Pow Toon Review

by Corinne Kelley 

Description

Pow Toons is an online animation program. All of the animations have already been created, so you just place them on the slide and pinpoint at what times you want the objects to entrance and exit. 

Access

The tool can be found at http://www.powtoon.com/. To begin creating, you will need to set up an account. From there, you can continue using your free account for 30 videos, or upgrade by  a subscription or a set number of video exports. They do have discounted options for students and teachers though. 

25exports*	HD $8 /export  Total $200 instead of $450 Buy Now	Free $0 /export  Upgrade anytime Start Now
10exports*	$12 /export  Total $120 instead of $180 Buy Now	$0 /export  Upgrade anytime Start Now
5exports*	$18 /export  Total $90 Buy Now	$0 /export Start Now
Watermark	No Watermark	Powtoon Watermark
Download Quality	HD quality	No Download
Max. length	Up to 15 min.	Up to 5 min.
Upload to YouTube	HD Quality	SD Quality
Music library	10 tunes	10 tunes
Style library	8 styles	8 styles

Yearlysubscription	Agency $57 /month  Save 55% Buy Now	Pro $19 /month  Save 66% Buy Now	Free $0 /month  Upgrade anytime Start Now
Monthlysubscription	$127 /month Buy Now	$59 /month Buy Now	$0 /month Start Now
Watermark	No Watermark	No Watermark	Powtoon Watermark
Download Quality	HD / Full HD quality	HD quality	No Download
Max. length	HD 60 Min./Full HD 8 Min.	Up to 15 min.	Up to 5 min.
Upload to YouTube	Full HD quality	HD Quality	SD Quality
Royalty free music	Unlimited	20 tunes	10 tunes
Royalty free styles	Unlimited	10 styles	8 styles
Commercial rights	Third Party Transfer Rights	For Your Own Business	Use with PowToon Branding

Yearly subscription	Teacher $36 /Year  Billed Annually Buy Now	Classroom $48 /Year  Teacher and 30 students*Billed Annually Buy Now		Student $24 /Year  Billed Annually Buy Now
User license	Only you	Teacher	Students	Only you
Download Quality	HD quality	HD quality	HD quality	HD quality
Max. length	Up to 15 Min.	Up to 15 Min.	Up to 15 Min.	Up to 15 Min.
Upload to YouTube	HD Quality	HD Quality	Teacher's choice	HD Quality
Music library	20 tunes	20 tunes	20 tunes	10 tunes
Styles library	10 styles	10 styles	10 styles	10 styles
Branding	EDU branding	EDU branding	EDU branding	EDU branding

Sample Usage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPostgSfwnM&rel=0

Tips, tricks, and tutorials

When you first create your pow toons, you will see a blank slide with a time online on the bottom. Onto the slide, add the characters while timing their entrance and exits upon the bottom time line.  You can add more slides with different backgrounds and characters to continue your story. In the end, all the slides will thread together you story in the preview mode or export to youtube.  

They also have a number of helpful tutorials on the site. 

What the Tool Does Well

Very easy to learn. I began playing on it and within an hour had made a video.  They have plenty of pre configured animated stories  that you fill in with your personal text and logo. In a short bit of time, you have a professional looking and fun animation for promoting your interests. 

What it Does Poorly

Although it is very easy to learn, the graphics and music can be simplistic and campy. Some of the cartoons are creepy. The music is pretty bad (which is why there is no music included in the above film). The limited set of styles somewhat prevents you from creating anything very eye catching and different, or for that matter, of significant value. 

What happens when you...STICK IT TO THE MAN!

Well, WHAT IF THEY ARE ALL STICK MAN FIGURES? Everything is so preconfigured, it is pretty difficult to break notions. Basically, the few animated settings and conditions play host to a variety of stories and advertisements. 

Additional Resources

Other Similar products; 

http://goanimate.com/

http://www.dvolver.com/moviemaker/make.html