No camera? No problem. YouTube just added a few apps for creating your own videos with animated characters and still images.
The tools are available at YouTube.com/create, and include GoAnimate, Stupeflix and XtraNormal. These tools are also available on their own websites, but the YouTube integration makes life a little easier if you just want to publish your videos on the Internet.
The most well-known of these video creation tools is XtraNormal, thanks to the hilarious iPhone 4 vs. HTC Evo video that went viral when Best Buy tried to fire the creator, a store employee. XtraNormal uses pre-made characters, settings and gestures, and generates dialog by translating text to speech.
GoAnimate is similar to XtraNormal, but its cartoon characters are in 2D, and users have the option to record their own voices. Stupeflix is a bit different. It allows users to create slideshows from their own photos, videos and music.
YouTube isn’t making a big deal out of these creation tools for now. To find them from the YouTube home page, you must click “upload,” then find the “Creator’s Corner” link at the bottom of the page, then click “create videos.” Given how many text-to-speech animated shorts we’d be seeing if YouTube advertised these tools on the front page, that’s probably for the best.