2011 Top Software Posts Roundup

Like so many others, I find the new year a time of reflection both personally and professionally. Last year at this time I took a look at the posts that were getting the most attention on our blog to try to learn more about what our customers and readers are most interested in. With 2012 upon us, here I am again looking at the top posts of 2011:

1. VideoPad Video Editing Tips and Tricks
   
2. Changing Video Speed with VideoPad
   
3. Adding Text to Your Videos
   
4. Video Stabilization
   
5. WavePad Audio Editor New for the iPad
   
6. Practice Transcription Audio Files
   
7. Best Slideshow Software: PhotoStage
   
8. Record Audio Playing Through Your Speakers
   
9. The WavePad iPhone Audio Editor App
   
10. Make Your Music Mash Ups with MixPad
    
11. Add Subtitles to Your Videos
    
12. NCH Mobile Applications Updates
    
13. Transitions and Upgrades to VideoPad
    
14. Best Mac Audio Editing Software
    
15. New Mac Point of Sales Software
    
16. Record Your Own Audio Book
    
17. Mac Inventory Management Software
    
18. Why Web Designers Don't Need Dreamweaver
    
19. VoIP Phone Systems for the Home Office
    
20. Express Scribe Transcription Using Voice Recognition
    

So what can I glean from this list? Not only is there still interest in Mac versions of our applications, of which we have added several additions to this year (and more already in the works), there is a large interest in how to take advantage of the more advanced features in our VideoPad video editor. as well as other how-to instructions. I'm pleased to report that we are expecting a significant new release of VideoPad this year that will have a new interface designed to add more advanced features to our easy to use video editing software. That is just one of the big plans already on the horizon to keep your eyes open for, but as always, be sure to let us know what you think and what you want to see in future releases that will help you do more with software.

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.

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.