Review: Graphitii

At last! I finally got hold of this product after weeks of waiting so I can now provide my actual review with Graphitii. Things also got clear to me now because before, I really have no idea what a cinemagraph, but now I already know because of the help of Wikipedia as well.

What is a Cinemagraph by the way?

So first, what actually is a cinemagraph? According to Wikipedia, a cinemagraph is a still picture in which a minor and repeated movement occurs. Cinemagraphs are those we usually see as animated GIFs on our Facebook newsfeeds shared by some of our friends, and what’s unique about cinemagraphs are that not all of the objects on the animated GIF are moving, in fact, there are actually portions where you can see as a static image and only a portion of the image is moving like what you can see from the image below.

This was actually made using Graphitii, and as you see from the image, only the mouth of the rabbit is moving while its body remains static, and the animation is on a loop creating an illusion that the rabbit is continuously chewing.

How to make a Cinemagraph?

Creating an animated GIF is actually easy to do and there are free tools online that can do that, however, creating Cinemagraphs is a bit different because there’s some complex editing you need to do like how can you make a certain portion of the image moves while the other remains static. I actually asked myself about this many years ago, and I just gave up on the idea that time because I really don’t know how to do it, and also that time, I didn’t know that what I was planning to make was actually a cinemagraph, but now let’s fast forward to the present, and what I was unable to do in the past, I can do it now using Graphitii.

The Software

Now that we already know what a cinemagraph is, let’s now discuss Graphitii, and as what we all know by now, This software is a web-based tool that can help you create cinemagraphs with ease, without any technical knowledge, and without any software to install on your computer. With this features, creating cinemagraphs is now at your fingertips with just 4 simple steps, and I will discuss it to you in detail as you read further below

Inside Look

What you can see below is the main dashboard of Graphitii, and you can see this once you logged in to your account

There’s actually not much to see here so let’s move as I will guide you on how to make your own cinemagraph. Also, before you can create a cinemagraph, you need to upload your video first. Too bad it doesn’t come videos by default, so you have to upload your own, or you can purchase one of their upsells which consists of 100 high definition cinemagraph ready videos (which is actually the one I did)

Here is a sneak peek of some of the videos included with the template pack

Once you already have your videos, just click the “Edit this video” to begin.

Using The Software

Using Graphitii is actually very simple and easy to use, and to make a cinemagraph only requires you to do 4 stupidly simple steps which are broken down below:

Step 1: Select your video thumbnail

In this step, you just have to select the thumbnail for your cinemagraph, and to do this, you just need to drag the blue square sideways and determine the position where the image is appealing to you. Once your done selecting the video thumbnail, just click “Next Step”

Step 2: Cropping your video

In this step, you just need to select the timeframe where you want to generate the cinemagraph. Here you just need to slide the edges of the timeframe selector (the blue translucent rectangle). Here you can also preview the animation on the right side of the screen.

After you’re finished selecting your desired timeframe, just click “Next Step”

Step 3: Design

In this step, you will be able to select which area will only be animated, as well as adding text, and draw on the cinemagraph. This step is composed of three substeps which are as follows:

Step 3.1: Overlay

In this step, what you have to do is highlight the area where you want to see the animation. In my example, I selected the head portion of the rabbit because that is the area that I want to animate. To select the area, just hold and drag into the desired area, and once you do it, the purple translucent overlay will be erased, revealing the moving part of the cinemagraph.

Step 3.2: Text

Here you can add some text to your cinemagraph. You can select from the different text options and choose the one you desired. You can also choose the font size, as well as the font color, and you can drag the text into any location of the canvas

Step 3.3: Draw

Here you can do some freehand drawing. There is only a limited option here like choosing the brush size and brush color.

After you’re done with your design, just click the “Next Step” button to proceed

Step 4: Save and Share

This step is actually the last part and there’s not much you can do here aside from clicking the “Save” button to finish your project

After you’ve clicked the save button, your cinemagraph will now be processed. In my experience it took around 30 minutes for the cinemagraph to be processed completely and I guess the reason for this slow processing is that we are currently on the product launch and there’s too much load on Graphitii’s server. Here you can see the share link of your cinemagraph, and that is actually the one that you will post on your Facebook timeline so that your cinemagraph will be animated.

