Video Editing

CyberLink PowerDirector 8 Deluxe

2010-06-09T22:11:00.000-07:00

Video Upscaling and Fixing
A host of new tools and technologies are designed to save editing time and improve your video quality. Leveraging PowerDVD's video enhancing TrueTheater technology, PowerDirector delivers HD-like results from standard definition content by upscaling video resolution, smoothing out playback in slow motion and enabling virtual surround sound.
With easy-to-use settings, PowerDirector's TrueTheater technologies fix common video shooting errors such as extreme backlighting, poor white balance, and inadequate lighting.
Pro Results
PowerDirector 8's suite of design tools—for creating titles, animated objects, and disc menus—now offers a Particle Effects Designer, letting you experiment with movie-like special effects. As with PowerDirector's other design tools, particle effects can be uploaded and shared with other users on DirectorZone, PowerDirector's community website.
Enjoy working with more editing tools such as Reverse, Crop, Speed and Rotate video tools. For precise trimming, retain frame-level control with the patented Zoom-In Cut™.
While the expanded 16-track timeline offers more creative possibilities including the ability to cut & paste sequences to other parts of your production.

Faster Performance
The first consumer video editing software to be optimized for Intel Core i7, NVIDIA CUDA, and ATI Stream technology, PowerDirector delivers up to 5X faster performance for rendering effects and transcoding videos, with vastly improved editing and previewing speeds.

Shared Creativity
Ever wonder how home movies achieve memorable effects? Now you can by viewing other users' timelines and even sharing your own on DirectorZone.com. This unique glimpse into others' creative approaches is a remarkable learning tool, offering incredible insight for your own projects.
PowerDirector's unique "open editing" experience also lets you share special effects, video editing secrets, and a chance to learn from other users. Download, upload, and share an unlimited amount of effects, DVD menus, particle effects, and PiP objects via DirectorZone.
Ways to Show & Tell
Video editing software, PowerDirector, provides direct HD video uploading to Facebook and YouTube, enabling easy sharing on today’s most popular social networks and video blogging sites.
Or enjoy your finished movie in HD at home by producing Blu-ray Discs or AVCHD discs in high-definition resolution. If it's mobility you are after, you can produce playback files for your iPhone, iPod, or PSP.

System Requirements:

Operating System:

Microsoft Windows 7, Vista or XP (Windows XP Service Pack 2 is required for HDV capture)

Screen Resolution:

1024 x 768, 16-bit color or above

Microphone

Required for recording voice-overs

Processor:

PowerDirector 8 is optimized for CPU with MMX/SSE/SSE2/3DNow! Extension/HyperThreading technology

AVI Capture/Production: Pentium 2 450 MHz or AMD Athlon 500MHz
VCD Quality (MPEG-1) Profiles: Pentium 3 600 MHz or AMD Athlon 700MHz
DVD Quality (MPEG-2) profiles: Pentium 4 2.2 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 2200+
High Quality MPEG-4 and WMV, QuickTime, RealVideo Profiles: Pentium4 2.4Ghz or AMD Athlon XP 2400+
AVCHD and MPEG-2 HD Profiles: Pentium Core 2 Duo E6400 or Athlon 64 X2 5000+

Memory:

512MB required (2GB DDR2 above recommended for editing HD videos)

Hard Disk Space:

5GB required minimum (note: 400 MB is for Magic Music Library)
10GB (20 GB recommended) for DVD production
60GB (100 GB recommended) for Blu-ray Disc/AVCHD production

Video Capturing Device

PCI or USB 1.0/2.0 capture device compliant with WDM standard (i.e. PC Camera and TV tuner with WDM driver)
DV camcorder connected via OHCI-compliant IEEE1394
DVD camcorder connected via USB 2.0
Sony MicroMV camcorder
JVC Everio camcorder (GZ-MC100, GZ-MC200)
Sony HDR-FX1 (HDV)
Sony HDR-HC1 (HDV)
Sony HDR-HC1 (HDV)
JVC GR-HD1U (HDV)

Supported AVCHD camcorders

SONY HDR-SR1
SONY HDR-UX1
SONY HDR-CX7
SONY HDR-SR7
Panasonic SX5

Burning Device:

A CD or DVD burner (CD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW or DVD-R/RW) is required to burn VCD/DVD/SVCD titles.
A Blu-ray disc recordable drive is required to burn Blu-ray Discs.

Corel VideoStudio X2

2009-11-29T09:00:00.000-08:00

Corel VideoStudio X2 Standard earned the “TopTenREVIEWS Silver Award” with its exceptionally clean interface, smooth playback, ease-of-use, and options tailored to both video editing beginners and experienced techies. Where other video editing products hide common functions behind menus, masked within a cluster of icons, and in less than ideal stages of the editing process, VideoStudio keeps them up front and easily accessible due its well-designed interface.
To aid first-time video editors, VideoStudio X2 launches with a splash screen where you’re given three options: the VideoStudio Editor, the Movie Wizard, and the DV-to-DVD Wizard.

The DV-to-DVD Wizard will take video directly from your DV camcorder and burn it to a DVD. It’s a simple two step process with a few editing options like scene detection and marking, and perfect when you just need to capture and produce a video quickly.

The VideoStudio Editor brings the full complement of video editing functionality to bear, including multi trimming, inserting effects, transitions, audio, and everything else VideoStudio X2 can do.

The Movie Wizard lets you capture and import video and do a few basic edits before burning it to disc. Its functionality puts it a step above the DV-to-DVD Wizard and a step below the full VideoStudio Editor. The Movie Wizard has automatic scene detection and splitting, multi trim capability, and DVD menu templates.
You can easily burn your videos to DVD and video CD with VideoStudio X2 Standard. For added flexibility, a few extra dollars will get you VideoStudio X2 Pro, where you can also burn to Blu-ray and AVC-HD discs, and you get hundreds of additional video and sound samples, extra special effects, and more.

Review of Corel Video Studio X2

Image Gallery

Click here to view (22) images in our gallery

Video Capture/Playback:

We captured from an old JVC camcorder using an USB video transfer connector. The time required to capture our 14 minute video was exactly 14 minutes This 1:1 ratio is standard when pulling from DV tape.

Thanks to VideoStudio’s Smart Proxy technology video playback was smooth. With Smart Proxy editing, users – even on midrange PCs – can enjoy the same benefits as if they were using a high performance video editing workstation. By using lower-resolution files for editing and previewing a project, VideoStudio X2 requires fewer system resources, which results in faster, smoother playback and editing of video. This was especially helpful editing standard definition video, and we can only imagine its beneficial effects on editing HD video, which is much more resource intensive.

In VideoStudio X2, Corel also optimized its usage of dual-core and quad-core CPU systems. We noticed our dual-core system was more responsive and encoded faster than our Pentium 4 3GHz system. A great new feature found in both standard and pro versions of VideoStudio X2.

Editing Tools:

Whether editing Grandpa’s arthroscopy or your nephew’s birthday party, you need to view your clips in a timeline or storyboard mode, add video, picture, text, audio, and music tracks, and trim/split your video into sections for better continuity, adding transitions, and enhancing with effects (Corel calls them Video Filters).

Once your video is captured, the first thing you want to do is trim and divide the video segment into clips. Trimming is marking the beginning and end of an entire clip, while multi trimming is useful to divide one segment into multiple clips. Multi trimming is extremely useful when you need to remove an inappropriate scene, or mark it for inclusion in a blooper reel. We found VideoStudio X2’s trim and multi trim tools both powerful and easy to use in that we moved frame by frame quickly. It’s important to note that VideoStudio X2 utilizes non-destructive editing, so no matter what you do to a video segment, the original is never permanently cut or overwritten.

So knowing that we couldn’t actually RUIN anything, we decided to let VideoStudio automatically detect scenes and trim accordingly. The results were impressive, as many of what we termed “non productive” segments were trimmed down to their very own scenes which we could move or delete at will. We did find that you'll have to manually add transitions yourself.

Export/Production:

Once your edits are complete, you can save your work to a number of formats. Standard formats include FLV files for YouTube, MPEG-1 and MPEG-2, AVCHD, WMV HD, RealMedia, Windows Media, and QuickTime.

For more portability, upgrade to VideoStudio Pro X2 and convert your videos to iPod, iPod Touch, iPhone and PSP-compatible files.

Editing Effects/Transitions:

VideoStudio X2 Standard comes with 65 Video Filters, or effects, to enhance your video, and they’re easy to apply. Just drag one over your video clip and the effect is instantly applied. Chaining effects is also possible, so if you want to use the Anti-Shake effect in combination with the Brightness & Contrast effect on a particular clip, it’s a simple matter of dragging both effects over the intended clip. Effects are customizable as well, so you can adjust brightness, contrast, and the strength of the Anti-Shake effect and compare the results.

A feature unique to VideoStudio X2 is a Rotoscoping tool that allows you to “draw” onto the video. Useful for tracing routes on a map, giving yourself a beard, or just plain scribbling, the Rotoscoping tool is fun to play with.

With 129 transitions in VideoStudio X2, it’s unlikely most home video editors would need more. Again, inserting them into the timeline is a quick drag and drop process.

VideoStudio also has 31 Title Templates for beginning or ending credits, title text and whatever snarky text you want to put over your video. All of the titles are editable, so you’re not stuck with canned text, and you can position, scale, and rotate them to your heart’s content.

Disc Creation:

When creating a disc, you can choose whether or not to include a menu for easy navigation of chapters. VideoStudio comes with 6 menu templates, and if you don’t find any of them to your liking, you can create your own. Multi-layer menus are not supported in VideoStudio Standard, but you can add chapters at fixed intervals or VideoStudio can automatically detect scenes and make them into chapters for you.

VideoStudio Standard burns to DVD and Video CD, and if you're itching to burn to Blu-ray and AVC-HD discs, for a reasonable price you can upgrade to VideoStudio Pro X2 and burn away!

CyberLink PowerDirector 8 Deluxe

2009-11-29T08:56:00.000-08:00

You thought you had a lot of old home movies lying around before; a couple of cabinets full of film that you’re going to go through “some day.” Then everything went digital (and high-def). Now you have even more home footage sitting somewhere on your desktop. Or maybe you have a budding film producer in the family. Whether you’re trying to archive your footage, create wedding slideshows, pare down your travelogue to a palatable highlight reel, or create a full-length feature film, you’re going to need a solid video editing software.
Cyberlink’s PowerDirector 8 is one of the best video editing software solutions available, combining all the right features (and then some) in a professional and easy-to-use video editing package. We are pleased to award Cyberlink PowerDirector 8 Deluxe with our “TopTenREVIEWS Gold Award” for continued excellence in performance and innovation.
PowerDirector combines a good balance of simplicity and versatility. The software takes advantage of technology and has so many professional-grade tools, but it’s easy enough that you can actually use it.
Standout Features:

Direct upload to YouTube and Facebook
Particle Effects
SD to HD up-scaling
Impressive list of output formats, including files for your iPhone, PSP, PS3, Xbox, and Zune
Automated “Magic” Editing Tools

We also have no problems with the fact that this intermediate video editing software is available with a low-end price. It’s even on sale for 20% off through online retailer Herman Street.
For all the great features found in PowerDirector Deluxe plus the added benefit of being able to burn Blu-ray discs (as well as capture and burn AVCHD), we definitely recommend the upgraded Cyberlink PowerDirector Ultra.

