And how many photos and songs to use. A simple guide for planning.
Most families wonder about the same three things: how long the video or funeral slideshow should be, how many photos to use and how many songs. There's no single right answer, but a little arithmetic helps.
Start with the photos you have. Choose how long the video runs and watch it free.
Start my free draft video
5 to 10 minutes
a good length for a funeral or memorial service5 to 7 seconds
about how long each photo stays on screen3 to 4 minutes
the length of a typical songFor a funeral or memorial service, 5 to 10 minutes usually feels right: long enough to tell their story, short enough that everyone stays with it. For a visitation or a reception, where the video plays in the background, it can run longer and simply start again.
Each photo stays on screen for about 5 to 7 seconds. So 60 photos make a video of about 5 to 7 minutes, and 120 photos about 10 to 14 minutes. Choose photos from every part of their life: childhood, school, young love, the family years, the grandchildren.
A song usually runs 3 to 4 minutes. A 5-minute video needs one or two songs. A 10-minute video needs about three. Some families keep one song for the whole video, others change the music with each chapter of a life. For ideas, see songs for a memorial slideshow.
Most families go from childhood to the last years, so the video tells a life the way it was lived. Putting a hundred photos in order is the slow part; our memorial video maker suggests the order by age and you move any photo that's out of place. Some families group photos by theme instead: family, work, travel, the grandchildren.
About 8 minutes long, with 3 songs
