Slidemotion – Turn Snapshots Into Videos

Who has time to flip through a photo album these days? Slidemotion is a tool that modernizes photos by turning them into moving videos – complete with background music and all the other flourishes people have come to expect from professionally designed video montages.

Putting together your first video with Slidemotion doesn’t have to take any longer than three minutes. Assuming you already have the latest version of Microsoft Silverlight installed on your computer, you can get started by clicking “Create new video” and uploading the images you’d like to use. Add up to 15 images from your hard drive or Facebook account. Each photo is its own “section” in the movie, and you can add unique songs – which either come from your computer or Slidemotion’s collection – and overlay text to as many sections as you like. You can also edit specific images by rotating, cropping, or zooming in. When you’re done with your masterpiece, click “Finalize” and “Complete.” Slidemotion will send you an email when your video is ready to view and share.

Heavy Facebook users will appreciate Slidemotion’s easy integration with the social networking platform, making it easy to turn entire albums worth of photos into memorable videos in mere minutes. Slidemotion is a great tool for individuals looking for fresh ways to preserve their vacation memories, as well as small business owners looking for low-cost ways to market their companies online.

Practical Uses:

• Create a video based on the photos taken at your wedding
• Use images from your vacation when creating a family video
• Turn the photos your customers submit into a commercial for your store
• Use music and text to add context to the video from your recent trip to Jamaica

Insider Tips:

• Facebook users can create videos in just three clicks with Slidemotion’s VideoExpress app
• Images can be cropped, rotated, and zoomed in on
• Videos can be shared or kept private
• Users with PRO and PRO Reseller plans can use Slidemotion for commercial purposes

What we liked:

• Videos can be made in HD quality
• People with Home Premium accounts can add up to 200 images to a video
• Users can upload their own music or use the tunes from Slidemotion’s library
• Slidemotion lets you add multiple songs to a single video

What we didn’t like:

• Slidemotion’s free trial only lasts for 30 days, after which people must select a paid plan to continue using the app

Alternatives:

• Animoto – http://animoto.com
• Stupeflix – http://studio.stupeflix.com

Company Info:

• Launched: September 2011
• Privately Held
• Headquarters: Ljubljana, Slovenia
• Founded by: Marko Petkovic and Matjaz Clemente
• Web site: http://www.slidemotion.com

Costs:

• Free 30-day trial
• Home plan is $5/month
• Home Premium plan is $12/month
• PRO and PRO Reseller plans are coming soon