"GIF SHOP" Lets You Easily Make Animations From In-App iDevice Photographs
July 6, 2011
GIF SHOP, a new animated .gif creator built specifically for iPhone, has just launched in the App Store. With the app's promise of clean design and ease of use -- along with my fledgling interest in stop-motion art -- I downloaded the app without reservation. I wasn't disappointed.
Indeed, one of the app's standout features is its pick-up-and-play sensibility. Says co-designer Daniel Savage,
Since the initial concept, GIF SHOP is no longer the first of its kind, but we think there is one key factor the others have missed: simplicity. It is extremely important to us that we take the tedious act of making a .gif and make it as fun and intuitive as possible. We managed to do this without compromising important features. Animated .gifs are no longer exclusive to the technically savy person. Even my mom loves texting me .gifs now.Truly, GIF SHOP is extremely easy to operate, and it works by stitching together photographs taken in-app. Your shots are aided by an adjustably-opaque overlay of the previous photo, and these are stitched together at a resolution and frame-rate of your choosing. After assembling the lineup, you can share your .gif via MMS, email, or by uploading it to a free gifshop.tv account. Unfortunately, in this initial release, you can't process and extract video frames, nor can you import existing pictures from your Camera Roll. Additionally, there's no simple drawing tool, so .gifs are limited to app-shot photos and nothing more. Still, the results are fluid, natural, and decidedly unique. And, even though the app is iPhone-only, it works well in 2X-mode on iPad, too. As an added bonus, you can even use GIF SHOP as a simple wigglegram generator! The app is available now on iTunes for $1.99.
