Have you seen a short video on the web that mixes images with music and wondered, How did they do that? Flixtime and Animoto are two online software providers that let you easily produce high quality, short video pieces from photos, images, video clips and music. Both of these services offer free accounts for those who want to create short videos and paid accounts for those who wish to create longer, more complicated, commercial or personal use video presentations. Animoto demo Flixtime demo
The big attraction to each of these products is their ease of use. The biggest drawback? Lack of control over the way the software chooses to mix and transition the photos and images.
The Animoto product has been around longer and offers three plans for users. The free plan allows you to create an unlimited number of 30 second videos. There are also paid subscriptions for those who want to create an unlimited number of full length and hi-resolution videos.
Flixtime, which first became available in February 2010, also offers several levels of plans. The free plan allows users to create unlimited 60 second videos. There are three levels of paid subscriptions which offer additional features and support appropriate for users making business or commercial videos.
Flixtimes images are provided by Fotolia and their music and sound effects by AudioMicro.
Consumer reviews of the two plans differ as to which plan the consumer prefers. Preference seems to be a matter of personal taste.
The benefits of having the Flextime or Animoto Paid Subscriber Plans are that a photographer is able to create an unlimited number of DVD-quality downloads which can be used for marketing pieces or to create photograph videos for clients. Once you’ve created a video, it can be used in a blog, on a website, on Facebook pages, YouTube, or to promote your services or products on a DVD or in any other manner you determine works for you.
Once you have established an Animoto or Flixtime account you can download your photos, arrange them in the order that you want the photos to appear in your video by clicking and dragging the photos into the sequence you want. It’s also simple to delete or rotate photos and to highlight a particular photo or photos in the sequence.
You can add your own text anywhere in the photo sequence to add extra information or marketing details to your video.
The next step is to select your music. With both services you have access to a library of commercially-licensed music or you may download your own music.
Animoto allows you to select the speed of your video and add a “Call to action” button at the end of the video that when clicked will take viewer to whatever URL you enter. You can also select a cover for your clip and insert video credits at the end of the clip if you desire.
Once you have made your image and music selections click on Create Video and wait for your email telling you your video is ready to review and edit until you have the perfect video for your needs. These simple software tools create elegant and professional videos to promote your photography products and services at a reasonable cost and with no training and little effort.