VideoPad: Video Editing Excellence

We are very proud of the fact that even though VideoPad hasn't broken into the top three on TopTenReviews' list—yet—they have awarded our video editor for excellence. With each new release we strive to add more of the advanced features professionals crave, and just as importantly stay easy to use. That user-friendly quality that allows everyone to make movies is in a large part what TopTenReviews has noticed and is recognizing:

"Using VideoPad requires little effort. Before we even looked at the manual, we were able to create a video. To add transitions, effects and more, all you have to do is drag and drop them in place ... Overall, VideoPad has some excellent features. It can import files directly from many types of devices and it has 3D and green-screen capabilities. It is easy to use and has basic editing tools."
    �  TopTenReviews

If you haven't tried VideoPad video editing software yet, why not download a copy today. We think you will agree that VideoPad is both an excellent and easy video editor. Those of you who are already VideoPad users remember you can always send us suggestions on how we can make VideoPad even better. With your help those other video editors better watch out, because we plan to keep moving VideoPad forward and raising the bar on video editing excellence.

Make "Picture-in-Picture" Videos with VideoPad

The picture-in-picture (PIP) effect is commonly used in videos where more than one set of images is shown simultaneously in order to tell a story or convey additional information. Picture-in-picture is frequently used as part of news clips and in instructional videos.

The PIP effect can easily be achieved using VideoPad Video Editor software (version 3.0) by adding the video clip you want to overlay as your picture-in-picture onto the timeline so that it is positioned above the video you want to serve as the background in your video.

With this clip selected in the timeline, click on the "Effects" button then choose "Motion" from the drop-down menu at the top of the dialog box. Use the "Scale," "Position X" and "Position Y" controls to adjust the size and placement of your clip. You will be able to see the position and size change in the preview window on the right side of the Effects dialog box.

When everything is positioned the way you want it simply close the dialog box to apply your changes. Then, when you preview your movie, you will see your re-sized and re-positioned video clip overlaid on top of the larger clip.

Creating a picture-in-picture video in VideoPad is that easy. Use the same process to position images on the screen, making it an easy way for businesses to add their logo to videos.

New Mac VideoPad Video Editing Software

VideoPad has been praised for being an easy-to-use video editor, and is one of the most popular programs NCH Software provides, but until now it has only been available for Windows. Today however our Mac customers can rejoice that VideoPad Video Editor is now ready to start making movies on OS X too.

VideoPad joins Prism Video Converter and Debut Video Capture to make a very useful video software toolbox for Mac users. Ensuring that platform support won't get in the way of anyone's ability to record, edit, or watch videos.

Keyframing and More VideoPad 3.00 Improvements

The release of VideoPad Video Editor v3.00 has some exciting changes that long-time users should be happy to see, including additional video tracks and sequences, and keyframing, while remaining as easy as ever, keeping the learning curve to the bare minimum.

Keyframing is one of the new features we really think you will enjoy. Keyframing allows greater control over an effect�s usage in a video, including the rate at which it is applied, intensity, and even the animation of an effect or overlay on the video. From the Video Effects dialog, you can show the animation controls button by clicking the keyframes icon to the right of the Applied Effects heading. Add keyframes to the effect�s timeline and position them higher or lower to change how the effect is shown in the final video. Use the preview to make sure your effects look just the way they should.

Keyframing gives advanced users a lot more control and flexibility in their editing, and many of VideoPad�s newest additions streamline the editing workflow to help anyone new to video editing work like a pro with their first project. To help get people started we have updated the VideoPad tutorial to introduce you to the interface and the video editing basics you need to make your movies look their best.

Y is for YouTube

NCH Software ABCs Series

YouTube has a wealth of videos, from information to humor you can find videos about just about everything, a whole world of endless amusement is just a click away. But watching videos isn't the only side. There are millions of aspiring YouTube stars out there who would do well to note some of the useful and easy YouTube software programs below that can help you download, record, edit and upload videos directly to YouTube. Who knows, yours could be the next big viral video.

