YouTube – Animated Video

YouTube released a very cool new feature a couple of days ago that allows you to create animated videos for FREE. There are three applications that allow you to do this located here: http://www.youtube.com/create

To quickly some up the difference between the 3 applications:

• GoAnimate – This is my favorite out of the 3 applications offered. GoAnimate allows you to create a full animated video. This isn’t simply just typing in a script; GoAnimate lets you fully customize an animated video offering settings such as recording your own voice, motion of characters, position of characters, props, and more. For a free platform, this offers a lot of flexibility.

• Xtranormal Movie Maker – Xtranormal Movie Maker can be viewed as a simpler version of GoAnimate. This program allows you to create an animated scene and publish it on YouTube. Someone would choose this option over GoAnimate if they’re looking to create a brief animated monologue / dialogue and do not wish to have multiple animated scenes.

• Stupeflix Video Maker – Stupeflix provides a way to merge your digital content into one cohesive video. This includes video, music, photos, maps, and text.

The only downside to this is that it is somewhat limited with the “free option” that YouTube provides (you can register with any of these other sites and access more features). However, you can still do a lot with the free features. Expect to see a lot of brands coming to the table with a variety of different animated videos generated through these applications.  As with regular video content, brands will have to think outside the box when creating their animated videos if they want to generate a lot of views.