Send a multimedia message to mom

Create a special card showing mom how wonderful she is

By Marc Saltzman

Antonietta Vian doesn’t want to send an ordinary Mother’s Day card this year. “My mom deserves something very special, something with a personal touch that you can’t find in a store-bought card,” says the mother of two.

Vian’s mother uses a computer at work, so she could readily enjoy a personalized e-card. “I hear from friends you can now add music and photos — though I have no idea where to start or how difficult it would be to create,” says the university administrator in Vaughan, Ont.

Unlike paper greeting cards, e-cards are usually free (no postage costs!), are available for every occasion imaginable and are received by the recipient mere moments after you click Send.

And, as Vian points out, one of the best reasons to send an e-card is the ability to add a sentimental touch by adding photos, music, narration and text.

Imagine your mom opening an e-card that starts with a slow-motion slide show of you as a baby, then as a toddler, then as a teenager and finally, as an adult. Bette Midler’s “Wind Beneath My Wings” wafts from the speakers. The final photo is a recent shot of you and Mom, arm in arm, with the words “Happy Mother’s Day” floating across the screen.

Sound impressive? You can create one in no time. Here’s how . . .

Step 1: Collect your memories

Begin by saving and organizing all the components that will go into the project, such as photos, video clips, digital music and Word documents.

Photos: Select your photos. Some may require scanning if they were taken by a film camera. (They could include, for example, photos of you as a baby.)

Music: You may need to rip songs from a CD or download from online stores such as Puretracks or Napster.

Text: Poems can be found online at PoemHunter and Poetry.com. Some sites, such as Poems for Free, even house Mother’s Day sections. You can find lyrics to popular songs at Lyrics.com. Famous quotations can be found in Microsoft Encarta Premium 2009 or online at Bartleby.com. Simply highlight the text you want; then copy and paste into a Word document.

Windows Vista users have folders that store media and other files. If you open the Start menu, you will see the Music, Videos, Pictures and Documents folders. Drag and drop the desired files from those folders into a newly created project folder entitled “Mom’s E-Card.”

Step 2: Assemble your e-card photo story

While there are dozens of e-card sites on the Internet, our pick for creating an original Mother’s Day message is Windows Movie Maker, a free program that is included with Windows Photo Gallery in Vista or can be downloaded here. With just a few mouse clicks, you’ll be able to assemble a personalized slide show.

First, open Photo Gallery and click Make > Make a movie to launch Windows Movie Maker. To import photos, click Import Media and tell Movie Maker what folder your photos reside in. Once you have imported them, you can drag photos into a storyboard, add special filters and choose the order in which they appear. You can also add special effects, such as pan and zoom, and transition sequences for a more professional look.

Now it’s time to add text. Click Titles and credits along the left-hand side, and choose the text caption’s font, size, colour and location.

If your computer has a microphone, you can record commentary for some or all of the photos by clicking Tools > Narrate Timeline. Add music by importing MP3, WMA or WAV files from your hard drive.

Preview and save your “card,” or click the back button to make changes.

Step 3: Getting the card to mom

When you’ve finished creating your Mother’s Day slide show, you’ll want to send it to Mom.

Windows Movie Maker offers a few sending options: you can copy the video file to your hard drive or a digital video camera. But chances are Mom will prefer to receive the card via e-mail or access it on a CD or DVD.

You can e-mail the card from within Movie Maker, and the e-card attachment will be compressed so it won’t clog up Mom’s inbox or risk being bounced back. All Mom needs to play this slide show is a free copy of Windows Media Player.

Should you want to view the card on your own computer or burn it to a CD for viewing on Mom’s PC, look under the “Publish to” heading in the left-hand navigation menu and select This computer or Recordable CD.

If Mom doesn’t have a computer, the CD or DVD slide show can be played on most DVD players. To create the disc, look under the “Publish to” heading, click DVD and follow the wizard.