Wedding Photo Montage, Auto or Manual? at DVinfo.net

SiuChung Leung · March 25th, 2008, 04:18 AM

Hi Guys, let talk about wedding photo montage

I am working in a video production studio as a part-time editor, I mainly do Audio editing and wedding video editing. We offer wedding photo montage as one the our service in the mid-price and top-price package. I am just wondering, what do you guys use to produce wedding photo montage?

I use FCP to produce photo montage manually. I know which is time-consuming and have quite a few limitations. I am thinking to move up AE or Motion to produce montage with more tricks and effects.

This is a montage I produced some times ago,
http://www.jumpcut.com/view/?id=659E...843EF340157CF2

Lately, I been looking at some programs, like animoto, which can produce photo montage with few clicks and the result is impressive.

The main different the some of the animation ticks form those program is eye-catching and it will take long time to achieve that by FCP. However, those programs seems don't have much control over the music, photo arrangement and timing.

We had three package for customer. The mid-price and high-price package comes with photo montage. I am thinking to add the photo montage to the low-price package and use program to auto produce those montage.

So, what do you guys use to produce wedding photo montage? input into software and export it with few clicks? or use video program to produce manually? What program you use?

Richard Wakefield · March 25th, 2008, 04:33 AM

firstly, i just watched your montage, and i'd say you'd really benefit from 'easing in' your keyframes (i.e. this makes the movement across a photo glide, and seem more natural). i'm not sure in particular how FCP does this, but i'm sure you'd be able to do it.

it doesn't have to be timeconsuming. if i use my NLE (PPro), then i setup my default photo duration to be a particular number of seconds, then it's just a case of applying my pre-made presets (movement, flashes, dissolves).

or if i want to go fancy in 3D space, i'll use AE, and i've made a few of my own templates for specific number of photos. so then it's 'drag and drop' with the photos, and press 'render'.

hope that helps

Tom Tomkowiak · March 25th, 2008, 07:42 AM

I don't think using FCP for photo montages is any more time consuming than the other apps out there. But then, I've been using it since version 2 (2001) and I'm now up to v.6, so it's not like I'm a newbie.

The trick is using FCP's Motion Favorites feature, which Richard refers to as "pre-made presets" for his NLE PPro. Over the years, I've created a Favorite for adding motion to a still in just about every direction, zoom & speed. So, once I drop the photos in the timeline, it's just a matter of applying the appropriate pre-made motions. Obviously, I still have to do additional customizing on a few, but, having a healthy stock of Motion Favs sure beats starting from scatch every time.

Looking at the montage you posted, I noticed you timed most of the photos to the music, which is great, and you also mostly did a good job of flowing each photo into the next one. What I didn't care for especially near the beginning and around the middle was after the motion stopped on several photos they remained on screen for about a second or so before the next photo came up. To me it felt like being in stop-and-go traffic. On the other hand, towards the end when the couple was by the trees I thought that part had a very smooth flow. Just my opinon, based on how I prefer to assemble these things.

I've been tempted to try some of the apps specifically made for creating slideshows, but just never got around to it. Stuck in the FCP rut, I guess.

Edward Troxel · March 25th, 2008, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom Tomkowiak

I don't think using FCP for photo montages is any more time consuming than the other apps out there.

How long would it take you to add motion to 100 images? (Pans, zooms, rotations, etc...) I can have them randomly added in to all images in under 1 second in Vegas. Up it to 500 images and it will still be under 2 seconds.

Jon Omiatek · March 25th, 2008, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edward Troxel

How long would it take you to add motion to 100 images? (Pans, zooms, rotations, etc...) I can have them randomly added in to all images in under 1 second in Vegas. Up it to 500 images and it will still be under 2 seconds.

This requires a plugin, Excalibur or Ultimate S.

Tom Tomkowiak · March 25th, 2008, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edward Troxel

How long would it take you to add motion to 100 images? (Pans, zooms, rotations, etc...) I can have them randomly added in to all images in under 1 second in Vegas. Up it to 500 images and it will still be under 2 seconds.

Well, I really wouldn't know since I never "randomly" add any motion to a still. As far as I'm concerned, every photo is unique and the composition of each photo determines what, if any, motion should be applied to most effectively present that photo to the viewer.

Jason Robinson · March 25th, 2008, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom Tomkowiak

Well, I really wouldn't know since I never "randomly" add any motion to a still. As far as I'm concerned, every photo is unique and the composition of each photo determines what, if any, motion should be applied to most effectively present that photo to the viewer.

I tried Ultimate S out once (demo) and it was a BIG time saver... to a point. What it does do is randomize the movements to avoid the "spinning in circles" or "forever zooming" traps. What it does NOT do is care where the faces are and be sure to focus on them. So I used UltimateS to generate a nice mix of movements, and then I re-keyframed each and every shot to make the movements it choose (ie a zoom in) make more sense, and to focus on people, instead of zooming into the top right had corner which was empty. Some times I completely redid what Ultimate S did (changed a zoom to a slow pan, etc) because it made more sense my way. Sometimes I just changed where it zoomed to.

