Lizzi L.

The Kizoa website states that slideshows can be downloaded as a video to post on YouTube if you purchase the 2-year membership for $49.99. However, their website does not inform you that the only video format they offer is AVI (which creates huge file sizes). The download time is extremely long. When I tried posting the AVI video to YouTube, it didn't upload (also it was about 65 MB). When I emailed Kizoa about this, they did not respond.

Later, I discovered that I could create a slideshow video using Windows Movie Maker, which comes free with Windows XP. Windows Movie Maker doesn't have animated effects like snowfall, etc, but it does have video effects, video transitions, titles and credits (text), and you can import pictures, other videos to combine, audio and music. When you save the file, it allows you to save as a Movie File, which will save as WMV (much smaller file size).

The WMV file easily uploads to YouTube. Windows Movie Maker is not difficult to use, and it's free. If the text doesn't fit on the picture, you can create a PowerPoint slide with the picture as a background, add text, save as JPEG, and import it to Windows Movie Maker.

I do regret paying $49.99 for the 2-year Kizoa membership, especially since they did not respond to my email, which is poor customer service (also, their advertisement about video downloading is misleading). Their website does not have a phone number or address (they are located in France). Later, I discovered that I could use RealPlayer (free) to convert the AVI file to WMV, which reduced the file size and I was then able to upload it to YouTube.