For all you creative types out there, Nintendo is launching an animation application--titled Flipnote Studio--on August 14 for free on DSiWare.

　　Flipnote will allow users to create cartoons or animated movies using the old 'flip-pad' technique: drawing a sequence of images and then flicking through the pages at high speed to create the illusion of movement.

　　Flipnote will work just like an electronic notepad, allowing users to save handwritten, hand-drawn and even vocal memos. A single animation can have hundreds or frames, so you can pretty much do with it as you like. The tools are pretty basic--a pen, eraser and paint brush, with three colours available: black, red and blue. Users can adjust the speed of the Flipnote, copy and paste pages and import photos as black and white images from the Nintendo DSi Camera Album.

　　Once an image is imported, different visual effects can be applied.

　　You can also use the DSi's microphone to record sounds and, if you fancy yourself a bit of an expert, there are also additional tools for expert users, such as layering, shrinking, enlarging and advanced recording. Animations can also be saved to an SD card to use on another DSi.

　　The other neat trick is that user-created animations will be available for online sharing via a service accessible with the DSi called Flipnote Hetena. Using the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection, you can trade, grade and save animations from other users. It's also possible to continue an animation created by another user.

　　Flipnote Studio will available to download from the Nintendo DSi shop for free from August 14.