Introducing Tribute Reel: Turn a Loved One’s Photos Into a Heartfelt Video
A picture is worth a thousand words. But even the most cherished photo captures just a single moment. What if you could revisit a lifetime of memories — from childhood to later years — in one emotional video?
That question drove Maya Geier, Product Manager at MyHeritage, to create a video tribute to her grandfather. Her video inspired Tribute Reel, a new feature that transforms a loved one’s photos into a touching video that celebrates their life.
Tribute Reel animates the scene in each photo into a short 5-second clip and then weaves them together into a single video, complete with music and optional text. This turns treasured memories into a beautiful video you can watch, share, and revisit for years to come. Whether you’re honoring a grandparent on their 90th birthday, creating a centerpiece for a golden anniversary, or preserving the memory of a beloved family member you’ve lost, Tribute Reel creates an engaging, emotional experience that you can share with your family.
Back in 2024 we released LiveMemory™, which enables anyone to take an old photo and bring the scene to life, evoking a strong sense of nostalgia. Tribute Reel stirs up the same warm feelings and gentle joy, and builds on that experience by enabling you to celebrate a whole life, not just a single moment.
Watch the video below to see how Tribute Reel works:
Tribute Reel is currently available on the MyHeritage website on desktop and on mobile web browsers. Support on the MyHeritage mobile app will be added in the future.
Examples
Example 1
Roberta Estes from DNAeXplained was deeply moved by the following Tribute Reel which features her mother, Barbara:
Example 2
Randy Seaver, author of the Genea-Musings blog, was touched by this Tribute Reel featuring his mother, Betty:
Example 3
Gal Zrihen, Lead Product Manager at MyHeritage, created the Tribute Reel below of her grandfather, Yaakov.
How it works
Tribute Reel uses AI to animate a set of photos and simulate the scenes depicted in them realistically. After the photos are uploaded, the AI analyzes each one to determine the best way to reenact the scene. Each photo is then transformed into a 5-second video clip, and Tribute Reel stitches the clips together into a final video. Your original photos in your family site will remain as-is and untouched.
How to create a Tribute Reel
MyHeritage users can access Tribute Reel from the Photos menu on the website:
Accessing Tribute Reel from the main menu (click to zoom)
If you’re new to MyHeritage, you can access the feature by visiting the new landing page on myheritage.com/tribute-reel:
Tribute Reel landing page (click to zoom)
Click “Create Tribute Reel” to get started. If you already have a family tree with some photos on MyHeritage, Tribute Reel will offer suggestions for relatives in the family tree whose video you may want to create. Click on a suggestion or enter the name of anyone whose Tribute Reel you’d like to create (marked below in red). This can be any individual, even if they aren’t in your family tree.
Tribute Reel: Selecting a person
Click “ADD PHOTOS”.
Tribute Reel: adding photos (click to zoom)
You can use photos that you’ve previously uploaded to MyHeritage where that individual is already tagged, upload new photos, or both. Your video can include between 5 and 15 photos. We recommend using at least 10 to create an engaging video. When you’re finished, click “Done” at the bottom of the screen.
Tribute Reel: selecting photos (click to zoom)
The next step is to customize the video. First, use drag and drop to sort the photos to reflect the order you want them to appear in the video (e.g., chronological).
Tribute Reel: sorting the photos for the video (click to zoom)
At this stage, you can add more photos, if you wish. You can add opening text and closing text to personalize the video. At the bottom of the page, the estimated video length is shown, based on the number of photos. When you’re ready, click “Continue”.
The last step is to customize the video.
Tribute Reel: customizing the video (click to zoom)
Select a soundtrack to accompany your video from the options provided, or if you prefer, keep it silent. Finally, you can tell Tribute Reel to colorize and enhance all of the selected photos in the video. If you choose that option, it applies only to the video output; your original photos on MyHeritage will remain unchanged. Once you’re done with these selections, click “Create Tribute Reel”.
MyHeritage will email you as soon as the video is ready.
Tips for best results
Here are several tips for selecting photos that will yield the best possible video:
- Choose photos that show a person at different stages of their life, from childhood to adulthood, to give a full sense of their life journey.
- Include photos with the people dear to them: parents, siblings, a spouse, children, or close friends.
- Photos depicting a scene or interaction tend to create better animations than posed group photos. Outdoor photos, candid moments, or photos with expressive faces work especially well.
- Not every video comes out perfectly on the first try. If you aren’t happy with the result, you can replace one or more photos, add more photos, or change the order, and then generate a new video.
Sharing
Tribute Reels are great for sharing on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and other social media platforms. We encourage you to share your videos with the hashtags #MyHeritage and #TributeReel. You can download your videos to your computer or mobile device, and share them later however you’d like.
To share your video from the website, click one of the icons below the video player.
Tribute Reel: Downloading and sharing (click to zoom)
Privacy
Any photos you upload for the Tribute Reel feature will be stored in your MyHeritage account. You can delete your uploaded photos at any time.
The Tribute Reel feature uses technology provided by a third party that does not obtain rights to your photos or to the resulting video. Before your video is generated, we’ll ask for your explicit consent to allow MyHeritage to process your photos for this purpose.
Responsible use
Please use Tribute Reel responsibly. Do not upload trademarked photos, or photos that depict violence, pornography, or any offensive subject matter. Please do not upload photos of military scenes, or scenes with wounded or dead people. Do not share results that may offend anyone, and do not remove the AI symbol from the resulting videos. We thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
Cost
Anyone can create one Tribute Reel for free. To create more videos, a Photo plan or Omni plan is required. The Photo plan provides access to all of the other MyHeritage photo features including MyHeritage In Color™, Photo Enhancer, Photo Repair, Deep Nostalgia™, LiveMemory™, and the Photo Scanner. You can learn more about the MyHeritage Omni plan here.
FAQ
How long does it take to create a Tribute Reel?
Creating a Tribute Reel can take between a few minutes up to a few hours depending on server load. You’ll receive an email when your video is ready with a link to view it.
Can I create a Tribute Reel for a living individual?
Yes. A Tribute Reel is a beautiful way to celebrate anyone’s life, making it very appropriate as a gift for birthdays and anniversaries of your loved ones. It can also be used to commemorate a loved one who has passed away.
Can I edit the Tribute Reel once it’s ready?
Not at the moment. However, if you want to remove a specific scene from your video, you can generate a new video from the same set of photos, minus any ones you want to remove, and try again.
When I create a Tribute Reel, who owns the copyright to the video?
MyHeritage doesn’t own the resulting video; it belongs to you. MyHeritage only creates it for you. The same applies to photos you upload to MyHeritage: you own them, not MyHeritage.
Why is there a MyHeritage logo on my Tribute Reel?
There is a watermark of the MyHeritage logo on the bottom left corner of the videos, so that if you share a Tribute Reel, others will know where to find the feature.
Why is there an AI symbol on my Tribute Reel?
The video clips created by Tribute Reel are simulated by AI; they are not authentic videos. As part of MyHeritage’s commitment to responsible AI, an icon labeled “AI” is added to the bottom right corner of all Tribute Reels to distinguish them from authentic videos.
Create a Tribute Reel today!
Some memories deserve more than a still photo. Tribute Reel gives you a meaningful way to revisit a loved one’s life: to see them move, to bring to life the moments that made them who they were, and to share that experience with the people who loved them too. We invite you to try it today and share the videos with your loved ones.
