In Memorium Animation

[DawnG]

As sad as it is, I would like to get into making slide shows for wakes and funerals. I just want to give the family some good memories of their loved one. But I would need a couple appropriate animations to begin the video with. My mother in law just passed and I watched the video given to the family, and although the beginning animation was very nicely done, the rest was awful. Every single photo was presented with the same in the blurred background, which is fine, but every one was zooming in or out. It was dizzying! And the same looping song! I was sooooooooo glad when it ended!

Anyway I was wondering if anyone knew of a source for this type of animation that I could check into......

Thanks much much in advance

[Lin Evans]

Hi Dawn,

It's possible to make about any type animation with PicturesToExe that you might want. Sometimes even no animation might be preferable. With a good collection of images from the family - I'm certain that you can make a beautiful and memorable show which can show the life of the deceased in a way fitting for the family and friends. I did this for my own mother's funeral and the show began with her childhood pictures and took the viewer through her entire long, varied and interesting life. When coupled with meaningful text and in some cases perhaps voice - and appropriate soft background music, this type show can be a joy to watch.

What you may want to consider is watching various PTE shows to see the different types of motion and perhaps watching some tutorials which can help you learn how to effectively use the timeline with keyframes to perform pans, zooms and rotates as well as blurs, focus changes and such. Also judicious use of borders and multiple simultaneous images both in motion as well as stills all might be useful. There is not a single format which would be always appropriate and the more that you watch and learn, the easier it will be for you to chose the appropriate type to best present the deceased to your audience.

Visit our tutorials page here:

http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?/topic/17659-alphabetic-index-of-articles-and-tutorials/

and you might find a number of possibilities. Then go here and check both regular shows as well as the demos pages:

http://www.slideshowclub.com/files/category/1-slideshows/

http://www.slideshowclub.com/files/category/2-demos/

Best regards,

Lin

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Hi Dawn

Here in the UK the type of show you mention is in its infancy, of the funerals I've been to in the last couple of years (6) there were only two that had any sort of visual memorial, & those were very simple lasting only a minute or so. I know this sort of thing is popular in the US, but personally the only similar type of show I've made was in memory of a celebrity or well known body. The last show I made before Christmas was in memory of James Garner who died last year. Another was my second version of my tribute to Wilfred Owen the WW1 poet who was killed at the end of the war, & another one on the WW1 theme "The Accrington Pals", of which my Dad was a member. The only animation I used was in the video sections, & simple pans & fades in the stills. I don't think anything else is needed & IMO you are just flexing your PTE muscles by trying to impress your audience showing what you can do with complex animation. Those shows are on Youtube & I would be interested to know how they compare to what is seen in the US. Finally while on Youtube there are a number of my Tutorials, if you use the Youtube link below my signature & scroll through the list of my shows you can easily pick out the tutorials.

Yachtsman1.

[DawnG]

Thanks ever so much Lin and Yachtsman for your responses. I love hearing of other's experiences.....

Lin I lost my loving mother 4 years ago next month, and only last year was I able to put together a slide show about her life for all our family. I did as you did....pics from childhood through her life. I was pretty pleased with it at the time....but looking at it now it is so very basic. Thinking of doing it over again adding a background texture and doing more interesting transitions. You can see the couple I have done here: https://www.facebook.com/theimagefix%C2'> Maybe if you look at the ones I have there you can figure out why it grabs 2 random images and merges them for the intro image. The ones being grabbed are way past the middle of the video *scratches head*

The one for my MIL had a very nice animation at the beginning with flowers and butterflies and was specific for mothers....but I see what you mean about being able to make my own. I am stumbling around trying to discover all the wonderful options with this software. I know it will take time and patience.....a couple things I don't always have a lot of lol But knowing how tenacious I am, I will figure it all out in a short amount of time. Will pour over the tutorials!

Yachtsman.....loved James Garner.....and what a wonderful tribute to him. Hearing that theme song just brings back so many good memories of the 70's. Love the way you did things with multiple images on a slide. I know there are so many different things that can be done with PTE....I just have to find them all. Intense war video as well. So well done. Will also check out your video tutorials. Helps to see it as well as read it....

One quick question for either or both of you...... What video software to you use to edit actual video from a DVD? When I extracted the section of live video from my daughter's wedding, I used the free version of NCH suite. Is there a better program out there that you recommend?

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Hi Dawn

Video software, depends how much editing you want to do do. You can do basic editing with PTE such as removing clips trimming the length. The best & most comprehensive freebie I have used is Video Pad, but you have to work at learning how to use it. With VP I used many of the features such as converting to negative, mono in my show "Last Tango on Lordstreet" which is a parody on a recent TV show & the main street of the town where I live. The video clips where edited from Youtube clips. You have to look carefully for the subtle effects.

Yachtsman1

[DawnG]

Hi Dawn

Video software, depends how much editing you want to do do. You can do basic editing with PTE such as removing clips trimming the length. The best & most comprehensive freebie I have used is Video Pad, but you have to work at learning how to use it. With VP I used many of the features such as converting to negative, mono in my show "Last Tango on Lordstreet" which is a parody on a recent TV show & the main street of the town where I live. The video clips where edited from Youtube clips. You have to look carefully for the subtle effects.

Yachtsman1

Absolutely beautiful! Amazing work! Must have taken years of experience and constant practice to pull something like that together. Very impressive

I didn't realize, but should have known, there was such a feature in PTE for copying clips. In the manual, where might i find info on this? Video pad is actually the one I used to take the excerpt from the full length wedding video. I struggled with it but somehow made a file of just the area i wanted and was able to import it into the PTE production. Until I can spend more time with it, I could not explain exactly how I did it lol

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Absolutely beautiful! Amazing work! Must have taken years of experience and constant practice to pull something like that together. Very impressive

In the manual, where might i find info on this? http://docs.picturestoexe.com/en/main Just type video into the PTE on-line help

Hi Dawn

I think perseverance rather than experience would be more appropriate. I suspect like me you prefer to see how things are done rather than read about them, which is why I made the tutorials when PTE8 came out.

Yachtsman1.

[DawnG]

Hi Dawn

I think perseverance rather than experience would be more appropriate. I suspect like me you prefer to see how things are done rather than read about them, which is why I made the tutorials when PTE8 came out.

Yachtsman1.

Yes I do appreciate a visual instead of just text......it just helps me grasp it faster. The tutorials are extremely helpful. You guys are just amazing at how much time and effort you put into making this software easier to use and understand. Truly unsung heros!

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Thanks Dawn :rolleyes:

Yachtsman1.

[DawnG]

Thanks Dawn :rolleyes:

Yachtsman1.

You bet.....well earned