App Makes It Easy to Blend iPhone Photos and Video Into Narrated Stories

explory_logo_blackIf you need a fast way to produce explanatory videos for your blog or website, check out Explory. It’s a new app for iPads and iPhones that lets you blend images and/or video clips right on your phone. Adding narration is as easy as talking on your phone.

Explory offers an easy way to make “how-to” videos or tell “behind-the-scenes” stories about photo shoots, your art or design project, or research for your book project. You could use it to create promotional videos, document special events, or tell the stories behind selected projects in your portfolio.

“Many of us want to share experiences that are more in-depth than what can be conveyed with a single photo or a six-second video clip. At the same time, few people want to take the time and effort required to edit a video,” said Peter Goldie, one of the founders of Explory. “Explory makes it fun for anyone to quickly create rich, interactive stories, right on their phone.”

Even better, your audience can control the pace at which they view the story and the level of detail they want to explore.

“I’ve been having a lot of fun with Explory, sharing stories with family and friends. It’s easy to use and creates great results quickly. I know my clients are going to be excited to use this to craft their business stories in a compelling and cost effective way. It’s really the next evolution of corporate video,” said Chuck Easler, owner of Easler Communications.

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Creating a story with Explory is simple and fast. The “Story Ideas” feature automatically creates stories for you by analyzing the time and location data of photos and videos on your device. Just edit the draft, dictate some narration, and add text and music if you wish.

Or, you can start with a blank canvas and pick content from your photo library. You can also choose to use Explory’s camera to record a story as it happens.

Each story can be as long as you wish; you are not limited to short video clips. You can zoom in on high resolution photos, and play high quality video without aggressive compression.

Explory’s blended media story has a “play” button, but it’s not a traditional video: it’s interactive. Explory allows viewers to easily swipe ahead to skip sections, or explore details that would not normally be part of watching the main story. Your stories won’t bore anyone because they choose the length!

ExploryPizzaRecipeExplories can also be embedded in a Web page or blog, just like a traditional video. Or, you can share your “explories” privately with friends and family via email, messaging, and social media.

If you publish your “explories” publicly in the Explory gallery, people don’t need the Explory App to view your stories; they can use a mobile or desktop Web browser.

Explories are stored in the cloud and optimized for playback on your device. You can share your story immediately and continue to refine it over time. Explory’s cloud synchronization feature lets you work on the story from multiple iPhones and iPads.

Potential Uses

Creative pros will undoubtedly find all sorts of ways to use Explory — either to tell their own stories or to tell stories for their clients.

The creators of Explory envision that “makers” will use the app to share step-by-step, how-to instructions for assembling, repairing, or cooking. Digital journalists can use Explory to quickly assemble a story that combines photos, videos, and audio. Small businesses that don’t have the time, skill, or money to create corporate videos can use Explory to demonstrate products, answer frequently asked questions, or provide technical support.

The app is also being promoted as a tool for students, educators, people who want to share special moments in their lives with family and friends, or anyone who wants to describe the world around them and share it with others.

Explory is a free download in the Apple App Store. It requires an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running iOS 6 or better. Once you’ve installed it, tap on “Story Ideas” and see your stories! If you want more than the 50 MB free storage Explory provides, you can sign up for a month-long or annual subscription.

LINKS

Explory

 

Galleries HQ Wants to Give Artists Global Exposure via iPhone App

Galleries HQ is a mobile platform that helps visual artists and galleries showcase their creations to the world. The Seattle-based art enthusiasts who founded Galleries HQ are rethinking how the arts community can benefit from the power and ubiquity of mobile devices such as the iPhone. This includes discovering new artists, finding upcoming exhibits, and in the future, managing transactions such as artwork and exhibition ticket sales.

Wayne Bishop and his wife Karen Bishop started working on the Galleries HQ platform in 2010 when they felt that the arts were lagging behind in the application of innovative technology. They self-funded the development of the iPad app that launched in 2012 and promotes the work of 80 artists in a dozen countries.

Now, the Bishops have launched a Kickstarter campaign to extend Galleries HQ platform to the iPhone and bring Galleries HQ to a much larger audience of artists and art lovers globally. The campaign is organized to match potential sponsors with artists. Any individual, business or organization can become a sponsor. The campaign ends November 29, 2013.

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“Mobile devices are a great way to reach an increasing number of people interested in art,” said Wayne Bishop. “The rate of people acquiring devices has now outpaced PCs, and desktop purchases are on the decline. As a result, we want to promote artists through tools consumers use the most.”

The Bishops know many artists have stories to tell, but may not have tools to reach groups beyond Facebook and their personal websites.

LINKS

Galleries HQ

Kickstarter Campaign: Galleries HQ Promoting Fine Art on the iPhone

 

New iPhone App Makes It Simple to Monetize Photos

123RFPhotosAttendees at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity were among the first to learn about 123RF On-The-Go, a microstock photography app that lets you tag, upload, and monetize images that you have taken on your iPhone.

