AppleInsider Staff
Adobe Voice is a free iPad app that allows users to "show their story" by streamlining the process of overlaying a customizable voiceover track atop a variety of animated images, music, icons, text, themes and more.
Officially named Adobe Voice - Show Your Story, the iPad-only app is distinct from other video creation software in that no "filming" is actually needed to produce a high quality clip.
While the creation process is largely automated, the finished result is one with which many people are likely familiar. A narrator tells their story over a bed of music, accompanied by static images or simple animations drawn in bold colors.
The style is simple but effective and has been used in a wide array of scenarios, from product pitches on Kickstarter to TV commercials for big-name corporations. For example, non-profit organizations often use the kitschy style to produce simple, yet impactful, statements on the environment.
With Voice, similar results can be reached through an automated system that walks users through the process step by step.
First, users choose a story template in which pages are laid out in a type of storyboard on which text, icons and photos can be added. Images can be selected from a user's camera roll, Dropbox or social network account, as well as licensed photos Adobe provides rights free from various artists. Advanced users may create their own layout if they so choose.
Fittingly, the main component of Voice is a user's voice. On each page a microphone icon appears that records narration line by line with a "tap-and-hold" gesture. The audio is then overlaid atop the animated imagery that is automatically trimmed to length. Users can also choose from a list of included music that will serve as the video's audio foundation.
Finally, Adobe presents 30 themes that automatically generate text, colors and animations that give each slide a distinct style.
Once a story is complete it can be uploaded to Adobe's servers for private viewing via link or made public in a special gallery. Sharing options include Facebook, Twitter, email and text message.
Adobe Voice is a free 217MB download for iPad available now from the App Store.
Charles Martin
Christine McKee
Oliver Haslam
William Gallagher
19 Comments
Well, if that just don't beat all! I can make some money with this app.
Cool. And if you don't want to use your own voice (or can't) there's http://SkitKit.com
I just downloaded this app and started playing with it. It's really sweet. Very simple and intuitive. There are all kinds of themes and canned music, and you can import images from a variety of sources including Dropbox and a Creative Commons online image search built into the app. Voice recording is very simple. You hold the record button down while you speak. To re-record, just hold the button again. The shots or slides are automatically timed to your voice recordings. There's a rudimentary type tool which fills the screen with type which automatically fits and centers itself. You can also add captions to photos. We happen to be preparing a presentation to a small group of independent authors, promoting our book and cover design services, and we may just use this app to create it. What's unique about it from Keynote or Power Point is its ease of editing and its automatic timing to the voice recordings for each slide.
Hats off to Adobe. Free too.... what is the catch there I wonder?
Hats off to Adobe. Free too.... what is the catch there I wonder?
Not sure it's a catch, as I'm already a Creative Cloud subscriber, but if you want to share your Voice videos, you have to upload them, first. So that may just be available to CC subscribers. If so, it's a pretty good (clever) promotion.