• VideoPad - Edit Video for YouTube
• Debut - Record Video for YouTube
• Prism - Convert Video for YouTube
• WavePad - Record and Edit Audio or Voice-overs
• MixPad - Create and Mix Together A Video Soundtrack
• FlashLynx - YouTube Video Downloader
• Switch - Extract Audio from Video Clips

And, for video tutorials on many NCH products, stop by the NCH Software YouTube channel.

<<< Previous: X if for eXpress

Next: Z is for Zip >>>

VideoPad Introduction in Manga

Not only is it fun for us to learn about see or listen to the audio and video projects that people create with NCH Software products, we also enjoy hearing and seeing what people think about and have to say about our software. When we stumbled upon a comic in a Japanese blog introducing readers to our VideoPad video editing software we contacted the creator and asked for permission to share a translated version with our readers. So take a look at the translated VideoPad comic below.

For those of you who are curious or know Japaenese you can view the original and read more of his thoughts on VideoPad in his blog, Try! Various things! (?????!????!). While you're there scroll to the bottom of the post to watch his test video showing some of the things that VideoPad is capable of.


If you are read to give VideoPad your own test drive, visit www.nchsoftware.com/videopad to download a copy for yourself.

2 Easy Ways to Rotate Video

Need to rotate a video? Whether you recorded video on your phone in the wrong orientation or are you want to rotate a video solely for effect, NCH Software has two easy ways for you to rotate your video clips.

If rotating is the only thing you want to do to your video, or if you want to rotate a bunch of videos all at once, then Prism Video Converter is the way to go. Not only can Prism convert video formats, it can also be used to rotate videos. To rotate a video you have loaded into Prism, click the Effects button at the bottom of the window, and set the rotation from the Rotate tab. To Rotate multiple videos the same direction just select them all before opening the Effects effects to save the time of setting the rotation to each clip individually.

If you will be doing more video editing with your rotated video clip, then you might want to rotate your video directly in VideoPad Video Editor instead of using Prism. To rotate in VideoPad, select the video clip on the timeline then choose Rotate on the Effects tab, where you can once again use the arrows to rotate the video clip to the right or left, and notice that the preview will change to display the new orientation of your video clip. Tip: You may need to combine the rotate effect with the crop effect to maintain the aspect ratio of your video without the addition of black bands to the sides of your now rotated video clip.

Flying High with First Person Video and VideoPad

Guest Post by Scott Turchin

In 1986 I was living in a dorm at Washington State University on the eleventh floor that looked over the rolling hills of wheat fields. I daydreamed about flying an RC plane from there, over the hills. The technology just was not there back then.

But today it is, it's called FPV or First Person Video and with the advent of micro technology you can put a camera on an RC plane and fly it and also pack along an HD camera to film some beautiful shots.

After buying the gear and waiting on it to be delivered, I found myself in a quandary. The GoPro recorded in Mp4 format and I had no editor that could handle it. I had used Windows Movie Maker previously, but it lacked a lot of the things that I wanted and it did not work with MP4 files.

After some research I came upon VideoPad Editor and started filming various things just to edit the video and test out VideoPad. I recorded a trip to pick up my brother on Christmas Eve, and did some mixing with that video without any trouble, so I could not wait to get my RC plane into the air.

This past weekend we had some beautiful weather and I got the chance to fly to my heart's content. After coming home and downloading the video, I fired up VideoPad and two hours later I had exactly what I wanted to best represent the day flying.

I've heard of problems people have using the big name brands but I have not had any of those issues with VideoPad, the software just works!

I hope you enjoy my video. Check my YouTube channel for more high flying videos in the future. I plan to go back to Pullman this summer to fulfill that dream of flying over the wheat fields!

VirtualDub Plugins for VideoPad

Want to do more with VideoPad? You can add VirtualDub Video Plugin Effects to VideoPad Video Editor, giving you access to additional tools and effects. Some of the most common VirtualDub plugin features you will find out there have already been added as built-in features of VideoPad, but there are certainly more out there if you take a little time to look. For example, if you want to disguise someone before you post a video on YouTube, you might want to take a look at the NVeiler Video Filter from NeuroTechnology, which can be used to detect and pixelize faces to hide a person's identity.