Review of PowerDirector 8 by Cyberlink

Image Gallery

Video Capture/Playback:

Capturing video in PowerDirector 8 Deluxe is simple, whether you’re using input content from your camcorder or importing from a flash drive or hard drive. PowerDirector supports all major formats (MPEG-2, AVCHD, VOB, VRO, DVRMS to name a few, and will work seamlessly with your old SD camcorder, newer HDV camcorder, DVD camcorder, or even your digital camera. (Trying to get your VHS tapes to DVD? You may want to refer to our article "Copying VHS to DVD")

PowerDirector is fully equipped to provide faster input, rendering and output by taking full advantage of your PC’s power. PowerDirector supports Intel Core i7, nVIDIA CUDA, and ATI Stream technologies, so video editing is even faster. The software can utilize up to 8 cores (16 threads) of processing power, so even high-def video is easily dealt with.
For even faster video editing of HD content, PowerDirector can create a standard definition copy of the original and provide quicker response with “Shadow Editing.”
But don’t worry if you don’t have a top-of-the-line PC with advanced technology. We loaded the software on one of our (overtaxed) test computers, and had no problems installing or running the software. And if you’re thinking about upgrading, PowerDirector 8 is compatible with Microsoft Windows 7 and dual monitor setups.

Free Video Editing Software: Create & Edit Movies For Free

2009-10-21T08:35:00.000-07:00

Looking for a good video editor or movie making software that you can download for free ?

It's only a myth that you need expensive video editors for video editing tasks like adding scrolling texts, subtitles or custom animations - you will find such features even inside free video editors that we discuss here to help you produce video podcasts, home movies and online web video easily.

But before that, do check the installation DVD that came with your handycam or digital camera - most camera vendors like Sony, Canon and Panasonic generally provide a decent video editing software with the camera. If that doesn't help, here's a list of best and free video editing software:

Windows Movie Maker - The best video editing tool for Windows that's absolutely free and chances are you already have it installed on your computer as part of XP SP2. Microsoft Movie Maker has all the basic video editing tools plus a good collection of transitions and video effects.

There's an in-built movie titler that lets add you styles to text titles including ticker taps, zoom and even the scroll effect. And if you are feeling lazy, just hit the AutoMovie command to have the entire video produced for you with intervention.

Related: How to Edit YouTube Videos with free video editing programs.

Avid Free DV - Avid Free DV, poor cousin of Avid Xpress Pro, has all the basic video and audio editing features and allow you to put video in two tracks simultaneously. They have an extensive collection of tutorials online to help you get started quickly.

Support both Mac OS and Windows XP platform. Infact, you can even play with keyframes for generating custom moves and transitions. Ships with the Avid Title tool.

Online Video Editing Programs

Jumpcut.com - Jumpcut is a web based video editing software and now it's even part of the Yahoo! family. You upload a video or small clips just like importing inside a desktop software.

There are dozens of transitions and special effects. You can import photographs from your Flickr or Facebook account to mix them with the videos. The jumpcut editor is intuitive enough and there is good title support as well. And your movies are published online automatically. Perfect for quick vlogging and video podcasting.

JahShaka* (discontinued) - An open source video editing software that is currently in Alpha stage but has features found only in expensive video editing software suites.

Works on Mac, Linux and Windows. The interface might take some time for you to get started otherwise the software is definitely the most powerful one out there. And the price is just right. $0. Also does 3D effects which you won't find in other free video editors.

Conclusion: While all the above free video editing software will satisfy the needs of most amateurs and home movie makers, you can probably consider Adobe Premiere Elements, Pinnacle Studio, Ulead Studio, Sony Vegas, Nero or Muvee Auto Producer for more features and better control over the final video output. They have trial version to help you try out the software before actually buying it.

VGA Card on Video Editing: Is it Important?

2009-09-24T09:43:00.000-07:00

VGA cards are also known as video graphic adapters, display adapters, video controllers, and video cards. Basically, these are the electronic components that generate the video signal sent through a cable to your monitor. Sometimes, the video card is integrated with your motherboard. But high-end video cards are usually separate boards inside your PC. A VGA card is a vital part of any computer system. Video cards and their performance and compatibility aspects generate a huge body of questions and discussions in the Windows XP user groups, newsgroups, chats, and other online community forums.

In this post, I'll give you some tips on picking the right card for your system. I'll discuss the impact a video card has on video-editing tasks. (The video graphic card doesn't do much of the work when it comes to video-editing, although there are exceptions.) I'll also suggest a couple of good brands for you to check out.
Video cards perform their duties in 2-D and 3-D, showing images on your monitor. Everything you see in Microsoft Windows uses 2-D imaging. 3-D performance comes into play only when you're running a game based on a 3-D engine, so this type of imaging has minimal impact on video editing. It does, however, have a huge impact on any rendering tasks that involve 3-D effects. Quite a few transitions involve 3-D effects, so having a powerful 3-D card will speed things up significantly.

The manual for Hollywood FX, a transitions package that comes with Pinnacle Studio Deluxe, states that a 3-D acceleration card will result in 200 percent to 500 percent performance gains when 3-D transitions are used. To my knowledge, no 3-D transitions with Microsoft Movie Maker 2.1 can take advantage of a powerful 3-D video card, but that doesn't mean having a powerful video card can't help you in other ways.

A system with a cheap and underpowered video card will be very sluggish in all Windows tasks, including video-editing applications. So although a 3-D video card won't truly accelerate your video editing, a capable 3-D video card will make your entire computing experience much easier and will accelerate the rendering process if you're using 3-D transitions. It will also help with DVD playback and will reduce the CPU load when playing back video files.

Some cards (such as the ATI RADEON 4650 Pro) have the ability to remove digital artifacts from video, enhancing the visual quality. If you have a low-end computer with a built-in video card on the motherboard, there's an even more compelling reason to upgrade to a new video card: your system is probably using shared RAM. This means that the on-board video card borrows from your main system RAM, which reduces the RAM you have available for video editing, which slows everything down.

Two major video card companies are competing for supremacy right now: ATI Technologies and nVidia. Each tends to one-up the other, and that's good news for consumers because it means we're seeing tremendous advances in technology. Cutting-edge technologies tend to be expensive, but you shouldn't automatically go out and buy the most expensive video card you can get. The best video card really depends on your needs.

When it comes to picking the right video card for your system, there are a few questions you should ask yourself:

How serious of a gamer are you? If playing power-hungry games is high on your list of things to do, you'll need a powerful card. At a bare minimum, this means the previous generation cards such as the nVidia GeForce 7300GT or the ATI RADEON 4650. If you've got money burning a hole in your pocket, the high-end nVidia GeForce GTX 260 and ATI RADEON HD 4870 PRO are at the top of their class right now in terms of performance--nothing will give you better looking games.
What video editing equipment do you have right now? Both nVidia and ATI offer variations of their cards with video in, video out (VIVO) and HDMI capabilities. Features vary from card to card, but some of the more common features include the ability to watch TV on your computer, have a picture in picture display, de-interlace the video (which results in higher quality on your computer), remote controls for changing the channel from across the room, program guides for recording your favorite shows, and inputs for recording video from analog video sources (such as VCRs or old video cameras). Many come bundled with handy multimedia software, so buying a new video card can be a good way to get started capturing video.
How much are you willing to spend? Unless you absolutely need to have the best video game performance, a capable 3-D video card can be had for under $100 US. These cards won't win any awards, but they'll likely be an improvement over what you currently use. If you want the best, the high-end cards cost nearly $500 US.

A video graphic card is a vital part of any computer system. Regardless of whether you're a computer gamer, it will enhance your computer in ways beyond accelerating certain video editing transitions. Just remember not to blow your entire budget on a video card—a solid video editing computer has well-balanced components, not a blazing video card coupled with underpowered CPU, RAM, and hard drive.

Create Picture Ketupat With Corel Draw 12

2009-09-23T05:29:00.000-07:00

How to make it as follows:
1. We first create a square by clicking on the rectangle tool (F6). Do not forget the form press the Ctrl key so that the results can be perfectly square.
2. change the angle of rotation to be 45 to square rhombus.
3. Then Copy this rhombus so into 4 equal-sized rhombus.
4. Arrange four lozenges were thus form a rhombus.
5. rhombus coloring of the left and right with a light green color
6. rhombus coloring the top and bottom with a dark green color.
7. Right-click on the color of the box without the colors to the color line is missing.
8. After all finished, you can save a picture file with *. jpg ekstention by clicking the File menu, export. Give the file a name, change the save as type to jpg.

Windows Movie Maker Tutorial

2009-09-23T05:20:00.000-07:00

Movie Maker is a windows software that can innate be used to create video clips. At this time my blog will be a quick tutorial explaining how to operate Windows Movie Maker. Steps following steps:

Open Windows Movie Maker program. Is to open My Computer, open Local Disk (C:), open the program file, Movie Maker, click on Movie Maker.
In a video clip, a video, pictures and sound. First we add the first video, pictures and sound by clicking:
Import pictures to add picture.
Import video by clicking the video imort.
Audio Import audio or music to add sound effects.

If we're ready three, we'll start making a video clip:
I. We make first title of the video clips that we will create.
1. Click the "Make titles or credits" in the movie task.
2. Select "Add title at the Beginning of the movie" to give the title of the video clip.
3. Then type the title of the video clips you want.
4. Then we will select the title text animation. Click change the title animation. Choose one of the animated text.
5. Click change the text font and color. Select the font type, font color, tranparancy, bacground font and font size.
6. When all are finished, click Done, add title to movie.

II. The next step is to give effect:
1. Click show collections, video blogs or images that you will make a video clip, right click select add to storyboard. Or it could also by pressing Ctrl + D.
2. Click the view video effects on the Edit movie. Choose one of the video effects by drag on the video effect you want, drop in images and video available on the storyboard.
3. Click the view video transitions. Select one to add movement model in the video by way of drag on the video effect you want, drop between two existing video on the storyboard.

III. The next step is to cover:
1. Click the "Make titles or credits" in the movie task.
2. Click "add credits at the end of the movie"
3. Type the video cover click.
4. Then we will select the title text animation. Click change the title animation. Choose one of the animated text.
5. Click change the text font and color. Select the font type, font color, trnsparancy, bacground font and font size.
6. When all are finished, click Done, add title to movie.

When it is finished, save the video you created click on the save to my computer to store video. Videos are saved is formatted * mwv.

Free Virtual WebCam Software

2009-09-23T05:17:00.000-07:00

Virtual webcam is an application that creates an stream of images to simulate a web cam stream. Such applications are useful to add text or visual effects to a webcam stream and/or to broadcast the same webcam to stream to multiple programs simultaneously. There are many applications available on the web to simulate a virtual web cam. While looking for an appropriate solution, I found out that most of them are non-free. Some of them were available for download on trial basis, and some had advertisements embeded into them. We have selected a few good ones for you.

