Questions about Yearlight

What is a Yearlight film?

A film made from photos of one person, or a couple, taken across their life. Each photo is a frame, AI draws the motion from one to the next, and the whole life plays in one take with no cuts. It’s made to be shown at a wedding, a birthday, an anniversary, a retirement or a memorial, or given as a gift.

Do I need an account?

No. Your project saves as you go and stays open on the device you’re using. Add your email if you want to open it on another device. There are no passwords.

How many photos do I need, and which work best?

At least 4 of each person, and up to 10, 20 or 40 in all, depending on your plan. Choose photos where the face is clear and turned toward the camera, spread across the years, with more from childhood, when people change quickly. A clear recent photo makes a strong ending.

Can I use old printed photos?

Yes. Photograph them with your phone’s camera in the studio: lay the print flat in even daylight and shoot from above, and if there’s glare, tilt the print away from the window. We don’t repair or colorize photos, so the cleaner the copy, the better the moment.

What about group photos?

They work. Your device finds the faces, and you tap the person the film is about. If their face is very small in a group photo, that moment may look less like them; a closer photo helps.

Can a film follow a couple, or a whole family?

Premiere and Heirloom support two people, each with their own ordered photo timeline. The timelines play side by side and end with one photo of both people together. Family films with up to four people are still in development.

How long is the film?

It depends on how many photos you use and how many years lie between them. The studio shows the length as you add photos, before you pay. In a couple film, both lives play at the same time, side by side.

How long does it take to make?

Your storyboard appears as soon as your photos are in order. The film itself takes longer, because each moment is made by a video model. While yours is being made we show its progress, and we tell you when it’s ready. Before an event, leave time for re-shoots and a test at the venue.

Can family send me photos?

Yes, with every plan, before and after you order. Share a private link in the family chat, and family can add photos from their phones, without an account: up to 5 people with Keepsake, 15 with Premiere and 30 with Heirloom. You see everything they send and choose what goes in.

What do I need to make one?

A phone or computer with an up-to-date browser.

Which languages can titles use?

Film titles support Latin and Cyrillic characters, Japanese, Korean, Hebrew and Yiddish.

What exactly does AI do?

It draws the motion between your photos. Your photos are the anchors: each moment starts from one and ends on the next, and a video model draws the change in between. The photos, the ages and the words on screen come from you; the motion and the in-between faces are drawn by AI. Every film says so in its credit.

Will it look like them?

Your photos anchor the film, so it passes through each of them. In between, AI draws the face, and likeness can drift: AI isn’t equally good with every face, age, skin tone or kind of light. If a moment doesn’t look like them, re-shoot it. If it still doesn’t, don’t approve the film; ask for your refund.

Does Yearlight recognize faces or guess ages?

No. Face detection runs on your own device and only finds where faces are. You tap the right person, and from that step we receive only where their face sits in the photo. Your photos themselves are uploaded to make the film. You type the ages. We never make face templates and never estimate anyone’s age, gender or ethnicity.

Why can’t I remove the “Made with AI” credit?

Because everyone watching deserves to know how the film was made. Every film ends with “Made with AI from family photos” and the Yearlight mark. Films made in Korean also carry a small AI mark in a corner.

Can I make a film in memory of someone who has died?

Yes, and we take care with it. Memorial films use gentle pacing by default and never carry a QR code or anything promotional. The film ends at the last photo you choose: it never imagines years they didn’t have. Make sure their close family would welcome it.

Can I make a film about a child?

Yes. Family stories can include children, including bar and bat mitzvah celebrations. An adult organises the project and confirms the right to use the photos and the parent or guardian’s permission.

What music can I use?

Your film can have its own original score, made with AI for its length in the mood you choose. You can also add a song you have the right to use, or choose no music and play your own at the venue. If you use a commercial song, the venue may need its own license to play it in public.

Will it play at the venue?

Your film comes as a wide 1080p MP4 file (H.264) with its sound level set for a room, a format laptops, TVs, projectors and venue systems commonly play. Premiere and Heirloom add a downloadable screening checklist for whoever runs the screen. Always test it on the real screen before the day, and bring a copy on a USB stick.

Do you make DVDs or 4K files?

No. Every film is a 1080p MP4 file. If your venue asks for a DVD, ask whether they can play an MP4 from a USB stick or a laptop instead.

Can I share it on my phone?

Yes. Every film also comes as a tall version for phones, so you can share it after the event.

What does it cost? Is it a subscription?

Keepsake is $49, Premiere $99 and Heirloom $179, each as one payment. Nothing renews.

What’s a re-shoot?

A re-shoot round is one request to make selected transitions again. Keepsake includes 1 round and 3 extra transition versions in total; Premiere includes 3 rounds and 12 versions; Heirloom includes 6 rounds and 24 versions in total. Every package allows these rounds and extra versions within 30 days after the first film delivery. The version allowance is total across all rounds, not renewed each round. Once generation starts, the original source photos and selected people stay fixed. Changes to framing, order, ages or style use extra versions for affected moments. New source photos or a different selected person need a new project. Unchanged completed transitions are reused. Automatic retries after generation failures do not use the allowance. Included changes must be used before final approval and within 30 days of first film delivery. Approval closes photo and film changes.

How does the guarantee work?

Your storyboard is free and shows your photos in order. After you order, the whole film plays as a watermarked preview, and you can re-shoot moments within your plan. Until you approve it, you can ask for a full refund within 30 days of ordering. After you approve, we remedy defects, such as a file that won’t play.

What happens to my photos?

We use them only to make, deliver and fix your film. When they arrive, we remove location and camera data. They’re deleted 30 days after your film is delivered, and you can delete everything sooner. Your film stays online for 12 months, or 3 years with Heirloom.

Do you use my photos to train AI?

No. We don’t train AI on your photos, and we don’t sell or share them for advertising. The music model receives only the mood and the length.

Who can see my film?

No one can watch it unless you share a link. A share link works for anyone who has it, so share it with care; you can set it to expire or turn it off at any time. Link previews in chat apps show a Yearlight card, never a photo, and share pages ask search engines not to list them. Your film is never used in our marketing.

How do I delete everything?

Open your project and choose Delete this project to remove your photos, films and share links from Yearlight. This cannot be undone or recall copies you downloaded or sent. Removing one source photo also removes film versions and links made from it. Automatic source-photo deletion 30 days after first film delivery keeps the delivered film for its purchased retention period.

Can I read reviews of Yearlight?

Not yet. Yearlight is new. When we publish reviews, they’ll come only from people who bought a film, with their permission, and we’ll say how we checked. Until then, the storyboard is free and you see the whole film before you keep it.

We’d rather you know now than find out at the venue.

• Use children’s photos without the permission of a parent or guardian.
• Go past your first or last photo. It never imagines years before the earliest photo or after the latest, so it never ages anyone beyond their last photo.
• Promise a perfect likeness. Faces that are tiny, blurry, covered or turned away are harder, and AI models don’t do equally well with every face, age, skin tone or kind of light.
• Repair, retouch or colorize old photos.
• Follow more than two people in one film. Family films are planned.
• Make 4K files or DVDs.
• Add voices, narration or lip movement.
• Clear the rights to a commercial song for you.
• Guarantee how a venue’s equipment will play your film. That’s why the checklist says to test it there first.

Can I give a Yearlight film as a gift?

Yes. Make it yourself and give it as a private link, play it at a family dinner, or download the file onto a USB stick.

Can I give a gift code instead?

Yes. A gift code lets someone make their own film with a plan you choose. About gift codes