Long ceremonies
 

I've run into a couple long ceremonies included in a full day type package. When it's all complete, there's too much footage to fit on the DVD, so something has to get axed.

How have folks been solving the "more footage than will fit on the DVD" problem?

happy autumn,
Scott

I always limit the video to 2 hours which easily fits on a DVD. It also fits on a standard VHS in SP mode (which is where my 2 hour limit originated).

Some people give out 2 DVD sets. Maybe an intro and ceremony on the first DVD and then everything else on the second DVD.

Other people provide "short form" in which the ceremony may be cut down to 5-10 minutes even if it was over an hour long.

Lots of potential directions for you to go on this.

i've done 2 dvds (full movie on dvd 1, bonus material on dvd 2), but i don't think i'll be doing that again. the dvds look great (and i'm a print/packaging guy originally, so it's fun making that work), but the ceremony drags on and on. i could have compressed the data to fit a single dvd, but i didn't want to use high compression.

i've also compressed certain moments (communion, prayer, walkups, long pauses) and can save 30 minutes easily without cutting content.

i'm beginning to do short form for catholic weddings, since an informal poll of my clients tells me that they skip through to the best scenes in the ceremony anyway. i only do this with ceremonies that are >45 minutes.