Music Editing for Language Lessons

We recently found a series of videos made by a WavePad user as a guide for people just getting started with audio editing, and for using sound editing software to support use of music in language lessons. While many of the basics are covered in our WavePad video tutorials as well, if there is one thing I have learned, it is that sometimes hearing the same thing in a slightly different way can really help you pick it up. If you are looking for another source to help you ease into audio editing, you should check out this series of 7 videos covering some WavePad audio editing basics:

1. Select and cut
   
2. Splitting and trimming
   
3. Saving files in different sound formats
   
4. Changing audio track speed
   
5. Changing audio track pitch
   
6. Using slower speeds and looping to teach sections of a song
   
7. Copying edited clips to a new file
   

So whether you are teaching or learning songs in another language, or you have any other audio projects, be sure that you have WavePad Audio Editor on hand. You never know when it might come in handy.

New Orion File Recovery Software

The newest software program to join the NCH Software lineup is Orion File Recovery Software. Attempt to recover any files that you accidentally deleted from your hard drive or a connected external drive or portable device with this easy-to-use data recovery application. Use the wizard to guide you through the search process, narrowing results based on location, file type, or name, then recover any files that are found. You can also choose to permanently overwrite files to prevent future recovery.

Also be sure to check out Doxillion Document Converter, FileFort Backup Software and MEO Data Encryption Software for more file management solutions.

Express Invoice Super Options: New Invoice Customization

Our goal in developing an invoicing program has always been to produce professional documents that any business can use. To obtain a professional looking invoice we know it's important to do the following:

• keep the clutter to a minimum
  
• line up edges and blocks of text to keep the invoice looking clean
  
• be organized
  
• above all, value simplicity over flashy elements
  

One of the most requested features for Express Invoice is for complete customization of the final look of the invoice. One way to go about this would be to let the customer drag and drop the various pieces they need onto a template and generate the invoice from their vision, but we strongly feel that by giving more options we would violate the criteria laid out above. So, we compromised. While we want your business's invoices to stand out from the crowd, we don't want you to get carried away with colors, clip art, borders, fonts and kittens (you'd be surprised at what we've seen out there).

On the Invoice tab of the program Options, you will now find a button for more invoice options, giving you the choice to add certain design elements and invoice options such as including a remittance slip, shading every other line behind the items list, or whether to show the discount column on the invoice. The options make Express Invoice even more versatile than before, making it a perfect fit for an small business, freelancer, or contractor needing an invoicing solution.

Need more small business solutions, such as accounting software, employee management software, or an automatic telephone attendant? Be sure to check out our other business software, all of which comes with a full, free 14-day trial.

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

High Performance Document Conversion Software

It is always nice to get compliments, and we love hearing from both customers and reviewers alike about what they think about our software programs. The editors at CNET recently gave us another compliment to add to our tally in a recent review of Doxillion document converter, saying, "We've tried many of NCH's tools and always found them to be good performers." Talking more specifically about Doxillion they went on to say:

"Doxillion is very easy to use, with a big green plus sign for adding files to the main list view. Highlighting entries in this list displayed their properties in the right-hand sidebar. We browsed to an output folder in the entry field beneath the main view, and then selected an output format and encoder options. All that was left to do was press Convert. Doxillion quickly processed our batch and saved the output to our selected directory."

� CNET

You can read the complete review of Doxillion document converter from CNET on download.com. The next time you need to convert type of file, whether a document, audio, video, or image file, be prepared with our suite of converting software, and make file incompatibility a thing of the past.

New Mac Point of Sale Software

Our business team has been working to bring our popular business software to the Mac in addition to Windows, so that businesses have more quality and economical software solutions available to them. The Mac release of Copper Point of Sale Software is just one more step in that direction, providing an easy streamlined retail checkout software application to make the checkout process quicker and more accurate for both your customers and your records, no matter which platform you prefer.

The Copper POS system works a like a cash register. You enter in the products you carry as well as any coupons or promotions that can easily be selected and applied to a purchase by the cashier at the time of check out. Using Copper will help eliminate errors in product pricing and tax calculation, and will generate customizable receipts for your customers. So if you run a retail store and you are a Mac user (or even a Windows user), you will want to take a look at how Copper Point of Sale Software can help you record your sales transactions.

Now In 3D

One of the favorite comics here in the office is xkcd, a somewhat geeky webcomic with math, science and technology themes.

For April Fool�s Day the site went 3D (XK3D). Since this foray into the third dimension lined up so closely with NCH Software's own 3D addition, with the new stereoscopic 3D video content support that was added in the most recent release of VideoPad (version 2.30), I thought it was the perfect opportunity to introduce any of our readers who are not familiar with xkcd to its wonders.

Note: if you're new to xkcd, make sure you don't to miss the hover over text on each comic as you surf through their archives.