As Featured in OC Family Magazine

Flutterflix takes personal photos, videos and music and turns them into home DVDs

Local parent maintains family memories

KYLIE MALSTROM Published: December, 2011

Ray Schmidler, a local parent, has created a solution to the surfeit of photo and video files we never do anything with. In an effort to avoid the loss of precious memories to the obscurity of a C: drive, Schmidler has created Flutterflix.

“I’m a working dad and like pretty much everyone else out there, I take what seems like a hundred photos each week of my little girl, trying desperately to preserve every memory,” says Schmidler. “But once I took all the images, I didn’t do anything with them.”

Mr. Schmidler began making home movies comprised of still photos and video clips and adding a personal soundtrack.

“After a while, I realized how many other families could benefit from such a service if it was easy, affordable, and personal,” says Schmidler. So he developed Flutterflix and provided us with a way to give indefinite life to our families’ most cherished memories.

Flutterflix is a compilation, organization and creative development tool for photos and videos. It arranges your uploaded photo, video and music files in a DVD movie with titles, chapters, transition fades, still zooms, custom design options and a personal soundtrack.

In five steps, all of your miscellaneous files can become a unique family DVD. First, create a video profile determining the number of photos, the length of video and the title you want to include. Second, upload your photo and video files with customization options for each chapter. Third, upload your music. Fourth, design the packaging by choosing fonts, a case theme and a cover photo and record your notes for the back cover. Finally, review and edit what you have created. Your custom DVD will be shipped to you within two weeks.

http://www.ocfamily.com/t-What-to-buy-Flutterflix-12-13-11.aspx

Flutterflix Reviews - what fans are saying

"I am extremely pleased with the video I received of my daughter's special day. You captured her third birthday so beautifully! The video looks amazing and I especially love the music in the background! As a parent of a young child, I am often reminded how quickly these moments pass us by. Now, thanks to the simplicity of Flutterflix, I can cherish these moments. Thank you for making such a great keepsake for years to come!" - Anna

“Awesome! Thank You for the great customer service!” – Bill S.

“Thank you so much i am so excited about seeing what you did with all the pics and videos!!!!! thank you again. this is a christmas present for my son . he will be very surprised. i am sooooo glad i came across your website! happy holidays!!! Mindy

"just rec'd my video in the mail. SUPERB!!!!! you did a great job!!! thank you sooooo much for helping me preserve memories for my son!!!!!!" – Mindy K.

"I can't thank you enough for the beautiful birthday DVD! It brought tears to my eyes and captured her special day perfectly!!!! Bella wanted to watch it over and over :) Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!!" - Sandra K.

An Amazing Gift Idea!

As we edge closer to the holiday season, we often think back to the memories the family shared over the course of the year. Whether you enjoyed experiencing a vacation, celebrations, growing pains, turning points, achievements, or any variety of new things, you will most often find those moments lingering on your camera or computer. And there they sit, begging you to view them one at a time. Or maybe you uploaded a few of them on Facebook or Shutterfly only to be quickly viewed and abandoned…until now. There’s a fresh and new idea in memory preservation. It’s called Flutterflix.

Flutterflix.com arranges your uploaded photo, video and music files into an artfully-edited, custom DVD video, complete with titles, transition fades, still zooms, soundtrack and custom case to create a valued keepsake for you and your family. Flutterflix offers a unique, personalized way to preserve your year-full of family experiences. For this holiday season’s best gift idea, be sure to preserve your family’s cherished moments with a custom DVD by Flutterflix.com!

Flutterflix Advantage

Ever wake up and realize that you have hundreds of photos and video files on your computer? And the only way to view them is to sit in front of your monitor while clicking a mouse? With Flutterflix, you can upload your video, photo, and music files and they will create a custom DVD - complete with custom chapters with captions, panning, motion zooms, cover art and design options. The five step process is easy with affordable packages and so much more than a slideshow. No doubt, your custom DVD will endure for generations as a timeless keepsake. Visit the blog archive for more tips on creating a successful video or head straight to flutterflix.com for samples and get started!

