Lets face it, recent developments in technology may have made it easier to do stuff with all those photos and videos we capture everyday on devices from phones to HD cameras, but it still often seems like a bit of an effort. Honesty, when was the last time you took the time to edit together a video or make a proper slideshow? Now if you’re in a band that’s serious about ‘making it’ then alongside writing, recording and performing great music, increasingly there is a pressure to engage with your audience and create a media-rich experience through your website or social networking profile. This is where a web tool like Animoto can help. 15 minutes is about all it takes to grab yesterdays gig photos an mp3 of your latest track and throw them through Animoto to create a 30 second clip that presents your images in an exciting and unique way to share via email, youtube, or embed into your site. No more tedious galleries or dull slideshows, Amimoto analyses your images and reacts to your music to create videos that look like you spent hours using some serious video production software. If you’re not 100% happy with the results first time round, just hit ‘remix’ to send it back through, generating another totally unique combination of image processing.

 

A 30 second slideshow with a music track of your own choosing, or one taken from their library, is completely free and if you want something longer (up to 10 minutes) and the ability to download a copy of your video in mp4 format you can either pay for individual videos at $3 or get an ‘All-access pass’ for $30 that allows you to create and download as many videos as you want in a year.

 

The process couldn’t be easier simply go animo.com, create an account, select the images and music you want to use (no image re-sizing required and any mp3 resolution accepted) then wait while Animoto uploads and does the rest.

 

With very professional looking effects/transitions and the option to download and edit your video Animoto also has the potential to be so much more then a quick slideshow option. If you’ve never considered creating a music video before then this could be a great first step, after all all you need is a digital camera and your music!