Xtranormal is Saying Goodbye for Now: A Few Alternatives to Try
Xtranormal is a great site for making 3D animated movies. I have always mentioned and showcased a couple examples of Xtranormal creations in my Multimedia Tools webinars. Sadly, Xtranormal recently posted that they will be closing all accounts and removing all the existing videos by July 31, 2013.
This is what was posted on their blog:
To our loyal Xtranormal community:
What have we accomplished? Over the past 5+ years, we have created a simple way to instantly turn your words into a 3D animated movie. Our community and dedicated fans have created some of the most viral and entertaining videos on the Web with millions of users on our platform. We thank you for showcasing your amazing talent and for being such loyal fans.
Where do we go from here? We’re ending Act 1 of Xtranormal as we know it and exploring options for Act 2 in the future. In light of this, we’ll be discontinuing our current subscriptions, points plans and existing services as of July 31, 2013.
What does this mean for you? Over the next month, we encourage you to complete any “in progress” movies and download your completed movies before July 31, 2013.
Click here for more information
For other inquiries, please email us at info@xtranormal.com
What’s next? Here’s to raising the curtain again soon…
Sincerely,
The Xtranormal Team
Saying goodbye to Xtranormal is hard but now it’s time to seek out a couple alternatives to enhance your website, presentation, blog, or online classroom.
Hopefully they will come back with more awesome version of Xtranormal but in the mean time, give these programs a try.
Hi,
please check out our free trial at http://www.plotagon.com. We turn text into movies much faster and easier than Xtranormal ever did. We also produce much higher quality movies.
Best regards,
Chris
If you could download a video file – even for a price, this would be a good alternative. Unfortunately that’s a NO.
In addition we have now lowered the price to 4,99 USD for Plotagon. There is also a free trial
Brgs,
Chris
What about Moviestorm? They have a free trial and subsequent free version at http://wwww.moviestorm.co.uk. They invented the 3d animated machinima filmaking tool genre, and have solutions for consumers, education and professional users. They even have an iPad version.
I went on the link you provided, but the website is unavailable or may not exist.
I think I put too many w’s in it! =)
Try http://www.moviestorm.co.uk
Perhaps Xtranormal will be back soon
I want something with a wide choice of accents and voices.
http://xtranormal.com/2015/05/
I there any decent free options out there, other than a 30 day free trial?
Most of these movie maker programs leave you with a character that sounds like a robot with no real engagement after you hear the first sentence..
Actually many of them you can import your own audio, using friends or colleagues voices as your actors. I’ve have done that using Voki for scenarios and has turned out great.
David, what exactly are you expecting to find? Unless you’re willing to record your own voice, there’s no choice but to use text-to-speech computer voices. The worst of those voices really can’t sound good no matter what you do, but the best of them, when using the right vocabulary and pronunciation, can work quite well.
The other thing is the desire by most to find a web-based system. Yes, that’s convenient, but there’s a lot of reasons Xtranormal died, and pretty high up there was the fact that they were giving access to a 3D render farm without charging enough money. The best place to render animation is locally on your own PC. For various reasons a lot of people are reluctant to just install and run a program, or they go searching for tablet versions instead. But programs like this all fall under the category of “content creation” which is the last bastion of full-fledged PCs.
Anyway, depending on your point of view, Xtranormal hasn’t died, because I’m redistributing its original desktop platform with my enhancements complete with two sets of voices (acapela and nuance) and a dizzying amount of free assets. To date we have close to 500 members gathered there. Most of the installation issues have been worked out since August so now is a good time to try it. You just have to be patient with the download because so much stuff is being included.
http://stateplus.net
Is it multi-lingual?
If you mean multi lingual, by having multiple language choices for voices yes… Interface is English only I think tho.
Hi, your note above says that Xtranormal hasn’t died. How can I get it now?
Hahahaha, just went to check the link and saw that you sold out exactly like xtranormal did. I suppose in the end you didn’t owe anyone anything, but its funny to see that money sways everyones motives for anything in life.
What is wrong with software designers deciding to sell their work? Would you insist that they work for you for free? If so, please come over here and mow my lawn.
Well said!
It’s rather sad that so many people want (expect) this stuff for nothing, then moan when companies go down the pan and they can’t get it any more!
Wrong. Nobody expects stuff for free unless what they are asking is just to dip their toes in or try something out. If the product is good then they will happily pay. Xtranormal, like you, do not understand how this type of business should work on the internet. That is, give a little bit for free so (like 90%) of people can make their silly little internet meme of a few seconds with any old character, background and voice types, put it out to the internet, give the company brilliant free advertising and credibility, then charge if you want anything more like, no plugs for the company built in, longer videos, option to download in high quality etc etc. There are so many ways to provide a free entry level package with the option to upgrade.
But no. Everyone has to charge mega bucks to even use it. How is that going to grow their business and expose it to someone who hasn’t used it before?
I saw the threadbear Xtranormal website now has identified 2 customers: schools and business (whatever that is). Not the entire internet who wants to make a funny meme and would very happily pay a few quid to use it a bit then more if they use it alot. A £10 monthly subscription to use all the features is going to put off anyone who does seriously want this product specifically as opposed to other businesses providing a similar service.
I’m trying to create educational videos about solar energy solutions and would like to include an animated narrator. Is there any 3d animators that will put characters on a transparent background?
Moviestorm
http://wideo.co I think this is an interesting tool to make video, and it’s very easy to use
A great replacement for xtranormal is http://www.storyboardthat.com Storyboard That is a powerful online storyboard creator for all your digital storytelling needs.
So what about http://www.goanimate.com You can make a movies and you can get characters props and backgrounds and you can for storytelling needs.
And now if xtranormal is coming back until 31st July 2014. If you want to go to the xtranormal website and it was a xtranormal website is http://www.xtranormal.com if you have xtranormal is available is 31st July 2014. This xtranormal is going to making a movies and making any videos if you want about that for all your digital storytelling needs.
Wow that was a great replacement for xtranormal is http://www.xtranormal.com Storyboard That is a powerful online xtranormal for all your digital storytelling needs.
If you have xtranormal desktop you need have to still xtranormal desktop offline mode it was having needs!
it was go on xtrarnormal desktop to download for this xtranormal desktop needs.
dvolver.com is great too!
Wow. Only just found out. Is there anything with multiple language accents and voices?
State Plus has multiple languages. I know a lot of people have flowed through this page to get here, but I keep seeing suggestions for substitutes which pale in comparison. if you really want the true Xtranormal experience, why settle for anything less than the real deal? It’s here and it’s free.
http://wideo.co is an excellent free tool to create animated videos. You can upload your videos to youtube
xtranormal.com is coming back soon, as appears in their official website 🙂
That’s great to hear! Wonder what they will have new in-store for everyone?
Xtranormal returned as nawmal everyone!! They offer 2 products, the pro version and educational. New features, new sets and characters available. You can now finally modify the voice rate and pitch! Check it out!
Looks great. But very expensive. They will do well to reduce prices. I’m happy to pay but Nawmal is expensive.
Try our new (BETA) iOS app: talkrapp.com. It lets you use your make your own pictures talk with text to speech or your own voice. And it’s free. We need Beta testers!
Ah only on iOS. I a on Android and Linux + Windows
Funny how no one mentions Muvizu http://www.muvizu.com . There is a free trial (no expiration) or you can get the Pro version for less than $50. Unfortunately (or fortunately) there is no text-to-speech function included.