Apple iPod touch 4th Generation

The latest iPod nano from Apple is the most popular portable music player that has option to see TV shows, video clips, etc.

That makes it a nice entry level video player and considering that it is from Apple, it is going to be popular considering the great features and more or less acceptable pricing.

The Brighter Side

The new iPod nano has a much better and brighter screen, considering that you can watch videos and play games.

The manufacturer claims that you can play up to 5 hours of movies, video podcasts, TV shows, games, which I guess is noteworthy. Not that watching videos shortens the battery life to around 5 hours.

But even that is sufficient time considering this is an entry level media player. You can easily get through one movie or watch a few TV shows; I guess enough to keep you entertained on a flight.

The younger users may feel the that the memory capacity is limited for it to be used as a video player, and will probably have to do constant reloading via various means, one of them of course being from iTunes.

Checkout the Apple iPod nano here…

Video Converters

With so much packed in this video player, no wonder there is a great demand for software, like video converters, that will help facilitate the uploading of videos from various sources to the iPod nano.
These help you convert various video and audio formats so that you can watch them on your iPod nano. You can import the videos from any source like a DVD, or from YouTube or from any other video files.

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There are several occasions when you will get “No Sound from DVD Player”, whether it is from your portable DVD player connected to the television or be it the DVD player on your computer/laptop.

There could be several reasons for this. Listed here are some of the most common problems because of which you may get no sound from your DVD player.

Portable DVD Players

Bought one recently? You may have hooked it up wrongly

Confirm “mute” button is not pressed by mistake

If it is quite old, you may have to turn it off and turn ON if the problem occurs

Try playing an audio CD to check if the problem is temporary or it indeed has stopped playing the audio. If it plays the audio, eject it and put the DVD back.

DVD Player on Computer

A common problem that you may face is that the DVD player on your computer may play the Audio CDS and play the pictures stored on the DVDs but you may not get any sound from your DVDs.

There are a couple of things you can do.

Enable the CD-ROM device

First is to make sure that the sound is enabled on the actual CD-ROM device. You can check using the following steps.

Go to Control Panel

Go to Sound/Audio Devices

Select Hardware then the DVD drive

Go to the Properties tab.

Check that the “Enable audio for this CD-ROM device” is selected. If it’s not, that’s the problem.

Download Updated Codecs

Another reason for this problem could be because of now having the most update Codecs (software) on your computer.

Try downloading the latest Codecs and the audio problem should become fine…K_Lite Codec Pack

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Another commonly used visual effect in video editing is the Picture-in-Picture effect.

Here is a brief overview of this visual effect, as well as the picture in picture tutorial that will help you understand how this effect can be used.

What is Picture in Picture?

Picture in Picture, also known as P-i-P is a term used in the video editing parlance.

You may have already seen this visual effect being used on the TV. Just flip on to a news channel, you will see that at certain times you can see a remote reporter appearing in a small box over the shoulder of the main news reader.

You use the Picture in picture video box when the main interviewer is talking to somebody who is reporting the action from a distant location.

How to Picture in Picture? The Picture in Picture Tutorial!

You can implement this visual effect by using any video editing software program.

How to Picture in Picture? Here are the steps you would usually do.

Step 1

Get the two video clips on the timeline in the video editing application.

Step 2

Select the P-i-P effect from the video effects section. All video editing software programs provide an effects filter for his purpose.

Step 3

Apply the visual effect! The various tweaking that you can do include – positioning the box at various locations on the screen, resizing the box, have color borders added, have drop-shadows applied, etc.

As a video editing technique, to continue with the flow, usually you start with the small P-i-P window and then the P-i-P window becomes the main screen if you want the action to switch over to that remote place/reporter.

Summary

This was a brief overview of what this visual effect is all about. I hope the picture in picture tutorial gave you an understanding of how to use this video editing technique. Start applying this technique right now!

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Learn how to Chroma Key! Have you seen a TV presenter standing in front of a weather map? The technique used to achieve that is known as chroma keying. Here is a chroma key tutorial!

Chroma keying Examples

The best way to explain "What is Chroma Key" is by taking a few examples. You will then be able to relate to it instantly.

The first example to which almost everybody can relate to is the scene of a TV weather presenter standing in front of a weather map.

I bet you have seen that!

What about movies with lot of special effects? Have you seen actors standing with computer generated creatures?

Do you know what video technique is used in the above examples?

It is known Chroma Key or Chroma Keying!

What is Chroma Key?

Chroma-key is a technical term used in the movie/video production parlance.

It simply means substituting another video picture source into a consistent color backdrop. The backdrop sits behind the object, for instance, a person speaking or acting in front of the camera.

The most commonly used color backdrop is Green; another favorable alternative is Blue.

How to Chroma Key? The Chroma key Tutorial

Any video editing software program should help you to implement Chroma key effects; also known as Color Substitution Overlay (CSO) effects.

Step 1

The first step is to video shoot the chroma-key clip, which will be the one in the foreground.

Ensure your main subject is standing against an evenly lit green screen. You also need to ensure that the person in the shot is not wearing clothes of the same color; else the overall effect will be very bad.

