Unique photo montage ideas

bStro wrote on 9/7/2006, 7:49 PM
A while back, it was mentioned to me that my mother-in-law would like for me to do the photo montage for one of her other daughter's wedding. (No engagement yet, let alone a set date. This is just a "whenever it happens" sort of thing.) Unless something else comes up before then, it would be the closest thing to a "gig" I've ever done, as everything I've done so has been just for fun. Ie, no pressure whatsoever.

So, I've been playing around with the (warning: cliche coming up) Ken Burns effect thing, and I suppose this would do wel enough, especially if care is taken to match up in / out points of each pic at the crossfade.

But then I saw the Found this in my travels thread, and thought maybe I should do something more interesting. Probably not like the 3D one in that thread*, 'cause I'm not sure it'd be right for a traditional wedding (which this will surely be), but at least something a little different than just "pan down, fade, zoom out, fade, repeat." (Not that there's anything wrong with that. ;)

Certainly, I would run the possibilities past the bride, groom, and mother before I invest much time in the actual montage, but I think I've got plenty of time to experiment and put together a few demos.

So, anyone see / do anything inspirational in this area?

Rob

Comments

joropeza wrote on 9/7/2006, 8:09 PM
If you're looking for inspiration and/or ideas take a look at this montage made by Kyle Bainter. I think this is a wonderful and different way to present pictures.

Juan
MH_Stevens wrote on 9/7/2006, 8:24 PM
Very impressive. How does she do that? is there a package to do that or is it all manual and original?
jrazz wrote on 9/7/2006, 8:31 PM
Here are a few. They are made with 3d-album.com's software. (Horrible user interface)

1.

2.

3.

j razz
joropeza wrote on 9/7/2006, 9:08 PM
Stevens,

It was all done in after effects. No need for a NLE! This Link will give you more info.

Juan
fixler wrote on 9/7/2006, 11:04 PM
I am really interested in what Kyle Bainter is doing. I can see how it would be done in Vegas, but can't imagine he has gone to that trouble - it would require serious hours of work!

Anyone know?
randy-stewart wrote on 9/8/2006, 5:46 AM
Here's a couple of links with slide shows that have some creativity (all using Vegas):

http://www.generations-video.com/onlinesamples.html (scroll down to slide show sample)
http://www.dmbvp.com/aboutme.html (go to his gallery for samples)
http://www.ttdweddings.com/Demos.html (check out the quirky slide show)
http://www.cr-home-videos.com/samplevideos.html (my slide shows and other vids)
http://cr-home-videos.com/upload/victoria-tim-512k.wmv (one my son did that I like)

Lots of creative stuff out there. Hope this helps a little.
Randy
jetdv wrote on 9/8/2006, 7:31 AM
Rob, you might want to look at the "Kids in the Picture" article in Vol 3 #3 of my newsletters.
dibbkd wrote on 9/8/2006, 7:39 AM
I used a free program called Andrea Mosaic to create this:

Mosaic demo

I did that one real quick, so it's not nearly perfect, but you get the idea.

Get it here: Andrea Mosaic

I created the mosaic's with that program, then used Vegas to pan/crop it around and to blend the two mosaics. It's very easy to learn.
bStro wrote on 9/9/2006, 1:36 PM
Thanks for all the examples and suggestions, folks. I've definitely got enough to start toying around, and can see the potential with some of these to really put a personal touch on the project.

My intent, and I might still do, was to do this almost exclusively in Vegas other than some Paint Shop Pro here and there for tidying up, but some of the other programs look like fun, too.

I've actually been wondering how to go about getting the look achieved by the 3D-Album programs -- it's similar to the Kids in the Picture effect, but seems to be a step further. (If you've seen the opening credits for the Sci-Fi show Eureaka, you know what I mean.) Though I'm not sure I'd personally want to use it for a wedding montage. Would depend on the couple's tastes, I suppose. At any rate, I'll probably check out it for other projects, if not this one. I can't find a trial version, though, so I'm guessing maybe they're one of the few software companies that don't off them? <g>

Thanks again! Samples have been downloaded and will be studied.

Rob
jrazz wrote on 9/9/2006, 1:47 PM
Rob, if you do decide to purchase 3d-album's software, you have to purchase the commercial version to sell your projects legally. I personally do not think it is worth the price. Like I said, the interface is horrible and always takes me longer to figure out how to set up my project than it does to actually make the project.

If it was easier to use and had a normal windows interface- great buy, but again, it is one of the hardest programs I have ever tried to figure out. It is like the designers said, "watch this, let's have some fun guys"- and they made a pretty, skinnable interface that does not tell you what buttons are what and what tab you need to be in to do what- it is like trying to hunt for a needle in a haystack. It took me over an hour to try and figure out how to just change the order of my pictures.

j razz
auggybendoggy wrote on 9/9/2006, 6:19 PM
I prefer using Carrara studio myself for something like the photos over the white desktop with soft shadows.

Easy and controls are simple.

Great interface.

Plus its a full 3d modeler and tracer.

Aug
zstevek wrote on 9/9/2006, 6:35 PM
Any guesses on what this feature will bring to photo Montages:

DVD Architect 4 New Audio and Video Features

This may give us some really nice new ways to create photo montages??
bStro wrote on 9/10/2006, 8:34 AM
jrazz: Thanks for the tips. I'll probably pass on 3D-Album. If they had a demo version, I'd at least try it out.

Aug: Although I have been eyeing Carrara of late, it's probably overkill for the montage I would do. I don't want to get too "out there" with the 3D in it, assuming I even use 3D. (The 3D montage I saw before was just what got me thinking about unique montages, but it's I'm not locke onto using 3D for mine.) I will probably look into Carrara later on for other purposes, but have nothing to justify buying it at the moment. ;-)

zstevek: I'm guessing the "slideshow animations" is primarily just transitions between pictures, since that's been asked for over and over on the DVDA forum, but you never know what else it might include.

Rob
randy-stewart wrote on 9/10/2006, 10:47 AM
Here's the link to the 3D-Album Gallery that is part of their forum http://www.3d-album.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=20&sid=c8d478c8920f94eb236a0b5da6abe7fe . You'll see lots of examples there. The program is very easy to use (once you become familiar) and does so many things for you that you can set up a fully animated show very quickly. It also renders in .avi format extremely quickly. I use it to create openings, endings, and special parts of a slide show, then bring the .avi files into Vegas for special effects, music, and titles. Some fo the presets are a little cheezy but for automated animation, it really excels. Hope this helps with your show.
Randy