For parents · Updated October 15, 2026

Show your kids the movie maker you grew up with

If you spent rainy afternoons in the 90s making actors walk across a city street, yell, and get chased by a skeleton, you already know how to use this. Low Poly Pictures runs the 1995 3D Movie Maker, the original program with its original actors, sets, sounds and music, in a browser tab. It's free, there's nothing to install, and it makes a great afternoon with your kids.

Open the studio

Is it safe for kids?

Yes. The original was a Microsoft Kids program, and it stays safe here:

No account, no sign-up. Nobody is asked for a name, an email address or a birthday.
No chat, no comments, no strangers. There is nothing social inside the studio.
No ads and no trackers. We count visits with a cookieless analytics tool, and that's it.
Movies stay at home. Movies and voice recordings are saved in the browser on your own computer. Nothing is uploaded, and nothing your kids make is shown to anyone else.
The microphone is opt-in. The browser asks before the microphone is used, and recordings stay inside the movie on your computer.
Free, with nothing to buy. No in-app purchases and no pop-ups.

The details are on our privacy page, written in plain language.

Why it's still a great first movie maker

Kids don't need to learn a timeline or keyframes. They pick a set, drop in a character, choose "Walk" and drag where the character should go. Every step becomes a frame. Within minutes they're telling a story: who's in it, where it happens, what goes wrong. Recording their own voices is usually the moment they're hooked.

It also comes with a lot to play with: 45 actors, 21 props, 12 sets with 188 camera angles, nearly 400 sound effects, 300 music clips, and 3D titles.

Five movie ideas to make together

The news report: a reporter talks to the camera on the city street, then cut to a second camera angle for the "eyewitness".
The haunted house tour: a nervous visitor, spooky music, and something waiting in the dark.
The fake commercial: invent a ridiculous product and sell it with a 3D title and music.
The bedtime story remix: retell a favourite story with the cast you have.
The sequel to your old movie: if you still have your .3mm files from back then, open them and make part two with your kids.

Tips by age

Younger kids: let them choose the set, the actors and the music while you handle the mouse. Recording voices is the best part for them.
Older kids: show them the first-movie guide and let them run the studio. Melanie's step-by-step projects backstage are a good next step.
Everyone: save often (there's one level of undo, as in 1995) and use Download movie to keep a copy of the movies you love.

What you need

A computer with a mouse or trackpad and a current browser: Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari on Windows, Mac, Chromebook or Linux. The first visit downloads about 30 MB. It opens on tablets and phones too, but the studio was made for a mouse. More in running it on Windows 11, Mac and Chromebook.

Press Export to turn a movie into a video file or an animated GIF on your computer. What happens next is up to you: send it to the grandparents, or post it yourself. If your child recorded their own voice or typed their name into the credits, have a look before you share it publicly.

Where does it come from? Microsoft released 3D Movie Maker in 1995 and published its source code and content as open source in 2022. Low Poly Pictures is an independent project built on that release; it isn't affiliated with or endorsed by Microsoft. Read the story.

Questions? See the FAQ or write to hello@lowpolypictures.com.