When we recently moved, it was hard to see boxes of video camera tapes with so many special moments from my kids’ early days– i.e the days before easy cell phone video. There are so many first moments and birthdays and holidays that sit on those tapes, all through the many years of me insisting, “This fall, when the kids go back to school, I am going to take this video and turn it into something wonderful.”
Then, every fall goes by with me not doing it.
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Unfortunately, I’m not much better with cell phone videos either. Enter Yourkidvid, which is made for parents like me. This company of professional storytellers, directors, and editors will take your random video clips and turn them into a professional work of video art.
I recently tried it out with our Thanksgiving video clips and I was thrilled with the result. The video is cute, funny, and clearly professionally produced with titles, music, sound mixing, and tasteful transitions.Plus a charming little pre-roll countdown like with old films and an intro that looks like a projector screen coming down.
The best part? I didn’t have to lift a finger. Check out the end result: Thanksgiving with the Cousins (though it may be most interesting to my own family). The whole process was easy and I had my finished product back within two days (which is way better than my own turnaround time). For now, you use Dropbox, Google Drive, or Skydrive to upload your video clips, but I hear that a direct upload tool is coming very soon. I found the whole process to be smooth, though a direct upload tool would definitely make it easier for those not as well-versed with the cloud.
There are two levels of Yourkidvid service: Lite ($29) and Premium ($49). The main difference is that you can upload up to 8 minutes of raw video with the Lite version and up to 15 minutes with the Premium version. The premium version also gives you premium graphics, animated transitions, professional color correction, and sound mixing.Check out the side-by-side video comparison to see the difference.
The choice between the two service levels is really up to you and the quality that you desire in the end product. For my own purposes, I think the Premium service would be good for really special events or for videos as gifts, but the Lite service would be just fine for everyday moments that you still want to organize and enhance.
There are obviously other services that allow you to do similar things (see our review on Animoto), but I see this service as a great choice for preserving the events that matter the most.Especially for those of us who don’t have the time, energy, or skills to do it so well ourselves. Now I just wish they would let me mail them all of those old videotapes. – Kristin
Want to give Yourkidvid a try over the holidays or gift it to the grandparents? Our readers save 20% through 12/31/13 with the discount code CMPHOLIDAY. You can also give a holiday gift card for a mini-movie.
Ed: We’re excited to welcome Kristin Camplese as our newest contributor. Not to be confused with Kristen. But just as cool. Whoo!
