Pixorial, Inc. » Observations

Notes from Laura: Some interesting ways people are using Krowds – that you might want to steal!

admin — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 19:25:28 +0000

Over the past several days, I’ve been browsing through the many, many Krowds that have been created using our Krowds app, and I wanted to share some of the really cool uses I’ve come across. If these might work for you, please feel free to steal the idea! Music teachers showing off their students’ progress: a few music teachers (piano, violin, guitar) have started Krowds to feature the progress their students are making as they go from Chopsticks to Chopin. I’d imagine this would work great for anyone who teaches a performance skill — because you can really see the progress someone’s making. New home-shopping: when you’re looking to buy a new house, you tend to tour a lot of places, and drive by many more. Marco used Krowds to try to keep track of all the homes he and his wife toured, so they could compare notes later. (I also used Krowds this way recently, because we were house-hunting while my husband was in a cast with a broken foot! So I did most of the first-pass recon on possible houses, and he was able to check the videos to see what he liked. This helped us minimize how much time he had to spend hobbling on crutches to tour possible homes.) Tracking weight loss and fitness changes: Seems that a few personal trainers are using Krowds to monitor their workout client’s progress. I’m not sure how this will play out over many months, but so far it’s pretty obvious that a few people are having some killer success getting fit with their trainers — and video is a lot more compelling than photos because you can see people in action lifting weights and running on the treadmill, too! Collecting treasured family videos: This seems to be the most common use by far. I’ve seen many Krowds people are using to collect all manner of videos, including a lot that look like they were digitized from old-format VHS or videocamera tapes. It’s fun to see all the cool hairstyles and glasses from the ’80′s! (P.S. – did you know Pixorial can help you get your old-format vintage media digitized?) Sports: We’ve also seen a few sports teams using Pixorial to collect footage of games and practices. We’ve always figured this would be a perfect use for Krowds, because anyone can contribute video, even while they’re at the game. Capturing vacation memories: Phil and his fiancee took an amazing vacation to Italy, and they used a Krowd to collect videos of all the beautiful places they visited — and shared it with family and friends, so they could all see what they were missing. (I am still jealous!) How are YOU using Krowds? Tell us and you might get an Amazon.com gift card! Shoot an email with a link to your Krowd to *protected email*. Every week or so, I’ll select someone to receive an Amazon.com gift card for sharing their Krowd with us. We really want to know how YOU are using this cool app! Have a lovely rest of your week — and be sure to shoot some video! Laura Higgins SVP of Sales and Marketing, Pixorial

Infinite Possibilities: Creative Commons and Video

admin — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 05:48:26 +0000

Want to get creative with your video projects? Check out Creative Commons. You might’ve heard of Creative Commons, or “CC”, before. It’s a version of copyright for the digital age – a world where everyone and anyone can be a creator. It can be applied to music, words, video – pretty much anything that would be subject to normal copyrights. The difference is that it gives creators an easy way to license their work for use by others – free of cost. This video sums it up nicely. Using CC, countless people have licensed their work to be used in other creations. This has opened up a whole universe of content. What does this mean for video? Well, it gives you an endless palate of clips and content to choose from. Here are just a few ideas: - Find “b-roll” clips to add atmosphere to your videos - Download dialogue or a soundtrack - Add CC photos to your videos (no cheesy stock photo site necessary) - Collaborate with friends on a project You can also license your own work, customizing to your exact needs. No paperwork needed here. As CC puts it: “There is no registration to use the Creative Commons licenses. Licensing a work is as simple as selecting which of the six licenses best meets your goals, and then marking your work in some way so that others know that you have chosen to release the work under the terms of that license.” So where can you find CC material for use in your own productions? Well, there’s a vast reservoir of content out there, just waiting to be tapped: Here are just a few links to check out. A list of several CC media sites Another great list of CC-focused sites An excellent resource for CC-licensed audio A thorough FAQ to help you get started with CC Have fun creating! And if you make something with CC media and want to share it, let us know; we’ll feature it on our social channels!

