‘Studios’ or training programs for creators on social media platforms have been all the rage with YouTube and Facebook setting up physical and online studios and trainings to help creators with equipment, advice, etc.

Now, Snap has extended the capabilities of its ‘Lens Studio,’ which was launched last year.

The Lens Studio and its extended capabilities are also available to MENA creators. Lens Studio is a free desktop, which gives developers, creators, and brands the tools to create and distribute their own AR experiences on Snapchat. The Lens Studio includes templates, guides and scripting API to help anyone from 2D designers to 3D modellers and animators to get started with augmented reality. 

The new tools include seven new face templates, integrated GIF stickers, and additional creator support designed to boost community Lens discoverability and engagement.

“Improving the templates and tools is foundational to removing the friction around the creative process, so that everyone can continue to use Snapchat to create and express themselves,” says the camera company in a statement.

The most recent update includes:

New face templates in Lens Studio. Seven all-new templates supporting face Lens creation will be launching in Lens Studio. Prior to this, community creators were only able to make World Lenses with Lens Studio. 

GIPHY Integration. Now Lens Studio creators have access to GIPHY’s library of animated GIF stickers. Creators can search through GIPHY’s library within Lens Studio to add GIPHY Stickers into their World or Face Lens creations. 

Community Lens Stories in Discover is a new type of Story, just for Lenses. Each Story will be a collection of public Snaps submitted to Our Story highlighting a community Lens. Snapchatters watching the Story can swipe up on a Snap they see in these Stories to unlock the Lens for themselves.

Official Creator Program. In the two months since launch in December 2017, over 30,000 Lenses had been submitted by creators, viewed by Snapchatters globally over 1 billion times, according to Snap’s 2017 Q4 earnings call. Building on this, Snap is now launching an “Official Creator Program” through which the team will highlight and partner with select creators in the community. These creators will receive support such as visibility on the Lens Studio website, more direct support from the Lens Studio team and early access to features and templates.