CamTrack 2.5 Free 30 days Trial and $14.95 to buy.

CamTrack 2.5 lets you add video effects, text and images to your webcam video chat. But the plus point of CamTrack 2.5 is not the cool animations but the feature of “Face Tracking”. Face tracking automatically locates your face in the video image and zooms in on it, keeping your face centered in the middle of the frame at an optimal size.

CamTrack also allows you to zoom in and out. Combine this feature with face tracking and you never need to adjust your webcam with your hands. you can do it with your keyboard and mouse.

ManyCam Free

A free software, ManyCam allows you to use your webcam with multiple programs which means that you can use your webcam with Yahoo, MSN, Skype and Google Talk simultaneously.

ManyCam allows you to add text to your webcam stream. You can use display images or create a slideshow of images from your computer and broadcast it to your webcam. You can play videos on your webcam. I have used this feature to share a birthday video with my aunt on yahoo. Using Manycam and yahoo voice chat it was fun to share the video with this new way. I mean of course I can upload the video to youtube but it was a huge file and I didn’t have time.

Using Manycam you can create many effects like change the color, brightness and contrast of your webcam. Add visual effects to your webcam there are some really cool effects built in and they are a lot of fun. You can rotate and zoom in or out of your webcam video.

If you know of someother cool software please let me know. I want to make my Yahoo chat more fun. I am also looking for software to change the voice make it girly, high pitched or childish.

The Magic in Video Editing

2009-09-22T06:21:00.000-07:00

Do you have a lot of video tapes at home taken during the holidays, birthday parties, summer getaways, and many other special occasions? Perhaps some of them are merely sitting on the shelves and accumulating dust. Travelers usually carry camcorders because they want to have fun memories and souvenirs from a foreign place they’ve visited. Piles of video tapes are often no longer viewed but the magic in video editing changes that.

Digital camcorders are cheaper these days and so you can easily capture videos of high quality. If you have a capture card, good editing software, and computer at home, you can start editing the videos you’ve collected over the years. Once you have the final output, you can now watch it together with your friends.

Magic requires you to have windows 98, ME, 2000, or XP in order to use such program. It supports media formats like WMA, AVI, ASF, SND, WMV, AIFF, MPEG, AU, and QuickTime.

What can you do using Magic?

You can capture videos by simply using FireWire or USB input device. You can also give good grade effects to the videos you’ve collected. The video and audio components can be edited separately even if it is a single file only. Like other editing programs, you can also decorate the videos with over 150 transitions. It is also possible to overlay tracks with the use of Magic. Video files can be added with voiceover and background score. The timeline is one the most important windows in the editing software. In Magic, you can combine different file formats on the timeline.

If you think that these are all the things that Magic can do, you’re wrong. Other features that Magic offers are the following – include text titles, trim audios and videos, create DVD or VCD file formats, change contrast and color, rotate and zoom in/out video angles, and export videos to digi-cams.

Your videos will look like the videos created by the pros in no time. With Magic, professional editing is no longer expensive. The interface is drag and drop which makes it easier to capture the footage into the timeline. This is also the time to add background music, title effects, scene transitions, and other effects to finish your masterpiece. On the timeline, you can also add others file formats like WMV, AVI, JPEG, MPEG, and ASF. You can create a unique video or movie output in a matter of minutes.

The MPEG format is required if you want to create DVDs, SVCDs, and VCD. You can create a movie in PAL or NTSC standards.

The volume of the tracks in the video can also be displayed so that you can instantly change the audio clip’s volume to create dopler effects, fade outs, fade ins, and other volume effects.

With Magic, you can split, join, trim, crop, merge, and modify color of the video files. The transitions make it even more interesting for users to create ordinary videos which look like great art works.

It doesn’t really matter whether you’re a pro or an amateur. You see, with Magic, the basics are easily learned and in no time, you can start working on your video productions. It costs $39.95 but you can also try the trial version by downloading it.

Is Magic for you? Try it now and see if it works great.

Video Editing Software – Do You Need One?

2009-09-21T06:47:00.000-07:00

Some individuals are very much interested in video recording. Once you’re satisfied with the recordings, you will usually want to have it on DVD so that you can share it with your relatives and friends. Well, home-made videos can be appreciated by your family and friends, but what about other people? If you want to share good quality videos or even your very own movie, you should know more about video editing.

Why don’t you ask for honest opinions from your family and friends? Tell them that their opinions are important so that you can create better videos in the future. Some of the most common comments in home-made videos are:

• The video is too short/long
• It is slow
• No captions or titles
• No soundtrack etc.

These things are important in order to create a good video and you can incorporate them in your future videos if you make use of good quality video editing software. Through a good program, you can easily polish and enhance your videos. Not all the shots in your video are needed and if you want, you can delete some of them. You will surely end up with a final video that looks more professional.

With the use of an appropriate software program, you can take advantage of the different possibilities available to you. There are a number of companies that offer video editing programs online; some are free while others are paid ones. The programs cater to the various needs of the user. There are programs suitable for professional video editors, for amateurs, for home users, Mac or Windows users, etc.

The paid software programs have different features and these features determine the price; the more advanced the features, the higher the price. You must decide accordingly. You won’t need all the features of an advanced video editor program if you’re just an amateur or a home user. You must choose the features that best suit your needs. Good software allows the user to remove unwanted shots or scenes, add narration or soundtrack, incorporate effects and screen transitions, and add titles. These features alone are enough to make a good software program.

Beginners are encouraged to use the most basic video editing tool. As they get comfortable in using the tool, they can now purchase or avail of more complex software programs. Video editing is not as easy as you think. You must have the right attitude and you must be creative or imaginative. Think of what others want to see in your video or movie. You should ensure that the video is not too slow/fast. No one wants to watch a boring video. The video editor software can help you with your common problems.

So if someone asks you the question ‘do you need video editing software?’, you already know the answer. If professionals are still using good quality video editing programs, why can’t a beginner like you? You simply need to identify your needs and that’s where you will base the features of your video editor. Get a video editing program now and see the benefits that you can derive from it.

Soon, you can show off your videos to other people, or perhaps on the web. The videos will no longer appear amateurish through the help of your software program.

Video Editing with Movie Maker

2009-09-20T08:10:00.000-07:00

The Windows Movie Maker is already built in PCs with of course, the Windows Operating System. So even if you don’t download any video editing software, you’re already equipped with good quality editing tools. When you capture videos from your camera or camcorders whenever there is a special event, your videos often have ‘junk’ portions.

These junk portions should be eliminated if you want to create professional-grade videos or movies from the comfort of your home. Home movies are mostly boring because most of the materials are not very interesting. Well, one way to create interesting videos is by editing the raw footage using the Movie Maker.

Newbies often use the zooming function when capturing videos. Your audience will feel sea-sick if you do a lot of zooming so try to minimize the use of this function to framing shots only. You’re in luck because through WMM, you can easily edit the zooming scenes in your raw footages.

When filming a family member or a narrator, you will often video the part when they say ‘am I on?’ or ‘should I speak now?’; don’t worry because you can now easily take that part out.

So how do you get rid of these junk shots?

When transferring videos from the camcorder or any other gadget to your computer, WMM will ask you if you want to manually capture the video; through this option, you can easily decide which sections should be transferred to the computer. This is also one way f saving disk space. There is also the option for capturing 100% of the video but you will seldom use this option since amateur videos does contain lots of junk material.

With WMM, you can also cut the video in half. You can do this on the timeline or on the preview monitor. Find the exact location that contains all the junk and cut it. However, you must be organized at all times; otherwise, you can have a large collection of clips that will be very hard to work on.

Each video clip has its own ins and outs. Drag ends of the video clips to the correct point to accurately trim the clip ends.

With editing software like WMM, it’s really easy to get rid of all the junks. Even if you captured a 2-hour video, you can still reduce its size by editing and removing the unwanted parts.

You can even add video effects to your home videos with WMM. You can’t possibly use all the effects at the same time. You can adjust the brightness of the video. For instance, if the video was taken indoors, there are times when the video looks too dark. You can easily brighten the scene by adjusting the brightness effects. By using the sepia tone and grayscale effects, color is automatically removed and the video will have an old photo look. For classy effects, you can use the de-saturating effects. Flashback and dream sequences effects can also be achieved.

If you want to create comedy movies or videos, you can use the speed up or slow down effects. Not all the effects are useful so choose only the right ones; don’t exaggerate the effects because the output will not look realistic.

These are a few things that you can do using WMM. Try it now and see what kind of videos you can create. Have fun.

The Professional Way

2009-09-19T07:35:00.000-07:00

Back in the nineties, it was already possible to do some video editing tasks at home but it’s nothing compared to what you can do today. Modern software available in the market can already give anyone the edge to perform complex video editing tasks at home, just like the pros.

To get the most out of your video editing program or software, you should know some basics. The applications that most video editors use today are called non-linear editing. It is different from linear editing which consumes a lot of time in rewinding or fast forwarding. In non-linear editing, you can easily work on certain parts of the material; for instance, if you want to work on the middle part of the material, you can easily do it with a few clicks or you can also jump to the beginning or end of the material. Modern video editing is no longer a tedious task and because of this, many individuals are interested in creating their own video clips or even short movies.

Generation loss is not a problem in non-linear editing because you can already preserve the original recording or footage. Generation loss was a problem with linear editing since the quality of the footage becomes poorer when the material is transferred from one tape to another.

When using any software, you will need to consider the computer requirements. If you’re working with high definition shots, your computer should be fast. You need to invest more for a much superior hard drive and RAM. But if you’re currently using Mac OS or Windows (XP and Vista), it will do fine.

Oftentimes, purchasing hardware (camera, computer, etc) depends on the individual’s ambition and budget. If video editing is one of your hobbies, you can settle for more affordable hardware but if you want to become one of the pros in the industry, you should settle for the best. Advanced solutions are widely available today for those who are serious with video editing. With the use of these advanced software programs, you can expect commercially viable videos.

There are also handheld cameras today that allows high definition shots and they are quite affordable. You can also find inexpensive video editing software with advanced capabilities. Now, even if video editing is your hobby, you can already create professional grade videos or movies.

Money is often a problem for those who want to get serious in video editing. However, if you simply shop around and know your choices, you can go a long way. You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars for the different hardware that you’re going to buy. If you have a computer at home, it will do fine. Do you have a camcorder, mini DV, and other handheld cameras? If you have one of these, you can already get some interesting footage.

Since there are lots of editing software being sold in the market, choosing one can be a bit difficult. Identify your needs in video editing and check out the features of some of the best software programs available. Determine their prices as well. Once you’ve considered your needs or wants and the budget, you can already get the appropriate software. You can even settle with free software but you must be aware that it offers limited video editing capabilities.

Enjoy video editing now in the comfort of your home and do it like professionals do.

Hints and Tips to make better home movie videos

2009-09-17T01:29:00.001-07:00

The home movie video. It doesn't get any better than that. All of your family members and friends want to spend two hours watching your vacation videos, right? When you’re making home movies, it’s easy to just pick up your camcorder and press “record.” Sometimes you’ll record unforgettable moments, and end up making home movies that will be treasured forever. But, sometimes pressing record randomly means pressing your luck. Instead of making home movies your family can enjoy, you end up with lousy footage that’s not worth watching. But you can change all that by simply applying a few simple video capturing and editing techniques.