© Flutterflix 2011

Trimming your Videos

One of the best ways to ensure an entertaining home video is to trim your video clips. Trimming video simply means digitally ‘cutting’ out the dull, boring, or uninteresting parts of a particular clip. Doing this will leave you with only the most entertaining or crucial parts. It has another advantage… your video will have a good pace to it. Once you trim your video clips to the best parts, putting them all together at Flutterflix will leave you with a well paced DVD with very few dull moments, if any. This keeps things interesting for others watching your DVD who may not be a part of it. Some of the best activities can be captured in under 10 seconds. As a rule, I generally video (or shoot) for no longer than 30 seconds and then I can usually trim it down further later. Flutterflix cannot accept files larger than 768MB which means that a video clip longer than four minutes will need to be trimmed down anyways. So if you have a long video of a recital, ceremony or other event, consider trimming it into several shorter clips – like a highlight reel.

How do I trim my video clips you ask? You can easily trim your clips directly on your camera, video camera, or photo management software (such as iPhoto) or Windows Media Player and QuickTime Player on your computer. Refer to your devices’ user guide for instruction.

© Flutterflix 2011

Much More Than a Slideshow!

This one is easy. We all know there are several ways to set up your photo slideshow. But only Flutterflix enables you to upload photos, videos, and music to create your custom DVD with soundtrack, titles, chapters, still zoom, transition fades, and custom design options. Plus, Flutterflix delivers your custom DVD to your home so that you can watch it in the comfort of your living room rather than at a computer from an internet cloud. Visit Flutterflix.com today, take the tour, see some samples, and get started today!

© Flutterflix 2011

What Makes Flutterflix Unique?

Flutterflix enables you to upload more than just photos. Flutterflix accepts your video and music files as well so you can create an experience much more significant than a slideshow. Uploading your video files will add dynamic action while your music contributes even more personality to your DVD. Don’t have music to upload? No problem - Flutterflix can create a soundtrack for you – at no additional cost.

Then there’s the personal design component. Flutterflix offers several design options: Personalize your DVD with your title and font options; choose from over 50 DVD cover designs; apply a photo for the DVD and DVD case cover; create and add custom chapters to better arrange your memories; and even craft a few paragraphs that will encapsulate your memories for the back cover.

The five step process is easy with affordable packages and so much more than a slideshow. No doubt, your custom DVD will endure for generations as a timeless keepsake. Visit Flutterflix.com and get started today!

© Flutterflix 2011

Preserving our photo and video memories in motion

I'm a working dad who has always enjoyed making home movies from still photos and video clips and adding a personal soundtrack. I knew other families could benefit from such a service if it was easy, affordable, and personal. So I created Flutterflix.com.

What is Flutterflix? With just five simple steps, Flutterflix enables you to upload your photo, video and music files, choose a variety of custom design options and receive an artfully and classic edited DVD movie, complete with titles, chapters, transition fades, still zooms and music to create a valued keepsake for you and your family that will be timeless. No longer will you need to huddle around the computer screen to view your vacation memories. With the help of Flutterflix, you'll be sitting back on the couch, clicking 'play' and watching your vacation experiences unfold before you and the ones you love. It's really great for family year-in-review. I make one every year for my wife and three year old, and my wife's in tears within the first minute. It's so sweet.

Sure it’s nice to upload photos to a file sharing web site for friends and family, but this is different - and a truly unique visual experience - away from the computer.

I urge everyone to experience the simplicity and benefits of my site - See samples, learn more, get tips and discounts at Flutterflix.com and get started today!

©&™ Flutterflix 2011

Compiling Your Summer Vacation Memories

Most of us have separate ‘albums’ for each vacation. But with Flutterflix.com, you can put multiple vacations onto a single DVD and it’s easy!

Using the Chapter feature at the web site, you can designate separate trips with a caption. For example: Say you visited Yellowstone National Park one year, went on a ski trip the next, and visited Disneyworld in Orlando the next year. You would group your videos and photos into three chapters with those names. You can even go further by designating ‘sub-chapters’. Say that during your Yellowstone trip you also went white water rafting. You would designate a new chapter for that so that the final appearance and captions of your DVD would be as follows: Yellowstone Vacation, Whitewater Rafting, Vail Ski Strip, Disneyworld Orlando.

This diagram of a year-in-review helps visualize the idea.

So you see that grouping multiple vacations or events is also an easy way to get more value out of a single DVD – as long as your media doesn’t go over the 60 minute DVD maximum time limit. Visit Flutterflix.com and get started today!

© Flutterflix 2011

Grouping your Images.

