Video-Sharing from Software to Site

Where do you share videos?

It should come as no surprise to anyone that the use of video-sharing sites is on the rise, which is why we are working on making it as easy as possible to share your finished video projects from our video software, including VideoPad video editor and PhotoStage. Most recently we added direct uploading to Facebook and Flickr in addition to YouTube to the export options in VideoPad. All you have to do is set up your account information the first time, and VideoPad will do the rest. By automating the uploading process, we allow you to post more videos online.

But are there any other video-sharing sites that should be added? You tell us. We want to make sure that our software is as easy to use as possible. Post a comment to this post and we�ll take your suggestions to the developers. Thanks for the feedback!

Stop Motion Animation with Slideshow Software

I recently stumbled across another great use for PhotoStage Slideshow Software, combining sequential still photos into a stop motion video animation. That is exactly what a class of students did in the Napa Valley in a CyberMill Technology Center summer program as reported on by Howard Yune of the Napa Valley Register.

CyberMill is a Napa Valley nonprofit technology center, affiliated with the national Computers for Youth nonprofit organization. The CFY Network is committed to improving the home learning environment of low-income families by providing home computers and educational resources, helping students learn the technology skills they need to compete and thrive in the 21st Century. In this particular summer program Yune explains that

"For nearly four hours a day over five days, children at the animation camp work through all the phases of building a short video. Digital point-and-shoot cameras snap numerous photos � as many as 465 for each short � of box-size backdrops built by the children themselves, guided by scripts based on poems of their creation or choosing.

Instructors also guide students in using Photostage software to merge the stills into short movies, adding electronic titles and recording dialogue in an audio studio set inside a walk-in closet."

� Ever wanted to make a movie about a goldfish?

We were excited to learn about this project of making stop motion animated shorts with PhotoStage and applaud the programs of the CyberMill Technology Center for bringing technology to those who might not have as much exposure to this important piece of our world today, while keeping it fun at the same time.

From Vinyl to MP3 and iTunes

As we were reminded by Jesse Emspak of TechNewsDaily on Friday with her article Move Your Vinyl to CDs and iTunes, if you're looking for a way to not only digitize your vinyl records for iTunes but clean-up by removing the pops and clicks that are inherently a part of those well loved favorites, you should take a look at Golden Records Vinyl Converter for converting your albums to CDs, or MP3s for your iPod or other portable media player.

With Golden Records you can convert, restore and protect your old vinyl LP records and cassette tapes with an easy-to-use interface and simple hardware connection wizard to guide you through the process.

Keep your old favorites sounding their best using the included audio restoration tools. Remove the pops, clicks and hissing that can be common on old tapes or scratched records, normalize the volume of recordings, and use other included tools to help you clean up damaged audio.

But maybe vinyl isn�t your problem, and you have other less common audio file formats? You can convert virtually any audio file to an MP3 file with Switch MP3 Converter Software.

Pixillion Mac Image Converter Software

One of the things NCH is best known for is our converting software. Take virtually any audio file and make it an mp3 for your iPod with Switch MP3 Converter, and not being able to watch a video on your computer is never a problem when you have Prism Video Converter. Video files in particular used to plague me at home on my Mac because of platform compatibility issues. Now Mac users can add another converter to their arsenal with Pixillion Image Converter which recently had its first Mac release.

What makes Pixillion great is that it isn't just another conversion program, additional options allow you crop, resize, rotate and compress your digital photos during conversion. And for any photographers out there not only can you batch convert but you can add watermarks to protect your images as well. So if you have photos, and we know you do, take a look at Pixillion Image Converter to help you reformat your pictures.

Express Scribe Gets DS2 Support

Express Scribe users rejoice! One of your most requested features has arrived: support for .ds2 (DSS Pro Voice) audio dictation files. Express Scribe Transcription Software Version 5.30 for Windows is the first version to include support for both dss and ds2 dictation file formats, so the time of workarounds and training your clients to back-save is now a thing of the past. And ds2 support for the Mac version of Express Scribe will be on the way soon.

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.

Telephony Software at NCH

Hi! My name is Dustin and I am the new lead developer for NCH Software�s Telephony products. Previously, I�ve been working on our company�s Utility products such as FileFort backup software, Verity child monitoring software and Orion file recovery software. I am excited about this new opportunity and I hope I can make our Telephony products even better!

One new feature coming soon to our Axon virtual PBX is the ability to access your web interface from any internet connection without the need for complicated router configuration. This is accomplished by connecting to an NCH Software server using a simple internet address like http://sampleaddress.users.nchuser.com which relays to your Axon server. Pages can even be viewed over a secure (HTTPS) connection to guarantee that transmitted information is safe. This feature is ad supported so there is no extra cost to you. You will still be able to view the web interface without ads the same way you always have but with this feature we hope Axon will be even easier to use remotely.

So be on the lookout for this new feature in Axon and more feature and usability improvements to come to our telephony software:

• Express Talk Softphone
  
• Axon Virtual PBX System
  
• IMS On-Hold Messages Player
  
• IVM Answering Attendant
  
• TRx Single Line Call Recorder
  
• VRS Multichannel Voice Recorder
  
• Quorum Call Conferencing Software