Picture Movies

With today’s technologies, it’ easier than ever to capture life’s moments in movie form. As I have written in the past, I prefer to do this with small devices that fit in my purse, beach bag, or whatever pouch I happen to be lugging on any given day. I’m not one for schlepping large video cameras to the school auditorium, the soccer field, or Disney World. But once I capture my video, then what? Sometimes I’ll plug my Flip Mino HD right into the side of my HDTV and watch the videos directly from the recording device. Usually I transfer the videos on to my laptop with the intention of someday “doing something with them.”

Maybe I’ll turn them into iMovies and burn them onto DVD (I’ve done this only once and it took half the afternoon). Or perhaps I’ll actually upload them to YouTube and share them with the grandparents (but given their fear of unsolicited obscene videos that’s not usually encouraged). More often than not what actually happens is I just leave the videos on my hard drive. Or I transfer them to my Time Capsule where they tend to sit—like so many of my digital photos—and wait.

This week, I tested two different services that will make montages and movie shorts from your digital photos and videos. One of the benefits of writing this blog is that I can legitimately take the time to create these beauties. Don’t be fooled, though, making movies is never a quick proposition. Ask any filmmaker and they’ll tell you it can take months or years to create and edit a one-hour documentary. Even an amateur video takes time. Especially if you want to add title cards, transitions, effects, music, etc.

So I set a time limit for each creation. I would not spend more than 30 minutes. This meant I used more photos and less video because video uploading takes a lot of time. A. LOT. OF. TIME. Even over broadband.

First I tried Animoto, the service that bills itself as “the end of slide shows.”  Animoto promises to automatically turn your photos and video into “beautifully orchestrated, completely unique video pieces.” The free service allows you to produce quick, 30-second shorts. With upload time, I made my first creation in about 10 minutes. The upgraded, all-access pass for $30 per year allows you to create full-length videos with the option to buy DVD-quality downloads for $5. I made a full-length feature for my second production (running time about a minute and a half). I selected my photos and videos, chose the music from their licensed library, and Animoto did the rest. I was able to write this post and answer e-mail while my movie was created. The whole process took about 20 minutes and the results? Simply stunning. You can view it here.

Next up: One True Media. Making my “montage” here took a lot longer than 30 minutes. That’s partly because the free service allows you to create longer projects from the start. I uploaded more photo and video than I did with Animoto. Upload times on this site were longer (but that could have easily been the time of day). I had to create the title and end slides, select some of the transitions and clip my videos in order to make a more professional-looking montage. While the interface is really easy to use and the instructions on how to edit are pretty clear, I quickly ate up the 30-minutes I had allowed myself. This service requires a much more “hands-on” approach and while the end result was good, I could have created a similar result on my MacBook Pro without the upload time.

One clear advantage of using either service is the one button sharing options.Once you’ve made your short, montage, or full-length feature, you can easily share it via facebook, twitter, e-mail or various blog publishing platforms.

What do you do with the videos you capture of life’s events? Do you share them? Create DVDs? Or do you leave them on your hard drive with the plan to “do something” with them someday?