Animoto+Steps

. .  .  ** Creating Animoto ** ** Digital Video Projects **

Animoto is a dynamic video creator which takes still pictures and video clips and make professional quality videos.

1. Go to [|http://www.animoto.com]

2. Click the "**Sign In**" link in the upper right-hand corner



3. Log in using the email address: Suzanne_Frachetti@dpsk12.org and the password: **RobertsK8**

4. After logging into Animoto, click the big blue Create Video button.



5. Select the "full-length" video option.



6. You will now be asked to upload images for your project. There are three options. You can upload multiple files from your computer by holding down the CTRL keys as you select the files.



** Free Picture and Video Sites for use with Education ** There are many places to find pictures for use with an educational project. In addition to searching on Bing and Google, you can consider some of these sites.

· http://www.Pics4Learning.com– Free photos to use for multimedia projects. · [|http://commons.wikimedia.org] – Wikipedia’s image files are stored here and most of the pictures are copyright friendly. · [|http://www.flikr.com] – Use the advance search feature to find pictures which have been granted permission to use copyright free. · [|http://www.freedigitalphotos.net] – Free Digital Photos.net allows you to have free low-res photos which are perfect for multimedia projects.

· [|http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com] – Discovery Education will allow you to use their pictures and videos provided you adhere to their terms of use found at this link: [] · [|http://www.freestockfootage.com] – Free Stock Footage allows free use of their low resolution video stock and images.

When you have uploaded your pictures and/or video clips you will have a toolbar at the bottom of the page. Click on a picture or video and select one of the toolbar options. 

** Reordering your pictures and videos ** You can simply drag and drop your pictures or videos to reorder them in the Image gallery.

** Adding Text to the Video ** You can add a frame of text to provide further information or to add a title and author screen to the beginning of your movie or a credit to the end. To add text, simply click on the picture or video clip **//before//** you want the text to appear and click the “Add Text” button on the toolbar. The text box will appear right after that clip. On the right side of the screen, type the text you wish to appear.

** Note: ** The number of text characters is limited to 22 on Main Text line and 30 characters on the subtext line. The main text line will be larger than the subtext.

When finished, click the DONE button to the right of the toolbar.

** SPECIAL NOTE **** : ** Once the video is saved, Animoto will allow you to close the web browser and finish your video later. When you click on “Create Video,” Animoto will ask you if you wish to continue with your last saved video or start a new oneYou will LOSE the video if you start a new one.

**Selecting Music for the Animoto Video** Once you have arranged all the pictures, video, and text in the order in which you want them to appear, you can select music to go with the show. Click the DONE button next to the toolbar. Your video will be saved and you will be presented with options for your music.



We are going to create our own audio file (a combination of music in the background and your voice speaking your script). If you aren’t sure how to do this, click here to view a tutorial on Audacity.

** Free Music Tracks ** There are many sites which allow Creative Commons use of music. Since the music is not always appropriate, you should preview the music before using it in your video.
 * FreePlayMusic – [|http://freeplaymusic.com]
 * Sound effects – [|http://findsounds.com]
 * Jamendo - []
 * Dmusic - []
 * Opsound - []
 * Sound Click - []

** Customizing your video ** The final step is to customize your video playback. You will have two options. First, choose if you wish the image and video pacing to be ½ speed, normal speed, or 2x speed.
 * 1/2 speed can be used if you have few pictures and videos but a long music track that you wish to be heard.
 * Normal speed would play the pictures and videos back at the default
 * 2x speed would be used if you have many pictures and videos, but a shorter soundtrack.



Next choose a picture for your cover screen that will be seen when the video is not playing. Click to the left or right of the picture to cycle through additional pictures to use.

When you are done, click the “Continue” button.

** Enter Video Information ** Enter the information about your video project on the next screen and click “Create Video.” Your video will take several minutes to create. You will see a progress screen and when the video is done, your teacher will receive an email. You can close the web browser if you want.



**Good job!**