Once finished, you can go to your projects to see the cinemagraph that you made

You can click “Edit” to edit the name and description, you can also see here the download buttons and you can download your cinemagraph as an animated GIF or as a movie (mp4)

And that’s it! You now have your cinemagraph that you can put on your website or post on your social network newsfeed!

What I like about Graphitii

Graphitii is actually a nice tool especially if you are into creating videos and uses videos in your marketing campaign, and instead of videos, you can actually use cinemagraphs as an alternative, which can also be effective too, and it was actually used by top brands nowadays.

Aside from that, I listed down here the things that I like about Graphitii the most

Easy To Use

Graphitii is actually very easy to use, like what they claimed on their sales page, and it only takes 4 simple steps to create a stunning cinemagraph.

Cloud based

With this tool, you can actually do your projects anywhere, including your tablets and mobile phones as long as there’s an internet connection and you’re good to go

One Time Fee

I’m a really big fan of one time fees so I will be putting it here as one of the reason why I like this cloud-based cinemagraph tool

What I don’t like about Graphitii

With Graphitii, it’s not all peaches and cream because as an actual user, there are also things that I didn’t like as well as looking for some features that the current version is lacking

Front End Product has no video included

That’s right, so if you want to start a project immediately, you need to buy their template pack upsell or you have to make sure that you already have some videos beforehand

Limited Customization

I am actually looking for a feature where we can add images or shapes into the cinemagraph because as of the moment, there is no feature like that and what Graphitii only has is putting text and doodling on the cinemagraph. Aside from that, you cannot choose what file size your cinemagraph will be and you’re stuck with the high definition size, which is a bit off for me because the size is a bit big and it will increase my page load speed when I add it to my posts.

Launch Bugs

So I am currently experiencing what I call launch bugs, like when I create the cinemagraph and the process is taking very long to complete, as well as the products is still not complete. I experienced this because I also bought the template pack as well as the membership trial, so I am expecting 150 videos on my account, but when I counted all the videos, it’s only 51. I actually emailed their support about this, and they said they are still uploading the remaining videos, which I think is a bit uncool because as a buyer, I am expecting that I will be getting all the products as I buy it and not wait for it to be uploaded or something like that.

What I can say about Graphitii

Well, in general, all I can say is that this product has really some potential, and even though I had some “not so good” experience with Graphitii, I still believe that this is a good investment and since I actually tested the product, I can therefore say the product actually works and their claims on their sales page are actually true as far as creating cinemagraphs are concerned

Prices:

Graphitii has 2 price points for its front end product – the Personal License costs $47 while the Commercial License costs $67. If you will only use the cinemagraphs for yourself, then just buy the Personal License, but if you want to sell your cinemagraphs like me, then go with the Commercial License. Aside from that, Graphitii has several upsells and I listed them below

OTO 1: Club Membership – $37/month, instant 100 cinemagraph ready HD videos

This is a membership club for Graphitii and it is a monthly recurring payment. You will receive 50 cinemagraph ready videos every month when you subscribe to this. I did not get this because I have no use for so many videos, and besides, I can already do one by myself

OTO 2: Video Pack – $37, 100 cinemagraph ready HD videos

This is the downsell for the OTO 1 where it will offer you the 100 videos without getting to their monthly subscription. I bought this so that I will be able to use Graphitii immediately and test what it can actually do

OTO 3: Membership trial $1.00

This is a trial for the membership club for only $1.00 for 7 days, if you buy this, you will also get additional 50 cinemagraph ready videos. I bought this as well so that I will have additional 50 videos, then I will just cancel afterwards. They are actually recommending to do this if you are just after the videos

OTO 4: DFY Website – $97

This is another upsell where they will provide an ecommerce store for you. I didn’t buy this because I already have an online store, so I have no use for this really

Wrapping Up

I guess that wraps up my review, and if you would like to give Graphitii a try, just click the link below. The vendors are actually providing a 30-day money back guarantee so if this product will not meet your expectations, just request for a refund and they will give your money back with no questions asked.

Try Graphitii