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Hello, My name is Anna Stirling and in this video I will be showing you how to use Animoto.
Animoto allows you to turn your photos, video clips and music into stunning video masterpieces
that you can share with anyone - easily and for FREE!
To begin using Animoto go to animoto.com.
Once at the site you will need to create an account, this video will not go over the account
set up process, but signing up for a free account is very easy.
Just click on the Sign up button in the upper right hand corner of the home page and follow
the on screen instructions.
Or, If you are an educator, you can sign up for a free Educator Plus account that will
provide you with additional benefits over the regular free account. To sign up for the
educator account scroll to the bottom of the home page and click on Animoto for Education,
and then Apply Now.
Once you have created your account and are logged in you can begin creating your videos.
From the Animoto home page (or any page) click on Create Video in the upper right hand corner.
You will see that you are walked through the steps of creating a video on screen. Step
one is to choose a style for your video. There are many to choose from and each creates a
different look and feel for your video. If you have a free or plus account the style
options marked PRO will not be available to you.
When you click on a style you see a quick movie preview of the style, if you like it
click Create Video. If not, click on the x in the right corner and continue to browse
the style gallery.
From the video page you can begin creating your video.
I recommend changing the title first, so you
don't forget later. Click on the words My Animoto Video on the left side of the blue
bar. This will open the settings dialog box. Type the title of your video in the Video
Title box. You can adjust any of the other information now, or come back to it later.
Once you have everything the way you want it click Save. You can adjust these settings
or make changes at anytime by clicking on the title.
Next, you can adjust some of the options
or begin adding your images. Each style has a preset music selection, but you can change
it if you like by clicking on the song title in the center of the window.
Animoto has a wide variety of songs you can choose from, or you can upload your own music
if you like. I am going to keep the default music for my video so I will just click on
the x in the right corner to close the Choose
Music dialog box. It is important to note that the speed and beat of your music will
dictate how fast your movie plays.
Now, I'm going to add my photos. I will not be using any video clips
in this presentation, but you could add video clips if you have them in this section as
well. To begin click on eihter the plus sign (+) in the center or Add Pics & Vids from
the menu on the left. If you click the plus sign, click the option on the left from the
pop up icon. Either choice will open the Add Pictures and Video dialog box. You will see
that you have a variety of options of where to import images from.
You can link
a bunch of social media sites including facebook and instagram, or you can upload images from
your computer. I am going to upload images from my computer, so I click on Upload Pictures
and Video at the top of the dialog box. This opens a standard browse window and I can navigate
to where ever my images are saved and select them to upload. You can select multiple images
at a time by clicking on one, holding down the control or command key and clicking on
the others. This will allow you to upload all your images
at once if they are in the same folder. Once
you have all the images selected, click open.
The window will close and you will see status bars as your images open. Depending on the
number and size of the images the actual upload
time will vary. If your videos didn't load to the video canvas in the order you want
them, you can rearrange them. Simply click and drag the image to where you would like
it.
You can also add text to you video to add emphasis or describe an image. Just click
on Add Text, or choose the option on the right of the pop up icon after clicking the plus
sign. You have two areas to enter text, the Header box and the Text box. To the right
of each box you will see a number, 40 next to Header and 50 next to Text. This is the
number of characters you can enter. Characters consist of letters, numbers, spaces and punctuation.
Once you have added all the text you want, click Save.
You can rearrange text blocks just like images, click and drag it to the
spot where you want it. Now that you have all the elements of your video, click preview
Video to see your creation.
The preview can take anywhere from 30 seconds to a couple
of minutes depending on the amount of content you have included. You can make
changes to the title and description from this preview window as well. If you like
what you have created, click Produce. If you want to make changes to any part, click "Or
continue editing".
Once you click create you will see a status bar for video production, again, this can
take a while depending on the amount of content, so you can be patient or you can go work on
something else and come back to this later.
If you wait for your video, you will be redirected to the Video
page. Here you can view your final video and
share it. If you would like to embed the video in a CMS or website you can use the embed
code. Click on More under Sharing on the right side of the page. From the Share dialog box
choose the Embedded Video tab. You can adjust the options and then copy the code by clicking
on the "Copy to clipboard" button. You can now paste it in the html editor of your CMS
or website.
Congratulations! You just made your first Animoto Video. There are additional options
not discussed in this video, so spend some time playing with it to see what you can create.
To see all the videos you have created, hover your cursor over your
name in the upper right hand corner of the page and choose "My Videos".
Have fun and Happy Creating!