Movie+Magic-+Photos+to+Movies+using+Animoto+&+Photostory+3

Making Movies as classroom Projects is easy using either of these programs. Photostory 3 is a free software that you download from Microsoft and is very stable and easy for students 4th grade and up to plug their photos into and make a movie that includes music they make up using the builtin music of Photostory. The resulting movie is a .wmv file that plays on Windows Media Player. Animoto, on the other hand, is a web 2.0 software that resides on the web. Therefore, internet is necessary to use it. The 30 sec movie is free but if you want a longer one, you would pay a one time fee or sign up for a teacher account (this takes at least 24 hours to hear back from them). Students do have to be able to establish a user id and password that they can remember to use this so the grade level might be 5th and up because of that. You can select popular music or add your own. This program makes a simple set of 15 photos into a movie that appears to be commercially made. It is super for your own use as a teacher who sponsors events or clubs, or as a parent or grandparent who take photos at birthday parties or holidays. The free movie is limited to 15 photos. You can add clip art, title slides, highlight some photos and do other special effects.The resulting video can be left on the site or you can download it as an MP4 file which plays thru windows media player.

To download **Photostory 3** go to: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/photostory/default.mspx This page also has all the directions and handouts for using the program. Sample: media type="file" key="067Yearinreview.wmv"

To login to *Animoto** go to: http://animoto.com/ Sample: media type="file" key="Roundup animoto video.mp4"