A few weeks ago I wrote a post about slideshows and how I had trouble choosing between different applications: it is indeed really hard to find something both “not kitsh” and entertaining.
I hate the moment when my friends announce during a party “oh, let’s start looking at the pictures from our last trip”, because it usually takes hours and is really boring. I never show directly my pictures to my friends as I share them online, but like anybody I prefer when they look at them.
So I had to find something really great to attract their attention: Animoto, the next generation of slideshows, is definitely what I needed. You just have to upload your pictures and select a song, and Animoto generates your video with effects according to the music. It’s just great and without hassle! You can see the result here (see how I force you to look at my pictures, making you believe that the purpose is trying a new app ;-))
I’ve always dreamt of being a teenage drama actress 
Update: it seems that Animoto videos are only working with Firefox and not with IE, which is a MAJOR problem! That’s too bad, because their service is great, and I hope they will solve this problem quickly.
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I don’t know if Animoto is only working with FF, but at work and at home, I have this problem!! And a friend has the same. Therefore, it is really embarassing because I don’t know if the problem comes from them or if something block the anim with IE.
Hey all! This is Tom, one of the guys at Animoto, and I just found this blog posting so I thought I’d pipe in.
Firstly, thanks for the kind post. It’s always nice to hear when people have positive reactions to something for which we’ve been working our a*ses off. (Hmm, now that I look at it, that asterisk is pretty ineffective…oh well.)
Regarding the IE browser compatibility, our site should actually work pretty smoothly in IE as I’ve been testing it recently and trying to iron out all the wrinkles. The thing is–and ask any web developer about this–is that IE doesn’t play by the rules and often decides to flout standards that the rest of the internet community has worked hard towards. So I develop purely using Firefox, and do all my initial testing there before finally getting it working on IE. Therefore, one’s experience on our site will almost always be better, and (slightly!) less buggy, using FF.
I know that one could argue that this is bad practice because one should develop for the browser with the large usage, but we do things a little different at Animoto, and I’ve been pretty happy to support the people/companies that I believe in, shying away from those I don’t. For those of you who have no choice but to use IE (at work, on public computers, whatever), then I really do sympathize with you and wish it could be otherwise. That being said, the site should work nearly identically in both browsers, so if you are having any problems then PLEASE do come to site and less me know via feedback so I can work with you towards fixing it.
That’s it! I hope you enjoy our site and service.
Thanks,
TOM
(P.s. Regarding the specific problem, if it’s just that the video isn’t showing up then that doesn’t have to do with a specific browser. It is more likely due to firewall security settings, or an incorrect Flash version, or otherwise. Thanks!)
Wooh, thanks for your answer Tom! Animoto is really great (like Fidji’s blog by the way), you rule guys!
Hi Tom,
That’s really great to see that some start ups are really reactive when a problem arises, and it’s great to have direct communication.
I completely understand your position, especially since I like FF very much.
I can only say thanks for your answer and good luck, because you really deserve a great success with this application. I really consider it as a killer app, completely matching users’ needs in the field of innovative slideshows or “picture promotion”, and I’m glad if I can contribute to make it discover!
Congrats!