Read the Manual: be sure to familiarize yourself with your camcorder before you begin recording for real.

Perform a test run: It's always a good idea to try out all of those manual options (and watch the results) before you pull your camcorder out to shoot something important.

Make a Plan: Start by remembering that you are telling a story. Remember what you like when you hear a story. You want it to be short, entertaining and to the point. Apply that simple rule to your own video.

Lights: Plenty of light will make an incredible difference in the quality of your video footage. Shooting outside will give you the best results, but if you’re shooting inside, try to turn on as many lights as possible, and bring them close to your video subject.

Recording Audio: Don’t just trust your camera to work best on its automatic settings. Check the audio with headphones, if possible, and check the video footage by looking through the eyepiece. The eyepiece gives you a better view than the flip-out screen, because you won’t be seeing any reflections or be influenced by external light.

Hold the Shot: Hold every shot for few seconds. This can seem like an eternity, but you’ll thank yourself later when you’re watching or editing the footage. It may feel like you’ve got enough footage after recording for only 2 or 3 seconds, but those few seconds will fly when you start editing your video.

Capture behind the scenes: Never fall in love with your shots, or to put it more concisely, less is more. Most people shoot the same things over and over again. Learn to pick the best shot and go with it, Try talking to people about what's going on, capture some scenes before and after the event.

Now that you've shot the perfect vacation video, it’s time to edit it down to a finished movie that you can show to your family and friends. Video editing programs allow you to create and modify video files and export them in a number of formats. While using such programs you will most likely encounter tasks such as video cropping, video/audio transitions, creating/adding special effects and titles. For those starting out in video editing, my best recommendation is Windows Movie Maker and if you are ready to edit your footage you might as well upload it right to that program. There are also many very reasonably priced video editing programs available: Adobe Premiere Elements, Pinnacle Studio, Sony Vegas, and Muvee, Ulead Video Studio just to name a few. But for the beginner, there's nothing better than Windows Movie Maker, and you should try that program first to make sure you like video editing. Here is guide how to use Windows Movie Maker.

How to get traffic to your website using your Home videos:

When you’re done creating your videos you can even upload them to video sharing sites like Youtube to share your videos with the world for fun or to get traffic back to your website.

Video Editing – AVS

2009-09-16T11:57:00.002-07:00

AVS is a fully functional software program that you can use for video editing. It is perfect for your home editing needs. With AVS, you can easily capture videos from photo cameras and camcorders. You can easily master slideshows and videos with transitions and effects which you can also upload to handheld gadgets like iPods, mobiles, portable players, and PSP.

Aside from those already mentioned, AVS is handy and can burn or author DVDs. It is also possible to export movies to a number of video formats. It’s like having your very own video studio. Another good thing about AVS is that it supports almost all the video formats known today. With the convenient interface of AVS, you can instantly enhance videos, create slideshows, edit certain audio tracks, and use the scene detection feature.

With this software, you can do timeline and storyboard editing. Navigation is eased through the use of the storyboard where you can organize different clips and scenes that you can use for future videos. The timeline is also expandable so you can do precision editing and trimming. It is not difficult to identify the right editing tools to use and most of all it uses the ‘drag and drop’ action.

What are the key features of the AVS?

Editing videos has never been this easy, thanks to AVS. This software program is best suited for new video editors since it does not require users to have editing skills. It boasts of about 300 transitions and video effects. If you want, you can apply credits and texts to all your videos. AVS also provides chroma-key or picture-in-picture effects.

You can do editing tasks with precision. For more accurate editing, you can use the storyboard or the advanced timeline. If you’re using HD cameras, you can now edit the videos easily and quickly. Key formats such as HD, MOD, TOD, and M2TS are supported by the software.

Like other complex video editing software programs, you can also combine videos and audio tracks with AVS. You can easily insert or mix audio tracks to the media file; you can even trim the audio clips.

Trimming videos is an important task. With AVS, you can simply split videos into different scenes to delete the ones you don’t want to include in the final video. Are you amazed at how video or film editors create overlay effects? Well, you can also do your own overlay effects because AVS offers trajectories and you can also custom it according to your needs.

The final project can be saved in different formats such as DivX, AVI, Xvid, 3GP, WMV, DAT, MPEG 1-4, RM, and many others. Your collections can be forever cherished once you burn them to DVDs, CD-R, DVD-RAM, etc.

Menu styles are also available to suit various occasions and personal preference. AVS will also recommend the appropriate format for your final videos or movies. The software interface supports various languages such as English, German, Italian, Spanish, and French. Change the language setting easily if you’re an American, German, French, or Italian.

AVS is definitely one of the best software programs in the market that can suit new and professional video editors. If you’re into video editing, why don’t you get AVS now? Check out their online site and discover more about this exciting software.

Video Editing – Adobe Premiere

2009-09-16T11:57:00.001-07:00

Adobe Premiere is one of the pioneers in video editing software. Many pros are using it to capture and edit video. Through the software program, you can also deliver the edited videos online, on device, on air, and on disc.

Today’s Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 costs $799 or you can choose the upgrade for only $299. If this is your first time to use Adobe, you can get a trial.

The price is already a good deal because with Adobe Premiere, you can save lots of money and time. The transcoding process and rewrapping is too time-consuming and with the software, you can now import AVCHD, P2, RED, and XDCAM footage skipping such processes. You can use Adobe OnLocation so that the footage is digitized automatically and captured to the disk after shooting.

You don’t need to do the tedious scrubbing task with the use of Adobe Premiere. You can utilize the Speech Search and quickly generate recorded dialogue by simply using key words or phrases.

The Media Encoder of Adobe automates the process by setting priorities and advanced settings for all the batch files. For the professionals, this can boost productivity. The software offers around 50 editing enhancements for more efficient workflow. You can apply the effects on multiple selections, use shortcuts to speedup timeline works, and get info on timecode much faster.

With the FCP XML, you can transfer your projects from FCP to the Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 without rerendering or conversions. The transitions and effects are also preserved. Intermediate rendering is eliminated with Adobe Encore. The dynamic link allows the opening of encore ‘live’ and so the changes are reflected automatically.

What are the system requirements? Before you use Adobe Premiere, you should know the system requirements. For windows, you will need 2GB of RAM, 2GHz for DV or a much faster processor, for HDV 3.4 GHz and for HD, 2.8GHz; Windows XP or Vista; 10GB hard disk free space; QuickTime 7.4.5 to use features; broadband connection; driver model or ASIO sound card; and certified card for Adobe.

If you’re using Mac, you will also need a broadband internet, intel processor, 2GB RAM, 10GB available disk space, DVD-ROM drive, compatible sound card, QuickTime 7.4.5, 7200 RPM hard drive, Mac OS Xv10.4.11-10.5.4, and Blu-ray disc burner if you plan to create Blu-ray disc.

The software will aid you from start until finish. It is designed for editors, cable or network broadcasters, filmmakers, corporate and events videographers, hobbyists, and creative professionals. When you purchase Pro CS4, it is part of the Creative Suite 4 or the Master Collection of Adobe software.

Adobe also supports a wide range of software and hardware, both for Windows and Mac. Even if Adobe Premiere costs a bit, you can still choose the capture cards and workstations that meets your budget and needs. You can also enhance the system by purchasing additional plug-ins. With this software, it is possible to work with tapeless formats like XDCAM EX, P2, AVCHD, and HD.

Who says Adobe Premiere is just for the pros? Even if you’re a beginner in video editing, you can also get the Adobe Premiere as long as you can afford to pay for it. If the features work well for you, this software is one of the best. Get it now. You can avail it online from the official site of Adobe.

Video Editing

2009-09-16T11:56:00.002-07:00

Have you watched the movies of Steven Spielberg? The movies are captivating, right? Well, you don’t need to have a big name to share or create movies of your own. With a little knowledge in video editing, you can go a long way.

You simply need to use a program that can help you with the various video editing tasks. In no time at all, you can create funny clips, video memories, and action flicks. Video blogs are also quite popular these days and with the aid of the program, you can also develop your own video blog and post it on the web.

Functional programs or editing software can help you with different functions. One of these functions is capturing videos. A good program usually captures videos from digital recorders, HDV, DV, AVCHD, MicroDV, and even analog camcorders. Other programs also capture videos from PC and digital cameras. With the use of an appropriate hardware, you can also capture videos from traditional formats like VCR and TV recordings.

Another function of editing programs is to edit videos. Through timeline editing, you can combine or mix and rearrange video clips. With a few clicks of the mouse, you can already arrange the files you need. Most programs allow video editors to add menus, text, and titles to their video creations. Most programs have numerous title and menu templates. Text and sound effects as well as music are also possible. Editing videos is really fun since you can create memories with humorous clips birthday or wedding videos, and many others.

Editing programs allows users to share their videos online. There are lots of video sites that you can visit like Grouper, Google Video, YouTube, etc. In these sites, you can share your videos. If you want, you can even create online albums for your videos in sites like MyPhotoAlbum, Stash Space, and Drop Shots. Having your very own private space online is a great way to share your videos or movies. You can also save the videos on DVDs and Blu-ray discs. Comprehensive programs allow users to upload filed from QuickTime, Media Player, or RealVideo.

When looking for editing programs, you should consider the things that you want to accomplish with the use of the program. Simple programs perform simple tasks. If you want to do complex video editing tasks, you should get multifaceted programs.

Working with video files requires a lot of disk space. Make sure that your computer can handle all the tasks and run a certain program effectively. Choose a program that’s easy to use especially if you’re a beginner. Editing videos involves a lot of complex and intricate steps. Aside from that, you also need to consider the capture feature of the program and the editing tools. Good programs should also have filters and editing effects.

Photo and audio editing features can also help when you’re working with various kinds of videos. With this feature, you can do resizing, cropping, color saturation, and adjust the lighting. Other programs offer features like disc creation, tech support, and documentation.

If you want to work like a pro, choose the editing program well. Careful considerations on the various features that a certain program offers is necessary so that you’re needs are met; it will also be easier to work with a program that can handle all the video editing tasks.

The Magic in Video Editing

2009-09-16T11:56:00.001-07:00

The Best Video Editing Program

2009-09-16T11:55:00.000-07:00

Video editors are always on the hunt for the best video editing program in the market. Whether you’re a pro or an amateur video editor, you will surely find an appropriate program that can meet your editing needs.

There is no one ‘best’ video editing program because it depends on the needs of individual video editors. There are certain things to consider like what you’re planning to edit, the length of experience in video editing, and the complexity of the tasks.

Put it this way – the ‘best’ program for you may not be the ‘best’ for another editor.

Here is a list of the best programs based on the demands of its users.

FCE or Final Cut Express is quite popular. It is similar to Final Cut Studio but the FCS is suited for professionals. If you have a mini DV, the FCE is an excellent choice because it accepts the format. According to VideoMaker, FCE is one of the best because it is low-cost and fantastic when it comes to video results. The FCE 4.0 is the newest program version and it already accepts AVCHD.

