A 70th birthday video from the old family albums
A 70th birthday video in Glim turns a parent's photos, from the oldest album to today, into one film: each photo comes alive or moves into the next. A 3-minute film, with room for a few photos from every decade, is $59.90 for buyers outside Israel, before any sales tax or VAT where you live, or ₪199 in Israel.
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What you see in the film
In the example above, you see Dalia from then to today: a girl of six in a black-and-white photo from 1961, a young woman on the lawn of a kibbutz, a young mother, and the dinner on her 70th birthday. The animation was made in Glim, the same way it's made from your photos.
There are two styles, and one film can combine both. In a Life Story part, each animation is a 5-second transition from one photo into the next, so you watch your mom or dad change across the years. In a Classic part, each photo comes alive on its own, and you can choose what happens in it: a ready-made motion, like a smile or a wave, or what you describe in your own words, such as your dad raising his glass and laughing. That's the style for group photos, the wedding, and the grandchildren.
Between the parts you can open a chapter with a title, like “Growing up in Haifa” or “The grandchildren.” Each animation can take a caption and a label like “Age 3.” Enter a birth date and tap “Fill ages from the photo dates” to add the ages, but a print you scanned or photographed with your phone carries the day you did that, not the year it was taken, so type those ages yourself.
In the animations, the AI only sets your photos in motion: it doesn't clone voices, put words in anyone's mouth, swap faces, or add people who weren't in the photo. When the photo has a face, each animation is checked against it. If the face changed, the animation is made again once, for free, and if it still doesn't match, it isn't shown, and the animation is credited back to your balance.
A 60th, 70th, 80th, or 90th birthday
- A 60th: the albums from childhood and the teenage years, then the photos the family kept on computers and phones. A 2-minute film has 24 animations and a 3-minute film has 36, so choose the ones that matter most from each period.
- A 70th: a childhood in black and white, then decades in color, with the wedding, the children, and the grandchildren. A 3-minute film has 36 animations, about 5 from each decade.
- An 80th: more decades, and sometimes great-grandchildren. A 5-minute film has 60 animations, room for several generations, and it comes with the event pack for the screen at the party.
- A 90th and beyond: the party is often small, at home. Watch the film together on the TV, and send the link to the family who can't be there.
How many photos for each length
In a Classic part each photo is one animation. In a Life Story part each animation goes from one photo to the next, so it takes one photo more. Choose one photo for each period of their life first, and only then add the ones you love. If you already have a pile of photos, the montage length calculator tells you which length they fill.
| Film | Photos in Classic | Photos in Life Story |
|---|---|---|
| 2 min | 24 | 25 |
| 3 min | 36 | 37 |
| 5 min | 60 | 61 |
| 7 min | 84 | 85 |
Old photos: prints, faded, or black and white
- Photograph a print with your phone straight from above, in daylight and without flash, or scan it at 300 dpi (600 for a small print).
- A grainy, faded, or blurry photo can be restored before it's animated, for free: in the app it's “Restore the photo.” The original is kept.
- Black-and-white photos come alive too, like Dalia's from 1961.
- Clear faces work best: a close shot where the faces fill a good part of the frame, with up to three people. In a big group photo the faces are small, and they move less well.
- The order of the photos is the order of the film, so sort them by year before you upload. Taking a print out of its album page, or cropping the page away, keeps the animation on the photo itself.
Photos from brothers and sisters abroad
In the project, tap “Invite family” and send the link on WhatsApp, or copy it into an e-mail. Your brothers, sisters, and cousins open it on their phones, add their name and, if they like, a line about each photo, and send, without signing up. The photos reach you as suggestions, and nothing goes into the film until you choose “Add.”
The link works until the date the app shows, and you can stop it or make a new one at any time. The page they open is in English when their phone is set to English. It takes photos only, not video clips or recorded messages.
If someone sends photos on WhatsApp, ask them to send each one as a document, not as a photo, so it arrives at full size. A shared album can shrink photos too, so ask for the files themselves.
Ask each of them for a few favorite photos and one sentence about each: where it was, and what was happening. Those sentences make the best captions.
To tell everyone what's still missing, the slideshow photo checklist lists the moments to look for in each period of their life, and makes one message for the family group.
Showing it at the party
Every venue works differently, so ask rather than assume: which file to bring, the shape of the screen, who plays the sound, how the file gets to them, and what the backup is. Send a test file a few days before, and if you can, watch it on the screen with the sound up.
You download an MP4 file in Full HD, not 4K, as many times as you like, in landscape (16:9) for a screen, square (1:1) for a social feed, or vertical (9:16) for stories.
The event pack gives you landscape, square, and vertical versions of the film, plus a download page for the DJ and a printable QR card for the tables, so guests can watch the film on their phones. It comes with films of 5 minutes or more; for a shorter film it's $5.90 if you're buying from outside Israel, before any sales tax or VAT where you live, or ₪19 in Israel.
