WVU #26 – How To Easily Create Gorgeous Video Slideshows
A lot of people want to get started with web video…but fear over the technology holds them back. However, one of the fastest and easiest ways to get a great looking video on the web (even if you have zero experience) is to put together a simple photo slideshow set to music.
In this video, I show you how to use a free service that allows you to do this called Animoto. In a matter of minutes, you’ll see me click a few buttons and put together a gorgeous video using nothing but some old photos that were sitting on my hard drive.
To try Animoto for yourself, visit them at http://www.animoto.com
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I found Animoto a few months ago and tried a few slideshows for my clients. For a small price its worth paying the extra and having a longer video. Great fun and great value for money too.
Hi again Dave
This program is pretty awesome considering how easy it is to use.
My question is, can Vegas Pro 8 create these same effects (some seem rather elaborate). The main reasons being, I would like to have more control of what is happening on the video, watermark my creation and NOT have their ad logo show at the end
Thx
You can use some of Vegas’s built-in transitions, but to do the more elaborate one’s you’d need to purchase effects plugins for Vegas or create your own through keyframing.
Remember, Animoto is just doing photo slideshows (where you only control the photos used and what the text says…but nothing else) and Vegas Pro is professional video editing software. It’s kind of like comparing fast-food to an upscale restaurant.
With Vegas Pro, you can pretty much do whatever you can dream up (but you have to learn how to do it). With Animoto, you have little to no control over anything and of course, it’s just slideshows.
Hi Dave,
Where can I find some the effects plugins for Vegas Pro. It came with some but I like what I see here and would like to attempt to do the same with a few of my videos. You have the creative juices flowing again.
Thanks Again
Hi Jim,
The 3 main places to get plugins for Vegas are:
http://www.newbluefx.com/
http://www.pixelan.com/
http://www.prodad.de/gb/index.html
Just make sure that any plugins you get are for Sony Vegas…as these places offer plugins for other video editing software too.
It’s very important to read the Terms of Service (TOS) for Animoto. Here are some things I learned when I looked into it:
1) you cannot use the free version for anything commercial – such as promoting your website or services
2) if you subscribe to the professional version, you can make videos promoting your own services but you cannot use it to make videos for clients
3) if your yearly subscription lapses, you are no longer allowed to show the videos that you made while under license. (Can you imagine having to remove all those videos from video sharing sites? What an administrative nightmare.)
I think Animoto is a really cool tool, but the TOS are too restrictive for my purposes.
@Tim – the things you want to do (watermark, remove their ad, etc.) can be done if you buy the professional license. But beware of terms of service (TOS) restrictions as mentioned above.
@Steve – it sounds like you are in violation of their TOS if you made videos for clients
Following up on my previous comment, here is what I learned about the difference between the Animoto free account and the paid account (this is excerpted from the reply to an enquiry I made to Animoto support):
There are quite a few differences between the consumer and the commercial accounts…
For the commercial package, we obtained a special license that allows all our commercial account users to use the tracks offered in the package as the soundtrack to their businesses’ videos. Traditionally, getting this sort of music licensing is very difficult to obtain, even sometimes for large companies that are producing commercials for TV.
Also, note how less blatant the Animoto-branding is (especially toward the end of the video). Play the main video with the chef’s image:
http://business.animoto.com/
There are no watermark logos in the bottom-right and no link-back buttons to our site (but rather a more subtle “Powered by Animoto” logo off to the bottom right).
Yet another difference is that commercial account holders get an unlimited amount of DVD-quality download (normally $5/dl for consumers).
http://biz.animoto.com/dvd/comp.html
Lastly, commercial users can slow down videos 1/2 the speed at which they’d normally render (or twice as fast). And they also can get to put “call back” buttons at the end of the video, linking a video’s user to your company’s website.
Its clear that Sony Vegas is much better then Animoto.
The only link that I’m missing here is doing the same movies in Sony Vegas in the same pattern like in Animoto is matching the music into the pictures.
Is there a plugin in Sony Vegas to match up the music and the pictures slide show?
Thanks,
Tom
@Tom – The only plugin for Vegas that comes close is Ultimate S Pro from Vasst:
http://sn.im/l2cjb
But even then, you have to listen to the audio file, place markers on the timeline and then have the plugin insert the photos.
Thanks Dave, I will check their demo version.
On their website I didn’t see any video tutorial – weird for a video company