qStopMotion
qStopMotion is a free application for making stop-motion movies from pictures captured with a camera or imported from a hard drive.
What qStopMotion is
qStopMotion is a free application for making stop-motion movies from pictures captured with a camera or imported from a hard drive. Projects are organized into scenes, takes, and individual frames. When a camera supports it, the application can show a live picture; it can also overlay earlier pictures to help track movement between frames. Capture sources include webcams, digital cameras, and cameras, and users can bring in frames created outside qStopMotion. Finished projects can be exported as video clips with selectable formats and frame rates. The manual describes opening frames in GIMP to add effects, with saved edits detected by qStopMotion. On Linux, supported SLR cameras can be controlled through gphoto2. The software is available for Linux, macOS, and Windows; listed Windows downloads include a 64-bit installer and portable ZIP application, and Linux packages cover several distributions. It is licensed under the GNU General Public License. The site says the software is under development and carries no warranty to the extent permitted by law.
Good
- Free and open source.
- Organizes projects into scenes, takes, and frames.
- Can overlay earlier pictures for movement reference.
- Exports clips with selectable formats and frame rates.
- Available for Linux, macOS, and Windows.
Watch out
- Live camera view depends on camera support.
- The software is under development.
- The site states that it comes with no warranty.
Who it suits
qStopMotion suits people creating stop-motion animations from camera captures or existing images. It may be useful to users who want a free desktop workflow with live view, frame import, and video export.
Verdict
qStopMotion provides a free workflow for capturing or importing frames and exporting stop-motion clips. Its site notes that development is ongoing and that no warranty is provided to the extent permitted by law.
Plans and prices
From qStopMotion's own pricing page, checked 1 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| qStopMotion | Free | free application · open source · no warranty |
The facts
Each one read from qStopMotion's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Camera control
- On Linux, qStopMotion uses the gphoto2 standard interface to control supported SLR cameras.checked 1 Oct 2026
- Camera pipeline
- qStopMotion uses GStreamer to buffer camera images and FFmpeg to generate video clips.checked 1 Oct 2026
- Dependencies
- Building on Linux requires Qt 5.2.1 or newer, video4linux2, gphoto2, FFmpeg and guvcview.checked 1 Oct 2026
- GIMP integration
- The manual describes launching GIMP to add effects to frames, with qStopMotion detecting saved changes automatically.checked 1 Oct 2026
- Image import
- Existing frames captured without qStopMotion can be imported into a stop-motion project.checked 1 Oct 2026
- License
- The software is licensed under the GNU General Public License.checked 1 Oct 2026
- Live view
- The application can display the camera’s live picture when the camera supports it.checked 1 Oct 2026
- Onion skinning
- The live picture can overlay previous pictures as a shade to track movement between settings.checked 1 Oct 2026
- Privacy
- The website privacy policy says personal-data processing follows the GDPR and applicable country-specific data-protection rules.checked 1 Oct 2026
- Project structure
- Projects are organized into scenes, takes and individual frames.checked 1 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- qStopMotion creates stop-motion animation movies from pictures imported from a camera or a hard drive.checked 1 Oct 2026
- Video export
- Projects can be exported as video clips with selectable video formats and frame rates.checked 1 Oct 2026
- Warranty
- The site states that qStopMotion is under development and comes with no warranty to the extent permitted by law.checked 1 Oct 2026
Where it runs
- Capture devices
- It can capture pictures from webcams, digital cameras and cameras.checked 1 Oct 2026
- Linux packages
- Download packages are listed for Debian, Ubuntu LTS, Fedora, CentOS and RaspberryOS.checked 1 Oct 2026
- Windows formats
- Windows downloads include a 64-bit installer and a 64-bit portable ZIP application.checked 1 Oct 2026
Alternatives to qStopMotion
- 1
Stop Motion Studio
Free planAndroidiOSmacOSWindows8.0$5.99 one-time - 2
Cloud Stop Motion
Free planAndroidiOSWebLinux7.9From $4 a year - 3
Dragonframe
AndroidiOSAPILinux7.7$195 one-time - 4
AnyMotion
Free planiOSmacOS7.5Free plan - 5
Koma Koma
Free planiOSmacOSWindows6.9Free plan - 6
I Can Animate
AndroidiOSmacOSWindows6.7£29.95 one-time