For the new software in the market, the Corel Video Studio Pro X2 and the Pinnacle Studio Ultimate 12 are among the most promising programs. The former costs $99 and the other one is $129. The programs can meet the needs of beginners in video editing but can also handle complex tasks.

Pinnacle offers a wide range of choices for video editors. Each of the programs differs in price and complexity. The cheapest price is $49, then $99 and the Ultimate 12. Simplicity is the key to attract users, especially the beginners.

The basic version of Corel is only $70 followed by the Pro which costs $99. You can only do 2 video tracks with the $70 basic version but with the Pro, you can work with seven tracks.

For the pros who hardly consider the price of the software, you can get the Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium. It is definitely not cheap since it costs $1,699. Some of its features include Photoshop Extended, Illustrator, After Effects, Flash Professional, Encore, Premiere Pro, Device Control, Sound Booth, Dynamic Link, and Bridge. This is an excellent package for professionals. If you can’t afford the Premium software, you can get the Premiere Pro (Adobe) for only $799. Even if you’re using Mac, you can still use this software because Adobe devised a Mac version.

Video bloggers all over the world love the software of Adobe. The post-production and production processes are handled effectively through the use of the program. Among its amazing features is the teleprompter and not only that, it’s much easier to upload videos online.

The ProDAD Adorage offers a lot of transition features like Universal Tricks, Lights, Particles, Eyecatcher FX, Power FX Pearls, etc. The nine volumes cost $499 but it is also available in individual packages for only $73. However, you can only use this program together with standard video editing software.

Before you go out shopping for a video editing program, you should first establish a budget and determine your editing needs. After considering these factors, you can now get the most appropriate program to use. There are free programs online just in case you don’t want to purchase any software; the choice is yours.

Seven Free Downloads for Video Editing

2009-09-16T11:54:00.003-07:00

For those who have already tried creating their own home videos, you can make use of these seven free downloads for video editing.

If you try to search the internet, you will notice that there are lots of software programs out there ranging from below $100 to over $500. Well, here’s great news – you can also download certain video editing programs for free. Even if you don’t have money, you can still use a decent video editing tool but you need to spend some time browsing the web.

For newbies, it would be best to make use of these free software programs so that you will learn the basics of video editing. Once you get used to using different software programs, you can now purchase complex ones that offer special effects and other fun stuffs. Commercial software programs are too complicated for beginners so you’d be better off with free software.

The top 7 downloadable video editors are the following:

Latest personal computers now have pre-installed video editors, the Windows Movie Maker. You can create new videos/movie and edit or share them. With a few drags and clicks of your mouse, you can create a movie. You can exclude bad shots and get only the best scenes. You can save the movie and perhaps share it via the internet, in a CD, or through email. If you save it on your computer or camcorder, you can play it over and over again.

For Mac, you can use the Apple iMovie. This is one of the easiest ways to create your own video. You can add new clips to your existing project or replace them. It also allows you to edit the audio as well. This software is free only if you have a Mac system. When the Advanced Tools are shown, you can use additional options like green-screen effects, picture-in-picture, and cutaways.

For Linux and PCs, you can use the Zwei-Stein freeware. You can make use of the advanced features it offers like making custom effects or you can also do panning and cropping.

Debugmode Wax may be outdated but it’s still great for video editing. The visual effects are flexible and so you can easily create superb video sequences.

Jashaka can be used for Linux, Mac, and PC. It makes use of the OpenML and OpenGL hardware which allows users real-time interactivity. The platform comes with image processing, paint, and full CG modules.

Virtual Dub offers very simple editing tools. If you’re an advanced editor, this software is not for you. If you have an existing video footage, you can use this software to make clean and simple edits. It can handle AVI files, read MPEG-1 and BMP images.

These six software programs are downloadable. Only then can you use the software to create or edit videos or movies. If you want to use another good online tool, you can use Jump Cut. However, this can only be used online and you can’t download it. With this tool, you can cut videos; add effects, photos and titles. With Jump Cut, you can upload media, share them, remix, create new movies, or publish it for your friends.

For your video editing needs, get a suitable software program. The free software are easy to work on and you will hardly encounter any problems.

Non-Linear Video Editing

2009-09-16T11:54:00.001-07:00

Once you learn how video editing works, you will have a lot of fun in finalizing your video clips on the computer. Videotape editing these days is a lot cheaper as compared to editing many years ago. You can do it quickly by using the appropriate video editing program. However, the learning curve is a bit steep and many individuals give up because they are easily intimidated by the program. If you’re determined to learn how video editing works, you can handle any tasks no matter how difficult it is.

What you need to do is learn the basics and after that, you can have a lot of fun in editing your videos. When you open any video editing program, you will see an interface with so many windows. In fact, among all computer programs, video editing is the most complex. You can easily get overwhelmed with the many windows that pop on the screen once you open the program.

If you’ve tried using WMM (Windows Movie Maker), then you already have an idea of what a universal interface looks like. Most programs follow the same on-screen layout. WMM is much easier to use than other complex programs because you will initially see four separate windows on the screen. Other windows can be opened one by one so you will not be confused in using them. Each of the windows has its own function and once you know the different functions, you can work with ease. You can also hide other windows while you’re working. Almost all editing programs have 8-20 windows. These windows confuse new users especially if they hardly know anything about video editing.

When you open WMM or any other basic video editing program, you will see that the three windows are located on the top-half section and the bottom half contains a large window. These four windows are the timeline, task pane (on the upper left), collections (middle), and output (on the far right). The bottom window is the timeline or the turquoise section.

The timeline is one of the most important windows in the program. You can build your movie or video in this window and it will serve as its visual representation. A squiggly line or waveform representation can be seen on the screen as well as a running time on top. In the WMM timeline, one line is for the standard video, titles, and video transitions or effects; for audio, there are two lines. At the left side of the screen, you will see the labels and black lines separate them horizontally. Complex programs usually have additional lines for audio and video. If you want to create simple videos, WMM and other free software programs may be enough.

On the task pane, the different tasks are shown and included in the list is the ‘edit movie’. Links are also found in the screen which leads to other functions and one of these links teaches you how to edit videos. You can hide/show this window on the menu at the top portion. The collections window contains all the media from your projects. You can watch the edited video/movie in the output window.

In videotape editing, you will be working on these four windows most of the time. You can learn how these four windows work and then learn more about the other windows.

Linear Video Editing

2009-09-16T11:52:00.001-07:00

Most of today’s emerging videographers are more familiar with non-linear video editing. But did you know that there is also the so called ‘linear video editing’? Prior to the introduction of computer-based editing software in the nineties, video editing was mainly linear.

The process involves selecting and arranging sounds and images on a videotape. Such sounds and images are also modified whether they are generated from computer graphics or video camera.

The medium used was primarily the television. Shot edits were done mostly in live TV productions. More than two cameras are used and the shot edits were executed by switching from one camera to another. Video switchers allowed the handling of several synchronized inputs and at the same time, mixing them into one output. With the use of the switcher, cuts are easily done in various video sources and in wipes, dissolves, and fades.

Modern live TV productions follow the same linear editing system but due to technological advancement, the productions are much more effective and efficient. The airing of shows over and over again was only possible with kinescope but that was before the videotape was invented. With kinescopes, picture degradation was a major problem as well as evident scan lines and image distortion. Delay on broadcasts was also another problem since the kinescopes were processed in film labs.

Because of the tiring procedure with kinescopes, the videotape was developed. After some time, videotape editing became viable just like film editing.

The first accepted videotape was the quadruplex recording, about two inches in width. The tape was cut and spliced to carry out editing tasks. The process was arduous and not many videographers performed it. It involved many disadvantages such as – you can’t use edited tapes again, you need to be skilled enough to carry out the process, lose sync, and each editing task requires several minutes (too time consuming).

Are you familiar with the TV show - ‘Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In’? This show utilized the arduous linear editing process. The hand editing was first developed in the 1960s. But since it involved problems like short buzzing (audio), it was not used all the time. This method was impractical for most producers. Producers are not familiar with the process and they can’t give their personal opinions. Documentary television productions hardly used video because of these problems.

Edit suites were developed by 1970s. It already involved the use of computers. Time codes were used to synchronize auxiliary devices and tape machines. CMX, Ampex, and Sony created the edit systems. Only high-end productions were able to access the edit suites because most of them are very expensive.

Today, linear video editing is still being used in newsrooms and some production facilities where newer technologies are not available. Because of the improvement in today’s technology, linear editing is less complex. As compared to non-linear editing, linear editing will require you to carefully learn the skills of a good videographer. However, if video editing is just your hobby, you can opt for non-linear editing.

Video editing has a very interesting history. Just imagine the videographers cutting tapes and putting the together again to create a final production; it was really expensive, time consuming, and arduous. Thanks to the modern technology, video editing is already possible even in the comfort of your home.

Still, if you want to try linear editing, start gathering experience now.

Computers and Video Editing

2009-09-16T11:51:00.000-07:00

Many years ago, it would have been impossible to edit videos at home because it can only be done in exclusive editor suites. But now, things are quite different. If you have a desktop computer with enough disk space, CPU power, and FireWire or USB port, you can now edit cherished videos to create good quality videos with all the effects you see in modern professional movies.

When you’re editing videos, huge CPU power is being used as you move lots of data to and from the disk. Having a fast machine allows you to write and render in a few minutes but if you’re using a slow computer, the task will take several hours.

If you’re doing a lot of writing and rendering files, Pentium Quad Core computers are great or even a Mac model with 2 to 1 GB of RAM. Pentium 3 machines can handle data stream but when you’re using other applications, the video editing software will not function.

In order to edit videos, you must also choose good quality software. If you have Windows XP, there is already built-in software that lets you edit raw footages. The same thing is true with Apple and Sony computers.

Why is it that many video editors use Adobe Premier? The reason why many people use Adobe is because it provides free demo versions and it can be used on Macs and PCs. Adobe’s software is also well respected and full featured so you can do various editing tasks. Still, if you don’t want to spend on a new editing software, you can always use the WMM (Windows Movie Maker) and IMovie.

Aside from the CPU, RAM is another crucial element in video editing with computers. Even if the CPU is fast, the machine will still remain sluggish without the RAM. The recommended RAM is 512 MB although there are individuals who use 128 MB. So if you’re using the 512 MB RAM, you can browse and use more than two files with ease. Here’s a good example. When the CPU needs a file, the file will be delivered to the RAM from the hard disk for greater speed manipulation. If another file is requested, you can get both files successively. Now this is possible only if you’re using 512 MB RAM but if you’re using the smaller one, the computer will work slower.

If you currently have 128 MB RAM, add more especially if you plan to do a lot of video editing tasks. You must be aware that Windows XP requires 256 MB (RAM) and when you load other applications, it will need additional RAM to remain fast and responsive. For starters, you can settle with 512 MB or if you want to invest more on video editing, you can increase the RAM to 768 MB – 1GB.

