Animoto is a web application that produces videos from user-selected photos and music.

Animoto analyzes the provided photos and music, automatically generating a trailer like video. According to Animoto website, its engine analyzes users’ photos and music and takes into consideration music’s genre, rhythm, and tempo to generate a video that takes into the song’s nuances. The site claims no two videos are ever the same.

As of Auguest 2008, 250,000 users in over 200 countries have registered with Animoto.com with 4 million videos and 50 million views.

Slide, Rock You and Photobucket are among competitors for Animoto. Animoto’s founders have produced shows for MTV, Comody Central and ABC.

History

Animoto was founded on August 2006.

Amazon funded Animoto in May 2008 with an undisclosed amount. Animoto is based in New York with an office in San Francisco.

On March 2008, The Animoto Videos application launched on Facebook and became a popular way for users to showcase their photos on the social network. It was integrated with YouTube, allowing users to export Animoto videos directly to YouTube easily. As of Aug 2008 nearly 50,000 videos have been uploaded to YouTube.

On June 2008, Animoto introduced DVD-quality upgrades for users to view videos in televisions.

By end of 2008, Animoto for Business and Animoto for Education were launched. Animoto for Education gives teachers and students unlimited access to its standard & premium services for free.

More information

• Founded August 2006
• Headquarters New York, NY
• Key people Brad Jefferson, Jason Hsiao co-founders
• Services software applications
• Website http://animoto.com/