Puppet Animation gave a still picture a little movement without requiring a stack of separately drawn frames. The iPhone app was designed and programmed by Daisuke Nogami, with illustrations by Motoki Amasawa. This March 10, 2009 entry belongs to its earliest period: the developer’s version history dates the first public release to March 1.
Choose a picture, then choose what moves
The developer describes six tools: Swing, Elastic, Shake, Scaling, Handle and Bound. Each applies a different kind of motion to a chosen area of a photo or drawing. The source image is prepared elsewhere or taken with the camera; the app is not itself a drawing package.
A March 2 hands-on test by Mac OTAKARA describes using the supplied examples, choosing movement tools and positioning them over parts of an image. The appeal is selective motion: an otherwise still character can become expressive when a small part of it moves.
Start with one clear gesture
For this kind of animation, a simple picture is easier to work with than a crowded scene. Try a single moving feature first, leaving the surrounding area still. A controlled bounce or swing can communicate more clearly than motion applied everywhere. These are creative suggestions, not a report of new tests on the old software.
Which features arrived later?
The developer’s dated history separates the versions. iPod touch support followed on March 20, 2009. An icon redesign and additional motion controls arrived in May. Animated GIF export by email came in August, and Twitter posting was added in March 2010. Those sharing features were later developments, not launch-day capabilities.
The preview uses the developer’s documented pink-cat icon from the redesigned era. Current compatibility and availability of the historical app are unverified.