Length of long version

[Chris Harding]

My main concern is the "boring factor" so I assemble the DVD into event clips so they can just watch each event so I guess it's kinda like 15 odd short form videos. The bride can use the menu to jump to say, the Father of the Bride speech etc etc without having to watch everything.

I'm still contemplating whether it would be much better (from the bride's POV) to make a simple condensed highlights video on just one disk around 20 minutes and then give her the full ceremony and full speeches on a second disk? I know it's more work than just making a clip of each event and spreading them over 2 DVD's but I could charge a bit more as a highlight takes more work.

I know breaking the wedding into event clips is weird but my brides seem to like it and it also means I'm working with fairly short clips on the timeline and not one huge 60 minute video so if I have an issue it's restricted to just a short, easy to fault find clip rather than having to scroll thru masses of track to change something! With long ceremonies I even break up the ceremony ..like opening prayers and readings are one clip, the homily is another clip, the vows and rings a third clip, and register signing and exit a fourth clip. I put a black backed title on each clip for 5 seconds and fade to black at each end so if the bride chooses "Play all movies" they still play seamlessly and it is less boring to watch as the start of each new sequence allows a quick brain reset before it begins !

Chris

[Tim Bakland]

Cool, Chris.

For my "running footage" (the long part, but the short part to edit), I *basically* do what you do but in a different way. I *do* have it all on one timeline, but set chapter marks so that the bride can navigate to the father's toast, say, as you mentioned. I also have quick fades to black between segments to give a mental pause. But I really don't fuss too much with the running footage. The Highlights (Short Form film) is what gets most of my time and attention. And the trailer.

And when they put in their disc, the Highlights are definitely showcased. (I want to put the best foot forward.)

[Chris Harding]

Hi Tim

Maybe I shouldn't be so lazy!!! I used to start off disk 1 with a intro that was a "shortened" trailer running around 30 seconds to start everything off with very brief highlights and titles with bridal names, date etc etc and I started leaving it out and just had the DVD menu and it went straight into the first event from there.

So on disk 1 the first thing the bride sees is the highlight clip?? Do you run that before the DVD menu comes up? I used to run my intro on DVD startup and then present the bride with the long form menu and she could then choose "Watch all Movies" or select what she wanted to.

I simply do my edit as short clips cos it's way easier for me and I can easily sit down and just do say, bridal prep ..render and turn the computer off and then later tackle the ceremony. That way my renders are also very fast and don't tie up the machine if I have other things to do ...I'd much rather see a render to MPEG2 finish in 4 minutes than the render window say "1 hour 40 minutes" !! We all have a different workflow but I simply find it easier to do short segments and get each finished before doing the next one,

Chris

[Tim Bakland]

All on one disc -- but the Highlights play first (if you go to "Play Film" on main menu). If you go to the chapters, you can see the running footage chapters, too. So they can choose.

As things go online more often nowadays, the highlights become even more central for me (and the trailer, too), since that is what 95% of family and friends are viewing (and prospective clients).