Life Catchers – Frequently Asked Questions

Your Questions

Ask us to handcraft your special feature
Ask us to bring your vision to life
Ask us to help you remember and be remembered

Gathered here is a list of the most frequently asked questions we receive – along with our responses, we hope having them here is of some help to you. They are grouped under the following sections:

Photos, Slides & Memorabilia
Music
8mm and 16mm films
Interviews
Ordering, Payment & Process

If your question is not answered here, please get in touch as we'd be happy to help!

Photos & Slides - Your Questions

Exactly what is a photo collage?
A photo collage is kind of like a slide show for the 21st century. Photo collages can be used for a variety of purposes ranging from surprise gifts, invitations and greetings, right through to very special memorials. It's your favourite slides, photos and paper memorabilia creatively combined with music, titles and special effect transitions. Each picture appears on the screen for around 6 seconds before dissolving into the next ie: one photo fades down as the next fades up.

What are special effect transitions?
These are the way we move from picture to picture so that the effect is not jerky or cut like a slideshow. Transitions add an element of movement and life to your production. Our transitions range from the basic dissolves and wipes, to 3D transitions eg: one photo rolls up into the shape of a balloon and floats away over the top of the new photo. At Life Catchers we have a toolbox filled with hundreds of quality special effects for transitions – our skill is in choosing the ones that will enhance your project rather than overwhelm it.

What criteria should I use when selecting the photos to include in my collage, life story or other project?
It will probably be very apparent to you what photos/slides you should include, but here's some additional tips:

Choose the most meaningful pictures

Choose the pictures that show character and personality

Choose photos that are candid

Choose a mix of close-ups as well as photos that have groups and action in them

Choose photos to reveal the most important stages of life eg: important moments, significant events like first day at school, graduation, wedding etc

Choose more horizontal shots than vertical shots. The reason for this is that TV screens are wider than they are high, so horizontal shots fill the screen and look much better. Vertical shots will appear on the TV screen with black borders on each side (or will need dramatic cropping). There's not a problem with the borders, but too many vertical shots one after the other won't be as pleasing to look at as horizontal ones.

Avoid photos that are too similar

Avoid out of focus photos

Avoid selecting too many photos without people in them

How many photos do I need to make up a 5, 10 or 20 minute production?

50 photos result approximately in a 5 to 7 minute production.
100 photos result approximately in a 10 to 12 minute production.
150 photos can be 15 to 22 minutes long.
500 photos…more than an hour
1000 photos…two hours

What size pictures can I send?
We can work with any size picture (eg: photo or piece of memorabilia like a wedding invitation), right up to A4-size, which is 210mm x 297mm.

Can I scan the pictures myself, burn them to CD and send them to you?
If you know what you are doing, you can definitely do this. But we need to stress that if you do not scan them correctly, we will need to charge you to resize them. If you are scanning them, you need to crop and size them to fit 720 horizontal x 480 vertical pixels. The higher the resolution, the better your photos will look on the screen, so up to 300 pixels/inch is great. Unfortunately, less than 100 pixels/inch will result in a very grainy picture. You need the save the images as JPEGS, give them an identifying name or number and burn them to CD. We are unable to accept photos via email.

Should the photos I send be vertical or horizontal?
Horizontal photos (also known as landscape) will look the best on your TV screen. Vertical photos will have black space (borders) around them when shown, and the entire image may not fit on the screen. Too many vertical photos, especially when placed one after the other, will not give you the best experience, so it is best to limit them. Having said that though, vertical photos can make good first and last shots, as the titles can be run on the side border.

The photos that I want to use are firmly stuck in the album. What should I do?
Rather than further damage them by trying to remove them, you should send us the entire album, putting a numbered sticky note beside each of the images you would like us to use. We will then either scan the photos or use our professional video gear to capture the image. You will need to advise us of the weight of your package as we may need to charge you extra for freight to return the album/s to you.

Can I send photos to you still in their frames?
No, we do not accept photos still in their frames. The glass can shatter in transit, ruining the photo, and we would hate for that to happen.

Can I send sepia and black and white photos? What about newspaper clippings and other printed memorabilia?
You certainly can! Anything up to A4 size we can work with.

Will you digitally crop my photos?
We do not normally crop the scanned photos or make any enhancements to them, but if it would really improve the image and you'd like it done, it is definitely one of the services we offer for a small additional fee. We can crop an image to focus more closely on the action, or even crop someone out!

