FlipaClip: frame-by-frame animation on a phone
FlipaClip draws frames rather than pictures: onion skin, a timeline, export to video. We look at when it is the right tool and when it is the wrong one.
FlipaClip does what no other app in this roundup does: it draws movement. Frame by frame, with the previous one showing through and a timeline along the bottom.
What it gives you
Onion skin. The previous frame shows through the current one and your hand traces the path — the core technique of hand-drawn animation, without which frame work is impossible.
A timeline with layers and audio. Frames reorder, durations change, a soundtrack goes underneath. The output is a finished clip, not a sequence of images.
A low barrier. The app explains itself and is aimed partly at teenagers — who make most of the animation that circulates on social platforms.
What it costs
Weak drawing. Few brushes, few layers, almost no colour work. This is an editor of movement, not of image, and drawing a complex frame in it is uncomfortable.
A subscription and ads. The free version limits layer count and shows advertising; the full set is paid.
Who it is not for
Anyone drawing still pictures. Here FlipaClip loses to Sketchbook, to ibis Paint and to everything else — it is about something different.
The sensible pairing: draw frames where it is comfortable, assemble the movement here.