At a smaller party at home, play the downloaded file on the TV, from a laptop or a USB flash drive, and try it the day before.
Keeping it a surprise, across time zones
The film stays private until you share it, so make it on your own account and send the family the link only when you're ready.
You can set a premiere: the film opens for everyone with the link on the date and at the time you choose, up to a year ahead. You set the time in Israel time, and viewers abroad see the start time in their own time zone. Until then, anyone who opens the link sees a countdown, and not a moment of the film. The DJ's link in the event pack opens the file for the screen even before the premiere.
Most of the year, 8 p.m. in Israel is 1 p.m. in New York and 6 p.m. in London, so one premiere can reach the family in Israel after dinner, New York at lunchtime, and London in the early evening. For the weeks when the clocks change on different dates, check the time the app shows.
Or send the link as a gift: whoever opens it sees a sealed envelope with the name first, and inside it the film and a few words from you. The link's preview, on WhatsApp for example, shows only the envelope too.
The opening, the song, and a greeting from far away
Every package comes with an opening made with AI from a photo you choose, with no sound. You type the title as it should read, and Glim adds it to the opening itself (the AI doesn't write it), so every letter comes out right, in English or in Hebrew. The title can carry the Hebrew date, the Gregorian date, or both, so a Hebrew birthday can sit beside the secular one.
Every package comes with a personal song, written and sung with AI from your answers about your mom or dad, in English or in Hebrew. You can add music from Glim's library or songs you upload yourselves, if you have the right to use them, with up to 5 songs in a film, played one after another. The song can use the name or nickname you give, like “Grandma Dalia.”
The music in Glim's library is licensed for your film: watching it at home, sharing it with family and friends, and showing it at the party. For a song you upload, you need the right to use it, and the songs guide explains what that means for a song from the radio.
Instead of the AI opening, you can open with a video of your own, up to 90 seconds long, with its own sound. You can end the film with a video greeting of up to 2 minutes, with its own sound. You film it yourselves: Glim doesn't record or clone voices. A brother who can't fly in can film the closing greeting on his phone.
When to start
- Three weeks before: ask the whole family for photos, and send them the family link.
- Two weeks before: choose the photos, restore the old ones, and settle the order and the chapters.
- A week before: make the animations, watch each one, remake any you don't like, and add the captions and the music.
- A few days before: send the file to the venue or the DJ, and check it on their screen.
Even at the last minute, it can be done. Each animation usually takes 4–5 minutes. Several are made at the same time, not one after another, but a whole film still takes longer than one animation. Putting the film together is quick.
Other ways to make a 70th birthday video, and what they cost
We read two online services' own sites on October 28, 2026. We don't name them; the table gives their prices in US dollars, as their sites showed them.
If what you want is many people each saying a few words to the camera, a group video service is made for that: Glim's family link collects photos, not video messages. Glim is for the story of a life in photos, from the oldest album to today, with an AI opening, titles, and a personal song.
| Way | Price | What you do | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| A slideshow you make yourself | Free on a free plan; paid plans vary | All of it: scanning, choosing, ordering, music, and titles | The photos one after another, each one standing still |
| An AI slideshow service with a song | $49 a film, at one service | Upload the photos; the service makes the film | A slideshow with a song made for it, its length fitted to the photos |
| A group video service | From $35 if you edit it yourself, up to $99 for over an hour of messages; $99, or $149 with a video book, if its editors do | Invite family and friends to record messages | Video messages from many people, joined into one video |
| Glim | $59.90 for a 3-minute film outside Israel, before tax; ₪199 in Israel | Choose the photos and put them in order, write the titles, and pick the music; AI sets the photos in motion | A film where each photo comes alive or moves into the next, as an MP4 file in Full HD |
Glim's dollar price is for buyers outside Israel, before any sales tax or VAT where they live; its shekel price is for buyers in Israel and is final. Last checked .
A montage studio will do all of the work, from scanning the albums to the edit, for a good deal more; we compared what montage studios charge in October 2026.
Glim's price list shows every film length in US dollars and in shekels, and how to pay from outside Israel.
When the family is complicated
- A parent who is no longer alive: ask the guest of honor whether to include them, and how. Some want a photo of the two of them together; some would rather not.
- Divorce or a blended family: keep the guest of honor at the center, and choose photos everyone can watch comfortably at the party.
- Grandchildren in the photos: ask their parents before you send the film to a big group.
Before you create anything, the app asks you to confirm: “I have permission to use the photos I upload.” For the grandchildren, that means their parents' permission; for a loved one who has passed away, the family's consent.
If you're making a film in memory of a parent rather than for a birthday, a memorial video is made differently: gentle motion, a slower pace, and quiet music or none at all.