Do you restore old photos?
We can't restore your old photos, but we can enhance them during the digital process. That is, your photo itself won't be improved, but if you would like us to digitally enhance a photo for the actual production we can definitely do that for a small additional fee. It's amazing the difference we can make! We use special software to remove dust spots, mould and scratches. We can also lighten or darken, sharpen or blur your photos.

How should I choose the order for my photos?
We will prepare your project in the exact order that you send the photos to us. You can choose to organise them in two different ways.
1. Chronologically eg: birth, toddler years, childhood, teen, dating, work, marriage, children OR 1930's, 1940's, 1950's
or
2. By theme eg: eating, moving, holidaying, Mother's side of the family, Father's side of the family, cars he has owned, fancy dresses she has worn etc

How should I mark my photos so you know what order to put them in?
See our Photo Collage preparation tips for this information.

How long will each photo appear on the screen?
Each photo will appear for between 5-10 seconds, 6 seconds is normally the most suitable but this can vary depending on the nature of the photos, the tempo of the music and the special effect transitions we're using.

How should I choose my start and end photos?
Make these your very best shots, as often they will appear in the screen the longest, or will have titles overlayed on them.

I'm worried about sending my photos, how do I know you will return my photos in the same condition as you received them?
We can totally understand why you would be worried, because we know how important your photos are. It's because we know how irreplaceable photos and the memories they evoke are that we treat your photos as if they are our own.

To this day, we have never damaged or lost any photo entrusted to us. We guarantee your photos will be returned to you in the same condition as we received them, unless something catastrophic happens that is out of our control.

To put you further at ease, we employ all manner of precautions in our studios to protect your photos (including no liquids or food allowed in the work rooms), however you do need to consider how you ship your photos to us, and we advise strongly that you do not just put them in the post. Due to the shipping process being totally outside our control, we do need to ask you to sign a waiver on our order form that absolves us of any responsibility for your materials during the shipping process.

How should I protect my photos/cds whilst they're in transit?
Package your photos well using hard cardboard on all sides to provide a solid shell for your photos. We also recommend you use a plastic Ziploc bag to contain each section of photographs to protect them from any spillage during the delivery process. If you are sending CDs, place them in bubble wrap and in cardboard to protect the case from cracking (a common problem with Cds). Add some type of soft material in any large spaces in the package, that'll help insulate it from knocks or drops.

Music – Your Questions

Do I need to supply music, or will you do that?
We have a selection of music you can choose from, but if the song or instrumental you would like to use is not among them, you can send us your own CDs.

What about music copyright laws?
Life Catchers pays an annual fee to AMCOS/ARIA for a Domestic Use Video Licence (for CD, video and DVD). This licence grants us permission to add music to your project as long as:

the reproduced musical works or sound recordings are not used in corporate videos, training films or for any video which will be commercially marketed, or made for sale to the general public or for the purpose of public screening

the video does not contain any promotional or advertising material; and

the video must be made for the private domestic viewing only of those appearing in the video

When you fill in your order form, you need to acknowledge that you are aware of and will abide by these laws.

What music formats do you accept?
We accept music on CD.

Where can I see your current Music Library?
The Music Library is available here.

Can I choose my music for different sections of the project? Or will you do that for me.
We're happy to do either. On the order forms it allows you to direct us either way.

How do you edit the music?
It varies, depending on the length of your project, the most appropriate use of the song and the way the song is working with your photos/video etc. We can also, and often do, fade songs up and down early (ie: shorten them). You can either direct us in this area (via the order form), or give us permission to use our discretion.

What if the song I select is actually shorter than the images?
Not a problem, we can either add some of our own filler music, or you can send us an additional song to fade to.

If I only want part of a song and are burning it to CD send to you, should I only record the part of the song I want?
No, please send us the entire song, and just direct us as to when you would like us to fade it up and down.

I know exactly when I want the music to play behind each photo, I have timed it perfectly. Can you match my instructions?
We can come close, but it's unlikely we'll be able to match your vision exactly, as you also need to allow for the addition of seconds here and there for transitions, titles etc. Because not all of the special effect transitions we use are exactly the same, some of your images may play shorter or longer than the average of six seconds...so unfortunately, we won't be able to match your timing down to the second, though we can try to fade music up or down on the image you decide on.

How many music selections should I use?
That depends on the length of your project. For a short project, a good ratio to work on is approximately one song/music piece for every 20-30 pictures. eg: if you have 100 pictures, that would be up to five songs (or parts thereof).