Still a lot of work, but much better. I have a sample of my Photo Memory Movie on my site (see Sig) but that one was all keyframed start to finish by hand with no Ultimate S.

I agree with previous posters that the movements is that sample were pretty jagged. It might be that I strive for NO sudden movements in mine, but again that may just be my style and not yours. I do believe that starting & stopping a motion while still playing the picture is a little jarring and it distracts the viewer from the picture and instead draws attention to the movement.

Edward Troxel · March 25th, 2008, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon Omiatek

This requires a plugin, Excalibur or Ultimate S.

Actually it requires a script. Excalibur and Ultimate S are two examples that perform this task but anyone can write their own versions as well.

SiuChung Leung · March 25th, 2008, 03:17 PM

Thx guy for the advise.

Seems like I did the time consuming way.However, I'm like the photo to match the music.
But I sure will look into preset a script and Favorite. Which would be a time-saving for me.

Go check out the demo at http://animoto.com/ the tricks in those montage is quite inpressive to me and it is hard to do that in FCP.

March 25th, 2008, 04:18 AM	#1
SiuChung Leung Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: New Zealand Posts: 231	Wedding Photo Montage, Auto or Manual? Hi Guys, let talk about wedding photo montage I am working in a video production studio as a part-time editor, I mainly do Audio editing and wedding video editing. We offer wedding photo montage as one the our service in the mid-price and top-price package. I am just wondering, what do you guys use to produce wedding photo montage? I use FCP to produce photo montage manually. I know which is time-consuming and have quite a few limitations. I am thinking to move up AE or Motion to produce montage with more tricks and effects. This is a montage I produced some times ago, http://www.jumpcut.com/view/?id=659E...843EF340157CF2 Lately, I been looking at some programs, like animoto, which can produce photo montage with few clicks and the result is impressive. The main different the some of the animation ticks form those program is eye-catching and it will take long time to achieve that by FCP. However, those programs seems don't have much control over the music, photo arrangement and timing. We had three package for customer. The mid-price and high-price package comes with photo montage. I am thinking to add the photo montage to the low-price package and use program to auto produce those montage. So, what do you guys use to produce wedding photo montage? input into software and export it with few clicks? or use video program to produce manually? What program you use?

March 25th, 2008, 07:42 AM	#3
Tom Tomkowiak Major Player Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: On the NC Crystal Coast Posts: 203	Try the FCP Motion Favorites I don't think using FCP for photo montages is any more time consuming than the other apps out there. But then, I've been using it since version 2 (2001) and I'm now up to v.6, so it's not like I'm a newbie. The trick is using FCP's Motion Favorites feature, which Richard refers to as "pre-made presets" for his NLE PPro. Over the years, I've created a Favorite for adding motion to a still in just about every direction, zoom & speed. So, once I drop the photos in the timeline, it's just a matter of applying the appropriate pre-made motions. Obviously, I still have to do additional customizing on a few, but, having a healthy stock of Motion Favs sure beats starting from scatch every time. Looking at the montage you posted, I noticed you timed most of the photos to the music, which is great, and you also mostly did a good job of flowing each photo into the next one. What I didn't care for especially near the beginning and around the middle was after the motion stopped on several photos they remained on screen for about a second or so before the next photo came up. To me it felt like being in stop-and-go traffic. On the other hand, towards the end when the couple was by the trees I thought that part had a very smooth flow. Just my opinon, based on how I prefer to assemble these things. I've been tempted to try some of the apps specifically made for creating slideshows, but just never got around to it. Stuck in the FCP rut, I guess. __________________ Tom T Mac Pro, Final Cut Studio 2, CS2, Merlin, DVRigPro, VX2100s, HV30

March 25th, 2008, 04:33 AM	#2
Richard Wakefield Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Surrey, UK Posts: 680	firstly, i just watched your montage, and i'd say you'd really benefit from 'easing in' your keyframes (i.e. this makes the movement across a photo glide, and seem more natural). i'm not sure in particular how FCP does this, but i'm sure you'd be able to do it. it doesn't have to be timeconsuming. if i use my NLE (PPro), then i setup my default photo duration to be a particular number of seconds, then it's just a case of applying my pre-made presets (movement, flashes, dissolves). or if i want to go fancy in 3D space, i'll use AE, and i've made a few of my own templates for specific number of photos. so then it's 'drag and drop' with the photos, and press 'render'. hope that helps

March 25th, 2008, 03:17 PM	#9
SiuChung Leung Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: New Zealand Posts: 231	Thx guy for the advise. Seems like I did the time consuming way.However, I'm like the photo to match the music. But I sure will look into preset a script and Favorite. Which would be a time-saving for me. Go check out the demo at http://animoto.com/ the tricks in those montage is quite inpressive to me and it is hard to do that in FCP.