Animoto Launches 'Animoto Videos' Application for Facebook at SXSW Interactive, Introduces Powerful Alternative to Online Photo Slideshows

Animoto Launches 'Animoto Videos' Application for Facebook at SXSW Interactive, Introduces Powerful Alternative to Online Photo Slideshows

New application lets Facebook users create and share personalized, high-impact, 30-second videos from favorite photos and music

AUSTIN, Texas, March 10 /PRNewswire/ -- SXSW Interactive Festival -- Animoto, the web application that lets users quickly and easily create personalized, professional-quality videos from their own photos and music, today launched an application for Facebook, introducing a new powerful alternative to traditional online photo slideshows. The new Animoto Videos application lets Facebook users automatically produce high-impact 30-second music videos from their library of photos. Users feature their favorite Animoto video on their profile as their ":30 Spot" for friends to view and comment. The application was introduced today at the SXSW Interactive Festival, a leading festival targeting Web technology innovators and digital creatives from across the globe, where Animoto won the SXSW Web Award last night in the "Film/TV" category.

":30 Spots introduce an amazingly rich form of self-expression on Facebook," said Brad Jefferson, CEO and Co-founder of Animoto. "Facebook is reported to be the most-trafficked photo application in the world, and Animoto Videos makes viewing those photos much more exciting and engaging for Facebook users."

Similar to the functionality also available for free on Animoto.com, the Animoto Videos application uses high-end motion design and music-analyzing technology to automatically create videos from users' selected photos and music. Users select up to fifteen photos from one of their Facebook photo albums, pick a song from Animoto's extensive music collection, and Animoto takes care of the rest, returning a unique video orchestration with the visual energy of a music video and the emotional impact of a movie trailer.

The heart of Animoto is its Cinematic Artificial Intelligence technology that thinks like an actual director and editor, using the same sophisticated post-production skills and techniques that are used in television and film. The technology takes into account every nuance of a song -- the genre, song structure, energy, rhythm, instrumentation, and vocals. No two video creations are the same. Even videos generated with an identical set of images and music will each have a completely distinct set of motion design.

Jefferson adds, "When determining how best to represent Animoto on Facebook we simply observed what users of Animoto.com were already doing. They've perfected the art of using Animoto to tell a 30-second story, and then they typically share their stories with friends through social network sites like Facebook. The Animoto Videos application now allows users to do all that without ever leaving Facebook."

For users looking to do more with their Animoto videos, Animoto.com allows them to also create full-length videos, embed videos to a blog or favorite social network site, download to a PC or Mac, upload to video sharing sites like YouTube, and synchronize videos with mobile devices like the iPhone. Access to such capabilities on Animoto.com costs $3 per video, or $30 per year for an All-Access Pass.

Animoto will be at SXSW Interactive, Sunday, March 9 through Tuesday, March 11, at Stand #717 at the Austin Convention Center. For more information, see http://2008.sxsw.com/interactive/.

About Animoto

The founders of Animoto Productions include veterans of the entertainment industry who share a passion for helping people better share their stories and express themselves through online media by innovating technologies in the field of video production. Animoto Productions, founded in August 2006, is based in New York City with an office in San Francisco. Visit http://www.animoto.com/.

About SXSW Interactive Festival

Scheduled March 7-11 in Austin, Texas, the 2008 SXSW Interactive Festival provides practical how-to information as well as unparalleled career inspiration, bringing together some of emerging technology's most creative thinkers. The event features five days of keynote speeches, more than 120 panels, the SXSW Web Awards, the iF! Trade Show & Exhibition, the ScreenBurn Arcade, and dozens of exciting evening events. For more information on SXSW Interactive, see http://www.sxsw.com/interactive.

For more information:

http://biz.animoto.com/presskit.html

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: Animoto

CONTACT: Julia Konstantinovsky of Atomic PR, +1-415-402-0230,
julia@atomicpr.com, for Animoto

Web site:

http://www.animoto.com/
http://2008.sxsw.com/interactive
http://biz.animoto.com/presskit.html

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