Interviews – Your Questions

I'm thinking about doing a Life Story video, will you send me questions before the interview to help prepare me?
Once you have booked for your Life Story, we send you a lovely long list of questions aimed at evoking your memories. The questions will take you back, and bring to life the colours, sounds, smells, people, passions, feelings, wheelings and dealings of your life so far. We won't necessarily ask you each of these specific questions during your interview, but they will help you focus in advance on what you'd really like to get across

I'm terribly nervous about appearing on camera, can you help?
You wouldn't be human if you weren't a bit nervous - even actors who are household names get nervous before they begin filming! We try and make it as easy as possible though, and the Life Catchers team are experts at making you feel like you're just having a chat over a cup of coffee!

I'm worried I will make mistakes, and um and aah a lot.
Aah, the beauty of editing! This is your video, so we're going to ensure the editing of it shows you in the best light possible, that means editing out any awkward moments. If at any time during the filming you want to call “Cut” – you can – you're the star here.

Where will you film me?
Normally we film in your home, with you sitting in a favourite room. We like to film in a room with a decent amount of natural light. Sometimes we also move to the garden, balcony or other areas of the house if this suits your Life Story. For people who are ill, we can film wherever you are most comfortable.

Old 8mm and 16mm Films – Your Questions

Can you convert my 8mm and 16mm films to video or DVD?
We use our quality-checked external providers for this service as it requires very specific expertise and equipment to get the best result.

How much does it cost?
Please email us with the number and size of the reels you'd like converted, and we will get back to you with a quote.

Should I get all my reels converted, or just those segments I really want?
This depends. If you're getting the reels converted so we can edit them for you into another production, you should just advise us of the segments you really want as this will save you money. However, if you'd like to get your reels transferred once and for all to DVD for safekeeping (and to VHS so you can watch whenever you like), you'll save money (and quality) in the long run by just getting it all down now. Also, the sooner you convert your films, the sooner you can start watching them again!

Ordering, Payment & Process – Your Questions

How long will it take you to complete my project?
Simple photo collages will be completed in five to seven working days after we have received your material. Video Messages can often be filmed and finalised within a fortnight or so. Intricate projects like Biographies and Family Histories can take approximately one to two months to complete once we have accepted the job and made room for it on our production schedule. There can be a lengthy waiting list for this service so contact us soon if you think you'd like to proceed.

How can I get my order sooner?
In the case of photo collages, you can expedite your project by paying a Rush Fee. Also, when space on our production calendar allows, you can also pay a Rush Fee to have Video Messages and other more extensive projects completed in record time.

What is your rush fee?
It's a fee we must charge to cover overtime, and additional production and courier fees. It can be up to 25% but that depends on the urgency of the project.

How Can I Place My Order?
For photo collage orders and home movie video edit orders , simply fill out the relevant order form, enclose your payment and send it to us by either courier or registered post with your raw materials (ie: photos, cds for the music, video tapes etc). We'll let you know as soon as it arrives, and when you can expect the finished product.

For life stories and biographies, family history videos and messages we will definitely need to get in touch with eachother, so send us an email or give us a call to arrange a suitable time to discuss your needs.

What formats can you provide my project in?
Depending on the length of your project, we can supply in your chosen format/s including on:

CD (mpeg file)

VHS (PAL and NTSC)

DVD

If you have a different requirement, eg: video 8, just let us know. We use professional quality duplication services to ensure every copy of your project is the best it can be.

What forms of payment do you accept?
We are happy to accept:

Bankcard, Visa & MasterCard
Direct Deposit
Personal Cheques (projects will be despatched on clearance of the cheque)
Money Orders

When is payment expected?
We require 100% of payment up front before beginning any project. As a small and specialised business, we try to devote our energies and enthusiasm to your project, rather than focus on debt collection for other slow paying clients

Do you have a guarantee?
Yes, we guarantee you'll be happy with the final work we do for you. Why? It's because we put our heart and soul into every job we do and we collaborate with you during the process. Because you've been an active participant along the way, we'd be surprised if you're not happy with our work, but if you're not and you let us know within 3 days of receiving it, we'll re-do it for you!

Where to from here?

For a Photo collage : get your material together, fill out the order form and send it to us
Other projects involving editing and videoing and if we didn't answer you question above please: Contact us

Photo Collages Set to Music | Video Editing | Interviews | CD,Video & DVD Photo Albums

Remember and be remembered - Contact Life Catchers today!