Make sure that you get the appropriate RAM for your computer’s motherboard. So far, the most appropriate in the market is the RDRAM 1066. This is suitable for a Pentium 4 cpu and it is expensive. A less expensive alternative is the DRAM or DDR. You can choose among DDR266, DDR300, and DDR400. If you’re no familiar with the motherboard of your computer, you should check with the seller company or the online site.

Now that you know the computer requirements, you will know if your computer is suitable for video editing tasks.

Best Software in Video Editing

2009-09-16T11:50:00.000-07:00

When you are about to engage in video editing, you must answer this question first – What do you want to do? There are so many video editing tasks but you can’t possibly do everything unless you’re a pro. Most of today’s videographers prefer to do certain editing tasks but not all of them. So when choosing for the best software, you must consider the things that you’re planning to do; this is the only way of getting the best software for you to work with.

It’s ordinary to see a lot of attractive promos when you’re shopping for the best software, online and offline. There are even programs that come with a free camcorder; don’t be fooled by these things. Stick to your needs and get the appropriate software if you want to end up with a software program that’s useful.

Firstly, you need to look at the format. What is the format that you’re currently working on? Do you want to create a final video or movie of the same format? The input is largely determined by the material you’re using – a DVD recorder, camcorder, etc. The input may be standard definition or high definition. The output can be in DVD wherein MPEG2 files are written on the DVD, in HDD, Blue Ray Disc, handheld devices, computer viewing, and many other formats.

Focus on the source of your files because the output will be mostly of the same format. Choose software that ensures ease of work with the particular input format so that you will not encounter any difficulty.

Sellers of various software programs see to it that their products are ‘attractive’ to the eyes of customers. Even if the program is not what you want, the seller can make it something that you want and so you’re tempted to purchase such software program.

The next thing that you need to consider is transition. When a scene changes, you should insert transitions between the clips. Transitions can be straight cut or cross fade and there are still others that you can use. You see, each software program usually offers about 50 different transitions.

Overlay tracks is another great feature of editing software programs. You can see this effect on movies and TV shows. A very good example is the news wherein you can see the station logo, tape readout, and a video of the reporter on a particular scene. Controlling the overlay tracks is important so that you won’t make a mess on the video output.

The audio control feature is limited in most consumer video editing programs. Just as the word suggests, the software is used mostly for editing videos and not audio. If you want to have maximum audio control, get advanced software packages used by pros.

DVD authoring is another feature that attracts videographers. You can use this if you have high definition materials. Make sure that it provides 10-20 menu templates for full customization.

Rendering is one of the most important features. The file is not finished until you render it; all the changes you’ve made on the video material are ‘virtual’. After rendering, the final video material is saved in viewing format.

Still looking for the best software in video editing? Focus on your needs and wants. If you know the video editing tasks that you’re about to do, then you can easily purchase the right software.

Find a Device on Your Network

2009-09-15T16:51:00.000-07:00

There are a few reasons to know your connected devices' IP addresses. For one, it's invaluable in troubleshooting. After making sure your unresponsive device is actually plugged in, the next step will nearly always be to point your PC's browser at its IP address and make sure that something having to do with the device appears, such as a configuration page, or at least the device name. This leads to another reason: Often, a device's "home page"—what you see in your browser when you type in the device's IP address—will give you easier access to device options, and in some cases, more settings and extras.

How can you find the IP addresses of your devices? Through your router's configuration screens. In your browser, type in your router's IP address, then find the DHCP client table among the config screens (which vary by router brand). This table shows all devices connected (physically or wireless) through the router. If a device doesn't appear, make sure it's powered on. Not sure about your router's IP address? At the command prompt (Start | Run | cmd) type ipconfig and hit Enter. Note the router's address on the line that reads Default Gateway. —Mario Morejon

Create Meetings in Outlook the Easy Way

2009-09-15T16:48:00.000-07:00

Most times when you need to set up a meeting in Outlook, the process starts with an e-mail you receive. I used to switch to the Calendar and add a new entry, with the date and time, and then paste the e-mail into the new appointment. But there's an easier way: Simply right-click on the original e-mail and choose Move to Folder, select Calendar, and hit OK. This actually creates a new appointment entry, complete with the e-mail inserted in the main window. You still have to enter the date, time, and participants, but you get to that point faster.

— Michael Muchmor

Clear Print Job Without Rebooting

2009-09-15T16:39:00.000-07:00

If you've ever had a print job hang, you're probably familiar with the Windows Print Spooler window. You get to this window simply by selecting the relevant printer from the Control Panel's Printers and Faxes applet (simply Printers in Vista). In the somewhat unusual event of a printer queue jam, you can go to the Print Spooler and simply delete the job. Sometimes, though, the system won't let you cut off print jobs that way: It marks the job "Deleting…" but never quite gets there, and you end up rebooting. Here's a better way to do it.

Open a command prompt (go to Start | Run, then type cmd) and enter the following:

net stop spooler

del c:\windows\system32\spool\printers\*.shd

del c:\windows\system32\spool\printers\*.spl

net start spooler

In Vista you'll need to open an elevated command prompt by right-clicking on cmd.exe and selecting Run as Administrator. For those of you who remember batch files, use Notepad to save the four commands above as a batch file. Save your file with example "clearprintqueue.bat" in notepad save box. Double click to execute the commands in the batch file.

What You Can Do with Firefox 3

2009-09-15T16:35:00.000-07:00

The latest version of Mozilla's popular open-source browser enjoyed one of the most successful launches in software history, with a record-setting 8.2 million downloads the first day it was available. With the ability to drastically expand the browser's functions using plug-in extensions and Greasemonkey scripts, many of Firefox 3's built-in features are overlooked. Here are eight handy things you can do with Firefox, ranging from tiny tweaks to hugely powerful capabilities, all with nary an extension to install.

1. Duplicate tabs with drag-and-drop.

Duplicating tabs is a piece of cake: Simply hold the Ctrl key while dragging the tab you want to duplicate to an empty space on the tab bar.

2. Minimize the toolbar.

Free up a little extra screen real estate by getting rid of the big, round "Back" button and replacing it with a more streamlined control. Right-click the toolbar, choose Customize, and select Use small icons. The new controls are perfectly functional but smaller, allowing the toolbar to shrink and leaving more room for viewing sites.

3. Use smart bookmarks.

Smart bookmarks are live bookmarks that don't just refer to particular sites but actually generate live lists of sites according to parameters you define. For example, you might have a smart bookmark that lists the 10 sites you visit most often, or the last 20 sites you've visited with a particular keyword in their title.

To create a smart bookmark, select Organize Bookmarks from Firefox's Bookmarks menu. In the window that opens, select Bookmarks Menu in the left-hand pane, then click Organize in the toolbar at the top and New Bookmark in the drop-down menu. Give your smart bookmark a descriptive name, such as "10 Most Recent Bookmarks." In the Location field, you're going to enter in a line of code telling the smart bookmark what to do. For the 10 sites you bookmarked most recently, you'd enter: place:queryType=1&sort=12&maxResults=10 . There are dozens of parameters you can use; Mozilla's developer site includes a list of commands you can use in smart bookmarks. Here are a couple of the most useful:

The 10 sites you've visited most recently (some installations of Firefox come with this smart bookmark already in place on the Bookmarks toolbar): place:queryType=0&sort=8&maxResults=10

The 10 most visited sites with some search term in them: place:queryType=0&sort=8&maxResults=10&terms=keyword (replace "keyword" with your desired term)

4. Send e-mail via Yahoo! Mail or Gmail by default.

Normally, clicking on an e-mail address on a Web page will open up a new e-mail using your default e-mail program. If you'd rather use Yahoo! Mail, open up Options under Firefox's Tools menu, select the Applications tab, and scroll down to the mailto: entry. Select Use Yahoo! Mail and click OK.

Gmail is not included as a built-in option in every installation of Firefox, but if yours doesn't have it, you can add Gmail easily enough. Skip the Options dialogs for now and instead type about:config in Firefox's address bar and hit Enter. In the Filter field, type gecko.handlerServiceAllowRegisterFromDifferentHost. Actually, you can simply type gecko and find the entry in the filtered list. Double-click the gecko.handlerServiceAllowRegisterFromDifferentHost entry to change it to True.

Next, cut-and-paste this line into the address bar and hit Enter: javascript:window.navigator.registerProtocolHandler("mailto", "https://mail.google.com/mail/?extsrc=mailto&url=%s","Gmail")

A message will appear at the top of the browser window asking if you want to add Gmail as an application. Now, repeat the process above for choosing Yahoo! Mail, but select the new Use Gmail option instead.

5. Change or remove the Close tab buttons.

By default, Firefox 3 puts an X on each tab, similar to the X button that closes an application. You can remove this button, or see it only on the tab you're currently viewing. Open about:config again and enter browser.tabs.closeButtons in the Filter field. Enter one of the following values depending on the behavior you prefer:

0 (Zero) Close button only on the active tab.

1 (Default) Close buttons on every tab.

2 No close buttons.

3 Single close button at the end of the tab bar, instead of on the tabs themselves.

6. Change the behavior of the Awesome Bar.

Mozilla has dubbed Firefox 3's address bar the "Awesome Bar" because of the useful suggestions it makes as you type. By default, the Awesome Bar bases its recommendations on your recent history, pages you've tagged, and your bookmarks. You can change the way the Awesome Bar acts in the configuration page. Open about:config and change the following values, depending on the features you want:

To disable the Awesome Bar entirely and revert to Firefox 2–like functionality, change the value of browser.urlbar.maxRichResults to -1.

To allow the Awesome Bar to recommend only sites whose address you've typed directly into the address bar, change browser.urlbar.matchonlytyped to TRUE.

To remove unvisited bookmarks from the pool of recommendations, change places.frecency.unvisitedBookmarkBonus to 0 (zero).

To remove all bookmarks from the Awesome Bar, change both places.frecency.unvisitedBookmarkBonus and places.frecency.bookmarkVisitBonus to 0 (zero).

7. Search any site from the address bar with smart keywords.

The smart keyword function allows you to create searches for any site with a search engine, and trigger the search from the address bar using your choice of keyword. For example, you could create a smart keyword "me" to search the archives of your own site. If you wanted to see if you'd ever written about cat juggling, you'd type me cat juggling into the address bar and Firefox would return the results from your own site's search page. Visit the site you want to search and right-click its search box, selecting Add a keyword for this search. In the window that pops up, add a short description of the search and enter a short, memorable keyword that you'll use to trigger it. For example, to create a smart keyword for PCMag.com, I visited the home page, right-clicked the search field, opened the smart keyword window, entitled my search PCMag.com and then entered the keyword pc as my search keyword. Now, if I want to search for something—say, laser printers—I just type pc laser printers and the search is run.

8. View your saved passwords for any page.

To view the passwords associated with any site, go to the log-in page and right-click anywhere on the page. Select View Page Info, and then the Security tab. Click View Saved Passwords. Another window will pop up showing the usernames associated with that site. Click Show Passwords to see the passwords for each username.

