Introducing "One True Media"

The ability to add pictures and do so easily is one of the advantages of a blog over other types of communication. If we have a large number of pictures, a "slide show" allows us to display those pictures in a small amount of space.

I have used Photobucket and Animoto on this blog. I included them in a list of my Top Ten Web-Based Tools. That list was published in Barbara Blackburn's recent book The Principalship from A-Z.

A good friend put me on to another option: One True Media.

To compare and contrast:

• All three offer free accounts.
• Animoto and One True Media allow you to add music. In fact, One True Media automatically assigns a music track and allows you to change it. Photobucket has no musical option.
• Animoto's free account limits the length of the slideshow to 30 seconds. One True Media and Photobucket seem to be unlimited inthe length of the presentation.
• Animoto mixes the pictures in a very imaginate way. One True Media may have editing capabilities, but if it allows you to do what Animoto does, it would take some work.

Below is a sample of each. Judge for yourself which you like best:

One True Media:

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Animoto



Photobucket

Introducing Photobucket

I learned about Photobucket just the other day. What you are seeing here is the result of spending about 5 minutes at the site. The pictures are simply digital photos of Bonnie and Skipper (our two Shelties) that I already had on hand.

How do I intend to use Photobucket? When I have a number of pictures I want to post on a blog, that series of pictures posted to Blogger can encompass quite a bit of real estate. By posting the photos to Photobucket and putting them together in a slide show, I can show quite a few pictures in a limited amount of space. Here is a an example that I used on our school system blog.

A Photobucket account is free.