Flip Camera User? You’ll Flip for Pixorial!

admin — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 07:35:23 +0000

You might remember the Flip Camera – a handy device that caught the attention of both video enthusiasts and casual users. After selling in the millions, the camera and its FlipShare integrated cloud storage service were eventually discontinued. If you happened to be one of those Flip Camera users, you were left high and dry. Videos that were previously stored on FlipShare no longer have a home. The good news? We can help! We understand how important it is to keep those videos safe, and we know you want to share only the parts you want to share. Here’s how to get started: 1.) Open a free Pixorial account, then move your inventory of Flip videos to our secure servers. Our Automatic Uploader can take care of the heavy lifting, seamlessly moving your files from your computer to our access-everywhere service. 2.) Use our storytelling platform to make your videos come to life. Use our basic or advanced editors to create unique creations, then privately share them to your friends and family. Need more storage? We’ve got affordable premium plans to meet your needs. 3.) Surprise the people you love with a gift. Make a personalized Videocard greeting, or even create a DVD of your Flip videos. We can’t bring back the Flip Camera, but we can help you resurrect all those videos. Create a new account to get started. Or, if you already have a Pixorial account, start transferring those Flip videos! Your memories will be much happier in the cloud, where you can store, edit, and share anywhere.

Lost Video Moments

admin — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 08:02:04 +0000

We all have those moments in life when we plan our best and still manage to fail. One time my daughter and her father were sharing the stage in front of hundreds of people to play a song together for the first time. This was her big moment. I planned accordingly. I sat in the front row. I brought my nice video camera. I even brought a back-up camera. I found an outlet to make sure that the camera was fully charged and had a tripod so that my nervous mom hands wouldn’t ruin the video. Going through the list, I did everything right. The moment finally arrived, my daughter and her proud father stepped on stage for their performance, and I was READY. I hit the record button on my new video camera. While watching them with pride, I was already thinking about how I would share that video with friends and family who weren’t there. Well, as it turns out, I had pushed the stop button and then hit the record button at the end of the performance. When I realized what I had done, it was too late. I remember seeing many others recording that same moment, but was unable to get a copy of the video (this was before Pixorial). So this is my public service announcement: don’t let this happen to you! Thanks to today’s technology, there’s a way to get access to that moment…even if you didn’t successfully capture it. Pixorial has a very cool feature that makes it possible to share original and editable copies of video with anyone. Missed a perfect moment? Simply find someone else who had their phone or camera on, and ask them to upload their video to Pixorial. Once uploaded, all they need to do is hit the Tag People button and enter an email address. Then, within minutes, you’ll have your very own copy of the video. Likewise, you can encourage your friends and family to share videos this way so you can capture different perspectives of shared experiences. Once video is shared using Tag People, your friends and family can save it, edit it, and share it at will. Don’t live with regret; share video with Pixorial and never miss another “big moment” again. Seriously…don’t let this happen to you. Here’s the video where I captured a whole four seconds of my daughter’s big moment:

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Spring Break – Making Memories

admin — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 14:58:22 +0000

Spring Break is quickly approaching and for some it might already be here. Where you go and what you do on Spring Break is not important. What is important is how you preserve those memories. Remember what it was like that first day of the break when you looked up to a perfect sky, playing in the street with the neighbors, getting covered head-to-toe in grass after rolling down the highest hill? These are the moments when life seems less complicated and smiles are contagious. So with all of the travel advice out there, vacation specials and activities geared towards family, what is the perfect recipe for fun? It is the time you spend together, the time when you stop to appreciate everything around you. Now is the time to lie in the grass and stare at the sky, to find beautiful leaves, rocks and other things that we tend to miss when we are caught in the thick of our busy lives. This spring break, consider capturing those precious moments on video. Create a montage of little video moments and share your Spring Break experience with friends and family in other states. These special moments are the greatest gifts and may be the perfect gift for Mother’s Day. (PS. All DVDs are $5 in March)

