Magisto

Smart phones are amazing little machines, but what's even more amazing are the things that programmers dream up for us to do with them.  It never ceases to amaze me what you can teach a computer to do, and that's all a smart phone is really.  I don't have that big of an imagination when it comes to technology.  Mostly, I think of something I want to do with the computer or phone and try to figure out how to make it do that.  I've learned from listening to The Digi Show, that it pays to just go browsing around the Google Play Store every once in a while.  It really payed off last week.

I keep hearing people talk about editing video on their smart phones, so I decided to look for video editing software, and I stumbled upon Magisto.  Oh, Magisto, how do I love thee?  Let me count the ways!  I'm getting ahead of myself, though.   It was free, so I installed it, kept browsing, and promptly forgot about it.  That is, until a few days later when I accidentally tapped the icon for the Magisto app.  (You know it happens to you too)  The interface caught my eye, so rather than going about what I had been intending to do, I decided to play with it a little. (Yes, sometimes I am that easily distracted.)

When you open up the app this is what you see

When I saw that I could use my gallery, and this wouldn't require any pre-planning, I was hooked.  In a couple of easy steps, my choices were made, and I was informed that it would take a few minutes to put the video together.  I got distracted again, and went for a drive.  (What can I say?  It was one of those days.)  Five minutes later, I was stopped at a long light, and I got a message that my video was ready.  I hit play and this is what I saw:

Needless to say, I guffawed and continued to do so for quite some time. (No worries, I did get through the light and pull to the side of the road to continue my fit of giggles.) I still can't believe that video was produced with so little effort from me.  I'm sure you're doubting how easy it is, so let's just make a video together.

Here's the app again:

Use the gallery.

This is what you see.  The photos and video from my gallery.  I pick the photos of my daughter having a fit in a store yesterday and the little video clip that went with it. 

And hit next, which leads you to the screen that prompts you what editing theme you'd like to use.

I pick So Cute!  Then choose an Elizabeth Mitchell song for the soundtrack.  They have lots of songs to choose from, and you can also use your own music.

Once your choices are made, you title your video, and you're done! You don't even have to stick around waiting until it finishes processing. We wait less than a minute and this is our video

If I had complete control of it, I probably wouldn't have left my voice in it, but still not bad for 90 seconds worth of work.  I really encourage you to try Magisto, too.  I haven't had so much fun with my phone in ages!