DIY Phone Tripod Hacks with Household Items
We’ve said it once, and we’ll say it again: stabilize👏your👏phone for professional looking stop motions. If you’re just starting out and don’t want to invest in a tripod just yet - we hear you! We created our stop motion app, Life Lapse, to allow creators to make eye catching videos from your phone instead of investing $$$ on film equipment. So of course we have some hacks up our sleeves for you to create DIY phone tripods using items you found in your home and set up in less than 30 seconds 😉.
However, if you’re ready to invest in some equipment to best capture stop motion videos on your phone, we’ve tried and tested tons of products and you can find our favs here.
Upright Tripod Hacks
Our favorite upright tripod hack is to place the phone against a mug handle or inside a cup.
Overhead Tripod Hacks
For flat lays, use the edge of a table, chair or kitchen cabinet edge as an overhead tripod. If you’re getting the legs of your chair or table, use a book as an extender so your phone can be further out. Still not getting the right shot? Don’t worry, you can edit it later in our Timeline Editor in Life Lapse under the “Tilt” feature to pinch & zoom in on the video.
Capture Clips From a Distance
Now that you have a tripod solution, use our built-in Interval Timer or a bluetooth remote (Pro feature) to really take your stop motion to the next level. Why is this important? The chances of your phone moving even the slightest bit with every tap while filming could result in a shaky video.
To use the Interval Timer, enable both the Interval Timer and the Self Timer with our in-app camera. Once enabled, it’ll automatically capture 1 photo every X seconds - you can choose how long you want between each shot from 1-60 seconds. We recommend also enabling the sound of your iPhone so you can hear each time the camera takes a photo. Now you can focus on animating the object instead of running back and forth between animating and capturing. After all, you did download our app to easily make stop motions and not for a workout 🤣. Don’t worry if the camera takes a photo while your hand is in the frame, just let it capture the shot again without your hand and you can delete the previous clip when you’re done filming.
With the quality of phones these days, it really is that quick and easy to create professional looking videos using your phone. Ready to start creating stop motions on your phone? Download Life Lapse for free today.