Step 2

Choose the clip that is going to be used to provide the background action.

Step 3

Drag the background clip to the timeline. Then drag the green-screen clip to the overlay track such that the two are parallel on the timeline.


Since you are effectively merging two video clips, you will need these two video tracks on the timeline.

Step 4

The last step is to apply the effects. Select the Chroma key (CSO) effects from the video effects section and tweak the substitution till you get it right.

Once you have the two video clips in place, it is just a matter of using the appropriate picture processing features that is provided by the video editing program.

Summary

I hope this chroma key tutorial helped you in understanding what this video technique is all about. Go ahead and try out some chroma keying on your own. Now you can get somebody from your family to be the TV presenter standing in front of a weather map. Happy chroma keying!

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In this tutorial you will learn how to use Windows Moviemaker, which is a basic video creating & editing software program included in Microsoft Windows.

Since it is included with Microsoft windows, it is practically free!

What Makes it an Effective Tool?

The
current version of Windows Moviemaker (version 2.x) is an impressive video tool that comes with features such as effects, transitions, titles/credits, audio track, timeline narration, and Auto Movie.

If you understand a bit of programming, you can even take this further. You can make new effects & transitions and modify existing ones using XML code.

Microsoft Windows Moviemaker

Tutorial on Using Microsoft Moviemaker!

So here is how you will go about using the important features of Moviemaker, for your home video production needs.

You begin by capturing/importing the video footage into the program. You can either Capture Video from your camera or you can import video/picture files into the user’s collections.

For capturing video, you can go to File and choose Capture Video.

For importing video files from your hard drive, you can go to Tasks and select Import Video.

As with most of the editing software program, the application provides a storyboard view and a timeline view for you to arrange your video clips. You will also find collections for organizing imported video, and a preview screen

Though initially, you might feel comfortable with the storyboard view and it is perfectly okay to use that view, the timeline view is something which most of the experienced users use.

Whatever view you use, each consists of one Video (with accompanying Audio bar), one Music/Audio bar, and one Titles/Credits bar.

It is here where you do all the arranging, trimming and reordering of the clips. The audio bar can be modified to lower, increase, or mute the volume wherever needed.

Once you have your clips on the timeline, you can just play around with the clips.

The clips can be duplicated, split, copied, pasted, deleted, trimmed, or dragged to another position. Just use the right click of the mouse and you will see the various editing options.

Don’t want to spend lot of time doing the editing work? Use the AutoMovie feature! It offers predefined editing styles (sort of templates) for quickly creating movies.

Note: All these changes are not applied to your original camera file in any way. The changes that you try out are just a list of instructions for producing a final output video file from the original file.

Using Transitions adds smoothness to your video, as the clips play one after the other.

Windows Movie-maker provides you plenty of transitions, effects, title and credits animations to add some spice to your video. They all can be applied using the usual drag and drop feature.

To access transitions, you can go to Tools and then select Video Transitions. You can preview any transition in the preview window by double-clicking on it.

As for Titles, you have both static i.e. non-animated as well animated Titles. Animated titles include fly in, fading, news banner, or spinning newspaper.

You can add background music or/and narration to your edited video.

To add narration, go to Tools and then choose Narrate Timeline.

To adjust audio levels in your clips, right-click any clip in Moviemaker and make the necessary adjustments – be it volume, fades or mute.

To add music in Microsoft Moviemaker, choose Import Audio or Music from the Tasks pane and select your audio files.

To balance the music volume against your clip audio, go to Tools and then choose Audio levels and adjust with the slider.

The last and the easiest option, is to copy your final video to some media.

Go to the Tasks Pane and choose Finish Movie. You can select one of the various output options – send to web, save to CD, save to hard disk, and soon.

A wizard will take you through the remaining steps to complete the output creation process.

Conclusion

Using Microsoft Movie-maker is the most economical way of getting yourself introduced to video production. Just because it is free does not mean that it is not worth using at all. The limitation is around the number of effects & transitions and the ability to customize them. You can still go through the entire video creation process using this tool. Besides, if you know programming, you can make new effects & transitions and modify existing ones using XML code.

Use it! It is the best way to get started in this area!

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Video can be played through different mediums and applications, some of which are recent and some that have been in existence for some time.

It would be great if you had a utility which could take video as input from varied sources/formats and convert them into other formats for viewing over different programs/devices.

This is where a Video converter helps!

Uses of Video Convertor

Video converter software can take video as input from varied sources – be it computer hard drives or external sources like TV feeds, cameras, and other removable devices.

Video converter software will also provide extra features like authoring and DVD burning.

Some video convertors also make it possible for you to export videos for use on other programs – for editing, uploading, or sharing.

Types of Video Converters

Videos nowadays can be viewed on different applications – portable players, DVDS, Internet, VCRs, TVs, etc. Accordingly, depending on your requirement, you will need a video convertor to help you with the conversions.

Mobile Media Converters

This helps you to convert video files into digital formats for small-screen viewing on portable players…like iPod.

Digital Video Converter

This helps you to convert digital video from DVDs or a hard drive into another file format and vice versa. Usually, compression and decompression features are not provided, to maintain quality of the videos.

