Zu3D 5

Zu3D 5 · stop-motion filmmaking

Your complete
stop-motion studio.

Capture and edit clay and cut-outs. Build layered scenes. Animate faces, drawings and props. Add sound and finish your film—all in Zu3D 5.

Get Zu3D 5 Explore the tools

Unlimited video layers · Speech-driven lip sync · Animated masks & props

For Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android and Chromebook. Find current app and device requirements on the Get Zu3D 5 page.

Zu3D 5 with handmade characters, captured frames and separate sound tracks — Real animation, a layered timeline and the tools to finish the film.

From first frame to finished film

One place for the whole production.

Start with a few frames. Keep going until your film has a story, a soundtrack and a title. The same workspace carries your film through every stage.

Capture

Move the model, take a frame and watch it play. Onion skinning helps you line up the next move.

Edit

Trim a shot, hold a reaction or rearrange the action. Get the timing just right on the timeline.

Zu3D recording tools and separate audio tracks

Build the soundtrack

Record a voice, bring in music and give every footstep its own rather satisfying sound.

Zu3D movie export with a real clay-animation project

Finish & share

Add the opening title and end credits. Export a movie and keep the project ready for another edit.

Frame-by-frame control

A small move.
A well-judged pause.

Onion skinning shows the previous position over the live picture. Line up a clay hand, a paper rocket or the next drawing without having to guess where it was.

Use path guides to plan movement, adjust the overlay and play back as you work. A little control makes a character feel deliberate.

Onion skinning
Path guides
Frame-by-frame capture

Explore capture & animation →

A paper rocket with onion skinning and path guides in Zu3D 5

Editing & timing

Make every frame
earn its place.

Delete a stray hand, hold a reaction or change the playback pace. Zoom into individual frames, then work with whole clips when it is time to arrange the scene.

Trim, split and extend clips. Repeat an action with Loop or send it back the other way with Boomerang. Undo gives experiments a useful safety net.

Frames & clips
Trim, split & hold
Loop & Boomerang
Undo

Explore editing & timing →

Clip editing controls alongside a captured clay-animation sequence

Green screen & scenery

Keep the handmade character.
Change the whole world.

Replace the green behind your model with a scene from the library or an image of your own. Preview the result while filming, or work on frames you have already captured.

Build with unlimited video layers, each with its own timeline track to edit separately. Combine colour keys, masks, characters and scenery to make the world your film needs.

Live & captured green screen
Scenery library
Your own backgrounds
Unlimited video layers

Explore green screen & effects →

Handmade characters photographed against a green screen — The captured characters.

The same handmade characters placed in digital scenery — A new setting in Zu3D 5.

Masks & support removal

The support stays on the set.
It disappears from the film.

Make a model float over a real handmade scene. Layer a clean picture of the set beneath the animation and use a mask to hide the support.

When the character moves, animate the mask with keyframes. The effect can travel with the action, rather than being fixed to one part of the picture.

Clean plates
Editable masks
Mask keyframes

See how flying effects work →

A clay creature held over a handmade woodland set by a visible support — During filming: support visible.

The same clay creature floating in the woodland set with its support masked out — Support masked in the editor.

Recording, music & sound effects

A voice for the model.
A creak for the door.

Record dialogue in Zu3D, choose sounds from the library or import your own recordings and music. Separate tracks let you build the soundtrack around the action.

Trim clips and adjust volume, pitch and speed. Sound styles can turn an ordinary recording into a rather different character.

Record & import
Sound library
Separate audio tracks
Voice styles, pitch & speed

Explore sound & voices →

Volume, pitch and speed controls beside an animation with multiple sound tracks

Animated faces & lip sync

It has something to say.
Give it a mouth.

Choose or record a voice, pick a face style and let Zu3D create the mouth animation from the speech. Fit the face to your model, then play it back with the voice.

Keep the character’s own eyes or use an animated pair. Motion keyframes keep the face aligned as the head moves. Speech bubbles offer another way to have a word.

Speech-driven lip sync
Choice of face styles
Face positioning & keyframes
Speech bubbles

Explore talking characters →

Face styles in the Zu3D lip-sync creator — Choose a face and analyse the voice.

Animated talking faces fitted to simple clay characters — Fit the result to your character.

Drawing & animation

Draw the bit
you cannot make from clay.

A flickering flame, a trail of smoke or a character drawn from scratch. Paint on drawing layers and animate them frame by frame alongside your captured pictures.

