Visual tributes

Visual tributes at a funeral service at the Isle of Wight Crematorium

Frequently asked questions and answers about visual tributes

You can add a visual tribute to your service. This will be displayed on a large screen to display in the chapel.

  • Fees and charges for visual tributes - fees are not payable directly to the crematorium at the time of booking. They will be added to your total bill from the Funeral Director, and they pay us.

Contact the Crematorium office

Call: 01983 882288

Email: Bereavement.Services@IOW.gov.uk

Disclaimer regarding visual tributes
As with all technology sometimes there are failures out of our control. This could be a power cuts or total unit failure. These issues may result in visual tributes not working during the service. We try our best to mitigate these failures, but sometimes they are un-avoidable. We aim to deliver an excellent service, but we cannot accept liability if equipment fails.

A visual tribute is an electronic image which can be displayed in our chapel during a funeral service on our TV screen. A visual tribute can comprise a single static image displayed throughout the entirety of the service, or a slideshow to be played during a moment of reflection during a service.

Inform your Funeral Director or Officiant during your arrangement meeting that you wish to have a visual tribute. They can then notify us accordingly and ensure that the service Officiant is aware of the request.

Currently a single static image must be supplied as a JPEG (.jpg) and it must be of good quality to allow the picture to be clear on the screen in chapel. Our screen is 75 inches so the better the resolution, the better the appearance will be. If the image is too grainy or pixelated when we check the screen compatibility a few days before the service, we will let the Funeral Director know so they can advise the family and provide a replacement image if need be.

Your image can be either landscape or portrait. Please note however, if your image is portrait, there will be blank space either side of the photo due to the screen being landscape.

Instead of a single static image, you can have a slideshow, which can be played at a specific point during the service, usually during a moment of reflection. If you wish to have a slideshow, you must produce this yourself or your celebrant or minister may be able to assist you. We recommend around 25 images to keep it a suitable length. You can either add music to the slideshow directly when producing it depending on what software you are using; or you can liaise with your Funeral Director to request music be played at the same time as the slideshow via the crematorium sound system controlled by our organist.

We currently accept slideshows as an MP4 file. If you have produced your slideshow in PowerPoint please export the slides into a Video format, see below as a guide:

File > Export > Create A Video > Set time spent on each slide (approx. 6 seconds is recommended) > Create Video > Give it a name and save.

Alternatively, if you cannot make a slideshow on PowerPoint, you can add 25 individual images in JPEG format onto a USB stick and our TV with play through them sequentially.

PLEASE ENSURE THERE ARE NO OTHER FILES OR FOLDERS ON THE USB STICK IN ANY EVENT SO WE CAN IDENTIFY THE RIGHT FILE.

For a slideshow, it must be delivered to the crematorium on a USB stick at least 3 working days before the service date, so we can check it works ok. If you hand this to your Funeral Director, they can drop this into the crematorium for checking. We will then let them know if it works or if there are issues. If your slideshow is on a personal laptop, please call the crematorium office on 01983 882288 to arrange a suitable time to pop up and check it plays ok. We only have access via a HDMI port, so if your laptop does not have this, you will need to supply a USB instead.

You can request a visual tribute at any point from the cremation booking being made. You must always go through your Funeral Director as they will know how to request the service. Requests made within 72 working hours of a service will incur a late fee as highlighted above.

There is no fee if you choose to cancel.

You can have music to accompany a slideshow. You can either add this to your slideshow when you make it, and it will play through our TVs inbuilt speakers. Or you can produce the slideshow and music can be played separately via our organists’ sound system. They will just need a note on the music instructions from the Funeral Director/Officiant to tell them what track needs to be played and what the cue will be in the service to begin.

Liaise with your Funeral Director/Officiant regarding the finer details and running order of the service. If we have the slideshow on a USB, we will plug this in before anyone enters chapel, set it up on screen, and pause it ready for the service. The Celebrant/ Officiant then merely needs to press play at the correct moment in the service. If you have a laptop you may need to come into the chapel a few minutes beforehand to plug in and set up. It will then be down to you, or the Officiant if they are helping you, to manage the playing of the slideshow at the correct moment. Please remember that some laptops may go into sleep/screensaver mode, and this may cause a delay if you need to boot it back up mid-service. If possible, it would be best to remove the screensaver/timeout function on your laptop before the service begins.

Yes. As already stated, if you are having a slideshow, we will require this on a USB at least 3 working days before the service for checking. This allows for any changes to be made (if the file doesn’t work for example). Once you have the USB ready with pictures/slideshow on it, drop it into the Crematorium Office during working hours and a member of the team will test this at their discretion when the chapel is available- we will NOT test it there and then unfortunately, you are simply dropping the stick off to us. If you cannot get to the Crematorium, please pass it to your Funeral Director to drop in on your behalf. We will return the USB after the service has ended. If you are using a laptop, you will need to come in and check compatibility before the service; and a suitable time can be arranged via the Crematorium Office.

We recommend that if you have a single 25-minute service slot, slideshows should be around 4 minutes long and approximately 25 slides in length.

For a double service the length is 1 hour and 15 minutes, so a slideshow could be closer to 10-15 minutes in length.

You should always discuss this with your celebrant or minister as they will need to factor these timings into their service structure.

Not necessarily, you can supply any image you wish to be displayed in chapel. This might be the same one as on your service sheets for uniformity; or it could be a different photo entirely. We will not accept any images containing any nudity or violence.