What each Life2Film preset does: Just a film, Summary, Reels, Travel, Chronicle, Birthday, New Year, Vlog
When you tap Make in Life2Film you choose a period first (a day, a month, a year, or custom dates) and then a preset. The preset is a set of starting values: the kind of cut, where the length starts, the frame shape, whether the Music step is shown, and what the title suggests. Everything can still be changed in the editor. This is what each one decides.
| Preset | Starts at | Options | Shape | Music | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Just a film | 30 s | 15 / 30 / 60 / 180 | follows footage | yes | none |
| Summary | 30 s for a day, 60 s longer | 15–120 | follows footage | yes | the period’s name |
| Reels | 15 s | 15 / 30 / 60 | vertical, always | yes | none |
| Travel | 60 s | 30 / 60 / 120 | follows footage | yes | the period, plus a caption at each new day |
| Chronicle | 60 s for a day, 180 s longer | 60 / 180 / 300 / 600 | follows footage | no | the period’s name |
| Happy birthday | 60 s | 30 / 60 / 120 | follows footage | yes | “Happy birthday” |
| New Year | 60 s | 30 / 60 / 120 | follows footage | yes | “New Year” |
| Vlog | 60 s | 30 / 60 / 120 | follows footage | yes, under the voice | none, subtitles on |
| Set it up myself | 30 s | 15 / 30 / 60 / 180 | your call | your call | your call |
Every preset except Chronicle caps at three minutes. Chronicle goes to ten.
Just a film
The plain path, and the one every shortcut opens. Best moments of the period, cut to the beat of the track you pick, no title. For a single day this is also what the summary would be, which is why a day leads with it.
Summary
The same cut with the period’s name burned in as a title: “August 2026”, “2026”. A month leads with its summary. Longer periods start at a minute because there is more to cover; the picks are spread across the period so one over-filmed weekend does not take it over.
Reels
The only preset that decides the frame shape instead of reading it from the footage: vertical, always, because it is a promise about where the film is going. Fifteen seconds to start, hard on the beat. If you skip the music, it tells you what is left without a track.
Travel
Day by day, with the date burned in at every change of shooting day. That caption is the one thing a preset seeds into the look: a title nobody typed is words the app invented, but a date is a fact the footage already carries. More in the travel recap guide.
Chronicle
Everything, in capture order, trimmed to its best seconds. No beat grid, no reordering, and music is not asked for; the sound is the sound that was there. A year leads with the chronicle, because ten minutes of everything is what a year is for. It used to be called “The year in frames”.
Happy birthday and New Year
Family cuts with a suggested title. Birthday is available every day; New Year is shown all year as a grey row and unlocks in December. Neither knows whose birthday it is yet; faces are grouped on the device, but a film about one person is something you steer with words. The birthday guide and the year in review guide go further.
Vlog
The one preset that listens. The clips are transcribed on the phone, speech leads the cut, subtitles go on screen, and the music sits under the voice. If there is too little speech to subtitle, the subtitles switch themselves off rather than costing a second render for nothing. No single scene may take more than a fifth of the film; the number came from a day in Chicago where one shop was half the footage and half the film.
Set it up myself
The way out of the whole idea. Starts from the plain film’s numbers and hands you every row on the Setup screen: style, pace, shape, titles.
After the preset
Whatever you chose, the result is a draft. “Shorter”, “more of the kids”, “a different mood” re-cuts in seconds, and the editor lets you trim and reorder by hand. The analysis runs on the iPhone; no footage is uploaded and there is no account. Montage is free; the paid part is a chat director that edits by conversation. App Store.