Find more information on adding and using plugins in VideoPad on our site, and let us know what your favorite VirtualDub plugins are for expanding your copy of VideoPad.

Editing Video from a Cell Phone

With the majority of cell phones today coming with not only a built-in camera but also video recording capabilities, the amount of video the average home user takes is skyrocketing. It's just one of the many reasons there are so many videos being posted to YouTube every day. But not every video you record is going to be ready for the big time right away, so if you need to do a little bit of editing here are two extremely useful tools you should using try to clean up your cell phone videos.

Rotate Video

With the variety of flip phones, slide phones, and other shapes of phones, keeping track of which way is up while filming could be a challenge. You may quickly find out all your video needs to be rotated so that you don't have to watch it with your head tilted to the side. Prism Video Converter offers an easy solution. Not only can you convert your video from 3gp, a common video format recorded on phones, to something more computer friendly like avi you can also choose to rotate the video by going into "Effects" before hitting Convert.

Stabilize Video

Another common problem you might have�that you might not have even known you can fix�is with video clips that are shaky from an unsteady hand. If your video reminds you a little too much of The Blair Witch Project, you can stabilize your video with the stabilization feature in VideoPad Video Editor to eliminate jitter. See an example of video stabilization in action in our post A Quick Fix for Shaky Video Clips.

If you are really feeling your inner movie director come to life there are a lot more video editing transitions and effects available in VideoPad, but I think you will be surprised how big a difference even just a few adjustments like these can make to your videos.

VideoPad Video Editing Tips & Tricks

One of the blog entries that is consistently getting a lot of traffic is our post announcing the speed changing feature to VideoPad. Not surprising since that was such a long-awaited feature to be added to our popular video editing software. Since it has been a popular post, I decided to expand on the topic with several Tips and Tricks for editing video with VideoPad. If you have any tips of your own please comment and add them to our list. And for those of you new to video editing you may want to get started by checking out the VideoPad video tutorials.

Title Screen and Ending Credits

Add a blank slide to the beginning or end of the timeline. Add text to the slideslide by clicking the green plus button on the Overlay Track, and a fade transition to create a dramatic opening or closing effect to your movie. For ending credits, select the vertical scrolling option and adjust the clip duration to control the scrolling speed.

Text Overlays

Adding captions, title screens and credits is a cinch. See our post on Adding text to your videos for some tips to help you get started using the Overlay Track to add text to video clips.

Video Subtitles

Subtitles are another way of adding text to your video projects. See our post on adding subtitles to your video for a quick overview on importing or creating an .ssa subtitle file in VideoPad, or for more detailed instructions go to our video subtitles tutorial.

Image Overlays

To create a watermark effect or add images to your video for presentations, use image overlays. Click the green plus button on the Overlay Track, select the Image or Video radio button, browse for a file and apply it to the sequence. Once it�s on the sequence, you can select it and edit its size, opacity, positioning and more.

Control Effect Duration

To apply an effect to only part of a clip, try slicing the clip in two. Apply an effect to only one slice, and place a cross-fade between the slices for a seamless transition.

Change Video Speed

Speed up or slow down video clips by selecting a clip and selecting the Speed effect from the Effects tab, then use the slider to select the new speed for the video clip, (i.e. 50% for half speed, 200% for double). You can also choose to play the clip backward.

Video Stabilization

One possible problem you may have with videos you have recorded on your camcorder is video clips that are shaky or unsteady. This is a common problem when you film without a tripod to keep the camcorder still no matter how steady you think your hands are. The video stabilization feature is an easy solution to eliminating camera jitter in your videos, giving you a final video that won't make you seasick to watch.

Upload Videos to YouTube

VideoPad has a wide range of output options for saving your final video, and if you are creating your video for YouTube you can even skip a step and upload to YouTube from VideoPad by entering your YouTube account information and other details, which is just one of the many choices available when saving your finished movie. VideoPad also has automated upload options for Facebook and Flickr.

