Update: Popcorn Maker is no longer available.
So, a confession: I discovered today’s tool thanks to a post from a co-worker titled, “Make Ron Swanson Dance To ANYTHING.”
The tool used to make Ron Swanson dance was called Popcorn Maker. It’s a Mozilla tool — most of you probably remember Mozilla as the team behind the Firefox browser.
Now they’re getting into making web apps, and Popcorn is a really good one. In short, it lets you remix web video — any YouTube video, any Vimeo video, any HTML5 video.
For reporters, it has a really cool purpose: It can help you add context to any video.
So here’s an example: I took a famous song about the Chicago Cubs, and remixed it using Popcorn.
Thanks to Popcorn, I added a little pop up box within the video player providing additional text about what you’re seeing — plus a link to a URL of my choice.
Thanks to Popcorn, I added a Google Map directly on top of the video to help a viewer understand a location being discussed within the video.
And thanks to Popcorn, I even added an animated GIF over the shoulder of the singer, the same way they’d do it on a TV news broadcast.
So if you’re making something with video, or you’re just trying to remix something for your audience, give Popcorn a test run. You’ll need to sign up for a Mozilla account, but that takes just a second, and the tool plays nicely with other browsers (like Chrome).
Plus, it’s free! Give Popcorn a test run here.
Now get out there and tell some great stories today!