4.6
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Easy Studio App Review

App Info

Price: $3.99

Overview

A simple animation app teaches kids to make their own movies as they manipulate shapes and move them across the screen.

Easy Studio introduces children to the concept of animation by allowing them to manipulate shapes. The app has two different levels: easy and expert. At the easy level, children are taken through a tutorial and other step-by-step animation activities to help them learn how the process works. However, once they move to the expert level, children have the opportunity to let their animation skills and creativity shine.
Available in 11 different languages, the app can be used by children in multiple countries. It is not limited to children either. Instead of spending hundreds of dollars on fancy animation software, adults who just want to play with the idea of animation will also find Easy Studio enjoyable.

Features include:

  • Descriptive tutorial
  • Sample animations
  • Multiple levels
  • Available in 11 languages

The quality of Easy Studio is amazing. Using the app, children can create unique animations that rival some of those created by expensive computer software. Graphics are clear and the app responds quickly to anything children tell it to do. Once children watch the tutorial, the general design of the app is easy to navigate and understand.

Perhaps the only negative to the quality of the app is how fast the animation moves. While parents can change the speed of the animation, it only seems to have three speeds: fast, faster and fastest. It would be beneficial to be able to really slow down the animation for children who are just learning to use the app.

While the Easy Studio app does not teach kids basic reading, math or science skills, it does introduce children to the concept of animation. Kids will enjoy getting a basic glimpse into the process that helps create their favorite animated movies and television shows.

The app itself is also designed with education in mind, offering a step-by-step tutorial and an Easy Level that includes guided animation activities varying in difficulty. However, once children learn to use the app, they can immediately move to the expert level instead of being required to go through a series of lower-level demonstrations when they are ready to let their creativity fly.

The concept of creating animated videos is one that appeals to most children. However, it is also a tedious process and, in the easy level of the app, can become frustrating for children. Once children learn how to use the app, they should move to the expert level. At that level they can move beyond the basic animation templates and use their own creativity to create animated videos. Instead of just moving shapes around and capturing pictures to make an animated video, the expert level allows kids to also change the color of the shapes, resize shapes and manipulate them in other ways to make more entertaining videos. They are also given a larger selection of shapes to choose from, so they can put shapes together to create their own unique pictures and entertaining animations.

While Easy Studio may be priced slightly higher than most apps for children, it offers an excellent value. Those interested in learning animation spend hundreds of dollars on complex computer programs, but Easy Studio offers the ability to create short animated videos for only $2.99. While users are limited to a very basic background and the shapes the app provides, it is a great introduction to the concept of animation that even many adults will enjoy.

Once children watch the tutorial, Easy Studio is easy to use. However, if they skip the tutorial, they may be lost when it comes to using the app. While the easy level of the app is designed to teach children how to animate using different images and progressions of images, it can also be a bit frustrating for them. Boxes are provided to show children where to put the shapes, but many will become frustrated if they are unable to quickly place the shapes directly into the boxes. Others will become frustrated by the tediousness of the process, having to move the shape a few millimeters, click the camera, then do it over and over again until the animation is complete.

The shapes themselves and the actually process of animation is fairly easy though. Special parental controls also allow parents to control the speed of the animation, disable any Internet links within the app and generally make the app easier for children to use.

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4.6
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