Montage length calculator: how many photos you need

How many photos for each length

How many photos fit in a film that has to end by a given length, and how long it actually runs. It's the calculator's own arithmetic, with the assumptions in the next section.

How the calculator counts

Every animation in Glim runs 5 seconds. In a Growing film each animation is the transition from one photo to the next, so the film has one more photo than animations. In a Classic film each photo is an animation of its own, and neighbouring animations overlap by 0.5 seconds, so each photo adds 4.5 seconds.

Before the animations comes a 5-second opening, which fades into the first animation over 0.6 seconds, and at the end the last photo stays on screen for another 1.5 seconds. So a Growing film of 58 animations runs 4:56: 4.4 + 58 × 5 + 1.5 = 295.9 seconds.

Packages are counted in animations: each minute of a package is 12 animations of 5 seconds. The opening and the ending add a few seconds, so a Growing film that uses all 60 animations of the 5-minute package runs 5:06. When the film has to end by 5 minutes, the calculator fills 58 animations and tells you the package has room to spare.

The calculator assumes what the editor starts with for a film you've named: a 5-second opening slide, no ending, no chapter titles and the normal pace. Each addition makes the film longer: an ending, chapter titles, or the calmer pace, which makes each animation about 15% longer. At the calmer pace, a Growing film of up to 5 minutes takes 52 photos. When you compose the film, Glim shows its exact length for what you chose.

With a song, the cuts in a Classic film can come up to 0.6 seconds early to land on the beat, so a Classic film with a song sometimes comes out shorter. The calculator also gives the shortest it can run.

What each package makes, and what it costs

You pay once, by the length of the film: from ₪79 for one minute to ₪349 for 7 minutes. Each minute is 12 animations, with the same number of free retries. Every package includes an AI opening and a personal song, and packages of 5 minutes or more include the event pack too. There's no subscription, and animations never expire.

• In Israel, the price in shekels is the final price, with nothing added by Glim.
• Outside Israel you can pay in US dollars, and any VAT or sales tax where you live is added and shown at checkout before you pay.

All packages and add-ons

How to spread the photos across the years

In a film about someone's years, every period deserves its place. The calculator suggests a split: the first year counts double, because a baby changes fastest, every other year counts once, and one photo of today closes the film. Up to age 3 each year is a period; up to 20 the periods are the first year, ages 1–5, 6–11, 12–17 and 18 on; above 20, after the first year, decade by decade.

It's a starting point, not a rule: if you have more good photos from one period, give it more. For an anniversary the calculator doesn't split by age, and for a film of fewer than 6 photos it suggests no split.

How long does it take to make a film from 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. Composing the film is quick. What takes longest is usually collecting the photos: a short film from photos already on your phone can be done in an evening.

How it works

What happens to what you enter

The calculation happens in your browser: what you choose and type in the calculator isn't sent to us or stored by us. Your choice is written at the end of the page's address, after the # sign, so you can send someone a link to the same calculation; that part of an address is never sent to a server. If you click to buy, the number of animations you worked out goes to the checkout page, so the right package is selected.

What Glim is

Glim turns photos of the people you love into a short, finished film, with AI animation, an opening, music and Hebrew titles. It's an Israeli service that works in your browser, and the film is a gift for any moment, from a first birthday to a parent's 70th. Some families also make one in memory of someone who is gone. Each animation is usually ready in 4–5 minutes, the first animation is free, and a whole film costs ₪79 to ₪349, paid once. Glim isn't a video editor, a template app or a talking-photo app.

All the facts about Glim