Title: Batman Stamps - Print to Video

I call this "Digital Media History" because things have changed a lot in video in the past 10 years.

I recorded this video as an overview for my fellow Googlers on how to take any assets and turn them into videos. This is how I worked back in the early 2010s, when video was taking off on the internet and computers were finally delivering on the "Desktop Video" promise of the early 90's. In this video, I do a quick walk-through of the original assets and how I used Photoshop, Flash/Animate, Logic Pro, and Adobe Premiere to turn a print graphic into a music video ad.

This example might not look like much today, but this was significant in 2014. The US Postal Service was dazzled that I turned this around in about 24 hours. They loved the videos, and actually spent money to run them. (My sons watched me work on this, and a few days later they saw the videos on YouTube: big win for Dad!)

This lead to hundreds more lucrative video advertising projects. The Sales teams were excited that we could create advertiser-approved videos with simple graphics. I got a huge career boost at the time due to this example.

You might wonder why companies didn't just make their own videos. COmpanies DO make videos, but often there is a big distance between the people "buying media" (advertising budgets) and the creative people at an agency "somewhere." A distance so great that they often do not even know who the creative agency is (the source of their ad materials). The ad assets might be out of date or incomplete. However, the Media Buyer still has the budget & the imperative to run X number of ad dollars in various markets anyway.

This is why my "Sales Animation" team existed at Google – we helped people fix their ads and get running ASAP. When we can use the assets they have and create something public-worthy, everyone wins.

Most of this video is from 2016, but I re-edited for clarity and fidelity in May 2024. I've also added new graphics and audio elements (Including a snippet from UDIO AI music at the beginning).

*Extra Music here at the end*

I spent some time "describing" UDIO AI music for this video. You hear a snippet at the beginning.

But I generated so much. I decided to let the best of it play out at the end of this video. Some of it is REALLY FUNNY.

Joe Sparks, May 2024