The DVD has really evolved since that first year (2002). For the inaugural video, there was one song ("Butterfly Kisses"), only contained pictures, and the disc only worked on computers. Two years later, I bought a new program (Pinnacle Studio) and the quality really increased (although it is a memory hog and crashes quite a bit). I now was able to create a true DVD - one that you could play on a DVD player. I was also able to create menus so I could have multiple songs and was able to incorporate videos instead of just pictures. The DVD has grown over the last several years and Briana had 5 songs on this year's version: 1) Butterfly Kisses - used every year; it focuses on my family members; 2) Ready, Set, Don't Go - my favorite father/daughter song; this one was mostly about me and her; 3) In My Daughter's Eyes - Gretchen's song; it focuses on her family members; 4) My Little Girl - contains a lot of pictures with her wearing Ohio State stuff; and 5) I Learned from You - Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus sing this; it's mostly about Briana and school (including video and pictures of her first day of kindergarten). There were also 2 bonus video features - Briana winning a contest during an OSU women's game and video of her dance recital. I also bought a new Lightscribe DVD burner which allows me to burn a picture directly on the DVD.
Alex had his 1st Christmas DVD, including 3 songs: 1) Beautiful Boy by John Lennon; 2) My Wish by Rascal Flatts; and 3) I Hope You Dance by LeeAnn Womack (this was really about Alex and Briana).
I can't tell you how much I enjoy making this DVDs. It took about a week to make these 2 DVDs this year. I have to first choose the pictures/videos I want to use (I go through all pictures taken since the previous Christmas), decide which song to put them with, then try to (somewhat) sync them with the words to the songs (where possible). It is an incredible way to document each year of our children's lives and I think they will really cherish them when they get older. From a selfish point of view, it is an incredible reminder to me what beautiful children we have and how lucky we are to have them. I still tear up each year when I see the finished product for the first time.
This year, I surprised Gretchen with a DVD of her own. We had purchased a scanner at the beginning of December and on one of my days off (after final exams), I scanned in many of our old pictures (pre-digital camera era), including our wedding pictures. It is about 15 minutes long and includes 4 songs. I believe she was shocked when she opened her stocking on Christmas day and found her very own DVD. I found a few pictures from Gretchen's high school days, including the one below (check out the beautiful cheerleader on the far right of the picture).
No comments:
Post a Comment