I created the above sample video in about 5 minutes using my photos and music from their commercially licensed stock library. Dead simple, nice results. Animoto is so easy because it allows you to exchange control over the video for incredible production speed. Although Animoto does most of the work, you can use the “Spotlight” feature to highlight certain photos and adjust the speed of the video. Animoto could be just the ticket for photographers looking for a secret weapon to help promote their business or as an add-on to sell to customers. It’s also a lot of fun.
Animoto says:
Created by TV & film producers, Animoto for Photography lets you turn your breathtaking photos into stunning video in minutes. Fast, award-winning production value plus a library of 175+ free, commercially licensed songs, gives photographers the most powerful video creation tool available.
Founded by MTV and VH1 alumni, Animoto for Photography automatically produces professional video from the photos and music that a photographer selects. Each video is stunning, completely unique, and takes only minutes to produce.
I have to say, every animoto slideshow I’ve seen (not very many) has been too “busy” … they leave me saying “just show me the photos.” I suppose it’s a different-strokes-for-different-folks thing (I’m old enough to remember what movies looked like before MTV fast-cut editing took over Hollywood).
Have you played with Microsoft PhotoStory? It’s free and gives a lot of control over the output (although you have to scare up your own soundtrack).