Digital to Analog Converter

This helps you to convert videos from a computer into video formats that can be viewed on VCRs and TVs. They usually utilize both PAL and NTSC video formats.

You can even do the reverse way i.e. digitize analog video from TV, for editing, archiving, sharing, or DVD burning.

Factors to Consider before Buying

First thing would be to check if you can get it free as a part of the software bundle, if you also intend to buy devices like a capture card…you may end up saving some money here.

If you have to buy a video format converter, consider features relating to batch conversions and file formats. With batch processing, you can convert several videos at one time.

As for file formats, look for a video file converter that can support various file formats, especially the ones that you would most commonly use.

Look for a software program that will allow simple editing tasks, such as the ability to combine several videos into one video file. Features like DVD authoring and web publishing will also be handy.

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Youtube has always been the number one source online for watching videos. They have a huge number of videos spread across various categories.

Issues with Youtube Videos

The main problem is that you have to be connected to the internet to be able to watch the videos.

If you are not online, you cannot watch any of those videos!

Youtube recently has come up with some good news. They have started offering video downloads for a small fee!

The main challenge there again is that it is not supported for all the videos.

YouTube Video Downloader

So is there any way you can download any of the videos from youtube to your computer?

Yes! You can use the YouTube Video Downloader!

So how does it work? Learn how to download youtube videos!

All you have to do is copy and paste the URL of your YouTube video in their text field and then hit the download button.

Within a few seconds, the video will be downloaded in MP4 or 3GP (mobile phones) format!

It is as simple as that!

File Format of the Download

The MP4 video format is a high quality video file and the format is compatible on most platforms, including your iPod.

The 3GP format on the other hand is especially useful for mobile phones. Because of its small file-size, it still retains a decent level of quality, and this format can be played back by most mobile phones.

Once you have the videos on your computer, you do not have to be connected to the Internet for watching those. If you wish, you can even burn those videos to a DVD.

Summary

With this handy tool, you don’t have to be dependent on the internet for watching your youtube videos. Just download all your favorite videos on your computer and watch them at your leisure. You can even burn the downloaded videos to a DVD by using Nero or by using open source tools such as InfraRecorder (free tool).

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The most recent Photography Tips, Techniques & Tricks – Here you will find articles on a variety of topics related to Videography. I will be regularly updating & adding more articles in this section, so do come back.

10 Black and White Photography Tips

10 Black and White Photography Tips to get the best images.

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Video Tips, Techniques, Tricks – Here you will find articles on a variety of topics related to Videography. I will be regularly updating & adding more articles in this section, so do come back.

How to use Camcorder Effects

Learn to use the built-in Digital Effects!

Convert Your Old Videos to DVD!

Learn how to convert your collection of old videos, stored on tapes, to DVD.

How to do Video Editing from DVD?

Learn what’s the easiest way to do Video Editing from DVD.

How to Create DVD menus

Create DVD menus – How to Make Your Videos Look Professional!

How to Convert Digital Photos to VCD Format

Learn how you can convert digital photos to VCD format using Ulead DVD PictureShow.

How to Convert Movie/Video Formats

Learn how to convert Movie/Video formats

Video Converter Software

Which software is best for Video Conversion?

Microsoft Windows Movie Maker

How to make a Video with Windows MovieMaker?

Learn How to Chroma Key!

Learn How to Chroma Key! Substitute a Video into a consistent Color Backdrop!

Learn How to Picture in Picture!

Learn How to Picture in Picture! Here is a tutorial to help you apply this Visual Effect!

Learn How to Download Youtube Videos!

Here is a nice tool that will let you download the videos from youtube on your computer.

No Sound from DVD Player – How to Fix It?

No Sound from your DVD Player? Read more to know the various causes and how to fix it.

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Converting movie formats is one of the major requirements of all video buffs. Here are various tools available to do that.

DVD is still one of the more popular formats today. There are a lot of camcorders which record directly to a DVD.

So if you have been looking for an easy way to edit video on a DVD, then you are not alone.

Fortunately for you, there are several ways in which you can do this.

It Should be MPEG-2

One thing to remember is that MPEG-2 is the native format of video data that is stored on DVD discs.

So usually for editing DVD video you first need to convert the video into MPEG-2 before it can be edited.

Once edited, you can convert the files back to DVD or any other format using different software.

Using Windows Movie Maker

One video editing software that is available to most users is the Windows Movie maker.

To be able to edit using Moviemaker, you need to first rip out the video from the DVD in WMV or AVI video. You need software such as Aimersoft DVD Ripper to do that.

Once it is done the WMV / AVI video can be loaded into Windows Movie Maker where you can edit the video in the usual manner.

Once you edit the video, it can be converted to another video format or burned to DVD.

Another Solution

Another way that you could try out is to copy the VOB files from your DVD’s Video_TS folder onto your hard drive.

The next step is to go ahead and change the file extension from .vob to .mpg. Most of the time it lets you do this conversion. Once done you can edit the .mpg file in windows movie maker.

If for some reason you are not able to change the file extension, then you could try using free VOB to MPEG converters, which are available for download.

Once done, you can edit the resulting mpeg in windows movie maker.

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