DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY NEWS

Animoto and SmuMug Partner for Integrated Video Creation Experience

New service lets consumers and professionals automatically create and share Animoto videos made from their hosted SmugMug assets
 
New York, NY - October 22, 2009 – Animoto® (http://animoto.com), the video creation platform that lets anyone quickly and easily create professional-quality videos from their own photos, video clips, music and text, today announced a partnership with SmugMug (http://smugmug.com), a trusted source for storing photos and video footage, establishing a two-way integration of the services. SmugMug users can now easily create Animoto videos from photos and video clips in their SmugMug accounts, while Animoto users can export their personalized video creations straight to SmugMug for storage, sharing, and reselling. The announcement was made today at the PhotoPlus International Conference + Expo in New York City.
 
“We’re pleased to announce our partnership with SmugMug as they are the trusted leader in photo and video storage and sharing for serious photographers,” said Brad Jefferson, CEO and co-founder of Animoto. “Our business models are similar, offering valuable solutions to both consumers and professionals, so we think SmugMug and Animoto users will love how we’ve joined forces to make the video creation process of digital storytelling easier than ever.”
 
To create an Animoto video from within SmugMug, a user simply clicks the “Buy” menu from within a gallery and selects “Create an Animoto Video.”  The user is then redirected to Animoto.com and placed directly into the video creation process with their SmugMug photos and video clips already loaded. When the video is finished, the user opens the “Export” menu from Animoto’s video toolbox and selects “SmugMug” to export the completed video back to SmugMug.
 
"We've loved Animoto videos since we discovered them in 2007," said Don MacAskill, CEO and Chief Geek of SmugMug.  "Animoto lets ordinary people combine photos, videos and music quickly, with results that look like the work of professionals.  SmugMug customers will be thrilled with this integration because they'll be able to add so much excitement to their SmugMug galleries."
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 videos are ever the same; even videos generated with an identical set of images and music will each have a completely distinct set of motion design. Videos are produced in widescreen format and can be emailed, embedded on any website, or downloaded in DVD-quality formats for display on computers, televisions, and even large projection screens.

Last year at PhotoPlus, Animoto launched Animoto for Photography, a subscription service that specifically caters to the needs of professional photographers. Using the service, Photographers can easily create an unlimited number of unique, professional-quality videos that can be sold on DVD or distributed online via blogs, websites, social networks and mobile devices. In August 2009, Animoto added to the offering by introducing the ability to easily incorporate video clips alongside photos to create stunning video productions rivaling TV and film.

Animoto and SmugMug will be showcasing together in booths #465 and #467 at the PhotoPlus International Conference + Expo in New York City, October 22-24, 2009.
More information about Animoto for Photography can be found at http://animoto.com/photography.

About Animoto
The founders of Animoto ProductionsÔ 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://animoto.com.
 
About SmugMug
Since 2002, snap-shooters, passionate enthusiasts, and pro photographers have added more than 600 million photos and videos to SmugMug. They choose SmugMug for its beautiful online displays, which can be uniquely customized.  SmugMug is located in Silicon Valley, CA.  Visit http://smugmug.com.