Soo Meta is a new visual storytelling tool, which enables users to bring together video, text and interactive polls into a single multimedia package. It is the latest product of a Budapest-based online video startup, which has also developed a video curation app called Dragontape. The platform offers a simple drag-and-drop interface to pull in content from across the web into its online workstation, with the ability for users to search for videos, images, and audio. The results is a video slideshow. Take a look at this example.
"With a little practice you have the possibility to create an engaging piece of content within minutes. It allows anyone basically to create a quick movie without the experience with a complex video editing tool" - said Tamas Szakal, co-founder and CEO.
Soo Meta also offers a browser add-on, that lets you grab images, videos and quotes from any website. People can use it to select specific content they might want to combine into a package later. Alternatively, users can manually add content they want to use, or even upload their own images to the service. These different elements can then be organized on a timeline, mixed together and annotated.
Soo Meta has an interesting business model. Anyone can use it for free to produce multimedia packages, but if they are planning on inserting polls and expect more than 10 responses, they would need to sign up for a paid-for account. For $7.99 per month a ‘Plus’ account will record 100 responses per poll. The $24.99 per month 'Pro' account gives you 1,000 recorded responses per poll. The paid-for options also offer additional features such as the ability to view statistics on where poll responses came from geographically as well as viewing numbers and time.
Some media companies in Hungary have already bought licences to use Soo Meta, including one of the biggest sport sites in the country.
So what’s next for Soo Meta? Szakál said that his team of three wants to improve the mobile experience, and strike partnerships to integrate the platform with tools and sites for educators and others. A Soo Meta WordPress plugin is already available, and a full-blown mobile editor is already in the pipeline as well.