Sound Effects

VideoPad comes with a Sound Effect Library. You can preview and download sounds from the Sound Effects Library by going to Edit -> Sound -> NCH Sound Effect Library. And since VideoPad has unlimited audio tracks, you have plenty of room to add and mix in the sound effect to your movie soundtrack.

Greenscreen Video Editing

For shooting those scenes you can�t do on location, use the chroma-key feature to transport yourself to another locale. To use chroma-key, click the green plus button on the Overlay Track, select the Image or Video radio button, click the Record button, click the Remove Background button, and follow the onscreen instructions. Also see out post on Easy Chroma Key Overlays.

VirtualDub Video Plugins

For even more effects, VideoPad supports VirtualDub plugins. You can add new plugins by selecting Load/Unload Plugins on the Effects Tab, and loading your saved .vdf format VirtaulDub plugin filter.

How to Add Subtitles to Your Videos (P.S. It's not difficult)

Adding text to a video is one of the most common reasons why people use video editors, and VideoPad video editor is an easy way to add any kind of text to your video projects. Previously, I blogged about how to use VideoPad video editor to add overlay text to your videos, which is a great primer for adding short bursts of text like captions, title screens, and credits. For more ambitious text projects, you might be better off using the subtitles feature, which allows you to either upload a subtitle file or create your own subtitles.

Import Subtitles

For movies and shows, many people like to have the words�whether they speak the same language or not�so they can easily follow the dialog. If you have a subtitle file in .ssa format, you can easily import the subtitles to attach to your movie or show.

1. Click the Subtitles icon in the toolbar of VideoPad.
2. In the upper left corner of the Subtitles dialog, click the Open folder button. Browse to your .ssa file and open it to load it into the Subtitles dialog.
3. Click the Play button to preview the subtitles with your movie.

Create Subtitles

If you don't have an .ssa file for your movie, or you want subtitles as back up to the audio of a tutorial or video project, you can create your own subtitles.

1. Click the Subtitles icon in the toolbar of VideoPad.
2. Use the preview window to cue the video where the first subtitle will start.
3. Click the green Plus button in the lower right to add a new subtitle, then type the subtitle in the input field, which is the bottom pane. The subtitle will be added to the list of subtitles.
4. To set the end of the subtitle, cue up where the subtitle should end and note the time from the sequence clock under the preview window on the right. Select the subtitle from the list and click within the Hide field. Enter the time the subtitle should end and click OK.

Any time you make changes to your subtitle file, be sure to save it by clicking the
Save button in the upper left corner.

Working with text is easy with VideoPad, and so is working with the rest of the program. Try VideoPad out now for free, or view our other video software. You can also view our subtitles tutorial for more help with importing and creating subtitles to your VideoPad projects.

Making A Music Video

Over on Review Explorer Chris McGivern posted a detailed interview with Singer-songwriter Andy Fosberry of Ironlight River about making a music video. Fosberry took a do-it-yourself attitude and made a great video without sacrificing his creativity or breaking the bank. And we were particularly thrilled that Fosberry turned to NCH Software using Switch Audio Converter, Prism Video Converter and VideoPad Video Editor to help him along the way.

"As a musician, I use a piece of software call Switch by NCH Software which converts audio formats. And it�s brilliant. To convert these video files I used their A/V equivalent which is called Prism. When it was downloading, I had the option on loads of other things and saw something called VideoPad, which was billed as editing software. I figured it would be like WavePad and, therefore, just for clips etc, but it�s a fully working, kind of mid-level piece of editing software ... Its just so beautifully usable. So much so that I had a working edit in about 8 hours. All the effects, are nicely editable in themselves. So you can really make significant changes to what you are working on."

� Andy Fosberry

If you're interested in making your own music video(s) we would encourage you to go over to Review Explorer and read How To Make A Music Video � For Free for more details on what Fosberry did for his video, and to see the results.