If you want to view all of your saved usernames and passwords, open Options under the Tools menu and select the Security tab. Click Saved Passwords to open a list of every site you've ever saved a password for. Again, click View Passwords and the list will display all of your passwords. You can't print this list, but you can just as easily take screenshots if you want to print out your passwords for safekeeping. Isn't this a huge security hole?, you may ask. Why yes, it is. Knowing how easy it is for anyone with access to your PC to view all your passwords, maybe you'd like to password-protect your passwords. In the Options | Security tab, click Use a master password and enter a password. Now this password will have to be entered any time you or anyone else tries to view saved passwords. You'll be asked to enter your master password every time you open Firefox; without it, Firefox won't automatically enter saved passwords for you. Make sure you don't forget this one!

Source: PCMag

Resize Multiple Images With SNS-Resizer

2009-09-15T07:33:00.000-07:00

The easiest way to resize multiple pictures is using a batch program named SNS-Resizer. Besides resizing multiple images, with this application you can add 'Picture taken on' data, frame, and watermark to images you want to modify.

First, download SNS-Resizer here (853kb). After download, you don't have to install anything because this is a portable application or no installation needed, so run it.

Select the scaling method, target size, and image quality. Choose also the process option. If you check 'Save in a separate directory', SNS-Resizer will create new folder on the image directory you processed.

To add 'picture taken on', check it to activate the option. the date displayed taken from metadata (EXIF) of the images. If you would like to add frame, check also the Frame option. You can add watermark and set the watermark position under the frame option. To make watermark, make an image file and name it 'watermark.png' in the same location/folder with SNS-Resizer. After all finish, click 'Add current setting to the list' on the top right corner. If you don't do the last action, your configuration won't be available on the send to menu. Why send to menu? because to resize these multiple images, you just need to select the images, right click, send to and choose the configuration you set. Last, save it.

Technorati Tags: resize images,image resizing,batch process,portable,no installation

Duplicate CD and DVD That Match Your Need

2009-06-15T00:59:00.000-07:00

Nowadays, CD and DVD is a common media to deliver most digital media. Digital media could be anything regarding to digital thing such as digital audio, video, pictures, presentation, software, etc. There are two ways to duplicate your CD and DVD; first duplicate them by yourself; second is using CD and DVD duplication service.

To duplicate CD and DVD by yourself, here are the checklist you must have:

CD or DVD burner

Burning software

Blank CD or DVD

CD or DVD burner, also known as CD-RW and DVD-RW is an optical hardware that has ability to write files into blank CD or DVD. From the physical appearance, there is no differences between CD-RW or DVD-RW with CD-ROM or DVD-ROM. Even though CD-ROM or DVD-ROM hasn't ability to write files, they only read written CD or DVD.

Since Windows XP support to burn CD or DVD, actually you don't need additional software. But if the CD you need is more complicated such as Video CD, you need more than that. There are a lot of CD or DVD software, either paid or freeware.

Last but not least, you need blank CD or DVD as media you burn your files to. One box of 100 CDs priced at around $7 - $15. While DVD usually more expensive. When all you need is complete, you now ready to duplicate your CD and DVD.

With above method, you'll able to duplicate CD and DVD with limited number. If your office need to duplicate dozens or hundreds of CD and DVD, it's better to go to the CD and DVD Replication Service. If you live in US, especially Chicago you can go to CD Duplication in Chicago. Besides that, there is also Chicago Video Production Company is other place to go when you need to produce video and spread them to you customers.

Download Multiple Files with Free Download Manager

2009-06-14T08:36:00.000-07:00

Free Download Manager, besides can download single file, it can also download multiple files in one download action. It means you don't have to download those multiple files one by one. Here I give example on how download NOD32 antivirus update from an online directory.

Make sure you've installed Free Download Manager

Go to the directory contain multiple files you want to download.

Right click anywhere on the screen and click Download All with Free Download Manager

'Add list of downloads' box will appear and remove the file you don't need. In this case we will download only files with extension *.nup and *.ver and remove the rest.

Select destination folder of downloaded files. OK. Wait until download process finish.

dontclick.it - Innovative Web Interaction

2009-06-06T01:53:00.000-07:00

If you didn't ever hear dontclick.it before, it's time to check it out. Dontclick.it is a website with a tag Institute for Interactive Research. The site offer new experience in very interesting habit of interacting with a site. You don't need any single click anymore. In the middle of your exploration, you'll get a simple vote weather you miss clicking something? Beware to not click anything that could bring you to "hang screen".

Convert and Open MS Office 2007 in Older Version

2009-06-05T23:32:00.000-07:00

Along with MS Office 2007 launch in January 2007, Microsoft introduced several xml-based format for their MS Office document. On of the most popular MS Office document format is DOCX and DOTX. DOCX is a regular extension of MS Word document replacing DOC format. Xml-based formats came with MS Office 2007 is completely different with older Office formats suc has DOC, XLS etc. So if you make a document in DOCX or DOTX format with Office 2007, you cannot open or edit it in older MS Office version.

To make your older MS Office able for opening and editing MS Office 2007 document, you need download and install Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats (27.5mb). After install, any Office 2007 document will be converted into older Office format.

File extension DOTX is a template file format for MS Word 2007. With a template, you can set default format for your future documents such as font style, page setup, line spacing, etc. There is always at least one file extension DOTX included in MS Word 2007 installation. While you may create additional template for all your needs.

In a case you got document with file extension DOTX or DOCX from others, sometimes you may get error due to bug on MS Office 2007 that run on Vista, you can convert the files into RTF. Docx2Rtf is a tiny software that able to convert docx, dotx, sxw, and odf to rtf (Rich Text Format). RTF is a format that could be opened by most text editing application. Or, you can download OpenOffice to open file extension DOTX or other MS Office 2007 format.

Photoscape - Best Free Photo Editing Software

2009-06-04T09:05:00.000-07:00

Once you download and install it, you may won't believe that it's free! Photoscape is a free photo editing software with tons of abilities and easy of use. This best photo editing software armored with:

Viewer: View your photo collections in thumbnail mode and folder tree. You can resize thumbnail size easily.

Editor: Open a photo, you then can add frame, insert simple object, crop photo, remove red eye, resize photo, adjust brightness and color, add effects, and other useful yet simple operations.

Batch Editor: Just like Editor function with automate operation.

Page: Make a collage of some photos in one page. Similar with Contact Sheet on ACD See, with many available template.

Combine: Combine and merge photo shots in sequence. This function is like photomerge feature in Adobe Photoshop and Canon Photostitch.

AniGIF: Create a gif animation photo contains some photos.

Splitter: Split and divide photo into multiple parts

Screen Capture: Capture a screen shot and save it into many file formats.

Color Picker: Pick a color anywhere on the screen with Hex and RGB format. Similar Quick Color Picker.

Raw Converter: Ability to convert raw file format into JPG.

Rename: Renaming multiple photos with series of filename.

Print: Of course you can also print photos with many template size and thumbnail print.

I think a free photo editing software couldn't be better than this. That's why Photoscape is the best amazing free photo editor. I do recommend Photoscape for beginner and intermediate photo editor. Even a pro will get many advantages. It is a must have software.

Pros: Free, easy of use, tons of abilities.

Cons: It's rather hard (or impossible?) to capture Photoscape window itself.

Download Photoscape here.

How to Insert Date in Excel

2009-06-03T10:38:00.000-07:00

Here is a very simple yet effective way to insert or add date in excel. To do so, you only need to type one of these function in a cell:

=now() to insert current date and time

=today() to insert current date only

FYI, with the two formulas above, it will add current date same with your computer date and clock. Make sure to synchronize your computer date and time first. If you use formula above and save your documents, you'll find the date and time changes by date of your computer. So if you open the document tomorrow, the function will show date of tomorrow. To avoid changing date made by both formula, copy and paste values it in same cell. You can also change the date format from menu Format - Cells... or press Ctrl + 1

How to Download Youtube Video and Anything

2009-05-24T09:02:00.000-07:00

Still confuse on how to download a Youtube video? and anything? Haha. First of all, you must download Free Download Manager (FDM). FDM is a download manager that supports resumable downloads and multiple simultaneous downloads. You can choose between regular FDM or FDM Lite. FDM Lite contain only download manager program without any plugins. Regular FDM includes video conversion plugin, bittorent plugin, uploads plugin and language pack. After download, install it.

Next, open your browser (i.e. Mozilla Firefox). Go to Youtube.com or any web you wish. Right click the video title and click Download with Free Download Manager.

Decide where you want to save downloaded video. OK.

Besides download video, if you download a zip file, FDM gives you option to preview the zip files before download them. Even you don't assign FDM to download something, if you let FDM start on Windows startup, it will take over your downloading action because it is able to monitor any download activities.

Update:

You now can download Youtube video directly from the site by clicking on Download MP4 button. Go to My Videos -> Uploaded Videos.

Picture taken from labnol.org. Anyway, you can still use Free Download Manager to boost your download speed.

Official Google Blog: Add Google News to your website

2009-05-24T07:53:00.000-07:00

Official Google Blog: Add Google News to your website

iTunes Store and m4p File Extension

2009-05-04T10:59:00.000-07:00

Since iTunes Store launched on April 2003, it has become the most famous software-based online digital store. On the iTunes Store, individual songs were sold for the same price with no subscription fee.

Musics in iTunes Store are in the protected AAC format, called m4p file extension. File extension m4p is fairly new, which is an audio format that is purchased from Apple's Music Store (iTune) and is protected by a Digital Rights Management scheme. File extension m4p has smaller size than mp3 with equal quality. .m4p file format was created by Apple to protect .m4p files from illegal distribution.

Once you buy a music file in .m4p format, you can play them with most media player; iTunes, QuicTime, Winamp, RealPlayer, Media Player Classic or others. If Windows is unable to play this file extension m4p, you may need to install apropriate player or may have registry errors. To solve this problem, simply install the applications above and/or scan your registry for errors.

Though there a lot of media players support .m4p files, you can only play it in limited numbers of portable media. In the past, file extension m4p only playable on few digital music players that is support .m4p files. Fortunately, now available song in iTunes Store sold in iTunes Plus song. iTunes Plus songs are free of burn limits and digital rights management (DRM). So the musics your buy from iTunes Store you can play it on iPod, Apple TV, Mac and WIndows computers, and more media players.

The Magic in Video Editing

2009-05-01T09:13:00.000-07:00

Do you have a lot of video tapes at home taken during the holidays, birthday parties, summer getaways, and many other special occasions? Perhaps some of them are merely sitting on the shelves and accumulating dust. Travelers usually carry camcorders because they want to have fun memories and souvenirs from a foreign place they’ve visited. Piles of video tapes are often no longer viewed but the magic in video editing changes that.

Digital camcorders are cheaper these days and so you can easily capture videos of high quality. If you have a capture card, good editing software, and computer at home, you can start editing the videos you’ve collected over the years. Once you have the final output, you can now watch it together with your friends.

Magic requires you to have windows 98, ME, 2000, or XP in order to use such program. It supports media formats like WMA, AVI, ASF, SND, WMV, AIFF, MPEG, AU, and QuickTime.

What can you do using Magic?

