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Earlier, in the summer of 1999 I had gotten a Dazzle Studio's (now owned by Pinnacle Systems) USB Video Creator device for importing video and editing on my computer. We had played around with putting video on CD-ROM media with some success - so after a bit of discussion, the idea of making Christmas video message was born. The idea was to videotape each of us wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and send it out to all our friends and family. It took a couple of days to find just the right format (not to mention get all the children organized) but we made a video tape while we set up the Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving and started the process of creating our video Christmas Card. It took a bit more work then we thought, and the first year's effort was fairly crude, but we had a lot of fun and it started a tradition. Currently there have been seven cards in the series. Each one has been a technical improvement over the previous year. We have gone from a relatively crude and simple CD-ROM for the computer to DVD video that can be played back in just about any computer or DVD player. The cards are a family effort and something we look forward to putting together each year as the Christmas season approaches. It is a simple little personal gift that we enjoy sending out to family and friends. Information about each year's Christmas Card content can be found by clicking on the appropriate year: 1999 , 2000 , 2001 , 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 , 2006 and 2007. If you are looking for technical information about how we created the cards, please click here
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This was our very first Christmas
Card on CD-ROM. It was something of an The video was distributed on standard CD-ROM media with the Christmas card printed on the jewel case insert. It also included a second short video called 'Swingtime', which was our daughter Carlyn's dance recital from that year. In addition, we included some Christmas stories and recipes in HTML format as well as some shareware software. The 1999 version was not 'user' friendly - even though we included instructions, we got a couple of calls from folks asking - "okay - how do I make this thing work". But even with it's problems, it was a fun effort and everyone who got a copy enjoyed it. A total of 22 Christmas Cards where distributed. |
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The 2000 Christmas card video was a step up from our first attempt. We started planning for it a little earlier, which gave us an opportunity to experiment with format and layout. While still an analog video conversion to MPEG-1 format, an upgraded computer made putting the card together much easier. It still had some problems getting the audio and video to stay in synch - but it was an improvement over the first attempt. The most significant improvement came from the way the card worked - the CD contained an actual installation program - you inserted the disc into the CD-ROM and an it installed the video and other included software automatically and even created a shortcuts on the desktop. Again we distributed the card on CD-ROM media with the Christmas card graphics and greetings printed on the CD jewel case insert. 2000 also was the first year we really started getting into digital photography in a big way. so the 2000 Christmas CD included a photo album of pictures which where displayed using PCA Portrait Gallery software. The CD also included some Christmas related games and music. The big hit with everyone was a FLASH based game called "Bowling with Elves" - a cute little game in which a virtual Santa goes bowling - and the elves are the pins. The CD also contained a 'goodie" bag of shareware and freeware software that we thought folks might find useful. A total of 39 Christmas Cards were distributed |
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The 2001 version of our Christmas card contained a number of improvements. We finally licked the audio / video synch problem from the first two years. The problem was a matter of processing power - a faster CPU and more memory solved the problem completely. Also new for 2001 was a change in the format. Instead of a single 10 - 12 minute video with the entire family appearing in separate scenes, we created short separate videos for each family member. We also encouraged the children to share something about the past year. In a break from the two previous years, we changed the distribution media to a mini CD-ROM format. The mini-CD's are only a third the size of a standard CD-ROM and hold approx 210 MB of data. We created personalized Christmas cards using Print Master greeting card software and glued a vinyl envelope containing the mini CD to the card. We thought this format looked a lot neater and was it certainly easier to mail. The 2001 Christmas card also introduced a second video sequence called "Year in Pictures"- we compiled a selection of digital photographs taken throughout the year and put them in chronological order. We then added a musical sound track and rendered it into an MPEG-1 video. Print quality copies of the photographs used in the Year in Pictures video where put on the CD-ROM and by popular demand, we included a copy of the "Bowling with Elves" game. A total 38 Christmas Cards where distributed. |
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This year's Christmas video represented significant technological improvement from the first three editions. Gone was the analog videotape - we purchased a digital video camera that used 8mm tape. We also made significant computer upgrades, adding high-end AMD processor with a DVD-RW drive. For the first time we are distributed the video in two separate versions - an Standard Edition (SE) version distributed on mini-CD media and a Limited Edition on DVD media. The SE version contained the 10 minute Christmas Card greeting and a 9 minute "Year in Pictures" video set to music. The SE version was on a mini CD enclosed in a personalized Christmas card. In addition to the videos, the CD also contained print quality image files of the photographs used to compile the Year in Pictures video and a collection of shareware software. (yes - it also included a copy of "Bowling with Elves" along with other Christmas themed Flash based games) The Limited Edition (LE) is our first venture into DVD creation and the use of writeable DVD media. The LE version consisted of a DVD containing the high resolution copies of the Christmas Card greeting video and the Year in Pictures video. In addition, each LE set included a full size companion CD-ROM. The companion CD contains the same CD-ROM versions of the Christmas Greeting and Year in Photos and four additional videos of friends and family taken during the past year. In addition, just like the SE version of the CD, there are also print quality image files and some shareware software included. This year, the LE DVD version was only being distributed to a limited set of folks we knew had DVD players or DVD capable computers. A total of 34 CD-ROM and 12 DVD versions where created and mailed to friends and family. |