Add New Dimension to your VideoPad Projects

Two dimensions got you down? Wishing you could add a little something extra to your videos to make them stand out? In addition to new chroma key options, VideoPad now lets you export your finished movie for stereoscopic 3D viewing, yet another example that big things do come in small packages. Simply select the "Stereoscopic 3D" icon at the far right of the "Save Movie" window and set your options below - it's that easy. You'll have several options for stereoscopic output depending on your preference, although the default anaglyph imagery selection is the often the most effective way to produce a stereoscopic 3D.

While you won�t need a fancy new television to view your eye-popping creations, you will need two things: one is a set of 3D glasses with red and blue lenses and the other is a suitable way to view your content. For desktop viewing, I recommend Steroscopic Player. It�s both free and is well suited to view any 3D content you export out of VideoPad.

For more information about VideoPad or any other of our acclaimed video software products, visit www.nchsoftware.com/software/video.html

Acclaim for VideoPad Video Editing Software

We are very grateful that the editors at CNet recently took the time to review NCH's VideoPad Video Editor. They wrote a very nice review and awarded it with 5 out of 5 stars, highlighting how easy VideoPad is in their comments, "It's a rare video editor that you can just fire up and start making movies with, but that's what we did with VideoPad." They went on to say:

"With smartphones, video sharing sites, and Webcams everywhere, there's no lack of raw video resources, just a need for a powerful, easy-to-use tool like VideoPad Video Editor Professional to put your projects together, polish them up, and present them in the format of your choice. More than just fast and competent, we also found it fun to use."

� CNet

You can read the complete review of VideoPad video editor on download.com, but the best way to really get a feel for how user-friendly and fun video editing can be, download VideoPad and try it out for yourself.

Adding Text to Your Videos

Every now and then, you might find the ocassion to add text to your video. There are only certain times you'll want to add text�afterall, a video should speak for itself�but text can appear as titles, subtitles, captions, overlays, as credits, or a watermark on your video. Adding text is easy to do, you just need a user-friendly video editor like VideoPad Video Editing Software.

Part One: captions, title screens and credits

Text can be added to your videos as captions to describe scenes or to provide commentary to the current action. You can also insert a title screen at the beginning of your movie, and credits at the end.

To add a caption or overlay text to any clip, first select the clip in the sequence, then click the green plus button on the Overlay Track. Make sure the Text option is selected, then type the text for the clip in the text field and click Add when you are done. The text will be added at the 'In Point' position, and you'll see a 3-second-long box added to the Overlay Track on the sequence. You can move this box anywhere in the movie along the overlay track, and you can change its duration by dragging out the left and right edges of the box. Select the text overlay to view it in the Clip Preview panel, where you can change the size, opacity, font, color, and more, as shown below.


Creating a title screen is very similar, but first you have to add a blank clip to the movie. Click the 'Insert Blank' icon in the toolbar and choose to add the clip to the beginning of the movie. Next, add a new overlay by clicking the green plus sign on the Overlay Track and type the title into the text field. Select the overlay on the sequence to view it in the Clip Preview panel, where you can position the text in the middle of the screen using the Alignment buttons, and adjust the size using the Size Slider.

To add credits at the end, add another blank clip to the end of your movie. Create a new Text overlay by clicking the plus sign on the Overlay Track. Then type the credits into the text box, placing each name on its own line, and click OK when you are done. Select the text overlay on the sequence to make it appear in the Clip Preview panel. From the panel, select Bottom to Top from the Scroll drop menu. Preview the credits. If they go by too quickly, increase the duration of the text overlay. If they stop in the middle, you need to increase the duration of the blank clip so the credits have enough time to scroll off the page.

For visual demonstrations of all the text-tips discussed in this blog, you can view the video tutorial VideoPad Video Editor Tutorial - Part 2 and watch the beginning sections on working with text. Part two will talk about working with subtitles in VideoPad.

Video Stabilization � A Quick Fix for Shaky Video Clips

One extremely cool feature in VideoPad Video Editor is video stabilization. If you've done much hand-held video recording without a tripod, then you have undoubtedly had videos turn out "shaky" because, despite your best efforts, it is near impossible to keep your hand steady. So if you aren't going for that Blair Witch Project feeling, you should give the video stabilization feature a try. This feature uses a deshaker filter to eliminate camera shakiness and makes panning, rotation and zooming smoother.

