How to Make a Funeral Video Tribute: Length, Photos, Music

A funeral video tribute, also called a memorial slideshow or funeral montage, is a short video of photos, and sometimes film clips, set to music and played at a service or reception. Most run about three to eight minutes. At roughly five seconds a photo, a five-minute video needs around 60 photos. You can make one yourself in a few hours once the photos are gathered. The part that catches people out is the music, because copyright rules apply to it.

How long should a funeral video tribute be?

Three to eight minutes suits most services, which is about the length of one or two songs. It is long enough to tell a story and short enough that the rest of the service is not crowded out. If the family wants to show more, a longer loop on a screen at the reception lets guests watch as they arrive and leave.

The number of photos follows from the pace. About 4 to 6 seconds per photo gives people time to see each one without the video dragging.

Some photos can stay on screen longer, such as a key portrait, or shorter, such as a burst of childhood snapshots, so treat the table as a starting point.

How do you gather the photos?

Start early, because finding photos is the slowest part.

1. Ask relatives for their albums. Each person usually has photos the others do not. A shared Google Photos album lets everyone add photos from their own phone. Google says that when you share an album link, anyone with the link can view the photos and add to the album, so share the link only with people you trust.
2. Look in the obvious places. Phones, cloud accounts, old laptops, social media posts and the person's own computer. Our guide to photo storage after a death explains how to access them.
3. Scan prints. A flatbed scanner gives the cleanest result. Libraries and print shops often scan photos for a fee. Scan at 300 dpi or higher, keep the original files and do not discard the prints.
4. Use the original files. A photo saved from a message or social media site is usually smaller and more compressed, so it may look fuzzy on a large screen.

Aim for about twice as many photos as you need, then cut. Include photos of the person with other people and in the places and activities that mattered to them, not only formal portraits.

What are the ways to make one?

• Do it yourself. Free and low-cost video apps have slideshow templates where you drag in photos, add a song and export the video. This works for most families.
• Ask the funeral home. Many funeral homes will assemble a tribute from photos you supply. Ask what they charge and how much notice they need.
• Hire a video editor or memorial video company. This makes sense if you want film clips, interviews or restoration of damaged photos. Ask for a written quote and a delivery date before you commit.
• Ask a helper. A tech-savvy friend or relative can be the "media lead" so the family can focus on the day.

Photo restoration and animation apps are available, and some can sharpen old pictures or animate a portrait. Some families find an animated photo moving and others find it unsettling, so check with close relatives before using it.

How do you structure it?

A slideshow works best when it tells a story rather than following random order.

• Chronological: birth, childhood, school, career, family and later life. It is easy to follow and suits most people.
• Thematic: groups of photos by role or interest, such as "the gardener," "the grandmother" or "the traveler." It works for people with many sides and large families.
• Song-led: photos chosen to fit the lyrics or the beat of one or two songs. It feels more like a celebration of life.

Keep captions short, such as a year or a place, because guests cannot read and look at a face at the same time. Use simple dissolves or a slow zoom instead of flashy transitions, and keep a single pace throughout.

Can you use any song in a funeral video?

Not safely if you plan to share it. A commercial song involves two separate copyrights. The US Copyright Office explains that a sound recording and the musical composition it contains are considered two separate works. Putting a recording into a video is generally called synchronization, and it usually needs permission from the music publisher for the composition and from the record label for the recording.

A license that lets a funeral home or venue play music in a room is a different thing from permission to put a recording into a video file. That is why a tribute with a popular song can be flagged when it is uploaded. YouTube's Content ID system can block a video, run ads on it or track its viewing statistics. A Content ID claim affects the video and does not usually affect the whole channel.

Fair use does not solve the problem. The Copyright Office says there is no formula, such as a fixed number of seconds or a percentage, that guarantees a use is allowed without permission.

Practical choices:

• Use royalty-free or licensed music. The YouTube Audio Library offers music that YouTube says will not be claimed through Content ID. Some tracks require you to credit the artist in the video description, so check each track's license. Many video apps also include libraries of licensed tracks, so read the app's terms for videos you will share.
• Choose a live or instrumental performance. A relative or friend who plays or sings can record the song, although the composition may still be protected.
• Keep the video private. If you only play it from a file at the service, it is less likely to be flagged, but the copyright rules still apply. If you plan to post it online, use licensed music.

Our guide to funeral music without license problems goes into more detail, and the funeral music planner helps you pick songs for the whole service.

How do you make sure it plays on the day?

1. Match the screen shape. Most TVs and projectors are widescreen (16:9). Vertical phone photos leave black bars on the sides, so use a blurred background fill or crop with care.
2. Export a widely compatible file. An MP4 file plays on most equipment. Ask the funeral home or venue which formats they accept.
3. Test it. Play the file on the actual screen and speakers, or ask the staff to test it, a day ahead if possible. Check the sound level.
4. Bring a backup. Take a copy on a USB drive and a copy on a phone or laptop, and ask who will press play.
5. Plan for online guests. If the service will be streamed, ask the person running the stream how the video and music will be shared. See our guides to live-streaming a funeral and recording a funeral service.

A simple timeline

If you have a week, use it. If you have two or three days, shorten each step.

Our funeral planning timeline shows how the video fits with everything else.

What mistakes should you avoid?

• Leaving it to the last minute. Sorting decades of photos is slow. Start early, or ask a helper to.
• Too many similar photos. Choose one strong photo over five near-duplicates.
• Too much text. Short captions read better than paragraphs.
• Skipping the playback test. Format and sound problems are the usual reason a video fails on the day.
• Forgetting sensitivity. Check with close family before including photos that might upset someone, such as an estranged relative or a difficult period.

How can guests see it afterward?

Some families share the video link afterward with people who could not attend. A private or unlisted link is one option, and a QR code in the program can point to it. See our guide to QR code memorials. For other ways to show photos at the service, see photo displays at a funeral, and for help with the ceremony itself, our funeral service order template and memorial service planning guide.