quick videos with stupeflix

May 08, 2009

Stupeflix is perhaps aptly named, but nonetheless a cool tool for putting together a quick video. I could see using this for a graduation slide show or other celebratory event that yearns for a retrospective, but when I’m not up for losing myself in AfterEffects for several days to make it happen.

The sign-up is very easy and I’m quickly brought to a screen which is pre-populated with images and a soundtrack. I created a video of this, just to get the hang of it.

It’s a good thing they offered that, since once I cleared the screen to start my own project. I had a “deer in the headlights” moment while I stared at a mostly blank screen and pondered what to do next. (A few big buttons in the middle of the screen at this point would be a vast improvement to keeping me “in the flow.”) Admittedly, it only took me a few seconds to spot the “Add Images” button at the bottom on the screen.

I found it odd that you can’t add a soundtrack till after you add images (there’s a menu under the subtle [+] in the upper-right of the image below). My first instinct was to start with a soundtrack. Nevertheless, I could upload a bunch of images at one and they’ve implemented the most fabulous upload feedback I’ve seen yet:

I was screwing around with the UI and seeing what would happen if I dragged an image from the desktop… the browser went to another web page and ACK! I just lost my whole project. These guys are in serious need of a “save” button. Ugh.

Nevertheless, I persisted in my quest for a quick video fix. I re-imported the images and put together a video in about 20 minutes, then spent 15 minutes looking for a sound track. (Thank you, Internet Archive and Liquid Stranger. The music is “Quota Tapeloader.”)

You can check out my final video and the xml that describes it. The effect are semi-randomly generated (with some effects depending on the number of photos in a group). I could control them, if I were motivated, by editing the xml by hand. It’s a neat way to give your early adopters a ton of control while your UI catches up.

Overall, this is really neat. Kudos to the Stupeflix team!

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