Who sees the photos
Your photos are stored securely and privately, and we use them only to make your film. Glim never trains AI on them, never sells them and never publishes them without your consent, and you can delete the photos and films at any time. A film's watch link stays off until you turn it on, and then only people with the link can watch. Watch pages don't appear in search engines, you can turn the link off at any time, and deleting the film disables it.
Your photos are kept securely for as long as the account is open. A deleted project stays 30 days in the trash and is then deleted completely, and you can delete the whole account from the account page or by asking us. Photos of children under 18 can be uploaded only with a parent's or guardian's consent, which you confirm in the app before creating anything. You need to be 18 or over to open an account.
To learn how the AI works, see the AI page; for the details on your photos, see the privacy policy.
What it costs
You pay once, by the length of the film. For a 70th birthday, a few photos from every decade, a 3-minute film usually fits: $59.90 for buyers outside Israel, or ₪199 in Israel, with 36 animations and 36 retries. Your first animation is free, with no credit card.
| Film | Animations | US dollars, for buyers outside Israel | Shekels, for buyers in Israel |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 min | 12 | $24.90 | ₪79 |
| 2 min | 24 | $45.90 | ₪149 |
| 3 min | 36 | $59.90 | ₪199 |
| 5 min | 60 | $84.90 | ₪279 |
| 7 min | 84 | $105.90 | ₪349 |
If you're buying from outside Israel, pay in US dollars; you choose the currency before you pay. Outside Israel, any sales tax or VAT that applies where you live is added at checkout and shown before you pay. In Israel, the price in shekels is the final price, with nothing added by Glim.
Glim charges no fees. Payment goes through Freemius, a US company, and some card companies charge their own fee for a payment abroad or in a foreign currency. If the film doesn't move you, you get a full refund within 30 days of purchase, with no reason needed, even after you've made animations.
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Common questions about a 70th birthday video
How much does a 70th birthday video cost?
You pay once, by the length of the film, with no subscription: $59.90 for a 3-minute film if you're buying from outside Israel, or ₪199 in Israel, and $84.90 for a 5-minute film, or ₪279 in Israel, with the event pack for the party screen included. Outside Israel, any sales tax or VAT that applies where you live is added at checkout and shown before you pay. Every package comes with an AI opening, a personal song, and titles, and as many free retries as animations. Before you pay, your first animation is free, with no credit card, so you can see one of your own photos come alive. If the film doesn't move you, you get a full refund within 30 days of purchase.
How many photos do we need?
For a 3-minute film, 36 photos in Classic, where each photo comes alive on its own, or 37 in Life Story, where each one moves into the next. That's about 5 from each decade. Choose one photo for each period of their life first, and add the rest after.
How is it different from a photo slideshow?
In a slideshow the photos take turns on the screen, each one standing still, with music underneath. In a Glim film each photo moves: in a Classic part a smile, a glance, or wind in the hair, and in a Life Story part one photo moves into the next, so you watch your mom or dad change across the years.
Do old black-and-white photos work?
Yes. Black-and-white photos come alive too, like Dalia's from 1961 in the example. A faded or grainy print can be restored first, for free, and the original is kept. Photos with clear faces work best.
My brothers and sisters live in other countries. How do we all add photos?
Send them the family link: in the project, tap “Invite family.” They open it on their phones, add their name and a line about each photo, and send, without signing up. Nothing goes into the film until you add it. The link takes photos only; for video messages from many people, a group video service is a better fit.
Can we use Mom's favorite song?
Yes, if you have the right to use it, and buying or streaming a song doesn't give you that right. Music from Glim's library is licensed for your film, including showing it at the party. Every package also comes with a personal song, written and sung with AI from your answers about her, such as her name or a nickname.
How far ahead should we start?
About three weeks before the party, so the family has time to send photos. Each animation usually takes 4–5 minutes. Several are made at the same time, not one after another, but a whole film still takes longer than one animation. Putting the film together is quick. So even at the last minute, it can be done.
Can it play on the screen at the party venue?
Yes. You download an MP4 file in Full HD, in the shape the screen needs. Ask the venue which file they want, who plays the sound, and what the backup is, and send them a test file a few days before.
Can we keep it a surprise?
Yes. The film stays private until you share it. With a premiere, anyone who opens the link before the time you set sees only a countdown; sent as a gift, it opens on a sealed envelope with the name.
What about a 60th, an 80th, or a 90th birthday?
The same film, at another length. A 60th often fits a 2-minute film or a 3-minute film; an 80th, with more decades and sometimes great-grandchildren, a 5-minute film. At a 90th the party is often at home, so watch it together on the TV and send the link to the family who can't come.
Can I pay in US dollars, or with PayPal?
Yes. If you're buying from outside Israel, you pay in US dollars, by card or with PayPal, and you choose the currency before you pay. Outside Israel, any sales tax or VAT that applies where you live is added at checkout and shown before you pay. Glim charges no fees. Payment goes through Freemius, a US company, and some card companies charge their own fee for a payment abroad or in a foreign currency.