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This year marked the 5th year of Christmas Card series. We wanted to mark this 5th anniversary with something a bit different. A major change was a move toward a wider distribution of DVD vs. CD-ROM media. The majority of cards distributed in 2003 where DVD format, only those folks who we knew did not have a DVD player got the older CD-ROM computer version. For the 2003 we ended up with 3 different versions of the Christmas Card - a special 5th Anniversary DVD Edition, a standard edition on full sized CD-ROM, and very small run of special edition on mini-CD disc. The standard CD-ROM edition included our Christmas Card Greeting and the 'Year in Pictures' video. The standard edition CD includes all four of the popular 'Elf Bowling' games and a collection of shareware software. The size of the video files, and the inclusion of all four 'Elf' games and shareware caused us to move back to a full-sized CD-ROM this year. Also available on the CD where print quality copies of the photographs found in the Year in Pictures video feature. The special DVD edition included extra additional video footage - a special retrospective look back at the previous Rumbolo Christmases titled "Rumbolo Ghost of Christmas Past". This is video featured clips from all four previous Christmas Cards along with Christmas video from 1994 and 1995. Other extra video included on the DVD included some footage of Lorien playing. The DVD version didn't ship with a Christmas Card, instead we used a standard DVD case with a decorated cover. The DVD edition also included a companion CD-ROM which fit nicely inside the case. The companion CD-ROM included the same content as the standard edition in order to distribute the Elf Bowling games and shareware software. The special mini-CD edition was primarily put together for the children to give to their friends and teachers. It consists of only the Christmas Greeting video with no games or software. The children gave them to their friends and teachers in a mini-CD jewel case. All told we made 22 DVD, 18 CD-ROM cards, and 6 mini-CD Christmas Cards for distribution to family and friends. |
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The year 2004 marked a transition point as the Christmas Card was only distributed in DVD format. After some consideration we decided that keeping both a DVD and CD-ROM format was getting to be too much trouble. Since the DVD format is a much better media and virtually everyone on our Christmas Card mailing list now had a DVD player, we decided to drop the CD-ROM format entirely. For 2004 the Christmas Card greeting itself marked our first foray into a skit based format. The basic concept of our skit was the children's 'reluctance' to participate in the taping of our Christmas Card. Overall the concept worked very well and resulted in some funny moments. We had a lot of fun as a family working out a skit, rehearsing and putting it on tape. The DVD is presented in a full-size DVD case with a decorated dust jacket. The DVD contains our Christmas video, the regular Year in Pictures video album of photographs from the year and a blooper video of funny mistakes made during the making of our Christmas video. Due to the fact that we had discontinued the CD-ROM format, we did not distribute any shareware, Christmas themed games or print quality images of the photographs used in the 'Year in Pictures' video.We ended up creating 36 copies of the Christmas video for distribution to friends and family. |
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For this year's Christmas Card we
decided to went back to an interview type format with each family member.
However the entire video was hosted by our son Michael and daughter Carlyn.
They introduced each family member and also presented a brief 'commercial'
message about the other new feature for the 2005 Christmas Card - a treasure
hunt contest. The treasure hunt required each recipient of the Christmas
Card to watch the video and then go to our Christmas Card web site, register
their DVD and answer some questions about the video. All of the correct
entries where eligible for a drawing with the winner receiving a 25.00 dollar
Amazon.com gift certificate.
For Christmas 2005 we produced and distributed 36 copies of the Treasure Hunt edition and 14 copies of the standard edition. This version of the card was a big hit with friends and family and it is something we will repeat some time in the future. |
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The 2006 Christmas card was kept to the basics due to time constraints. I was traveling extensively on business in October and November and consequently had very little time to plan and create the Christmas card, in fact we produced the 2006 version of our Christmas card in ten days from start to finish. It was a pretty frantic effort and required a last minute 'all-nighter' to finish the disc creation and packaging. Consequently we used a simple interview style video and year in pictures video with no extras or enhancements. Despite the rush effort we still managed to produce 36 copies for family and friends. |
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The 2007 Christmas card included three videos this year - our traditional Christmas greeting messages, the annual Year in Pictures summary and a short piece titled "Bits & Pieces" which was a compilation of some outtakes from the Christmas greeting video and a couple of short pieces video taped during the year. One pleasant bonus was the appearance of our son Michael and his fiancé Holly. Michael was home during the Thanksgiving holiday while on a two week Army R&R leave from Iraq. We managed to make some time to tape his Christmas message and have him introduce Holly to the family. |
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Comments, Suggestions and Inquires
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A number of times
we have been asked how we got the idea for creating a video Christmas card. Shortly before the
Christmas season of 1999 we had been thinking of something different to do for
Christmas cards - the previous year we had gotten a couple of Christmas cards
from friends that featured family portraits, and other cards that included a
letter detailing the events of the previous year. Cathy and I had several
conversations about doing
something different then stock store bought Christmas cards for the upcoming
year.
adventure putting it together. It was a pretty simple card, with HTML
pages that had to be run from the CD-ROM and analog 8mm video imported and
rendered into MPEG-1 format. For a first attempt it wasn't bad, although we had
a lot problems getting the audio and video to synch properly.