Multimedia Tools Assignment

I checked out two sites for this assignment: Aviary.com and Animoto.com. I plan to look into Aviary more at a later date (it appears to be sort of a free online Photoshop deal); I signed up at Animoto.

Animoto makes music videos out of the user's photos and/or video. Uploading is incredibly simple; it's actually easier than Flickr or Facebook, since I don't have to tag anything or describe anything. After uploading photos/videos, choosing music, and some extra features if you choose to use them (text, elements) Animoto puts together what is essentially a fancy slideshow for you. With almost no effort on my part, I have a nifty little video that I can share with friends.

The major downside is that free service only gets you a thirty second video. You have to buy in if you want to have full-length videos made. I made the mistake of uploading an entire album (50 pics), figuring that I would decide which ones I wanted to use once they were uploaded. Then I read that I'm only supposed to upload 8-12 for maximum effect, so I had to wait a really, really long time for the computers to stop talking to each other since I couldn't find a stop button anywhere.

I haven't seen anybody use this exact site yet, but I have seen people put their slideshows to music, and that always makes it more interesting. I think that there is a lot that I could do with this site if I were willing to pay for the full package and if I used the video feature on my camera more often before I killed it (accidentally). I will most likely not use this professionally.

I read over their privacy policy, and I don't see anywhere how I can make my video private - the policy just says that they won't be sharing my information with anyone.

I'm not overly concerned with what this would say about me - it could be a useful way to market myself, except that I have better software on my computer with which I could do similar things but maintain greater control over how it's all put together. I will most likely delete my account after this class is over. (I wish I'd chosen Aviary!)

Huh. Well, just after writing this, my friend got done watching the video and said that it looks really nice. Maybe I should try again after all. :) I need to be more careful about my music selection though - I chose one of their songs and I feel that it didn't match up well with the pictures.