Memorial Video

[Cinde]

I uploaded my first demo video for memorial sideshows. Comments, criticisms, suggestions for improvement welcome.

[Clayton]

Very good Cinde. Very simple and to the point. I enjoyed how the pictures showed the aging process in the progression of her life. I felt like it told her story.

[Jayell]

I uploaded my first demo video for memorial sideshows. Comments, criticisms, suggestions for improvement welcome.

That was nice. I like the burning candle .. nice music.

The couple photos that moved from one side of the screen to the other seemed to contradict the rest of the movement of the 'movie.' I'm not sure what it was, but it struck me each time.

[ed]

Memorial videos kinda creep me out...no offense meant.

I thought it was well put together. I'm wondering if maybe some text describing her at various points of her life might have added to it. Of course, that would mean input from the client.

Well done.

[Maxine370]

Hi Cinde,

Overall it was nicely done. Clean and nicely paced. I have some suggestions and critiques.

To add depth and clean some of the uneven edges of the photos you might want to try putting a white border (clip 3% all edges) on your photos. I'm not sure if you are using a drop shadow already but the white border allows it to stand out more.

The candle is a nice touch but I would use it at the end and the beginning and use more of the screen for the photos.

There is a way to zoom close in a photo without having to bring the full photo up...in other words the photo remains but you get closer to the faces. Use the crop tool (make sure zoom is clicked) and go from 0% to as close as you want to get. There are handles (just like the motion effects) that can help you frame the image.
This might help solve the problem that Jayell mentioned about the rolling pictures although it wasn't as much an issue for me. I like to see something different here and there.

The music transistions were what struck me the most. It's very hard to get it right but the audio transitions really help. PLus, if you increase the zoom on the timeline all the way you can kind of see the best places to break the music.

Again, it was a very well done and a moving tribute. I hope the suggestions are welcome. I'm never sure how much 'advice' people want.

If you do ever want to do that chat, let me know.

[Cinde]

Thanks claysand for your kind comment. A memorial video is usually a progression of life.

jayell, the movement from side to side was done to hopefully end with the subject of the video as the main focus at the end of the scene. I really need to work on a better flow to do that. I also use Roxio and its pan and zoom gives me much better control over panning and zooming at the same time. I don?t like to use it with memorial videos because I have only a few hours turn around time from when I pick up the photos to delivering the video back.

ed, you are very right about it needing some text to describe various points in her life. There will be times I never actually meet the client. All they will see are the demos, instruction sheets and order form.

Beth, your advice is most welcome. It is going to take me some time to get up to speed to where I really want to be. But with help from you and the others I will get there. Music is one of my biggest downfalls. What I really need is to ask Ron for something that sounds the same at the beginning and end so I can just loop it through the whole video.

I?ve needed that chat a long time, but unfortunately things are so hectic here I can?t seem to schedule a definite time to be online. I tend to muddle along after midnight to 2 or 3 am when things are quiet at home and wish I had I could just pop on line and say ?Hey Beth, you here?? When things settle down can we try to schedule a definite time?

[Maxine370]

I'm often up late...1:00 AM working (not quite 2:00, but there may be a time diff between us). Try me. I might be around.

Late night is when I have the most free time to work, too.