Money Saving Tips
You don't have to spend lots of money to to produce an awesome looking video.  With just a little planning and a bit of initiative on your part, your video project will be completed on time and within YOUR budget. 

The more you can to prepare, the more you save $$$!

Here are a few tips that you can think about when considering Digital Memories as your video partner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Montage
Tips

  • Have a plan.  Review all video footage and index those scenes you want to use in your montage

  • Be organized. Identify any still pictures, newspaper articles etc. you want scanned and used in the production.  Be sure to add any comments or notes that may be important for us to know during the production process.  Label each picture with a Post-It Note.  Attach each to label the front of each photo to be scanned.

  • Think Music.  Include your musical preferences for background audio.  Indicate your preferences by musical style, artist or actual selection.  If we don't have a particular song you need, we will make all possible attempts to secure it for you.

  • The Bottom Line. The more you can do to prepare, the less we need to charge!

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Editing Home Movies The most difficult thing in editing video is deciding what stays in and what gets cut out!  Now you must separate your emotions and pride of authorship and do what is right for the viewers.  The good news is, what ever you give us to edit will be returned to you in the same condition as when we first received it.

  • Duration. The most important decision you have is how long you want your movie to run.  There is really no set rule but you must consider your audience.  Put yourself in their shoes... how long can you stand to watch someone else's video?  Here is my rule of thumb: major events like weddings, and long vacations etc. 30 minutes max.  No exceptions.  Smaller events should be limited to 15 minutes.

  • Edit for quality. Eliminate scenes which are out of focus, too dark, or make the viewer nauseous due to excessive camera movement.  If you accidentally forgot to turn off your camera and have 10 minutes you video taping you feet, I recommend deleting this as well.

  • Eliminate redundancy.  Get rid of scenes which repeat over and over again.

  • Adding Photos. If you took photos or have brochures you want scanned and added, clearly mark the these items using Post-It notes and indicate where you want them inserted.

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Transferring
Your Photos
To Tape

  • Be Organized. Identify all the pictures pictures, newspaper articles etc. you want scanned and used in the production. 

  • Annotate. Using Post-It notes, number each picture in the order you want it to appear in the sequence.  Pictures duration averages 6 seconds.  If you want certain pictures to appear longer or to run shorter, indicate this on the Post-It note.

  • Think Music. If you have any special musical selections you want played in the background, indicate this on the the picture.

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Indexing Your Video Tape When you index your video tape, you are giving our editing staff instructions as to what to include or exclude in your production.  You will create a series of pointers that will tell us where you want a particular scene start and where you want it to finish. 

  • Rewind your tape. Rewind your tape to the very beginning... not where the video starts.  This is very important because this will insure that your tape is more closely synchronized with our digital editors.

  • Reset your counter. All VCRs have tape counters.  Some are mechanical, in that they display a tape location based on a series of spinning wheels, much like the odometer of your car.  Other types of tape counters are digital.  Regardless of the type you have, press the tape counter's reset button so that it reads all zeros.

  • Locate Your Scenes. Identify all the scenes you want to keep in or edit out by viewing your video tape (in real time).  Using your VCR's remote control, press the PAUSE button at each point you want to start or stop your video scene.  We have included a Video Editing Log to make this task a bit easier for you.  To view or print this form, you will need to download and install the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.

  • Number and Annotate.  Number and annotate each scene you want to keep in your final production by writing down the tape counter's start and finish numbers for each scene you want to keep.

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The Digital Memories Referral Program

Advertising and marketing is expensive.  That's why I am asking you to tell your friends about Digital Memories.  Word of mouth recommendations is the best form of advertising so why not let me thank you for your assistance.  

If you refer a customer to us, Digital Memories will pay you a finder's fee of 10% (of your referral's first invoice).  In other words, if your referral results in a video job invoiced at $300, I pay you $30.  Not bad for just a recommendation.

Just have your friends contact me by phone or through this web site.

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