Whether you’ve got a trip coming up or are looking for a way to recap a trip from the past, video is a wonderful way to share the experience with friends and family. In this post, we’ll show you how to make a travel video with music, in minutes.
We kept this example short, but you can create a longer video if you’ve got lots of photos to share. Ready to create your video? Let’s dive in!
How to make and share a travel video in 5 steps
Step 1: Gather and curate your photos
The first thing you’ll need to do is select your favorite photos and video clips from your trip. Many of us take hundreds of photos and video clips when we travel. This is the time to go through them all, relive the experience, and choose the visual assets that best represent the trip. Create a new folder on your desktop with just the files you’d like to include in your travel video.
Step 2: Log into Animoto and start a new project
Once you’ve compiled the right photos for your video, it’s time to get started. Log into Animoto and click Create to start a new project. If you’re not an Animoto customer yet, sign up for a free account.
You’ll have the option to choose a template to tell your story, or to start from scratch. For the purposes of this guide, we’ll be using the Vacation Recap template shown below.
This template is already set up as a vertical video, which is great for sharing as a Facebook or Instagram story. However, you can always change it later to a square or landscape aspect ratio if you plan to share it to your social feeds or watch it on a TV screen.
Step 3: Add your photos
To get all of your visual assets into your project, click on Project from the Media tray on the right and then tap the upload icon. Or, simply drag and drop your files straight into the Media tray. Then, drag them over to replace what you see in the template blocks in the order you’d like them to appear in your video.
You can also adjust the length of time each image displays for by clicking on the plus or minus signs on the lower right corner of each block. If you’re not sure, click the black play button in the lower left corner of your block to see what your video looks like and then adjust to your liking.
Step 4: Add text
The next step is to tell the story of your trip. Adding even just a few words to each block can really help add context for what you want viewers to know about your trip. Click on the default text shown in a block to update it with your own words. Or, you can always add a title or subtitle by clicking on the Add Text button from the left side of your block.
In addition to writing a title and subtitle, there are some more options to explore for added control. You can use the sliders below your text to adjust the size, edit the colors of your text and background color, or choose to delete the text field from the block altogether.
You can also move the location of where the text appears on your video by clicking and holding down on the text box while moving it to the desired spot.
If you'd like to try out a different Theme or Text Style like we did, find the Design Settings tab from the menu bar to explore all of your options. For our example video, we chose the Spring Blossom theme.
To learn more about all of the options available in Design Settings, click here.
Step 5: Add music
Finally, choose a soundtrack that sets the right mood for your video. Animoto has a music library full of music tracks for you to use in your video. If you're having trouble choosing, here's a guide with a list of recommended songs for travel videos.
Maybe you want to slow down to relive a romantic evening, or add a tropical song to recap your day at the beach! With a professional plan, you can add up to eight songs to a single video to match different memories of vacations.
Once you’ve found your song or songs, click the plus sign next to the track to apply it to your video. Then, tap the blue play button from the bottom left corner of your project.
If you’re happy with how your travel video looks, your video is ready to be exported and shared! Just tap the Export button in the top right corner and follow the instructions on how to download, share, or get a link to your exported video.
Here's how our example travel video with music turned out after we made edits to the original Vacation Recap template.
Makea travel video with Animoto
Ready to get started? Click below to start making your travel video. And if you’re up for sharing, we’d love to see it! Tag @animoto when you share your video on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Happy video making!
