MyHeritage.com

[darkerhorse]

I'm seeking opinions on the value of a "complete" paid subscription to MyHeritage.com. I only have a free limited membership at present.

I already have free access to a library edition of Ancestry.com, and free access to the public version of FamilySearch.com

[MarcuccioV]

I'm seeking opinions on the value of a "complete" paid subscription to MyHeritage.com. I only have a free limited membership at present.

I already have free access to a library edition of Ancestry.com, and free access to the public version of FamilySearch.com

I find it worthwhile. I use it to research family members that don't come up on other sites. I can't say I've found a lot, but definitely enough to justify the subscription.

There is also the photo editor/enhancer which you have experienced through me...

[darkerhorse]

Yes. I was interested in the nostalgia photo videos.

[darkerhorse]

But I've seen mixed results.

[MarcuccioV]

But I've seen mixed results.

Of course. It's far from perfect. I guess you could say you get out what you put in; if the pic is extremely blurry, the program sometimes tries too hard, but in other cases it's dead-on. It also works better with larger files...

[NickAndreola]

There are pros & cons to each of the choices. I went through the same decision process years ago and choose to do and to display my work at wikitree.com--- The ultimate clincher for me was $$$$$s---both for me and for any cousins wishing to view the work. I've been building my tree and connecting with cousins there for about 10 years---total cost so far=$0 for any of us.

You can do the same for free at sites like FS, however, I found that the error/conflation level was significant there and the difficulty level to correct those errors was higher.

[darkerhorse]

Thanks for your feedback. I find it difficult to justify spending much on genealogy given so much is available free.

[MarcuccioV]

Another perk I found with MH is their ethnicity estimate seems to be the most accurate, based on what paper trail research I have done. Ancestry's is the worst, and their latest update was even farther off than the original estimate.

The good thing about MH is you can either take a test through them or upload your results from other companies.

I took DNA tests from both Ancestry and 23&Me and uploaded my results to MH. Both estimates were nearly identical, and as I noted, very accurate based on my family research. They also very closely align to the oracle estimates I got from GEDMATCH.

Just some more food for thought...

[darkerhorse]

Yeah, ethnicity estimates in DNA testing is another important consideration for me.

[afecad]

I signed up and later cancelled MyHeritage. I did upload my DNA to see the results from the other sites I tested (3 sets total), they charge you $20 (I think?) for each one even if you sign up for premium. I posted the comparison in another thread, was somewhat consistent to others but not exactly and showed Finnish DNA which none of the other's did. I believe this might be from my Father's German side, but I'm not sure?

For my Italian side, I did not find it useful as 23andme or FTDNA. 23andme is by far the most accurate DNA test I took as it correlated with all my records of my family line in Italy, even showing traces results in Tuscany where my family originated. MyHeritage and FTDNA show blobs over regions, they do not clearly define the region like 23andme.

Tried their AI tool to colorize a couple of photos, results were not totally accurate with respect to colors being assigned but the effect is, interesting.

I found the site clunky and hard to navigate, compared to Ancestry. They also make you download a desktop program to upload your family tree and make it searchable with other members, that is also clunky and confusing.

Ancestry is by far, the better choice and easier to navigate in my opinion. 23andme for DNA testing and for clearly showing relatives in a simple format.

[darkerhorse]

Thanks for your views, they give me a more balanced picture.

Which region of Italy is your family from?

In my limited experience with animated photos the less expression on the person, the better.

For example, a smile can make the cheeks protrude and the mouth look different in subsequent animation.

I think the primary value of animation is for photos of people you didn't know in person, to get an idea of how they might have looked (in action).

[MinnieB]

I got some incredible results with the MH photo animator and the colorizer. One of the photos I colorized was taken at my grandmothers house and I do remember those drapes and some of the other things you could see in the photo and it was spot on. I've done a lot of photo restoration and I thought their photo enhancer did a great job on the faces. Sometimes there were artifacts in the clothing or background, but the faces were well done. There were a couple of photos the animator didn't do well with, but others blew me away. I think how turns out depends on the angle of the person's head in the photo. If their head is tilted down a little, those didn't turn out too well. I just did the two week trial.

[MarcuccioV]

I got some incredible results with the MH photo animator and the colorizer. One of the photos I colorized was taken at my grandmothers house and I do remember those drapes and some of the other things you could see in the photo and it was spot on. I've done a lot of photo restoration and I thought their photo enhancer did a great job on the faces. Sometimes there were artifacts in the clothing or background, but the faces were well done. There were a couple of photos the animator didn't do well with, but others blew me away. I think how turns out depends on the angle of the person's head in the photo. If their head is tilted down a little, those didn't turn out too well. I just did the two week trial.

I have to say the colorizer blew me away on one photo also. It was a wedding photo of my parents (cutting their wedding cake). The background was a very unusual and busy tropical wallpaper.

To my amazement, the colorizer got it 100% correct (I do have some color photos for comparison), even the background color, which was a pastel coral. I was stunned (in a good way)...

[MinnieB]

Wow, Mark, that does sound amazing and similar to the results I got as well. I wonder how they can figure out the right colors from the varying shades of gray. Maybe that is what AI does for you.

[MarcuccioV]

Wow, Mark, that does sound amazing and similar to the results I got as well. I wonder how they can figure out the right colors from the varying shades of gray. Maybe that is what AI does for you.

MinnieB,

This is the photo in question, after enhancing and colorization. Except for the slight "patchiness" and mild bleeding of the colors, this is exactly what that wallpaper looked like in a color snapshot I have. This was a professional B&W photo...