Deploy Stop Motion Studio 2 on Windows 11 through Endpoint Manager

Silent Deployment via Microsoft Intune (MDM)

This guide provides IT Administrators with the steps to deploy Stop Motion Studio and its secure activation utility across school-managed Windows devices.

Overview

The deployment consists of two separate packages that are uploaded and managed independently in Intune:

Package	Type	Purpose
Stop Motion Studio .msix	Line-of-business app	Installs the application
Activation Utility .intunewin	Win32 app	Silently activates the license on each device

The MSIX is uploaded directly to Intune as a Line-of-business app — it is not wrapped inside the .intunewin. The .intunewin contains only the activation utility.

Keeping these as two independent packages means that when a new version of Stop Motion Studio is released, you only need to upload the new MSIX. The activation utility does not change between app versions and never needs to be re-deployed unless your license key changes.

The activation utility uses the Windows Data Protection API (DPAPI) to encrypt your school license key before storing it in the device registry. The key is never stored in plain text on the device. Once deployed, all users on a device are activated automatically — students will never be prompted for a serial number.

Prerequisites

Before beginning, confirm the following:

• Stop Motion Studio for Windows.msix — the application installer.
• ActivationUtility.intunewin — the packaged activation utility.

Deploy the MSIX Application

The MSIX package installs the Stop Motion Studio application itself. Upload it directly to Intune — no repackaging is required.

1. Sign in to the Microsoft Intune admin center.
2. Navigate to Apps > All apps > Add.
3. Under App type, select Line-of-business app and click Select.
4. Click Select app package file and upload your Stop Motion Studio for Windows.msix file.
5. Intune will automatically read the app metadata. Review the populated fields:
   • Name: Stop Motion Studio
   • Publisher: Cateater
   • Version: Confirm this matches your downloaded file.
6. Click Next.

Configure App Information

On the App information page, fill in any missing fields (description, logo) as desired, then click Next.

Assignments

1. On the Assignments tab, under Required, click Add group.
2. Select your device group.
3. Set the assignment to Device group (not user group) — this ensures the app installs on the device for all users, including students who log in without admin rights.
4. Click Next and then Create.

Device vs User assignment: For shared school devices, always assign to device groups. User-based assignment means the app only installs when a specific user logs in, which creates gaps on shared machines.

Deploy the Activation Utility (Win32)

The activation utility is a small Win32 app that runs a PowerShell script to encrypt your license key and store it in the device registry. The app reads this registry entry at launch to activate itself — no internet connection or interaction is required at activation time.

Add the Win32 App in Intune

1. Navigate to Apps > All apps > Add.
2. Under App type, select Windows app (Win32) and click Select.

Important: The activation utility uses a different app type than the MSIX. Make sure you select Windows app (Win32) here — not "Line-of-business app". If you select the wrong type, the file picker will only accept .msix files and the ActivationUtility.intunewin file will not be selectable.

3. Click Select app package file, browse to your ActivationUtility.intunewin file, and click OK.

App Information

Fill in the following fields:

Field	Value
Name	Stop Motion Studio — Activation
Publisher	Cateater
Description	Silently activates Stop Motion Studio using the school site license.

Click Next.

Program Settings

This is the most critical configuration section.

Field	Value
Install command	install.cmd -Key "YOUR-SCHOOL-SERIAL-HERE"
Uninstall command	reg delete "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Cateater\StopMotionStudio" /v "ActivationToken" /f
Install behavior	System
Device restart behavior	No specific action

Replace YOUR-SCHOOL-SERIAL-HERE with your actual license key exactly as provided in your activation email. Keep the double quotes around the key.

Click Next.

Detection Rules

Detection rules tell Intune whether the activation was successful. Use a registry-based rule:

1. Under Rules format, select Manually configure detection rules.
2. Click Add and configure as follows:

Field	Value
Rule type	Registry
Key path	HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Cateater\StopMotionStudio
Value name	ActivationToken
Detection method	Value exists

3. Click OK, then Next.

Assignments

1. Under Required, click Add group.
2. Assign to the same device group you used for the MSIX.
3. Click Next and Create.

Verifying Deployment

Check Status in Intune

1. Navigate to Apps > All apps > Stop Motion Studio — Activation.
2. Go to Device install status.
3. After devices check in (allow up to 1 hour for the first sync), you should see:
   • Installed — activation succeeded.
   • Failed — review the error code and see the Troubleshooting section below.

Verify Manually on a Test Device

On your pilot device, open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

Get-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Cateater\StopMotionStudio"

You should see an ActivationToken entry with a binary value. If this entry exists, the activation ran successfully.

Verify the App is Activated

Open Stop Motion Studio on the device. It should launch without any license prompt or serial number request.

Updating Stop Motion Studio

When a new version of Stop Motion Studio is released:

1. Download the new Stop Motion Studio for Windows.msix from your account.
2. In Intune, navigate to Apps > All apps > Stop Motion Studio.
3. Upload the new MSIX as a replacement.

The activation utility does not need to be updated or re-deployed. The existing registry token remains valid across app updates.

Uninstalling

Remove Activation Only

To remove the activation token (for example, to re-activate with a different key):

reg delete "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Cateater\StopMotionStudio" /v "ActivationToken" /f

This can be run via Intune's uninstall action on the activation Win32 app, or manually in an elevated command prompt.

Full Removal (App + Activation)

To fully remove Stop Motion Studio from devices:

1. In Intune, change the assignment of the Stop Motion Studio MSIX to Uninstall for the target group.
2. Change the assignment of the Stop Motion Studio — Activation Win32 app to Uninstall for the same group.
3. Devices will process the uninstall on their next Intune check-in.

Note: The uninstall command for the activation utility removes only the registry token, not the application itself. Both packages must be unassigned and uninstalled independently.

FAQs

Q: Does this work if a device is re-imaged or wiped? Yes. When a device re-enrolls in Intune after a wipe or re-image, both the MSIX and the activation utility will be automatically re-deployed. No manual re-activation is needed.

Q: Is the license key stored on the device in plain text? No. The activation script uses the Windows Data Protection API (DPAPI) to encrypt the key before storing it in the registry. DPAPI ties the encrypted token to the local machine, which means the token cannot be decrypted on a different device even if someone copies the registry entry.

Q: Will students be prompted to enter a serial number? No. As long as the activation utility has run successfully before a student opens the app, they will not see any license prompt.

Q: Can I use this for user-based assignment instead of device-based? The activation utility is designed for device-based activation and writes to HKLM, which applies to all users on the machine. We recommend assigning both packages to device groups to ensure consistent coverage on shared school devices.

Q: What happens when Stop Motion Studio updates? The activation token in the registry is not affected by app updates. Simply upload the new MSIX to Intune — the activation utility does not need to be re-deployed.

Q: My license key covers how many devices? Licenses are user-based, not per device. The number of seats included in your purchase is shown on your receipt. Ensure the number of users in your Intune assignment group does not exceed your licensed seat count. IT administrators are responsible for ensuring deployment scope stays within the purchased license terms.