V is for Video

NCH Software ABCs Series

Video is all around us. From the big blockbuster movies to YouTube, from video surveillance cameras in retail stores, to parents recording their kids first steps, and that is just the beginning, so it should come as no surprise we chose Video for 'V.' Plus like all of our software programs they our Video software is designed to be easy to use, so if want to record your screen or edit together a highlights reel of the tee-ball season, we have the video software you need to get the job done:

• VideoPad video editing software
  
• Prism video converting software
  
• Debut video capture software
  
• PhotoStage slideshow creator
  
• BroadCam streaming video server
  
• GoldenVideos VHS to DVD converter
  
• Eyeline video surveillance software
  
• FlashLynx YouTube video downloader
  

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Help Managing Remote Workers

Guest post by Tony Stokes of Contracting Solutions (New Media)

We are a software solutions provider specializing in Digital Media and Customer Flow Management software employing around 65 staff based here in the UK and Hong Kong.

While tracking staff members and timekeeping in our main offices is not normally an issue we are seeing an increase in the number of coders that prefer to work flexible hours from home. We started the home working scheme over 3 years ago and in general most staff members worked the required hours and were generally productive but we really had no way of recording the hours being worked by each employee. Looking around the market place we found many solutions but most were very expensive or required an on-going monthly payment dependent on the number of staff using the software.

After more searching we came across Flexi-Server Employee Attendance Software which initially we thought was quite cheap in comparison and perhaps would not fit our requirements. Nerveless we downloaded the trial and were amazed that we had it up and running in about ten minutes. Initially we only wanted to record the times that each employee was working and allow them to take breaks and work flexible hours that suited them. We found this initial requirement was very easy to configure and the web dashboard produced all of the statistics we needed.

The new CSMN office in India

During the period of setting up the initial Flexi-Server installation we were in the process of opening a new Office in India to outsource some of our extra coding requirements. We found an existing company and that fitted our requirements and asked them if they would be willing to use Flexi-Server to record each team member's hours to which they agreed. Having put this in place we then looked into the other features offered and found the most invaluable capability of recording screen shots and having them uploaded to our server, this has not only helped us monitor progress remotely but has also allowed us to spot issues and help to get them resolved.

Since then we have we have purchased a majority stake in the Indian company and have made considerable investment in a new office, extra staff and upgrades to the IT equipment. We would not have had the faith to do this remotely had we not had the monitoring, reporting and added peace of mind that Flexi-Server Productivity & Attendance Software provides.

Tony Stokes is Technical Director of Contracting Solutions (New Media), Innovators of Digital Signage, enhanced visual communications and multimedia solutions.

Do More with Video - Blog Carnival November 5, 2012

To continue in the footsteps of the Do More with Audio blog carnival that we have been hosting for the last two years we have decided to add a Do More with Video blog carnival giving people the chance to share any video filming, recording, editing, production, projects, tips and more. To get things started I did some online to find some interesting posts to share in this first edition, and we hope you will submit your own video posts for the next edition.

So with our further ado here is the first edition of Do More with Video:

Teaching Video Storytelling. If a picture is worth a thousand words, what must a video be worth? Read about one professor's formula for video storytelling.

2012 CamcorderInfo Best of Year Awards. If you are looking for equipment here is what the professionals at camcorderinfo.com would recommend to family, friends and you.

Can I Edit Video from a DVD? An interesting post about the possible compression problems that can arise from extracting video from DVD and then compressing it again.

How to Create 3D Videos. A post about both converting 2D videos into 3D and filming with 3D in mind for better results.

10 Most Popular Types of Viral Videos. If you are hoping to make your own viral video it might help to know what the top are viral video categories.

Music and Video in Windows 8: a work in progress. Promising first steps, but latest offerings don't always play well with others.

What Filmmakers Need To Know About Video on Demand. Traditional theatrical and DVD film distribution models are being replaced by video on demand platforms which will forever alter the ways movies are seen and sold.

Optimizing Videos Embedded on Your Site for Search Engines. When you are putting a video online you want people to find it, and that is where SEO comes in to play to help make sure your video is found and viewed.

You might also be interested in:

• Video editing to the third dimension
• Bring a comic to life with video story telling
• A Movie Making Solution for the New Windows
• Video-sharing from software to site
• Record video from anywhere
• HD for the home
• Video editing is easier than you think
• Give a gift of video memories
• Don't just record video, use it!
• Video Software for your Webcam
• Flying high with first person video

That concludes the first edition of Do More with Video. If you have a video story to share from home movies to video production submit your video blog posts for the next edition.

Record Skype Calls - Easy Audio & Video Call Recording

We have posted before about recording phone calls through a TRX personal call recorder, recording multiple phone lines across a business network with VRS call recording software, or even saving conversations with the Express Talk softphone�s recording feature, but with the advent of internet technology like Skype, what if you want to record a phone conversation on your computer?

Record Skype Audio Calls

The solution to recording your voice-over-IP calls is our SoundTap streaming audio capture software. With SoundTap you can record any audio that is played on or through your PC or Mac, making it easy to record both sides of your conversation; instead of only your microphone input. It is akin to tapping your virtual phone and you can save the audio in .wav or .mp3 format.

Record Skype Video Calls

For video, we suggest you turn to Debut streaming video recording software. Debut is a powerful video capture program that can grab video from virtually any source, including your screen. Make sure your Debut options are enabled to record both video and audio, and then you can easily record your video calls, including Skype, to play back or edit later.

Where in the World is NCH Software?

NCH Software was founded back in 1993 in Canberra and is still headquartered in Australia today. Now there is also an office in Denver, Colorado, and these two main offices are where the majority of the software development and business happen. However, with customers worldwide you will also find a sprinkling of remote developers and support staff in other countries as well.

Back Up Files to Your Online Accounts

Backing up files regularly is an important fail safe to make sure you don't lose valuable information. There are plenty of different ways to back up and protect your documents, including copying files to an external hard drive or burning them on disc, but a more recent solution is storing files online in "the cloud." This means recent versions of your files are saved securely on a web server and an easy way to accomplish this added security is with our FileFort backup software. You can quickly save files to your online Google Drive, Amazon S3, or DropBox accounts, in addition to the standard places like an external hard drive, network folder, USB drive or FTP server. Choose whichever backup solutions work best for you locally or online, and let FileFort easily manage them for complete protection of your files.

Give Your Computer A New Voice

Do you ever have your computer talk to you? Not in the crazy �I'm hearing voices� way, but with software applications like Verbose text to speech software that you can use your computer as a screen reader or save text documents as MP3 files that you can listen to. If you do, you may be one of the people one of the people searching for better Verbose text to speech voices. The robotic sound of the default voices that come with most computer operating systems, like "Microsoft Anna," are one of the biggest complaints we see about text to speech software. So users may want to give their computer a new voice.

Verbose supports SAPI 4 and SAPI 5 compliant voices, so that is all you need to look for when searching for a more natural sounding voice for your machine. To help make your search even faster, if you are looking for an alternative text to speech voice, we recommend that you check out Cepstral who supplies many high quality, more natural sounding voices that you can choose from. All of the offered voices are SAPI 5 compliant. Once a new voice has been installed on your computer you can simply restart the program and the new voice will appear as an option.