A tribute video or memorial film looks lovely, but during the service itself a presentation that can wait and move on has big advantages. An honest comparison, plus the combination that brings together the best of both.
A presentation waits for a click; a film just plays on, even when it does not fit.
Another photo the evening before? Adjust it and download again.
An existing tribute video gets its own block and starts by itself.
Building it yourself is free; only the final version costs 1 credit.
A tribute video, also called a memorial film or photo film, is an edited film file: photos and sometimes video clips, placed one after another to music. Often such a film is made by a specialist agency and delivered as an MP4. As a lasting memento for the time after the funeral it is a lovely thing; as the carrier of the whole service, however, a film has a fundamental drawback: it cannot wait.
A funeral service is not a film that runs from start to finish. There are speakers who talk for longer, moments of silence and a final farewell that no one knows the length of in advance. That is why funeral venues work with PowerPoint:
On screen the audience sees the same thing: photos that flow calmly into one another, with music underneath. How that works technically is explained on the page about the PowerPoint for the funeral service.
It does not have to be an either-or choice. If you already have a tribute video, a filmed message or a treasured clip, you add it as its own video block in the running order. During the service the video starts by itself at the right moment, full screen, and afterwards the presentation carries on automatically. That way you combine the editing of the video with the flexibility of the presentation around it.
For the part with photos and music you need no agency and have nothing to edit. You upload the photos and the music, and the tool works out the time per photo so that the song and the last photo end together; exactly what an editor would do by hand. How you select the photos is explained on the page about the funeral photo presentation.
Building it and viewing a trial version with a watermark is free; the final version costs 1 credit: €19.95 per funeral service. By comparison: having a tribute video edited usually costs tens to well over a hundred euros, and every later change costs time or money again.
About tribute videos, memorial films and combining them with a presentation.
Yes. You add the video (MP4) as its own block in the running order. During the service it starts by itself at the right moment, full screen, and afterwards the presentation carries on automatically. That way you combine the best of both: the editing of the video and the flexibility of the presentation.
Having a tribute video edited by an agency usually costs tens to well over a hundred euros, and every later change costs time or money again. With this tool, building it and a trial version are free; the final presentation costs €19.95 per funeral service and stays free to adjust up to 7 days after the service.
With a single continuous film, everything that comes afterwards then shifts; someone has to pause or fast-forward the video, at exactly the wrong moment. A PowerPoint simply waits for a click at a speaker and moves on afterwards; overrunning is therefore never a problem.
The end result on screen is the same: photos that flow calmly into one another, with music underneath. The difference is in the control. Funeral venues ask specifically for PowerPoint because it can adapt to the course of the service; with fades, timing to the music and autoplay video it looks just as refined as a film.
Build the presentation for free, with your video as its own block. Only the final version costs 1 credit.