Grand Marais Animoto

Animoto is a new site for creating photo stories using your pictures, indie music, and some pretty well-done technology. This is my first attempt. It took me about twelve minutes and that included setting up my Animoto account, creating a new set of photos in my Flickr account, listening to clips from about 20 different songs before finding the one I wanted, and then letting the processor do it's thing. Here's my first effort, it's a 30-second short.

Animoto Shorts are free. You can create, share, and remix an unlimited number of them. Creating a full-length video costs $3, and the length will depend on how many photos you use and how fast your music is. Upbeat songs transition through the photos more quickly than slow songs. You can buy individual full-length Animotos as often you wish, or buy an All-Access Pass which allows you to make an unlimited number of full-length videos for one year at a cost of $30. I'll stick with the free option for now, but $3 is pretty cheap if you want a more serious end product.