Saturday, January 09, 2010

Create animated music videos from your holiday photos

Well now that I am in my holiday break, I decided that I would
re-visit some of the digital photos I had taken during the year
and turn them into videos.

I told myself, "This is not work - it's too much fun, and it is!"

I get great satisfaction from turning my digital photos into
animated music videos.  I like the professional image of the
the finished product and the video gives me new perspectives
and nostalgic memories.  It's a good way to record a peaceful
experience that you can re-visit in times of stress.

Well, here's my latest effort which is based on a weekend visit
to the mountain village, Montville, on the Sunshine Coast,
Queensland:



This animated music video was produced with the
Animoto video creation program.

These videos are very simple to produce and very easy
to-remix to create multiple versions of the same video.

The simple recipe is:
Upload photos, add music and press button for "create"

Animoto uses the latest in cinematography to create a video from
your digital photos.  So you end up with a professional looking
animated music video that you can be proud of.

...and the cost?

Animoto is free if you just want to create 30 second videos -
and you can create as many of these short movies as you want
at no cost.  [By way of example of video duration, the above
video is 3 minutes long and took 60 photos to make.]

If you want to create an unlimited number of movies of unlimited
length you can get an All-Access Pass which at the time of writing
costs $30 per year.  The All-Access Pass also gives you access
to Animoto's music library for adding music to your video and
can be obtained at the discount price of $25
through the link below:
http://animoto.com/?ref=tzolcekr

If you want to use the created videos purely for commercial
purposes there are three monthly and annual business rates
as well. 

...and the downside?

It takes a while to upload the photos to Animoto (particularly if
you have 60 to upload).  Animoto offers suggestions to speed up
the process however.  What I do is go off and do something
else while the uploading is happening - clear out my email,
edit my Squidoo lenses, write a blog post, etc.  When you
finish, one time benefit is that you can upload your new video
directly to YouTube ...and this is fast!

Since I travel a lot throughout Queensland conducting manager
development programs, I have been in the habit of taking my
camera with me and taking photos of the towns I visit.  I now
have a nice stock of photos to turn into videos and/or to
use as images to add to my Squidoo lenses.

[Note for teachers : if you are a teacher, imagine how much fun
your students could have creating and re-mixing movies? -
what a great way  to teach geography or any other subject for
that matter. Gen "Y" appears to me as the "re-mix" age.]

After that aside, I'm off to create some more videos from my
digital photos with Animoto.  BUT, I can't decide whether
my next one will be Surfers Paradise (at twilight), Stradbroke
Island, Noosaville, Mooloolaba Beach or Townsville on the
north coast!!

What a problem to have!  This is the most fun affiliate
program I have ever had the pleasure to promote.

If you want to see some of the Animoto videos I have created
to get some ideas, pop on over to my lens:
http://www.squidoo.com/promovideo

Related Post:
Squidoo: Animoto for Fun and Profit

*********************************************
Ron Passfield is a Top 100 Squidoo Lensmaster and
Giant Squid100. He provides free resources
for Squidoo marketing on his Squidoo authority
site:
http://www.squidoo.com/squidoomarketingstrategies

To learn more about Squidoo Affiliate Marketing
check out:
http://www.squidooaffiliatemarketing.com

Subscribe to Ron's free Squidoo Marketing e-course:
http://www.smsecourse.squidoomarketingstrategies.com/

Ron is the author of the e-Book:
Squidoo Marketing Strategies

*********************************************


Animoto - Instant Music Videos