Working with Animoto

It's time to update a library video or two, both the university and library web sites - as well as LibGuides and ERes - look significantly different. I have the original movie saved and could easily insert updated screen shots, but thought this might be the time to try Animoto again. I spent Thursday evening playing, starting with images from the existing one minute video; it quickly became obvious the thirty second free project limit meant significant editing.

The video ran short before several important elements, such as introduction of online resources, were viewed. While processing, items were removed and the project edited to meet time constraints (as promised). It was time to re-interpret the original project and present what was important. I removed the lead in items, images highlighting the differences between old and new, and focused on what is important now. I ruthlessly culled out text and started the movie with a photograph of the library, "cheating" the time limit somewhat by labeling the image as opposed to using the text option in Animoto.

Because the process is fun, I definitely spent more time with it than necessary but it is easy to get involved. Now it's time to share. Each of these Animoto projects feature the same images and text, only the music and style selections are different.

I'm leaning towards the first of the revised projects. While the option to download and save is not available with the free version, it's possible to embed directly from Animoto and the option to export directly to your YouTube account; the export may take time and it warns resulting images will not be as clear. Still, it's an option to have a secondary record. I'm considering a couple additional projects, possibly something for class and/or promoting the Cyber Zed Shed call for proposals.

I also hope to convince Betsy to share her Animoto project from Friday afternoon ...

Update: Exporting the finished Animoto project to YouTube took less than five minutes (including processing time on YouTube). I would guess the amount of time needed would vary considering traffic on either site and internet connection. Overall, video images are not as clear on YouTube, but they are acceptable and text is readable. This is a nice way to have a backup of my project.