| Xtranormal | |
|---|---|
| |
| The current Xtranormal logo | |
Some attributes
| |
| First | Founded in 2007 |
| Second | The company went defunct in 2013, due to cessation |
| Third | It was formerly an incorporated company |
Other attributes
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| Fourth | All of its assets and other stuff were acquired by Nawal Ltd. in 2014 |
| Fifth | Many consider this to be a rivaling site to GoAnimate |
Xtranormal Technology Inc., also known as simply Xtranormal, was a digital entertainment company and video-sharing website. It implemented tools to convert scripts into CGI animated movies contructed with text-to-speech and other technologies (similar to GoAnimate). on June 28th 2013, the company announced that it would be shutting down its online services as of July 31, 2013. As of August 2013, the content of their web site had been replaced by a holding page showing "pause", hinting at a future relaunch. However, in early October 2013, the placeholder went away and the web site was shut down completely.
As of July 2014, a new placeholder site, announcing that the assets of Xtranormal had be acquired by Nawmal, Ltd, had replaced the old site at xtranormal.com.
As of August 2015, Xtranormal has been acquired by Nawmal Ltd., but Nawmal released the first of its products.
History[]
Xtranormal was launched after four years of software development. It was established as a storyboarding tool for writers and film directors. The original intent was to allow users to create videos by choosing from a menu of predesigned characters and sets, and scripting their own dialogue.
Xtranormal's State platform allowed casual users to create their own animated videos. State was replaced with a newer version of the animation software called Xtranormal Desktop (or, XD). XD was free to download from the Xtranormal website but now is no longer distributed. Xtranormal also released a web-based animation software tool called Movie Maker (alternately known as "Text-To-Movie"). Movie Maker offers users a more limited subset of functionality from Xtranormal Desktop in exchange for the convenience of a web browser. Xtranormal videos could at one time be created through an interface directly on the YouTube website,
In 2011, Xtranormal launched a subscription service called Xtranormal for Education. This program aimed to empower teachers and students by giving them a new away to express themselves in the classroom. Teachers can create and grade animation-based assignments directly from their web browsers. Xtranormal for Education has been implemented in K–12, university and special needs classes all over the world.
In January 2013, Xtranormal's CEO at the time told Forbes Magazine that Xtranormal had a viable web subscription model, but believed that the real opportunity for growth was now in mobile. At the end of June 2013, Xtranormal announced that they were discontinuing all current subscriptions, point plans and existing services after July 31, 2013. They encouraged users to use up existing points and to publish and download created movies before that date.
In August 2013, their online services were taken down, with the content of their web site replaced by a holding page showing the company's logo, a set of media player control buttons, and the word "pause", but in early October their site was shut down completely. Its official YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter pages have also been deleted.
As of April 2014, Xtranormal's domain now redirects to a company called Nawmal Ltd. which acquired Xtranormal's intellectual property.
As of August 2015, Xtranormal has been acquired by Nawmal Ltd., but Nawmal is releasing the first of its products.
Popularity[]
This site has gained a major cult-following. Quite an amount of videos made with Xtranormal garnered millions of views on YouTube alone. Some sequences in the Colbert Report, Howard 100, and the Kroll Show were made with this software. Xtranormal also persued in advertising, being featured in GEICO commercials and publishing promo vids. In addition, the 2010 short film "Sleeping with Charlie Kaufman" was animated entirely with Xtranormal. It was shown in quite a few film festivals.
Similarities/Differences to GoAnimate[]
It's clearly evident that Xtranormal and GoAnimate share some similarities (despite having major differences). Here they are:
Similarities[]
- Xtranormal and GoAnimate both offer text-to-speech voices
- One has the ability to publish their videos on to YouTube
- Both sites provide premium themes
- Both sites had similar profile settings
Differences[]
- All Xtranormal videos were CGI-animated; GoAnimate's were flash-animated
- Both sites had different TTS voices
- All themes were different (two themes from the sites looked similar to each other)
- Different logos, mottos, taglines, and tools
- Different character creators
- GoAnimate provided much more freedom with the character creator than Xtranormal did
- There was only ONE grounded video ever made with Xtranormal; there are possibly millions made with GoAnimate
Gallery[]
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