DIY: Awesome Wedding Montages

– Wedding Montage Demo Videos –

John & Jenny Wedding Montage Video Version 1John & Jenny Wedding Montage Video Version 2

Want a very inexpensive laptop that you can use to do your video — and then do others’ for extra income? Click here.

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Step by Step Guides

Step by Step Guide, Version 1

Click here for a FREE trial at Animoto.com

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Step by Step Guide, Version 2

Click here for a FREE trial at Kizoa.com

Want a very inexpensive laptop that you can use to do your video — and then do others’ for extra income? Click here.

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There are many reasons for making a keepsake video to be played at a couple’s wedding rehearsal dinner or reception — and then having it handy to replay on every anniversary.

Wedding photographers make thousands of dollars every day by simply plugging photos of the bride and groom, captured from birth to the wedding day, into a preset format or theme.

You don’t have to be pay these outrageous fees. with all the technology available literally at the click of your mouse or the tap of your finger.

A step-by-step guide

To illustrate, I’ll walk you through creation of the sophisticated slide shows above, using images I got from the Creative Commons library of Google Images. By watching them — and viewing the companion step by step guide — you’ll see exactly what kinds of photos you can add of your own — and at what time and place in the video — to make a professional quality video for your own wedding reception.

You can capture your photos with a smartphone and download them to a PC, laptop, MacBook, iPad — virtually any noncellular device with an Internet connection — and, in the process, save upwards of $500 that you can spend instead on, say, a honeymoon cruise.

Sound good? Okay, here’s what to do:

Capturing the visuals

1. Assemble all the photos of the bride and groom, from infancy through childhood to teen years to college — and possibly beyond for the weddings of older couples. Include only the best of the best, but no more than 30, if possible.
2. NOTE: The sample videos above have only 22 and 27 images respectively and run a little over 3 minutes — my preference for a watchable show, Anything longer and you might bore your audience.
3. If you can get digital copies of the photos, so much the better. But for baby pictures especially, you’ll probably be diving into old shoeboxes full of family photos and snapshots from both sides.
4. When you’ve got them all together, find a nice, well-lit table — preferably with strong indirect sunlight coming in through a nearby window. But it really doesn’t matter much these days. Most smartphones do a great job of equalizing the colors of your shooting environment.
5. Arrange and shoot the photos in no particular order –– you’ll be asked to arrange them in order during editing.
6. For best results, put a small piece of tape on the back of each photo before you shoot it, so it can be tacked to a cutting board propped up by a stack of books on the table. You should be seated, facing the table and the cutting board. This makes the photo square on to your lens and reduces distortion.
7. Turn your smartphone sideways — horizontally, not vertically.
8. Fill the camera viewfinder with the photo, edge to edge horizontally — so that none of the surrounding cutting board surface shows up. That way, no cropping of the photo will be necessary later on.
9. Download all the shots to a special folder on your computer.
10. Got them all? Great! Let’s move on to the next step.

Steps to creating the video

If you’re making an Animoto video (Option 1 above):

1. Go to Animoto.com and sign up for a trial account (Pro Version).
2. Second, click Create.
3. Click All (on the Themes/Template page).
4. Scroll down and click on the Mode Template. Then click Create Video. You’ll be taken to the main storyboard screen.
5. Next, click on the Change Song bar and search for this song: “Where My Heart Belongs.” Click Select Song.
6. Click the Gear icon in the upper right corner of the storyboard. This will change the timing of the slides to fit the music length exactly.
7. Slide the Image Pacing bar one dot to the left of center. Then click Auto to enable the automatic pacing of the images to the song. Click Save.
8. Back in the Storyboard screen, click the + sign and add a Text slide. Leave it blank and click Save.
9. Add another Text slide, but on this one put the bride and groom’s name and something like “Meant to Be Together” on the second line.

Begin with the groom

1. Click the next + sign and add a photo from your computer folder — a baby picture of the groom.
2. Then, simply alternate Text and Photo slides, progressing from the groom’s childhood to teen years and into young adulthood.
3. Do the same with the bride’s photos.
4. Next, add alternating shots of the bride and groom. Then add several shots of them together.
5. Be sure to put a blank Text slide in between each photo.
6. Finish with the strongest closeup shot of the two of them together.

