Animoto

 

Animoto is a Web 2.0 tool that is used to create stunning videos.  I created an account a few months ago, but I never really tested some of the features of Animoto.  It is a paid service, but they offer a free account.  There is also an educator account, but I’ll get into that later.

 What Animoto does is very impressive.  You upload pictures and/or videos as well as a piece of music.  Animoto then analyses your pictures and music and automatically creates a video.  This includes visual transitions.  Although there are programs that can already do this that most users have on their computer (iMovie and Windows Live Movie Maker), Animoto is easier and more ‘hands-free’.  It is also intelligent; it is able to sense the pacing and beats of the music, and adjust the transitions accordingly.  The transitions are also highly dynamic and original in comparison to other video applications.

               

 The first step to using Animoto is to create an account.  Additionally, educators should request a special free account upgrade by going here.  The limitations of the basic account are pretty severe.  You can only make low-quality (web-quality) videos that are 30-seconds in length.  You cannot download the files directly (although browser plugins that download videos are able to rip the videos).  The free educator accounts lets you make videos up to 10 minutes in length (full length).  You can also download the videos.  Basically, the free educator account is comparable to the All Access account, except the purposes should be educational in nature.

 

                Of course, in the interest of testing the system myself so that I can teach others, I made a video of my summer vacation.  The video is not phenomenal, but it is still a good example of Animoto.  All images were taken with my new-but-low-grade digital camera.  I uploaded the pictures to Animoto and added a few simple text slides.  I was then able to arrange the pictures in the order that I wanted.  This was a very easy process.  I just had to drag the pictures from one location in the order to another. 

 

                The next step was to select/upload music.  In interest of being relatively copyright-friendly, I uploaded an MP3 from my band in college (I didn’t ask the rest of my band if it was OK, but I promise I’ll give them a cut of the millions when my summer vacation video goes viral).  The final stage before the rendering of the video is to choose a theme for the project.  Themes control the colors of the video and the transitions.  There are a limited number of transitions to choose.  Animoto tries to entice you to upgrade to the pro plan by offering you a broader selection of themes.  Although I like the different themes, I find the original theme the most appealing.  My opinion  is that the original theme offers the most dynamic transitions and syncs very nicely with the pacing of the music.

 

Once all of your choices have been made, you click a button and Animoto begins to render your project.  Just like any other video project, this stage can take some time.  This is when the actually CPU crunching occurs.  For the video I made, I had to wait about 10 – 15 minutes until the video was ready.  If you pay the $5.00 to get a hi-res video version, expect this time to be longer.

 

Overall, I think Animoto is an exceptional product.  In my mind, it is a very professional tool that just happens to have an educational use.  If you look at some of the sample videos, you can see why.  There are many tools that are great in the classroom, but there extension beyond the k-12 environment is limited.  I think this is an added benefit to Animoto.

 

Resources:  Animoto maintains a Knowledge Base that addresses many concerns.  They also have tips during the creation process that is somewhat helpful.  Overall, there are not a lot of resources.  However, I don't believe that many resources are needed due to the simplicity of Animoto.  Animoto walks the user through many steps of the process, which makes it relatively easy to learn.   I was able to locate a step-by-step screencast at Screentoaster

 

Capture your screen in seconds

 

Curricular Areas:  I think that Animoto could be used in almost every curricular area.  The reason I say this is that it Animoto is a creative tool that lends itself to a culminating activity that is not specific to any area.  For example, it could be used in a Chemistry class as a fun way to document an experiment by using a series of pictures.  It could be used in a History or Literature class to illustrate a series of events.

Specific Lesson Activities:  I think the easiest way to incorporate Animoto into the classroom would be to have students complete another project-based activity, and take pictures/video clips along the way.  Then, the images could be used in Animoto to create a video presentation that documents the class/group's process.  This could be used in place of a Powerpoint presentation, or as an additional multimedia element in a final presentation.  Animoto also allows videos to be embedded, like my example above, which would allow students to add the video to any class wikis or blogs.