Copy a drawing forward, start a blank frame and use onion skinning to judge the next mark. Mix hand-drawn animation with models and paper cut-outs in the same film.

Drawing layers
Frame-by-frame drawing
Drawing onion skinning

Explore drawing & animation →

Drawn flames layered over a paper rocket flying through a space scene

Imported images & Motion

A spacecraft.
A few keyframes.
Off it goes.

Add a prop from the library or import an image of your own. Set its position, size and angle at different points on the timeline; Zu3D works out the movement between them.

The same keyframe controls can move a face, change a shadow or reshape a mask. Use them for a small adjustment or a whole animated sequence.

Image & prop import
Position, scale & rotation
Keyframe animation

Explore props & keyframes →

A spacecraft animated through a space scene with Motion keyframes

Filmed movement as a guide

Borrow a movement.
Make it your own.

Bring in a reference video and use its movement to guide the next drawing or model pose. Rotoscoping helps you understand the action one frame at a time.

Trace a drawn character or match the pose with a physical model. Then place your animation in the world you have chosen.

Reference video
Drawing or physical models
Frame-by-frame movement

Explore rotoscoping →

A hand-drawn blue character animated over a woodland bridge — Drawn animation guided by filmed movement.

A wire model animated across the same woodland bridge — The same idea, using a physical model.

Build the finished picture

Make the pieces belong together.

Foreground scenery layered in front of real clay characters

Foregrounds & layers

Put scenery in front of a character as well as behind it. Arrange layers to make the world feel deeper.

Zu3D virtual shadow controls with shared light, shadow shape and keyframes

Virtual shadows

Add a shadow beneath your character, then change its position and shape to suit the scene.

A choice of filters beside handmade characters in a beach scene

Picture filters

Adjust the look of a clip so its colour and atmosphere suit the scene around it. Preview different treatments as you work.

Titles, credits & storytelling

Give the film
a proper beginning and end.

Create an opening title, add words over the action and credit the people who helped. Choose a style, adjust the wording and give the audience time to read it.

Arrange the shots and soundtrack on the timeline. A close-up, a pause and a well-timed sound can say a great deal about a small clay character.

Title styles
Overlay text & speech bubbles
End credits

Explore titles & finishing →

End credits in the Zu3D editing timeline alongside animation and audio

Phone, tablet or computer

Use the screen
that suits your set.

Get Zu3D 5 for Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android or Chromebook. Start with a compatible built-in camera and a steady place to put your device.

The capture, editing and creative tools belong together, whether your workspace is a desk, a kitchen table or the corner of a classroom.

Windows
Mac
iPad
iPhone
Android
Chromebook

Compatible device & camera required

Zu3D 5 camera preview, captured pictures and editing timeline

The Classic Zu3D Animation Kit

A camera, a little clay
and your own ideas.

Get the USB animation camera, modelling materials, scenery and printed handbook together in the Classic Kit.

The handbook follows Zu3D M. You can follow it in M, or explore Zu3D 5 with an eligible kit code. Eligible codes keep independent access to both versions.

Shop the Classic Kit Already have a kit?

A few practical questions

Before the first frame.

Do I need Spark to use Zu3D 5?

No. Use a compatible built-in camera on your phone, tablet or computer. The Classic Kit provides a separate USB animation camera for compatible Windows PCs and Macs. Spark owners can use their separate Wi-Fi camera.

Where should I start?

Capture a few small movements and play them back. Try one new tool when your film needs it: a voice, a new background or a drawn effect.

Can I combine the different techniques?

Yes. Captured animation, drawings, backgrounds, props, animated faces, text and sound can work together in the same project.

Can I change a film after exporting it?

Yes. Exporting creates a separate movie. Your project remains editable, so you can make changes and export another version.

The Zu3D scenery library with a range of illustrated settings — Choose a setting from the library or bring in an image of your own.

Get Zu3D 5

Start creating.
Add more when you need it.

Install Zu3D 5 to start with its free tools. Zu3D 5 Premium unlocks more creative tools and the built-in media library. The app shows the upgrade options for your platform.

Have a Classic Kit? An eligible printed code can activate Premium in Zu3D 5 while keeping your M activation. If your code is not accepted, contact us so we can check your kit.

Get Zu3D 5 Choose your handbook version

Compatible device and camera required. Some tools shown on this page require Premium.

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Zu3D 5

Your complete
stop-motion studio.