How many photos do you need for a 1, 3 or 6 minute video?

A one minute growing up video needs 13 photos. Each transition joins two consecutive photos and turns the first into the second over a 5 second clip. 13 photos make 12 transitions, and 12 times 5 seconds is 60 seconds.

The general rule: N photos give N minus 1 clips. The first photo is the starting point, and every photo after it adds 5 more seconds. That is why each extra minute needs exactly 12 more photos.

This math applies to a growing up video, where photos flow into each other with no cuts. If that format is new to you, start with what an AI growing up video is. The personal opening adds about 5 seconds at the start, and a closing card, if you add one, another 5 seconds at the end.

To go the other way, from a photo count to a length, subtract one and multiply by 5 seconds. 30 photos, for example, make 29 clips, which is 2 minutes and 25 seconds.

On Memvivo you can upload up to 80 photos per project, and packs are sold by video length, from 1 to 6 minutes. Current prices for each length are on the pricing page.

• 1 minute (13 photos): Stories, Reels or a message in the family group chat.
• 2 to 4 minutes (25 to 49 photos): a screening at an event, like a bar mitzvah or a milestone birthday. This is the length a room will watch to the end.
• 5 to 6 minutes (61 to 73 photos): a long life story, like a 70th or 80th birthday, a decades long anniversary or a family tribute.

The count matters less than the quality of each photo. A few rules that make the difference:

• The same person in every photo. In a growing up video each photo turns into the next, so the same person needs to be there throughout. It also works for a couple, with both people in every photo.
• Clear faces. Facing the camera, in good light, and reasonably large in the frame. A distant group shot carries little.
• Spread across the years. Even gaps between ages beat ten photos from one summer and nothing from the years after.
• Chronological order. Earliest to latest. Jumping back in time breaks the feeling of growth.
• Old prints are welcome. Photograph them from the album with your phone, as described in how to scan old photos with your phone.

If every photo in your set shows different people, for example one of each grandchild, Classic style on Memvivo animates each photo on its own and suits that better.

One more check: photos where the face is partly hidden, by sunglasses, a big hat or a hand, work less well. If you have two photos from the same period, pick the one where you can see the eyes. And one sharp photo beats three blurry ones.

Say you are making a three minute video for Mom's 70th birthday. The table says 37 photos. Here is one way to split them:

1. Childhood and teens, age 0 to 18: 9 photos, roughly one every two years. This period usually has the fewest photos, mostly from albums.
2. College, first jobs and the wedding, age 18 to 30: 7 photos.
3. Young kids at home, age 30 to 45: 8 photos. Here there are usually too many, and you will need to choose.
4. Age 45 to 60: 6 photos.
5. Age 60 to today: 7 photos, including one from the last few months to close.

The split does not have to be exact. If one period has lots of strong photos and another has few, give the first a few extra. What matters is that no period disappears completely, and that the video ends close to today.

This is the more common problem. A parent's phone holds thousands of photos, and the hard part is letting go. A method that works:

1. Fix the length first, and take the photo count from the table.
2. Split the years into equal periods and give each period a quota. For a 3 minute video covering 40 years, that comes to roughly one photo per year.
3. In each period, pick the photo with the clearest face, not the most important moment. The moment can go in a caption.
4. Drop near duplicates. Three photos from the same birthday party look almost identical in a video.

If you still have lots of strong photos left, choose a longer video, or start a second project for one chapter of their life.

Almost every family has gaps. The years between the last printed albums and the first smartphones, time away at college or in the army, years when nobody thought to take a picture. That is fine.

• Ask the wider family. Aunts, old friends and neighbors sometimes have exactly the missing year.
• Look through other people's events: cousins' weddings, school ceremonies, friends' birthday parties.
• If a year simply does not exist, skip it. The jump between the two ages will be bigger, and it still looks natural.
• If you do not have enough photos for the length you wanted, go shorter. A strong minute beats three minutes of weak photos.