New Google Photos Feature: Highlight Video

Today I received a Google photos app update on my Android phone. The version number is 6.62.0.583185920. See this 9to5 article for more info

It now has a feature called highlight video. This feature allows you to combine up to 50 photos and videos into one video clip.

Here is a summary of the process.

  • At the top of the Google photos window click the plus sign at the top of the screen. (see image 1; left side)
  • in the menu that pops up select highlight video. (see image 1; left side)
  • It will give you categories to choose from where you can go in and select images or you can browse your images.(see image 1; right side)

Select the videos and photos you’d like to add and then click create. (see image 2)

Once on the editing screen you have the following options:

  • If you hard press a clip you can drag and reorder the clips.
  • Tapping a video allows you to trim the length of it, remove the video, and mute or unmute the audio.
  • Photos when added are 3 seconds long, but by tapping them you can adjust the length as well.
  • Tapping a photo also shows an add motion menu where you can add a zoom and pan motion.
  • There is also an option to add music to the video. If you choose this, make sure you mute the video’s original audio.
  • Once you’ve made all your changes select save.

Additional Notes:

See this post about new camera update.

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Additional Notes:

If you have read my various posts (see below) on video editing, you know that I am a big fan of combining several short videos into a single video. To do this I have been recommending that you use Capcut. The highlight video feature allows you to do this within Google Photos

I think this is a great addition to Google Photos, and I highly recommend that you explore it. Please tag me if you do and share your creations.

Important note: before creating a highlight video you need to make any edits (cropping etc.) and adjustments (brightness, contrast, saturation, etc.) to the videos and photos that you are going to use. You can not do this within the highlight video interface.

Also, if you add music you should mute the original audio of the videos you have included.

also you can not add transitions.

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Hi @Rednewt74

Thanks for the tip. Here is the result of my test of this new feature.

All the best

Morten

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@Rednewt74

Here is a link to an announcement regarding this new feature. It is from October.

https://9to5google.com/2023/10/24/google-photos-highlight-videos/

Cheers

Morten

I would love to be able to set the timing for each image, or at least have an option to have the cuts follow the beats if the music.

Cheers

Morten

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@MortenCopenhagen ,

You can trim the length of videos and change the duration of a photo by selecting it and then dragging on the end of it.

Does it let you preview the video after you add the music? Then you could adjust lengths to the beat.

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Brilliant, @Rednewt74

Here is test two where I managed to adjust the timing of each image, but the resolution for the timing of one image is only 0.1 seconds. So manual timing to music is not realistic in my opinion.

Thanks

Morten

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@MortenCopenhagen ,

Thank you for sharing this. My guess was that it would be tough to get the cuts to sync to the beats.

Capcut has a feature where it will identify the beats in sound track and then lets you cut to them. I have not experimented with this.

For Maps videos syncing cuts seems like over kill, especially since audio is off by default when playing them. But it’s always fun to play with new features.

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Thanks again, @Rednewt74

Capcut was pretty easy to use. I added the beats manually. Here is the result:

Cheers

Morten

UPDATE 1

YouTube completely ruined the timing. Here is a link to the same video saved on Google Photos in a public album:

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOrH9LxkeQFBTsaHWcnGiDsX7kEraozXnoPVeNA-DSWebFuRK5o2Sv1DwaxNhaXXw/photo/AF1QipMvAb4JsiiQMBn5rWr2qQ_20BF_L7f3MTIDXgr9?key=TVpaQ3o2alI1Y05oSVl5QXMzSy0yMjhocFRXUjFR

UPDATE 2

Now the YouTube copy seems to have recovered the timing. Maybe I checked before all the YT processing was done.

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@MortenCopenhagen

Nicely done. YouTube version is now synced. I’m glad you gave Capcut a try; I am a huge fan of it.

Take care,

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A 2023-11-28 Pixel camera (name changed from Google camera) update is out. It is detailed here

There are improvements in the document scanner, but for us the biggest change is that the advanced HDR lighting and color temperature (white balance) controls are now in a menu below the view instead and being visible on the left and right sides of screen. The screen shots below show the new interface.

@MortenCopenhagen ,

Not that I could ever keep up with you, :wink: , you inspired me to do a cut of one of mine to the beats in Capcut too.

The only thing I found confusing was understanding where the end of the clip is once it is selected. I kept thinking the end was where the preview in the clip ended, not where the handle of the clip ends.

Inside Trillium

By the way, Connect accepted my “shorts” YouTube link without issue.

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I agree, @Rednewt74

It seems like the clips snaps to the beats miraculously.

I noticed too that shorts are now accepted.

Cheers

Morten