Finish it with the wedding date

1. Now add a final text slide saying something like “John & Jenny, January 15, 2018,” or whatever the date of their/your wedding will be.
2. Add one more blank text slide to finish the storyboard.
3. Click Preview.
4. Watch the template perform its magic and, if you’re not happy with the order, click Continue Editing and rearrange the photos by dragging them to whatever new place you’d like.
5. Click Preview again as often as needed.

Produce the final video

1. Give your video a title.
2. Choose a cover image.
3. Then, on that screen to the right, check 720p and 1080p for highest quality HD output.
4. Click Finish at the bottom of that screen.
5. The show will play completely through, probably twice. If all is okay, scroll down and click Download 1080p MP4.
6. Right click the downloaded file, then move it from Downloads to the folder with the rest of your wedding-related photos.
7. Finally, burn it to a DVD or put it on a thumb drive for playback at the reception.

Steps to creating the video

If you’re making a Kizoa video (Option 2 above):

1. Go to the Kizoa.com website.
2. Upload your entire folder of photos.
3. TIP: Highlight the first image, then scroll down to the bottom. Hold down Shift and click the last image. That should highlight each one.
4. Wait while the folder of images uploads.
5. Click Make a Movie.
6. Next, click Templates.
7. Choose the 6th one down on your left to match the sample.
8. Click Next.

Select all your photos in order

1. Here, you’ll be asked to choose your photos in the order that they will appear in the video.
2. NOTE: If you’re trying to match specific photos with specific lyrics in a song, we’ll cover how to do that shortly.
3. Click Next. 
4. Fourth, click Automatically to size the images to fill the frame. Then click Confirm.
5. Your video will begin playing, but you’ll see immediately that you need to make adjustments.
6. Close the preview window (red X at the right top).
7. At the bottom, double click the first slide and delete the text by going through a series of quick steps – (1) click Modify Text (2) Click Modify Simple Text (3) erase the text that’s there (4) click Enter on that small window, then Enter on the larger text window.

Add the opening title and music

1. Look to the far left menu and click Advanced Backgrounds.
2. Scroll down until you find the background shown in the video above.
3. Drag it with your mouse (or finger) to the space just before the first image. A green bar labeled (Insert) should appear.
4. At the top, click the Text tab.
5. Click and hold down Translucent and drag it over the slide you just inserted.
6. Add your own title for the show. Click Enter twice.
7. Click the Music tab on the top row. Then, click the arrow, lower right of the small window that opens.
8. Choose a music track or (on the left) upload your own MP3 file.
9. NOTE: If you’ve got more than 25 images you’ll need to pick another song. Or, the one you picked will repeat automatically.
10. Follow the prompts to add it to your show.
11. ANOTHER NOTE: Click the “Love” tab on the left and choose the music track “Autumn” to match the track in the video above.

Add transitions and we’re about done!

1. Click the Transitions tab at the top.
2. Choose Fade Out/Fade In to match the effect in the video above or choose your own.
3. Drag it to the timeline at the bottom in between the title image and your first photo.
4. Press Play on the right, and preview your show.
5. PRO TIP: If you want to match an image to a particular lyric, mouse over the timeline, sliding it to the image you want to emphasize. Click the image and press play. Not the right image? Repeat until you find it. Then, replace the image with a more appropriate one by clicking the Photos tab at the top and the My Photos tab on your left. Drag the new slide to replace the one you don’t want.
6. Want the images to move slower or faster? Double-click the first photo and at the bottom, adjust the number of seconds it is onscreen. If you want to apply that change to the entire show, click the box below the duration option. (This might be tricky, but by playing with it and previewing it a few times, you can make the images change on the beat of the music.)
7. Resume Preview and make adjustments as needed. To replace any unwanted text that appears, double click the image with the text and delete the verbiage.

You’re done in a matter of an hour or so! Please note that there may be an expenditure involved in downloading either from Animoto or Kizoa. But it will still be quite a bit less than having someone do it for you. Just remember to cancel your trial subscription if you’re satisfied and don’t want to do another video.

Success!

Okay, that was fairly easy, right? You could also have added video clips, but that’s several degrees harder and requires pre-editing of the clips. We’ll do a short tutorial on how to do that in a future Tips post and video. Or, if you want to try shortening a clip now from your phone or camera, try Clipchamp, where you can upload your video footage and then choose the best 10 to 15 seconds.

Thanks for visiting!