Vying for new ways to unleash the artist within you? Whip out your iPad and try Flip Boom Draw. This unique iPad app allows for creating animation using just the tips of your fingers. Flip Boom Draw is a great tool for novice animators, and it also provides an avenue for professionals to develop ideas on-the-fly. iPad users young and old alike will be able to start creating animations within minutes of opening the app.
When you start the Flip Boom Draw, your attention is captured by the elegant and colorful user-interface; it almost feels like you’re illustrating inside a children’s book. It doesn’t just look great, it plays nice as well. Most of the icons provide straightforward navigation (e.g. the paintbrush, play/record functions, etc.) and it doesn’t take too long to familiarize oneself with the app. After a short period of time, I became comfortable with copying frames and gradually creating my animation. Before long, I had finished a short animation, recorded it, and played it back for all to enjoy around the office.
This ease-of-use allows for less time fumbling around, and a lot more time for creativity. Drawing tools are modified with the touch of a button, and you change your tablet’s orientation in order to animate a frame from a different angle—a clever simulation of professional animation-production tools. Panning the canvas is also intuitively controlled by the fingertips: just place your index and middle fingers on the screen, and you can browse around your canvas by dragging your fingers effortlessly. If you ever do encounter a problem, the developers provide simple and informative step-by-step instructions online.
Toon Boom has done a fantastic job in honing their animation-software skills into a tool for the novice and the professional. It’s not only easy to learn and use, but it’s fun as well! Flip Boom Draw is available on the App Store now!
Flip Boom Draw for i-Pad, $4.99
For more information check Toon Boom site.