You can capture videos by simply using FireWire or USB input device. You can also give good grade effects to the videos you’ve collected. The video and audio components can be edited separately even if it is a single file only. Like other editing programs, you can also decorate the videos with over 150 transitions. It is also possible to overlay tracks with the use of Magic. Video files can be added with voiceover and background score. The timeline is one the most important windows in the editing software. In Magic, you can combine different file formats on the timeline.

If you think that these are all the things that Magic can do, you’re wrong. Other features that Magic offers are the following – include text titles, trim audios and videos, create DVD or VCD file formats, change contrast and color, rotate and zoom in/out video angles, and export videos to digi-cams.

Your videos will look like the videos created by the pros in no time. With Magic, professional editing is no longer expensive. The interface is drag and drop which makes it easier to capture the footage into the timeline. This is also the time to add background music, title effects, scene transitions, and other effects to finish your masterpiece. On the timeline, you can also add others file formats like WMV, AVI, JPEG, MPEG, and ASF. You can create a unique video or movie output in a matter of minutes.

The MPEG format is required if you want to create DVDs, SVCDs, and VCD. You can create a movie in PAL or NTSC standards.

The volume of the tracks in the video can also be displayed so that you can instantly change the audio clip’s volume to create dopler effects, fade outs, fade ins, and other volume effects.

With Magic, you can split, join, trim, crop, merge, and modify color of the video files. The transitions make it even more interesting for users to create ordinary videos which look like great art works.

It doesn’t really matter whether you’re a pro or an amateur. You see, with Magic, the basics are easily learned and in no time, you can start working on your video productions. It costs $39.95 but you can also try the trial version by downloading it.

Is Magic for you? Try it now and see if it works great.

Seven Free Downloads for Video Editing

2009-05-01T09:05:00.000-07:00

Best Software in Video Editing

2009-05-01T09:03:00.000-07:00

Linear Video Editing

2009-05-01T09:01:00.001-07:00

Non-Linear Video Editing

2009-05-01T09:01:00.000-07:00

Computers and Video Editing

2009-05-01T08:59:00.000-07:00

Privacy Policy

2009-04-06T09:32:00.000-07:00

Privacy Policy for http://videoediting-blog.blogspot.com/

If you require any more information or have any questions about our privacy policy, please feel free to contact us by email at arina.azkeya@gmail.com.

At http://videoediting-blog.blogspot.com/, the privacy of our visitors is of extreme importance to us. This privacy policy document outlines the types of personal information is received and collected by http://videoediting-blog.blogspot.com/ and how it is used.

Log Files
Like many other Web sites, http://videoediting-blog.blogspot.com/ makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol ( IP ) addresses, type of browser, Internet Service Provider ( ISP ), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user’s movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.

Cookies and Web Beacons
http://videoediting-blog.blogspot.com/ does use cookies to store information about visitors preferences, record user-specific information on which pages the user access or visit, customize Web page content based on visitors browser type or other information that the visitor sends via their browser.

DoubleClick DART Cookie
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These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to the advertisements and links that appear on http://videoediting-blog.blogspot.com/ send directly to your browsers. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. Other technologies ( such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons ) may also be used by the third-party ad networks to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and / or to personalize the advertising content that you see.

http://videoediting-blog.blogspot.com/ has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.

You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. http://videoediting-blog.blogspot.com/'s privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites.

Force Printing Large Page Into One Paper on Excel

2009-03-29T07:41:00.000-07:00

How to print a large into one paper in Excel? Sometime you need it to save paper or just for analyzing the data. There are several ways to do it.

First, adjust paper margin on page setup to its minimum value. Change page orientation if necessary.

Second, you may choose one of two following:

1. Manual page break. To adjust page break manually, go to View - Page Break Preview. Click OK if you get welcome message. In Page break preview, you can adjust the pages by click and drag the blue solid border or dash blue border.

2. Scaling your document automatically. To scale document automatically, go to File - Page Setup. On Page tab adjust to xxx% normal size. That the first option. Second option is Select the Fit to check box, enter a number in the page(s) wide by box, and enter a number in the tall box. To fill the paper width and use as many pages as necessary, type 1 in the pages(s) wide by box and leave the tall box blank.

FYI, always use print preview to check every change you made to make sure that your printout will be still readable. Adjusting scaling to fewer percent or fitting pages into higher ratio may cause your text unreadable. In many cases I met, handling a large table only need to change the tall box value (to 8, 10 etc.) and leave the pages wide by box value is 1.

CMYK an RGB Color Model Introduction

2009-03-29T07:38:00.000-07:00

Every image has a color palette. They could be black and white, grayscale, duotone, RGB, CMYK and so on. There are 2 common color palette used in image processing; RGB (Red Green Blue) and CMYK (Cyan Magenta Yellow Black). Processing an image in unsuitable color could bring it to wrong color and disapointing result. To know this color differences is important for people who dealing with image processing.

RGB formed from three main color; Red, Green and Blue on a black media. Your monitor uses RGB color. To display a color other than red, green and blue, monitor will mix two of that three color or mix all color with certain value. FOr example, yellow produced by mixing red and green. Magenta is mixed of blue and red, etc.

CMYK or CMY formed from four main color; Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black on a white media. CMYK used in printed images on paper. Most printer use CMYK method to produce an image.

Because monitor uses RGB and printer uses CMYK that's why the printout will not produce exact color as you see on the monitor. To obtain optimal result between color in monitor and printout, you have to calibrate the monitor.

Conclusion: for displaying purpose, use RGB to match your monitor, otherwise for printing purpose, use CMYK.

Comparing Image File Format; JPG, BMP, TIFF, GIF, PNG and Usages

2009-03-29T07:33:00.000-07:00

Here I want to give a short comparison and description of some most popular image file format. This article made based on my understanding of those image file format which I got from my experience and some sources. I will only consentrate to common Bitmap format since there are two (CMIIW) image format used widely; Vector and Bitmap/raster image format. Of course, besides the charateristics of JPG, GIF, PNG, TIFF and BMP file format, I will try to give short desription of usages of each format.

1. JPEG

JPEG or JPG is most popular image format nowadays. JPG is lossy file format. Lossy means when you save a graphic or image in JPG format it will loss details and reduce quality depends on degree of compression and resolution of the image. Even so, JPG offer small file size. JPG commonly used for photographic images especially in large image dimension. JPG is best format if you want to share image over internet or display it on a site. For sharing image via email -just showing it to friends, for example, I think 800x600 resolution with compression 80% is enough. To get more detail, you can choose 1024x768 resolution, depends on your original resolution.

Format: JPG Quality: 50; dimension: 200x100 px; filesize: 3 kb (zoomed 1.5x)

Format: JPG Quality: 12; dimension: 200x100 px; filesize: 2 kb (zoomed 1.5x)

On the other hand, JPEG is not as well suited for line drawings and other textual or iconic graphics, where the sharp contrasts between adjacent pixels cause noticeable artifacts. Such images are better saved in a lossless graphics format such as TIFF, GIF, PNG, or a raw image format. JPEG is also not well suited to files that will undergo multiple edits, as some image quality will usually be lost each time the image is decompressed and recompressed (generation loss). To avoid this, an image that is being modified or may be modified in the future can be saved in a lossless format such as PNG, and a copy exported as JPEG for distribution.

2. BMP

BMP is Windows image (and oldest?) format and free of patents that makes it very common format that any picture editing program from many operating system can read and write. BMP usually has a huge filesize due to lack of compression. My suggestion, avoid saving a picture in BMP because it takes a lot of space. When you perforce to store or deliver image in BMP, you can reduce its filesize by compressing first into ZIP or RAR format.

3. TIFF

TIFF is losless format. Even so, TIFF filesize relative small compared to BMP. TIFF is flexible format that able to be a container holding compressed JPG, also can include a vector based clipping path. TIFF is suitable to store image, and printing purpose format. TIFF also offer LZW compression (resemble to ZIP) to reduce filesize. TIFF also support multiple pages in single file.

4. GIF

GIF a lossless format used widely in internet graphic. GIF supports colors up to 256 colors only in an image. So if it is a photograph, for example, do not use GIF format to avoid losing image colors. GIF also support animation and of course contain multiple images. GIF suitable for sharp edges image line art (like logos).

5. PNG

PNG is lossless format made to replace GIF as a format not requiring a patent license. PNG support RGB and doesn't support CMYK. PNG designed for images on the internet, not professional printing. PNG supports transparency, so when you need to overlap an object with other, choose PNG for the foreground image. PNG filesize bigger than JPG and GIF. But image quality better than GIF since PNG support larger color and lossless. Though PNG designed to replace GIF, PNG doesn't support animation. Even so, Mozilla Foundation is developing animated PNG that'll make PNG format supports animation.

Format: PNG dimension: 200x100 px; filesize: 4 kb (zoomed 2x)

Things To Do After Windows OS Installation

2009-03-26T07:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we talked about preparation before reinstalling OS, now I'm gonna write things to do first after you finish reinstall Windows. Of course there are some things to do after Windows reinstallation in order that your PC ready to use.

1. Install devices driver

Device driver is a program that allows a specific device, such as a modem, network adapter, or printer, to communicate with the operating system. Although a device might be installed on your system, Windows cannot use the device until you have installed and configured the appropriate driver.

If a device is listed in the Hardware Compatibility List (HCL), a driver is usually included with Windows. Device drivers load automatically (for all enabled devices) when a computer is started, and thereafter run invisibly.

Read also for more information about installing devices driver.

2. Setup network and internet connection

To setup network and internet connection, go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > Connection > Network Setup Wizard or New Connection Wizard. If you don't a network or internet connection, pass this step and go to next step. I place setup network and internet connection on second place regarding you may want to download newest devices driver and typically you'll need it to update your antivirus definition which we will install it on the third step of this list.

3. Install antivirus and update it

Now you have all driver installed and your network or internet connected. Your computer now should run properly. But without antivirus your computer is vulnerable to virus attack and other malicious software.

Nowadays, there are a lot of antivirus either free or paid antivirus. For free antivirus, you can choose Avira Antivir, AVG Antivirus or other free antivirus. For paid antivirus there are many choices; Norton Antivirus, McAfee, NOD32, Kaspersky, Panda Antivirus etc. The free antivirus not always worse than the paid one. There are many case that the free antivirus works better than paid antivirus. The key is you have to update the antivirus regularly whether it is free or not. FYI, most antivirus need internet connection to update their database, some could be updated manually. Read also the post on how to manual update NOD32 antivirus.

4. Install applications

It is time to install applications. I suggest you to install 'big application' beforehand. Big application means application which the installer has more than 100 mb in size. IMHO, you have to install this first because big application has more complicated configuration and files and a lot of registry entry. So the principle is big first, small later.

5. Restore applications' configuration backup

After installed, for your frequently used application, you sometimes have to customize it to adjust as you need. Than reconfigure one by one, you can restore applications settings from back-up previously made. For MS Office, go to Start > All Programs > Microsoft Office > Microsoft Office Tools > Microsoft Office Save My Settings Wizard. Choose to restore configuration and follow next instruction in the wizard.

6. Tweaking to boost computer performance

Read how to boost your computer performance in the next post.

That's all things to do after Windows setup. Want to add?

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