Bringing Video Memories to Life

admin — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 15:14:46 +0000

I recently converted my old home movies after discovering a box of videos at my parent’s house. Obviously I get how the process works given my role at Pixorial but I can honestly tell you that I was not prepared for the emotional experience. Without sounding too cliche here, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, well those video memories were worth more than words could possibly express. Moments captured in 1989 had new meaning for me as I watched my family gathering for a holiday celebration. There was something sweet about reliving the moment when the bun warmer caught fire during our Thanksgiving meal, and watching my cousin and brother perform their silly comedy skits, or watching my grandmother dance in her beautiful red dress. Those moments captured in my past mean more to me than I ever could have imagined. You see, at 21, I lost my brother. He was 18, sweet, shy and just beginning to realize his place in the world. He died before Facebook, before YouTube and really before a majority of the population even had computer access. We mourned in private, and at that time, there was really no way to share family videos easily with friends and relatives. You had to literally be in the same room, gathered around the television of the person’s home that had the videos. Fast-forward about 18 years to the way that we share memories today. All of a sudden, you can have access to memories within seconds. With a few clicks on Facebook, you can now create a story that highlights a person’s life as told by friends and family. To that point, our family experienced another loss about a year ago with the passing of my cousin. The pain was the same but the way that we memorialized was different. Within minutes of sharing the tragic news, pictures and videos began to surface on Facebook. It was powerful to see glimpses into other aspects of my cousin’s life. To see him dancing with friends and sharing holidays with family was so special. All of a sudden, this network of people surrounding my cousin was able to share their piece of his journey. Friends and family were all of a sudden united by the content that we were sharing to commemorate this person’s life. Videos that I may have never seen were being shared and we all got a taste of a precious life cut short. This leads me back to why I am so proud to be a part of Pixorial. We are not just a technology company; we are a company that is literally bringing memories to life. I have been on my own video conversion expedition and can tell you that there is nothing more beautiful than being able to share a piece of my brother’s life, my cousin’s life or sweet moments captured yesterday. Today, I can easily share memories captured more than 30 years ago with Pixorial. These simple treasures continue to delight and surprise my family when I post videos on Facebook. News travels fast and the response from friends and family is something that can’t be described. You just know… Life is precious and I personally love the idea that at any time, I can hit play and relive my past.

This Valentine’s Day Say “I Love You” with Video

admin — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 16:49:40 +0000

Okay folks, there are exactly 14 days until Valentine’s Day. So before you rush out and grab that big box of chocolate, we have another idea for you to consider. Why not create a video? You can quickly edit video from recent vacations, events or even create a video today using your web cam, phone or digital camera. We provide the free editing tools and music options. You provide the video. Need some inspiration? Check out this video made by a member of the Pixorial staff. P.S. Order a Valentine’s Day DVD of your creation for only $5. If you order by tomorrow, February 1, we will ship it in time for the big day. Let us know how it goes!

Why Mom and Dad Should Use Pixorial to Preserve Family Videos

admin — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 13:27:19 +0000

Okay parents, we are all busted, did you read the report today? “Young kids are better with tech than life skills.” Well coincidentally, we were chatting in the office today about the fact that kids today are born with devices in their hands (I am so guilty of this.) and understand that they can get access to pretty much anything they want through a browser. We get it, our kids are smart, they know how to find information, they are not tethered to any one device and they are fearless when it comes to trying new things. Given that, perhaps we could have a quick chat with those brilliant little people… Just a quick minute? Thanks, we will wait here. Okay! Hey kids, how was school? Did you ride your bike today? Please do, so that we can prove these studies wrong. But before you go outside, can you remind your parents that the box of videos that is sitting in the basement won’t last forever? That those videos taken of you rolling over, your first steps and diving head first into the birthday cake, need to be digitized with Pixorial. Having videos converted or uploaded with Pixorial means that your family can pick and choose what videos they want to share. And, if they happened to miss your winning score at last week’s soccer game, they can ask the other parent who did have a camera in tow, to share the original video through Pixorial. You can grab your winning kick and not worry about the other 20 minutes or so of video taken of Bobby. Outside of keeping your videos safe, there is so much you can do with Pixorial. Such as:

Make a DVD to send to grandma for her birthday.
Mix videos taken years ago with a video from today.
Edit and add music with fun tools that are web-based.
Upload videos captured on a phone or camera – it is so fast.
Share on social networks – only if you want to.
Access your entire video library from any device with a browser.

