Digital Photographer's Software Guide - Bertemes - Net

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The Digital Photographer's Software Guide
Animoto
Vendor: Animoto Productions
Purpose: Automatic, online slide show creation utility; makes videos from uploaded images
Description
Animoto generates synchronized slide-sound videos from uploaded images, entirely
automatically. It lets you choose or upload music of your choice, and then analyzes both
the images and the music before rendering a slick video presentation. Simple to use, it
has proven to be a great hit on the Internet, enabling many thousands of users to make
slide shows from their images stored on Flickr (or other photo-sharing sites), and then
upload them to YouTube with a click of a button.
For successful results, you need to “tell a story” with your images, not least by taking
plenty of them. Instead of trying to capture individual moments, you should aim at
capturing a whole experience, whether it be a trip to the coast, a walk in the park, or a
visit to Disneyland. The developers refer to the “brains” behind Animoto as “Cinematic
Artificial Intelligence technology,” an expert system that takes into account of the structure,
rhythm, instrumentation, and other qualities of the song or instrumental music
chosen to accompany the images. It uses dozens of neat editing tricks, like duplication
of images, on-screen displacement, and cuts and fades, to match the mood and pace of
the soundtrack.
The end result is a professional-looking music video, no two of which are ever the same.
In fact, you can use a different choice of music with the same set of images to create
videos that are entirely dissimilar in their impact.
Comments
Often cited as a classic “Web 2.0” application that maximizes the use of “cloud computing”
resources, Animoto was created by TV/film producers who had made professional
videos for MTV, Comedy Central, and ABC. A little bit of lateral thinking led
them to encapsulate their skills in software that is both time-saving and fun to use. Its
outstanding success as a Web service owes much to its efficient use of Internet infrastructure,
enabling it to accept 20,000 new users per hour following its appearance as
a Facebook application. As its developers point out, it opens up YouTube as a potential
showcase for people who prefer to take only digital stills rather than movies. Animoto
was the winner of the Film/TV category at the 2008 SXSW Interactive Festival
(2008.sxsw.com).
Version: N/A (Web application)
OS: N/A
RAM: N/A