First Birthday Ideas: Capture the Memories: Video Montage

While many parents have the capabilities to upload and edit video footage on our computer, few do.

Seeing your baby blow out that little candle on his or her first birthday cake over and over again in a video montage is priceless.

This process can be pretty easy, depending on what kind equipment you have and what you want the final product to be.

Step 1: Capture the Moments on Video

• It's a given that you'll need a video camera or camcorder to shoot the footage. Think about the story that you want the montage to tell and have a plan of action right from the start.

• Create a shot list or even a script of what you want the final product to be.

Do you want to start with baby pictures leading up to the first birthday? Perhaps you want to open with a sequence of the baby's milestone moments to date and use captions like, "Baby's First Tooth."

• If nothing else, write down the anticipated highlights of first birthday party events like the cake, the baby with presents, and anything else that is important to you.

• Practice with the camera, if necessary, to make sure that you are comfortable with exposures, lighting for the time of your party, technical details, or fun angles that will take your video to a pro level.

Step 2: Upload the Video Footage to Your Computer

• Newer camcorders have plug-ins where you can run a cord from the camera to your USB computer port and easily upload footage.

• If you have an older camera, consider taking the camera to an electronic store and asking a knowledgeable salesperson what you need to upload videos to your computer.

You may want to take a little snapshot of the computer ports in the front and back for reference.

• Then, you'll need a software editing program or online resource to upload the footage to.

Step 3: Edit the Video

• Some computers have video editing software programs that are included with the purchase of the computer. Or you can pick up a video editing program at most places that sell software or camcorders.

Be your own movie studio and put it all together yourself on the computer using the footage, photos, and music.

• To do it all online, go to an editing website like Jumpcut and follow upload and edit instructions.

• Check out digital scrapbook sites like Scrapblog and edit your video with "bells & whistles" to create the look of a cool photo-video scrapbook.

• You can also pay a service to edit the video for you completely online. Research options, prices, and their finished videos to find one that fits your style and budget.

Step 4: Create the Viewing Format for Your Video Montage

• To make or "burn" a DVD disk of the edited video that you can watch on TV using a DVD player, you'll need:

1. a software program that puts the video into DVD format
2. a recordable DVD drive in your computer where the DVD disk can be burned or created.

• Take stock of the software and equipment you have to burn a disk, and then visit an electronic store or look online to find products that will help you put your video on a DVD disk. Make plenty of copies for doting relatives!

• For online viewing, upload your video to YouTube or a similar site and send a Celebrations.com invitation with the video link so that family and friends can see it!

• You can also log in to Celebrations.com and contribute your great ideas along with the video URL from YouTube.