Plotagon Backgrounder

Plotagon Backgrounder

Plotagon is a user-friendly creative app that allows anyone to create animated videos just by typing. The method is simple: users choose characters and scenes, write their stories in the form of dialogue, add emotions, sound effects and music with drop-down menus, then press play. The Plotagon app instantly animates what users write—no animation experience is necessary.

Plotagon's one-of-a-kind app is so ground-breaking, it was named a finalist for the Fast Company 2014 Innovation By Design Awards just a few months after launching—along with innovators such as Disney, Google and Nike.

The Plotagon consumer app is free and it runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac and PC. It includes several characters and scenes (settings where stories take place), a character creator (so users can build their own), music, sound effects and more. Users can add more characters and scenes via in-app purchases; most are $0.99 or $1.99 (USD) each.

The consumer app also includes a public user community (in-app and on the Web) so users can follow each other, comment and like other animated videos. Users can also share their videos (plots, as we call them) through other social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Plotagon Education for classroom use includes all the characters and scenes in Plotagon's library for a yearly licensing fee (per class, school or district). No in-app purchases are required. The package can be updated with new characters and scenes as they debut and the company is creating those all the time. 

The education version features a private, digital space (per classroom) so students can only share videos and comments with classmates and their teacher can monitor all the activity in that space. Plotagon Education was developed at the request of teachers who were already using the consumer app in their classrooms but wanted more control and privacy.

The company, also called Plotagon, was founded in 2012 in Stockholm, Sweden. It launched a beta version of its app (for Mac and PC) in September 2013, featuring photo-realistic characters and scenes designed for inspiring fan-fiction stories. The redesigned app launched in July 2014 with the ability to run on mobile devices. The updated version of the app features cartoony characters and scenes that are somewhat inspired by cartoons from the 1960s. Plotagon Education launched in July 2015.

Teens and millennials have been the most avid users of Plotagon—the same cohort that has embraced Vine, lnstagram and other apps which allow people create and share visual stories.

Plotagon is currently available in English. The free iPhone and iPad app can be downloaded within the Apple App Store. The free Mac and PC versions may be downloaded at Plotagon.com.