Animoto (Updated) Review | Why We Left & Came Back

Animoto was founded in 2006, the same year we started our wedding photography business (Lin and Jirsa). For businesses and photographers who wanted a quick, simple, and streamlined way of getting their images into video format, timed to music with interesting transitions, it was a great option.

[REWIND: THE POWER OF SAME-DAY SLIDESHOWS AT WEDDINGS]

The Competition in 2006

At the time, programs like Proshow, Showit Web (no longer in existence), and full video editing programs like Final Cut and Adobe Premiere served as Animoto’s competition.

Premiere and Final Cut are great, but were overkill, proving to be too complicated with too many options for our simplistic need of combining music with images. Proshow was a solid choice at the time as well, but still wasn’t as quick and easy as Animoto and Showit Web. So we stuck with a using a combination of the two.

Showit Web Took the Lead

After a few months, we moved away from Animoto and used Showit Web exclusively in our workflow. While Animoto was easy-to-use and visually appealing, the effects were too distinct and over-the-top for our brand and style of photography. Showit Web, on the other hand, had simpler transitions and complimented our style.

The Rise of Mobile and Downfall of Adobe Flash

As the iPhone entered the scene and Apple and Adobe became incompatible, Showit Web simply became irrelevant, as it was Flash-based and failed to keep up with changing tech. This encouraged us to revisit Animoto, and we were highly impressed with its addition of new features and functionality.

Animoto not only kept up with current trends and technology, but they listened to their customer’s concerns and provided updates for solutions. They added more templates, including simple, less distinct ones, and gave the user more control over the timing, music, and final product. They’ve also streamlined workflows for publishing on on social media and video hosting services like Youtube and Vimeo.