Can Animoto make you the next Spielberg?

I've spent the better part of the day today checking out a new web video creation site, called Animoto. The concept behind Animoto is that you upload images to the site, either from your computer, or online photo sites, such as Flickr, Facebook, or Photobucket, pick a song to go along with it, and Animoto will automatically create a cool video for you. Unfortunately, right now Animoto doesn't include support for putting videos into your masterpiece. Yes, there are already services out there that make it easy to create picture slideshows, but Animoto takes it a step further.

Animoto uses a technology, developed in house, that analyzes the pictures and music that you upload and creates a movie, based on the genre, energy, build, and rhythm of the song. This ensures that the movie flows well with the music that it is set to and that no two movies that Animoto generates are the same. After Animoto analyzes, produces, and creates your video, you can tweak it by adding or deleting images, or changing up the soundtrack. You can also perform, what they call, a "One Click Remix." That feature tells Animoto to generate the movie again, giving it a new feel.

If you are questioning whether or not these people know what they are doing in video production, no need to worry. The company was founded by producers from Comedy Central, ABC, and MTV. Animoto is launching to the public on August 14th and I recommend that you give it a spin. Can Animoto make you the next Spielberg? Well, probably not, but Animoto is definitely a slick, fun, easy way to compile your photos into energetic videos.
Harrison Hoffman is a tech enthusiast and co-founder of LiveSide.net, a blog about Windows Live. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
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Audio and video,
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Content and publishing
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