HOW MANY PHOTOS SHOULD I PICK OUT?
One minute equals about 15 pictures. Therefore, 150 pictures will be a 10 minute
video, and vice versa. Whether you decide on the length of your video first and then pick the right number of photos to match, or whether you pick your photos first and let that determine how long your video will be, is entirely up to you.
HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT PHOTOS
Quality, of course, is first and foremost. Fuzzy pictures will create fuzzy videos, and imperfections will be even more apparent on the big screen. Don't worry about poorly cropped or tilted images; we'll fix those for you. If a photo is too light or dark or a color photo is faded we can usually revive the image to achieve a more desirable result, and we include this fine-tuning at no charge. For badly demaged photos that require restoration, please refer to our services and price page.
In many cases, a chronological presentation of photos is preferred. An easy way to approach this is to arrange your photos in groups first (by relative age, date, etc) and then do a more thoughtful arrangement of what order they should be in. If sending us your actual prints for us to scan, this is a good time to number the back of them with sticky notes (never write directly on the photo, even with a marker). Alternately, we're happy to work from a master list if you'll describe each photo in sufficient detail.
If you want to get very creative, you can even choose the order of your photos according to the lyrics in your song choices. Lyrics to virtually every popular song are easily found on the internet, and they make a great template if you're trying to tell a story in song and pictures. Be as detailed as you like in your instructions to us.
You may be tempted to include every picture you own, and that's your call. But experience has shown that the most effective presentations avoid repetition and redundancy (for example, several pictures of the same people in front of the same background). Strive for variety. An exception could be a tribute video to a single person or couple, but even then too many shots that look the same will lessen the watchability of your video.
TO SCAN OR NOT TO SCAN?
If you have a scanner and are comfortable using it, this rewarding effort will be worth your while. In fact, we highly recommend making digital copies of every important photo in your collection, not just those used in your Memory Montage. Time can be cruel to photo prints, but a digital copy can be viewed and printed without quality loss by future generations.
If you do choose to scan photos for your Memory Montage, please use a resolution of 150 or 300 dpi. Higher resolutions will only produce bigger files, rather than visibly better quality. JPG, BMP, PNG and other standard file types are fine. When saving your scans, or before you burn them to CD-ROM or DVD to send to us, it helps to label each image individually with an identifiable name. A very smart idea would be to give them a numerical prefix starting with "01" in the order you'd like them to appear in your Memory Montage.
Your scans don't have to be perfect. We are happy to fix minor problems like unlevel horizons, errant cropping and the like. We'll usually remove white borders around old photographs, unless you ask us not to. Sometimes extremely old photographs elicit more nostalgia by leaving the original borders, and they may be worth showing. We will contribute our creative expertise and go the extra mile to make your pictures look as good as they can.
If desired, you can upload your photos to us online. Ask for details on this easy, no-charge method.
And yes, you may send us a combination of your scanned photos and photo prints for us to scan. We highly recommend that you send everything via insured mail or FedEx. We will return them to you via the same method.
If you don't have a scanner but are hesitant to send your prints off, Target and other stores with photo departments have excellent Kodak scanners on site where you can scan your collection to CD-ROM for a reasonable price. (If desired, you can also print photos and enlargements at the same machine.)
If we do the scanning for you we will include a CD-ROM of your photos at no additional charge. Please note that we do charge for the actual scanning, except in special seasonal package offers.
PICTURE PERFECT
Creating a Memory Montage is a collaborative creative effort between you and us, and we want to give you maximum results while making it as easy for you as possible. Therefore, feel free to be as specific in your instructions as you like, or just pick out your pictures and songs and let us worry about the details.
If you have questions about anything, please email robinsongproductions @ yahoo.com or call 901 - 850 - 0085 for a prompt reply.
