Phalarope

What it does

Phalarope designs spinning animation discs: phenakistiscopes and zoetrope records. Lay a loop of figures round a paper disc, a record-player slipmat, a porcelain plate or a cup, draw your own poses, and see it move before you print, cut or paint a thing.

Make a loop that moves

• Draw on the disc. Draw each frame where it really sits, at its true size and angle, with the frames next to it shown faintly. A live test spins the disc as you draw, so every stroke shows at once.
• See it spin. Watch the design as your eyes see it (a blur), under a strobe, or through a simulated camera with its frame rate and shutter. Phalarope tells you whether the figures animate in place, stand still, drift or run backwards, and why.
• The speed that works. Which rpm makes 12 figures animate at 30 fps, how many figures a 33⅓ or 45 rpm record player needs, the strobe frequency, and the smear while the shutter is open. One click matches the camera.
• Plates, cups and fringes. A paper disc with viewing slits, a 12 in slipmat, a porcelain plate with a well motif and rim band, or a cup printed as a band. Add a beaded rim fringe that flares out as it spins, and Phalarope lists the hooks, beads and wire to buy and cut.
• Bring your own loop. Import a GIF or a video, trim it to one clean cycle, centre the figure, and Phalarope traces it into vector silhouettes for the ring.
• Private. No account, no tracking, no network. Your designs stay on your Mac.

Make it

• True-size PDF. Tiled across sheets with overlaps when it is bigger than the paper.
• Cutter SVG. At true size, with cut lines and art on their own layers.
• Decal sheet. For ceramics.
• PNG. The artwork at 600 dpi.
• Video loop. What the camera sees, ready to share.

Free, and one purchase

Free: the paper disc, the sample loops up to 16 frames, drawing in ink, the spin simulation and the calculator, image export and three saved designs.

Phalarope Unlock, bought once, adds the slipmat, plate and cup, an inner ring, up to 48 frames, GIF and video import, glaze colours and the drawing helpers, the rim fringe, PDF, SVG, decal and video export, and unlimited designs. No subscription, no ads.