I am sure that mom would love for you to edit the videos, especially that one with crazy Uncle You-Know-Who. And once you share the video links with friends and family, everyone will brag about how smart and talented you are (Don’t worry, no one needs to know how easy it was to edit those videos.). Your mom and dad can keep their videos safe and preserved and have sharing options that they control. Mom will be happy — Facebook is one of those easy sharing options. Okay, that’s it. Now get outside. Ride that bike and tell mom to bring the video camera to capture it. Don’t forget to sign up at www.pixorial.com!

2010 Recap & Reminder: Get Your Videos Online

admin — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 03:49:21 +0000

Welcome to 2011 – 2010 was quite the year for Pixorial!

Let’s Recap:

We rolled out our Facebook App, making it possible to create social VideoAblums with friends and family – so cool (get it).
Introduced fun customizable VideoAlbum templates within the app on Facebook.
Then came the editing and music features for our Facebook App – makes it possible to edit, add music and share without leaving Facebook (seriously, get it).
We rolled out a new user interface at Pixorial.com (so pretty).
Increased sharing options across social networks (YouTube, My____, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Blogger etc.)
Introduced the ability to upload and share video from your phone (more).
Received the Computerworld Laureate and Finalist Award (more).
Expanded our Pixorial team – me and several rock star developers.
Rolled out new membership options (more).
Went to prom (more).

I know that I am forgetting something but 10 is a good number and well, it’s time to talk about you. Let’s talk about those video memories that are sitting on your camera, your phone or (gasp) even worse, in a box. Now we all know that memories were meant to be shared. We also know that you are busy and have been meaning to get those videos converted and maybe haven’t. Perhaps because you are: A. Too busy, especially with the new gym membership. B. Keep forgetting the box in the car. C. Don’t know where to take them. D. Are afraid to go down to the basement (I understand, trust me). Well, let us make it easy for you. Go sign up for a free account with us and we will send you a shipping kit. The rest is so easy. You will be notified when your memories are online and you can immediately start sharing with friends and family. Oh, and we make it possible for you to share the source video (something those other video sharing companies don’t do). Get ready for waterworks, bringing out those old memories always does the trick and if you share them on Facebook, well, let’s just say you might be the hero of your friends and family. Equally as fun, access your account from your smartphone and see how your friends react when you pull up those old high school videos on your phone! Seriously, let this be a New Year’s Resolution. We are here to help and look forward to hearing about your experience. We will even buy you coffee to hear about it. Send your video to melissa[at]pixorial[dot]com or tag our Facebook page and tell us how you use Pixorial in the message. We will send you a gift card good for a coffee at your local Starbucks. Oh and before I forget, the more Pixorial videos you share on Facebook, the more chances you have to win an iPad or MacBook Air from Pixorial (more). Sharing is caring, get those videos up!

Video – bringing human interaction back

admin — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 17:18:11 +0000

In a recent Beet.TV interview, Chris Anderson, curator of the TED Conferences, stated that video is a “Reinvention of the Spoken Word.” Just reading the headline I was moved to question – what if everyone began using this “reinvention” to communicate versus simply posting comments, posts, likes, sending text messages and the many other ways we have become accustomed to communicate? In this video, Chris talks about the art of telling a story with human to human communication. Imagine how interesting it would be to actually hear and see the people that we follow and/or connect with everyday on social platforms. The people we think we may know, the people with whom we may have lost touch or even the friends and family who live far away. Video is inherently social and takes social interactions online to an entirely new level. It is through video that 85 percent of U.S. Senate hopefuls across the country are spreading their message. It is how a teacher’s classroom expands beyond four walls and eliminates geographic boundaries. Brands have also taken on this medium to issue statements, apologies and courses of action. It is through video that social interactions become real. With all this in mind, what will you capture or share via video? P.S. Thanks to Andy Plesser for his series with Chris Anderson on the topic. P.S.S. Join Project Orange by checking out our video app on Facebook. For more info: http://info.pixorial.com/orange