Sunday, April 20, 2008

Video Promotions Made Easy

I recently took 26 photos on my walk in the rainforest
on Mt. Glorious in Brisbane. These photos have become
the basis of a new Squidoo lens and animated music video.

Tropical Rainforest Squidoo Lens

With the Squidoo lens, I wanted to create a sense of walking
through the rainforest surrounded by the sights of this timeless
place:

http://www.squidoo.com/tropicalrainforest

Each photo module contains a picture that is 500px (width)
by 375px (height) (which fits perfectly in the module frame).

The process I used to create the photo modules was:

  1. load the photos to a folder on my computer
  2. load the images from the computer to Flickr
  3. click on a photo on Flickr to display the 500X375 image
  4. save the enlarged image to my computer
  5. upload the images to my website
  6. add each image to a module, hyperlinked to my authority lens
The result is a sequence of enlarged images that give you a sense
of walking the path amongst the tropical rainforest plants.

Creating an Animated Music Video

Well, creating the Tropical Rainforest lens was exciting but
developing the animated music video was something else:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5GFirR6mTo

This proved to be a breeze using the latest in video
technology from Animoto:

http://animoto.com/?ref=tzolcekr

(If you use the link, you get discounted access at the rate of
$25 per year for unlimited videos; you can make 30 second
videos for free but then you can’t download them).

The steps here are:

  1. upload images to Animoto.com
  2. identify the two or three images you want to highlight
  3. decide what music track you want (yours or theirs)
  4. press “create video”
  5. upload to your computer and/or YouTube (press a button)
  6. press remix as often as you like to make alternative videos
  7. admire your handywork

Animoto has their own stock of images which you can purchase
or you can use your own photos or free images from other
sources.

I also used Kevin Riley’s 97 page ebook which gives you
a screenshot by screenshot description of how to create
your animated music video. The ebook helps you to identify
appropriate keywords and sources (free and paid) for images
and provides detailed guidance on how to create and upload
your music video:

Recipe for Quick and Easy Production of Hot Promo Videos

(Note: The Animoto affiliate program does not provide income
for the affiliate marketer. What it does do is give your referrals
a $5 discount and extends your "paid" access to video creation
by 3 months per referral. You are also able to load your own
photos to Animoto's stock and earn commissions from the
sale of your photos.)