The app was developed by the creators of the 123RF.com website, which generates 20 million unique visitors each month. “To date, we have 62,000 verified stock content contributors and 20 million digital assets in our media library,” says Leon Hudson, 123RF.com’s vice president of sales and marketing.

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In launching the app, Hudson noted that, “You may not carry a DSLR camera with you at all times but you certainly have your smartphone handy. Now, anyone can capture a moment wherever they are and cash in on their amazing shots. Users can also participate in exciting contests which promises a bounty of $300 each time. There is nothing better than making money from what you enjoy doing. The 123RF On-The-Go iPhone app allows you to do just that!”

When you send your photos to 123RF.com via the 123RF On-The-Go app, your photos will undergo inspection by a team of Image Reviewers. They will inspect your photo to ensure that they meet the site’s content guidelines and requirements. Within 24 hours from the time of acceptance, your image will be made searchable and licensable on the 123RF.com website.

123RF On-The-Go is now available as a free download from the Apple App Store.

Founded in 2005, 123RF.com is a royalty-free microstock library that offers more than 20 million royalty-free content items, including stock photos, illustrations, footage, audio files and logos.

LINKS

123RF On-The-Go Mobile App

123RF.com

YouTube Video: On-The-Go Launch

Win Trip to Warhol Museum for Trying Warhol D.I.Y. Pop App

This looks like fun! For a chance to win a private tour of the current exhibition at The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, enter the “Pop Your Culture with the Warhol D.I.Y. Pop App” social media contest. The contest launched March 21, 2013 and closes March 31, 2013 at 12 am EDT.

To enter, simply use The Warhol D.I.Y. POP App to transform an iconic picture of your culture into a Warhol digital screen print. Entries can be submitted via the Acclaro Facebook accounts.

“POP Your Culture with The Warhol D.I.Y. Pop App” will have four winners, three of which will be hand-selected by Nicholas Chambers, the Milton Fine curator of art of The Warhol.
The grand prize will be a trip for two to Pittsburgh including airfare, hotel, museum entrance, and a private tour of the current exhibition. Second and third place winners will receive gift certificates to The Warhol Store (at the museum or online) in the amounts of $300 and $200 respectively.

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The fourth winner will be chosen by the public via Facebook after Chambers selects ten finalists. This People’s Choice winner will have their submitted image displayed for 24 hours on The Warhol Facebook and Twitter profiles, which have over 550,000 combined followers.

The contest is sponsored by Acclaro, a New York-based translation and localization agency that helps the world’s leading brands succeed across cultures.  Acclaro is presenting the contest to celebrate a fruitful partnership with The Warhol, a non-profit arts organization that is expanding its presence to key cities across Asia.

The Warhol first called on Acclaro to translate and localize its education website and materials, as well as The Warhol D.I.Y. POP App, into Chinese and Japanese. The visitor materials and mobile application were used to launch the largest retrospective of Warhol’s artwork to travel to Asia, Andy Warhol: 15 Minutes Eternal that opened in Singapore and currently is on view in Hong Kong, with futures venues to include Shanghai, Beijing, and Tokyo.

Over the past 10 years, Acclaro has developed a specialty in the cultural and non-profit realm, providing translation and localization services to such influential organizations as The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. This contest is a unique opportunity to promote cultural awareness and art appreciation to the online communities of both Acclaro and The Warhol.

“Our goal from the beginning has been to seamlessly communicate The Andy Warhol Museum message across cultures. The beauty of this contest is that everyone has a cultural identity. Now individuals of all backgrounds can experience Warhol by doing exactly what he did: turning an iconic image into a work of art,” said Michael Kriz, founder and president of Acclaro.

Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the place of Andy Warhol’s birth, The Andy Warhol Museum is one of the most comprehensive single-artist museums in the world. The Andy Warhol Museum is one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh.

LINKS

Acclaro

Official Warhol Contest Page

App: The Warhol: D.I.Y. Pop

Pinterest Page with Sample Entries

The Andy Warhol Museum

 

New App Helps You Sell iPhone Images as Stock Photos

A new iPhone app from Pocketstock has opened up the commercial stock photography market to billions of new stock shooters. The app allows you to shoot, then add metadata such as captions, keywords, model and property releases without leaving the app.

“It’s possible for a contributor to shoot an image and have it live on our site for sale within 30 minutes,” says Russell Glenister, CEO of Pocketstock. “When I got into the industry it took three months and for many stock shooters, it still takes a month for their images to go live at other agencies.”

Contributors will earn a minimum of 35% of the royalties Pocketstock makes from their phone images.

