[ YouTube Link ]
I recently finished some work for a new startup here in San Francisco called, Sprout. I built this movie for them (above).
Their product is called Sprout Builder. It’s an easy to use drag-and-drop, WYSIWYG Flash interface for building live, interactive multimedia content that can easily be added to any web page. Basically, they’re widgets… or as they call them, Sprouts. They introduced the Sprout Builder at the DEMO conference on January 29th.
I have to admit, when they first approached me to make the movie, I thought to myself… another widget maker, big woop. But, when I started to play around with the Sprout Builder I realized that they’ve actually made a pretty cool tool, with a lot of power, that is easy for just about anyone to use. It’s way ahead of anything else out there right now.
With Sprout Builder you can build relatively simple things like rss feed readers or countdown Sprouts (widgets), but you can also build very complex multi-page, interactive micro-sites, using just the pre-built components that they give you. The Sprout Builder has its own drawing and text tools, but you can also upload (or link to) your own images, video, audio, etc… The Sprout Builder has an intuitive interface, that will be familiar to anyone who has used tools like Photoshop, or Powerpoint.
Unfortunately, the Sprout Builder is currently in Closed Beta, so not everyone can get their hands on it just yet. But, you can sign up on the site to be notified when it’s opened up to everyone. If you have a website, it’s worth checking out.
Check out these reviews to see what others are saying about Sprout…
TechCrunch
Mashable
Webware
ReadWriteWeb
Oh, and as long as I’m talking about this, I might as well through out some shameless self-promotion. After all, from what I hear the movie has been pretty well received. If you’re interested in having me produce some marketing material for you, feel free to contact me through my online portfolio site.
Great video Paul! And this looks like a really cool tool.
Paul,
You rocked that video for us. We’ll have many more to make soon! For your readers, I am extending an invite to our private invite to try our Sprout. Just go to: http://sproutbuilder.com/friendsofsprout and try out the system. We only ask you to create an account when you save or publish our sprout. Have fun and please send us comments, feedback, and any bugs you find.
aloha,
carnet
I have made my first own Sprout and it was pretty nice and easy to do. I think its very handy to link with it over the internet because it has a link option in it with html code. I use images, music and video’s at the moment.
I think its great that you always can update it where ever its linked.
You can find my sprout at my website.