Movie Mode
To get started, you’ll first need to decide if you want to do a presentation, which looks like an animated power point presentation or a movie clip. When you choose the movie mode, you give it a name, description, and choose the style you want to use for the animation. If you click the arrow, you’ll be shown a few more options that aren’t so cartoon like if you want something more professional.
In the next step of making a movie clip, you’ll need to select the template for your clip. Depending on what your goal is for the clip, you can use the Event Invitation, or Spoken Word to creatively spread the word about an event or you can use the Blank template to make your own creation.
Now you’ll see your full dashboard where you can begin to create your design. If you chose to use a template, you’ll see your slides in the left sidebar, the editing tools in the right sidebar, your toolbar in the top of the screen, and the time manager in the bottom of the screen. If you use a blank template to create your own PowToon, all of these options will still be there but you’ll need to add more slides by using the + button in the left sidebar.
To edit the slides, click on the one you want to display in the center editing panel. To change the text of the template, click on the text so your text box will appear. Add the text you want and drag to the position you want for that slide.
To add Image Holders, Characters, Props, or Markers, drag and drop from the right sidebar to the desired position on the editing slide. You can also change the background color for each slide by clicking on the desired color. When you add effects, the editing button will appear in the time bar. You can change the effect by adding sound, how it comes in and goes out etc from here.
To test your video, press the play button in the left sidebar. If there’s anything that still needs to be edited, press the Pause button then click on what you want to edit. To share it, choose one or more of the social media tabs and link your accounts. Your finished product will look similar to the one below.
Presentation Mode
In Presentation mode, things work pretty much the same way as in movie mode but you have the additional feature to add in pauses. When you’re doing a presentation, you often need to pause the slides to make a point about a certain statement or chart. To do this, slide your arrow to the time you want the pauses and click the Hold button at the bottom of the screen.
For this presentation, I imported music by using the import button in the toolbar and an image by selecting one of the Image Holders from the right sidebar. These can also be added in movie mode. Right now the only method for uploading images is from a URL but when the full version is released, you’ll have the option to add an image from your computer. When it’s all finished it looks like the one below. These quick clips can be used to promote an event for your company or promote some marketing material in a more creative and engaging way and can be shared on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Youtube directly from your dashboard. Think about how cool these will look on your Facebook Timeline or Pinterest and how much more they will be shared if you create something everyone just has to share! Go on and join the fun. Come back and leave a link to your PowToon in the comments section so we can see what you created!
