In this technological age, most of us more than likely have our phone and camera (and folders on our hard drive) filled with videos and pictures of our kids and any memorable moments we were inspired to capture.  I have so many folders organized by year and month saved, that I had to get an auxiliary hard drive to make sure I didn’t lose any of them like I did in the great hard drive crash of ’03.  Ahem. 

I’ve looked at putting together a fun video or slide show with music with any one of my video editing software, but haven’t had the time to really delve into them to make something smart and fun.  Then along came Magisto:

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“Driven by artificial intelligence and simple user experience, Magisto is an ecosystem for creating and sharing professional quality personal movies.  It automatically selects the most compelling moments and, like an expert video editor, weaves them together to convey a story with customized styles and music. Magisto can be used across iOS, Android and the Web, and is the highest-rated video creation app in Google Play and iOS App stores.”

Since all my devices happen to be Android, I was thrilled to see that this is available for Android – as well as iPhone (for all you Apple people).  And if you don’t happen to have a SmartPhone or other device to use it on, don’t despair, you can still create amazing videos with the files on your computer and enjoy the simplicity of this app right from your desktop or laptop, too.

For those of us constantly on the go, this is a super simple way to easily create a professional (and entertaining) video on the fly, so you don’t have to wait to get back to your computer to spend time downloading, editing and uploading before you can share with family and friends.  And the best part?  It’s super easy to use.  Anyone can do it, even those that aren’t savvy with video making software.  Trust me.

Here’s the quick video I made of some I had of Princess Nagger:

All I did was select the videos I wanted Magisto to use (and believe me, I put it through its paces by selecting no less than eight video clips), and let it do all the hard work – I got an email letting me know my movie was ready for viewing.  A few simple clicks and voila!  Like magic! 

Edited to add:  I went back and checked out the option of adding images (limited to 5) along with the videos to include a few of Little Dude’s mug in the creation, so here you go:

Like I said, it’s super easy:

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See? Super easy!  And if you noticed the song that was playing in the video of Princess Nagger, that happens to be “Born to See You Through” by Joan Osborne. 

“It started as a song to a lover, but as the lyrics changed and grew it became a song to a child,” Joan Osborne has commented. “I was grappling with the reality that you can only protect your child from so much in life, and consoling myself with the knowledge that resilience is the most important defense against life’s unavoidable darkness.”   Amen to that.

Mother’s Day is extra special because of my history with cervical cancer and subsequent miscarriages – but with the miraculous birth of Princess Nagger, I was finally able to have a genuinely happy Mother’s Day, and now I’m doubly blessed with the addition of Little Dude to our family.  I love that Joan Osborne is currently offering the song (backed with a cover of Emmylou Harris’ “Love and Happiness”) for sale on her website with proceeds going to the children’s charities The Somaly Mam Foundation and Save the Children.

This Sunday (tomorrow!), Osborne will launch her inaugural Mother’s Day benefit concert at City Winery in New York City.  Ollabelle (featuring Levon Helm’s daughter Amy Helm) and Elizabeth Mitchell will also perform.But wait…there’s more!  Not only is Magisto a free app, but they’re also running a Mother’s Day Contest and Charitable Partnership with Joan Osborne:

Magisto has teamed up with multi-platinum selling recording artist and seven-time Grammy nominee Joan Osborne to celebrate Mother’s Day with a new form of music discovery that brings together powerful user-generated video production technology and musical artistry. Joan’s new song “Born To See You Through”, which celebrates her role as a mother, will be featured as a musical selection in the Mother’s Day challenge when participants create their movies that tell “Why I love being a Mom” or “Why I love my Mom.”

From now until May 13, 2013, all Magisto-created movies that include the hashtag #MagistoMoms in their title will be entered to win special prizes.  Videos will be shared and available for viewing on a Mother’s Day-themed social scrapbook that will be hosted on the Magisto website.  The users whose Movies get the most Likes on Magisto will win the following prizes:

  • Grand Prize:  Samsung Galaxy Note Tablet
  • Second Place:  Joan Osborne’s new CD + handwritten lyrics to ‘Born to See You Through’
  • Runners up:  50 runners up will receive 1-year Magisto Pro upgrades

The Magisto team will be at the concert to create and share videos of the special evening and the company will make a donation to the two charities.  Osborne’s song will be available for listening on the Magisto site and available for digital sale at www.joanosborne.com with proceeds going to both charitable organizations.

So, what are you waiting for?  Grab your phone, your laptop, or your tablet and download the Magisto app today.  Then, start taking videos and photos of your kids so you can create one of a kind videos set to music – including Joan Osborne’s “Born to See You Through.”

Once you finish your videos created with the new Magisto app, make sure you enter the “Magisto’s Mother’s Day Challenge” for your chance to win some great prizes.   For inspiration, head on over to http://www.magisto.com/featured-videos to view some of the featured Mother’s Day Videos uploaded by other parents, and you can even watch the Magisto video that Joan Osborne created here: http://www.magisto.com/video/agZCZwJSS2IKDUBl

Click to download the Magisto app now for either your iPhone or Android phone:

iPhone app: http://bit.ly/RzXtcp
Android app: http://bit.ly/On2nGz

From now until the end of May, you can use promo code “MomsRule” to receive 3 FREE downloads.

Just a note – I have an LG Optimus L9 phone running the Android Jelly Bean operating system – while the app downloaded perfectly fine on it, I was unable to actually shoot new video through the app itself – but I had no trouble shooting video with my regular camera/video option on the phone and selecting those videos while in the Magisto app to create the video.  Hence the current footage of Princess Nagger twirling a stick on a hunt to whack the heads off dandelions from yesterday (heh).

It also had issues on Princess Nagger’s Samsung Galaxy – while you can shoot videos directly through the Magisto app (unlike with my non-dinosaur phone), it films everything upside down – even when you turn the phone around, it’s still upside down.  I’m sure the myriad of wallpapers and free apps she has downloaded might be an instigating factor, but it’s something to note.

Honestly those are very minor issues in my book – it’s a super fun and super easy app to use, and I’m sure those little quirks will be worked out soon – I just wanted to make sure you guys would be able to enter the Mother’s Day Challenge if you so desire, since that deadline is Monday.  Better get busy creating!

Do you create fun videos out of video clips and/or pictures to share with family and friends?

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Note: I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Magisto.  I received a promotional code for premium features to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank you for participating.  As usual, all opinions are my own and not influenced by outside sources.  See my disclosure policy here.

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