Pocketstock clients can either buy their chosen image at the listed price, or submit a bid for what they consider to be a fair price for the image. Clients who submit bids for images will be notified within 24 hours if their bids have been accepted or rejected, and will be given opportunities to justify or reconsider their bids.

If you are interested in becoming a Pocketstock contributor, you can download the Pocketstock app from the Apple app store or from Pocketstock. An Android version of the app is currently being developed.

LINK

Pocketstock App

About Pocketstock

Guidelines for Contributors

 

 

 

New artMatch App Lets Buyers Order Art from iPhones

ARTISTS. Art.com, Inc., a leading online provider of wall art, has introduced artMatch™ for the iPhone. The free app makes it easy for art lovers to find, explore, discover, share and purchase art right from their iPhones. After snapping a photo of any work of art, you can instantly search for matching or similar items on Art.com. You can also preview selected artwork in your own space by simply holding up your iPhone. The application is free and can be downloaded through Apple’s App Store.

“Art.com has one simple goal—to make art accessible to all—and our new artMatch application for the iPhone takes that one step further, making it easy and fun for people to engage with art wherever and whenever inspiration strikes,” said Geoffrey Martin, CEO of Art.com, Inc. “Imagine walking down the streets of your favorite city, spotting a work of art you love in a café, gallery or museum and being able to go on your phone, find that work on Art.com, frame it and have it waiting for you at home when you return.”

ArtMatch uses Art.com’s Visual Search™ technology. This makes it possible to:

Instantly find a work of art. Take a photo of a work of art, upload a photo from the phone, or enter a URL, and Art.com will instantly tell you whether it is available for sale on the site. If it’s not on Art.com, you will see similar works that are available on Art.com.

Browse the collection of more than one million works of art available through Art.com. The collection is conveniently presented in list, grid and single views optimized for viewing on the iPhone. Read information about each art piece and use the Super Zoom™ feature to examine brush strokes, texture, and other details of specific art pieces.

Visualize how the selected work of art would look in the room you have in mind. Simply hold up your phone to see the selected work in your own room or select from the gallery of rooms on Art.com.

Save your favorites to a gallery and share them with via email or Facebook. This feature can be useful if you want a second opinion before ordering art for a certain room in your house.

Purchase your pick right from the phone. The app’s integrated shopping cart can sync with your phone contacts for easy shipping to the selected destination. Your artwork arrives ready to hang on your wall. Learn more at www.art.com/iphone.

Art.com was founded in 1998 to make art accessible to all by transforming the way the world discovers, personalizes, shares and purchases art. Art.com, Inc. runs three sites in the USA—Art.com, AllPosters.com, and ArtistRising.com—and has a strong international presence with 25 local sites in Europe, Japan, Canada, Australia, Mexico, and South America. Art.com, Inc. is a privately held company headquartered in Emeryville, CA, with other facilities in Ohio, North Carolina and the Netherlands.

LINKS

artMatch App

About Art.com

 

 

Tagwhat Augmented Reality App Tells Stories Behind Places

Here’s a new application of augmented reality. Tagwhat, a media company based in Boulder, Colorado, has a “Great Stories at Places” app that lets users of iPhones (3GS/4) and Android-using smartphones learn some of the stories behind places they visit.

Tagwhat Augmented Reality App for iPhoneFor example, on the steps of Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, you can watch Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream Speech.” Or, while touring San Francisco, you can see historic photos that show how different sites were devastated by the San Francisco Earthquake.

Tagwhat’s team of new media journalists and filmmakers worked with publishing partners such as the Associated Press (AP), the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Virginia Beach Public Library System to create and curate thousands rich-media stories that can “augment” your understanding and enjoyment of some of the places you visit.

Organized like TV channels, the stories pop up on top of real-life locations and change based on where you are looking. If a story is too good not to share, you can send a personalized, digital postcard to friends via Facebook, Twitter or email.

Tagwaht Digital Postcard from Great Stories at Places Augmented Reality App

Channels include: Heritage, Movies, Sports, Food, Nature, Music, and Art.

In the “Movies” channel, you can watch a clip of the parade from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” while walking down the same Chicago street. Or you can read about Woody Allen movie settings while touring New York.

Visitors to the LA Coliseum can tap into the “Sports” channel for a look back at the 1984 Summer Olympics with videos of gold medalists Mary Lou Retton and Carl Lewis.

In the “Music” channel you can hear Janis Joplin sing outside the Austin club where she got her start and see images of her preparing to perform.

A “Visit” feature lets you take a virtual trip to Tagwhat’s featured cities: New York; San Francisco; Los Angeles; Washington, DC; Chicago; Boulder, Colorado; Portland, Oregon; Austin, Texas; and Virginia Beach, Virginia. You can look around and interact with multimedia stories as if you were standing in that city!

Tagwhat is already seeded with thousands of stories, with new stories being added every day.