Google Photos is one of the best photo apps out there for managing and sharing your photos. It’s a dream on Android - and standard - but you can alsodownload it on iPhoneto take advantage of Google power.
Making custom movies has been something that Google has offered for a while - in some cases, Google Assistant will make a collection of photos and videos and make a movie for you.
New to Google Photos is the ability to create themed movies. This relies on Google’s clever identification of people and things in your photos, recently boosted with the ability to recognise cats and dogs.
Yes, Google Photos can now make cat videos for you! Or dog videos, of course.
The options for themed movies run from the narcissistic to the sombre, covering everything from self-indulgent selfie movies through to memorial videos of someone who has passed away.
How to create themed Google Photos movies
Firstly, you’ll have to have a number of photos in your Google Photos collection that are recognised. If you only have one picture of your dog it’s not going to work. You’ll also need the latest version of the app.
It really couldn’t be simpler to create custom movies in Google Photos. Within a few taps you’ll be done and the finished movie will be with you.
But you can also edit that custom movie and make it a little better, or change pictures around.
How to edit a Google Photos themed movie
Once you have your movie, you’re able to play it back and see how it turned out. They are short - perfect for sharing - have a sound track and additional messages - like Happy Mother’s Day, for example. On dog movies, Google uses a special doggy soundtrack too - Johann Strauss' The Blue Danube, with dogs barking and a range of others…
But sometimes Google picks a dud photo. For example, in our doggy movie it picked a photo with the back half of the dog which really doesn’t fit in. Fortunately, you can remove these photos.
Once the movie is playing, there’s an edit option at the bottom of the page. This will show you the construction of the movie, allow you to select the soundtrack, change the order of images, remove images or add more images.
How to create custom movies from your Google Photos
Sometimes those Google themes might not work for you. We wanted to throw together some of the Lego Minifigs we’d shot over the years, and Google Photos provides a very easy way to do that which can then be easily shared.
The process is very much like creating a themed movie.
Creating your own movie means you’re not constrained by those themes that Google offers. Sadly, Google doesn’t let you then search for photos, you have to scan and select, so Google, if you’re reading, add a text search option so it’s easier to find the images we want - thanks.
That’s it, it’s simple and fun!
