Your year is not one tidy folder. It can still become one film.

Begin with the moments you would miss

A year-in-review film does not need to prove that everything was important. It can hold the small things: a child learning a new joke, a rainy afternoon away, a birthday table, the view from a train, the people who were there.

If the clips are scattered across phones, cameras and a computer, that is normal. Most family and travel footage is made that way. The first step is simply gathering the material you may want to remember—not deciding what is good enough yet.

Let ordinary life sit beside the big days

The trip photos are often easy to find. The ordinary clips can be the ones that make the film feel like your year: a kitchen laugh, a sleepy car ride, a few seconds in the garden. Give them a place too.

You are not making a highlight reel for strangers. You are making something your family may want to watch again.

Make one selected pile, not a perfect archive

Try a gentle first pass: copy the clips you keep returning to into one project. Phone videos, a camera card, a relative’s shared folder, a few travel shots—all of them can belong together.

There will still be duplicates, long clips and filenames that tell you nothing. That is okay. A finished film does not require a museum-quality archive first.

Give the long computer part some space

Working through a large collection can take time, and the time depends on your computer and the footage. With Momentro, you start the analysis on your computer, then you can make dinner, take a walk, or get on with your evening while it works.

Come back to review the draft. Make a small change if you want one. Then start the export. The work stays a project your computer can do—not a night you have to spend watching progress bars.

Review it like a family memory, not a test

When you watch the draft, look for the feeling before you look for perfection. Does it sound like the people in it? Does the trip feel like the trip? Is there one moment you want to hold a little longer?

A small adjustment is often enough. The point is not to become an editor. The point is to make it easier for the memories to be watched.

A gentle four-session plan

1. Gather clips from the devices and folders you already use.
2. Choose the moments you would be sorry to lose.
3. Start the analysis, then step away while your computer works.
4. Review, make a small change if needed, and export when it feels right.

When it is finished

The best time to make a year-in-review film is not when your archive is finally perfect. It is when the year is still close enough that you remember why those clips matter.

Start with the year you already have.