To show you the video stabilization feature in action, we put together the video below which is a split screen of a video clip showing the before and after results of the video stabilization filter:


To apply video stabilization, right click on your video clip in the Media List and select "Stabilize video(s)...". This will allow you to select a location to save the new stabalized video clip, and once it has finish running the filter, VideoPad will give you the option to replace the original video clip in your project with the new stabilized version. You can adjust the advanced settings of video stabilizer by clicking "Configure Deshaker" button on the Plugin Filters tab of the Options dialog.

Video Stabilization is just one more thing that makes VideoPad such a wonderful video editor. So the next time you record a home movie that is a little shaky, remember that you can use VideoPad to help stabilize the final result, whether you are going to be doing more editing or just to polish the original video.

Be a VideoPad YouTube Export Expert

One of the neat things about our VideoPad Video Editor is the ability to not only output a YouTube-ready video, but the ability to upload a video directly to YouTube, making the transition from local to internet viewing quick and easy, eliminating much of the upload hassle on your part. How? Take my hand, friend, and we'll walk across this avenue together.

Inside VideoPad (and once you�re happy with your finished video), go up to the top menu and select the "Save Movie" button. This will bring up a dialog box with export settings for a variety of formats at the top. From this menu, scroll over to the rightmost selection, (YouTube), and select the YouTube icon. Once selected, you�ll notice that you have new, YouTube-specific options below, such as where to save your file locally, YouTube login details, places to add details about your movie, keyword information, etc. Fill in the blank fields and hit "OK". From here, VideoPad goes into autopilot and will remotely login to YouTube, encode your movie and upload it for you; all you have to do is sit back and relax.

This is just one of the many small innovations that make VideoPad one of the most user-friendly video editing packages available. If you�d like to jump into the editing arena, VideoPad offers an intuitive, simple interface so you�ll be editing your own masterpieces in no time. Try VideoPad free, and if you�re new to VideoPad or looking for a more in-depth look at the finer points of editing, watch our VideoPad tutorial series to help get your feet wet.

Video Editing Is Easier Than You Think

Are you guilty of using your video camera to record and then letting all of those videos sit unused in a closet or on your hard drive? If the reason you put off doing anything with all of those video recordings is a fear of how much work it will be, then we have the answer for you—VideoPad Video Editing Software.

In early December we released a new version of VideoPad with more transitions and effects, plus a variety of other improvements including a new overlay track that will allow you to extend the same text over one or more video clips, making things like scrolling credits a breeze. And now we have just updated a two-part VideoPad video tutorial series to walk you through many of the features you will need to transform all that video footage into truly memorable home movies to cherish and share. VideoPad is easy to use in itself, and with these tutorials it�s now even easier.

The new tutorials cover the basics: adding media to your movie, working with the sequence, and exporting your finished movie. They also cover the fun stuff, like placing transitions between clips, and adding effects. You�ll also learn some tips for working with VideoPad, so you�ll always be able to achieve the finished product you imagined.

So what are you waiting for? Check out the VideoPad video tutorials, download VideoPad, collect up your SD Cards and other video recordings out of hiding, and get started. You will be making your own movie masterpiece within minutes.

More Transitions and Other VideoPad Video Editing Improvements

The latest release of VideoPad video editor is making it even easier to do more with your video files. Version 2.20 was a significant and exciting release, adding even more of the features you've been asking for. If you have used VideoPad before, you will notice that the main screen has tabs for easier access to the additional transitions and effects that we have added. Now you can make your clip look like it has an old film quality, transition between clips with a wipe or a page curl, and play around with the numerous other transitions and effects for a video that�s all your own.

VideoPad also features a new overlay track that will allow you to extend the same text over one or more video clips, with options for making things like scrolling credits a breeze. VideoPad fans won't want to miss these improvements, and people new to video editing will be amazed at how easy making movies can be. Be sure to keeping feeding us your comments and suggestions on all of our software products so we can tailor them to better suit your needs.