Hands On: Photos App Story Remix 3D Effects for Video

At Build 2017 this past May, one of the most popular things demoed on stage was Story Remix.

You remember the demo and the videos that were released afterwards that showed how easy it was to add special effects to your work in the Microsoft Photos App, anchor them to various elements in the video, add text, and even collaborate with family and friends to build content from an event you all attended together.

By far, the 20 minute demo of Story Remix grabbed the biggest periods of applause during the Windows keynote.

However, the features have trickled out slowly from Microsoft since the big keynote demo and many users are frustrated because they want to enthusiastically begin using these new features.

Initially access to the Remix feature, the ability to randomly create a slideshow/video with your content and music was made available btu since then no other whiz-bang features have made their way to the Photos App.

A few weeks ago there was some hubbub around the Photos App when an update delivered via the Windows Store changed its name to Story Remix however, that was reverted back to Photos that same weekend. According to Microsoft it was a name change test and from my view of social media about the name - it was not well received.

Since then the app has remained named Photos however, the team has shipped an update to the app that now brings one element of the whiz-bang features of Story Remix to the app and that is 3D Special Effects.

Within this update, beyond adding the 3D Special Effects (Beta), they also renamed the Albums tab to Creations which I think makes absolute sense because it is where you will be storing the things you create with the app.

Albums Tab becomes Creations Tab in Microsoft Photos App

This is of course beta software so nothing is written in stone and the team told me they are looking for your feedback so they can make this the best feature set possible for Story Remix.

I have access to the 3D Special Effects (Beta) on Windows 10 Version 1703 (Creators Update), Windows Insiders Fast Ring builds for Redstone 3 (Fall Creators Update), and the Redstone 4 Skip Ahead Fast Ring builds.

That pretty much opens up any version of Windows 10 as having access to the beta features and if you do not have them yet they are likely being rolled out in stages from the Windows Store.

I recorded this video earlier today to walk you through how these 3D Special Effects work in the Photos app because it was easier than trying to build a big screenshot library.

Note: My apologies for the stutter in the video as I am creating the demo video. The laptop I had to record that hands on with was not only running the Photos app and this beta feature but also the screen recording software as well. I have embedded the finished video below as well so you can see it at full speed.

Thanks for your patience. Also - no cats were harmed in the making of these videos!

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