Stop-motion animation has been around since the 1800s and still flourishes in the works of studios like Aardman Animations, the force behind “Wallace & Gromit” and other creations. With stop motion, you make an inanimate object “move” by snapping a photo and then stopping to subtly adjust the object’s position before taking the next shot. When enough photos of these gradual movements are captured, you run them together as a video that shows the object seeming to propel itself.

Creating a stop-motion clip can be a great way to jazz up a presentation, dabble in moviemaking basics or keep the children busy with a time-consuming project. All you need is something to animate — paper cutouts, Lego figures or other toys, for example — along with a camera, the right app and patience. Here’s how to get rolling.

Step 1: Get With the Program

To get started, decide on which app you’d like to use. If you plan on using your smartphone camera, there are many options. Stop Motion Studio Pro for Android, iOS, Mac and Windows ($2 to $10 depending on the system) is a popular option. It has a huge collection of editing features, including a tool to add facial expressions to Lego people. A free version, Stop Motion Studio, is available for Android and iOS, but it does not offer as many audio and visual effects, or the ability to record higher-resolution video, unless you pay through in-app purchases.