Cinemagraphs are those incredible video-photo-mashups that isolate movement in a moving frame. Don't know what I'm talking about? Then check out these fantastic examples on If We Don't Remember Me.
Creating these 'living movie stills' can be a time consuming process, as this Lifehacker tutorial demonstrates. But with the recent launch of iPhone app Kinotopic, the process has been dramatically simplified. The app couldn't be easier to use, you simply choose the video you want, select the area of movement by 'painting' on the screen and Kinotopic does the rest. It also has a nice 'remove camera shake' feature that works quite well.
Does the end result succeed? Yes, it does. In fact, I'd love to embed the cinemagraphs that I made in this post so you can see just how impressive the technology is. But I can't. Because for no good reason that I can think of, Kinotopic does not save your finished product to your phone.
The only place you can see your cinemagraph is in the app itself or on the Kintotopic website. Unless you want to share your work on Facebook, Tumblr or Twitter (and did I mention that you have to link Kinotopic to your Facebook account for it to work at all?). If you do share to those social sites, Kinotopic just provides a link back to the video on their website. Check out mine here.
Furthermore, if you shoot using the Kinotopic app, as I did, it doesn't save the video to the camera phone library. As far as I can see it's lost. I'm beginning to understand the 'one-star' reviews for this app on iTunes now. The effect Kinotopic creates is cool, but any app that removes control over your media to this extent and forces you to participate in social networks is a huge fail.
If you do want to try it, Kinotopic is available on the iTunes App store for $1.99.
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5 Comments
You should try iCinegraph http://www.icinegraph.com/ -- it does all the things Kinotopic doesn't, and it's free.
Thanks Jack, am downloading it right now. If it works like you say will write up a review of next week, thanks!
Hey Jett, I just wanted to let you know that a new version has been uploaded to the app store and it should appear in a couple of hours. No more FB requirement, private kinos, deleting kinos, and zoom & erase when selecting what you want to delete.
Thank you for reviewing it!
Hey Radu - thanks for taking the time to join up and comment - I'll make sure to update my version of Kinotopic and re-review it next week. :)
Awesome, thanks!
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