with a camera.

Get in touch

Questions, problems or ideas go to Grossard Education at support@grossard.com.au. The privacy policy says what Nudgemotion collects: nothing.

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