When you have a year’s worth of images, it’s a good idea to group them into categories that will become video chapters. For instance, if you have several videos and photos of your children riding bikes, then that would make a great chapter in itself. Maybe you have lots of images of just horsing around or playing sports or playing instruments – all would make great chapters. Learn more at flutterflix.com - and have a good day!

© Flutterflix 2011

Tip 23: Use a Monopod

When you think about shooting video, most likely you're thinking about recording motion – capturing someone or something moving. Of course! You're not going to make a movie of a flower arrangement sitting in a vase. So, if recording motion is the essence of video, why do so many home movies make viewers queasy?

The problem is that many DV enthusiasts don't understand how to "hold the shot." In other words, it's the subjects who are supposed to be moving, not the camera.

This error is particularly common in "action" videography, where the cameraman is handholding the camcorder and trying to follow the play at an event such as a soccer game. Obviously you have to move the camera some, or you'll never record any of the play on the field. But it's how you move the camcorder that's important.

Most professionals mount their camera on a tripod for this type of assignment. There is no better way to steady a camcorder than to secure it to a rock-solid tripod with a fluid head. But that probably won't be practical for much of the shooting you do. In the real world, people are already schlepping way too much stuff, and a bulky tripod could be the straw that breaks daddy's back.

The common sense answer is a simple, compact, and very effective accessory called a monopod. Essentially, it's a one-legged tripod. Even though they are extremely compact and easy to transport, monopods are an excellent tool to help you properly hold your shots. Your footage will improve immediately.

Combining Memories from Many Vacations

When we share our photo and video memories online, most of us have separate ‘albums’ for each of our vacation get-aways or stay-cations in either a sharing web site or photo album. But with Flutterflix, you can put single or multiple vacations onto one DVD... and it’s easy - with captions and a personal soundtrack! Visit Flutterflix.com and get started today!

© Flutterflix 2011

Reunions and Flutterflix

Reunions are a perfect match for Flutterflix. Why? Most people will upload their photos and video individually to a file sharing site where visitors would need to sit at their computer to view them. But by uploading them to Flutterflix.com, you get a custom DVD with music, captions, still zooms, pans, with custom DVD case. The entire family can sit around the living room and watch their moments in motion. Send DVD copies to family who may have missed the reunion. Its super easy! Get tips and see samples here at the Flutterflix blog or go straight to http://www.flutterflix.com/.

©&™ Flutterflix 2011

Summer Vacation Memories

Vacation photos and videos often collect on computers across our great country. It’s nice to upload them to a file sharing web site for friends and family. But to ensure a true visual experience, try uploading your ‘memory files’ to Flutterflix.com. What is Flutterflix? With just a few simple steps, Flutterflix enables you to upload your photo, video and music files, choose a variety of custom design options and receive an artfully and classic edited DVD movie, complete with titles, captions, transition fades, still zooms and music to create a valued keepsake for you and your family that will be timeless. No longer will you need to huddle around the computer screen to view your vacation memories. With the help of Flutterflix, you'll be sitting back on the couch, clicking 'play' and watching your vacation experiences unfold before you and the ones you love. Get tips and see samples at the Flutterflix blog at http://flutterflix.blogspot.com/. Or go straight to http://www.flutterflix.com/ and get started!

©&™ Flutterflix 2011

Organizing your Media Files

Organizing your Media Files

So you’re ready to finally sit down and take some time to organize and upload your videos and photos. But you have some files on your camera and some on your computer, and you even have some on a video camera and you’re overwhelmed already and you haven’t even started. Just breathe… and take things one, step, at a time.

For many reasons, it’s best to plug your camera or other device into your computer and upload them into a media management program like iPhoto or My Pictures. In some cases, like iPhoto, the software will automatically sense your device once plugged in and will prompt you to upload… very easy. If you don’t have such software, don’t fear. Just plug your device into the computer with the cable that came with the device. Your device icon will pop up on your desktop that you will open. Then drag and drop your media files from your device folder into any folder you choose. If this is your particular case, I suggest creating a Master Media folder. Within this folder, you can create other specific folders relating to events, travels, birthdays, etc. depending on what you’ve been shooting. This way you will be able to easily find the media you want to upload later to Flutterflix.com. If you have multiple devices, just repeat the process. Just think, you’ll finally have all that media that was flying around in device world and into neat folders that you can make sense of. If you have other questions, go to Flutterflix.com and find the FAQ button at the bottom of any page. Or email us at info@flutterflix.com. Have fun!

©&™ Flutterflix 2011