As you probably know, I’m a Microsoft Ambassador, and a couple months back, they sent me a new Surface Pro to test-drive for a while.

When I teach my classes how to do video (we spend an entire class on video), I show them various tools like iMovie, and I used to show them Windows Movie Maker, which was discontinued a couple of years ago. I liked it. It was a good, simple, first-time kind of app which was perfect for students.

Microsoft has replaced that app with an update to their Photo app in Windows 10, and it can do some pretty cool stuff. I have been playing around with it.

This is a great little app to take the digital still photos you have from, say, a family vacation, and put them into a cute little video that you can then share with family and friends, or on social media.

It has some pretty cool features. Here are the ones I like the best in the Windows 10 Photo App:

Automatic music syncing. So, you basically put your photos in the order in which you want them, then you choose a piece of music (provided by the app) and it will sync your photos to the beat of the music. Pretty cool. The only downside is that sometimes the beat changes so quickly that the photo doesn’t get enough of a chance to be seen.

Panning. In iMovie, this effect is called Ken Burnsing but it’s a cool effect that allows you to make it look like the camera is panning over the image. This gives your static digital photo some movement, and makes it more interesting.

Titles and themes. The app has both; and it allows you to put your titles in various locations on the video, and there are lots of different fonts and styles to choose from.

3-d Special Effects. This is a very neat new feature that allows you add cool 3-d effects to your videos and photographs.

I made you a video that explains it all, check it out!

Have you used the Windows 10 Photo App? I’d love to hear your take on it in the comments below.