----------------------------------------------------------------------
Working with photos and video tapes has been one of my favorite computer projects. Working with photos turned out to be pretty easy, but working with video has been a real challenge. I swore I'd never try to teach this and I'm really not doing that tonight. I'm just doing a demo of what can be done.
The main piece of equipment you need is a good video card. I have the ATI ALL-IN-WONDER Radeon 8500 DV. I've heard Pinnacle is good one. The second thing you'll need is software that is user friendly. Of course you will also need a DVD burner. I have the Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-104 but I understand the new Sony is supposed to be the best at this time. All my equipment uses DVD-R media. I also made sure that all the equipment I bought included S video input and output connections and/or firewire connections. I can record from VCR, DV video camera or TV. My computer is an upgraded Gateway. It has an AMD Athlon XP Processor, 1.15 ghz, 640 mgs of RAM, and Windows XP Pro.
Getting the video in your computer is the easy part. The hard part comes with the editing. I've tried several different editing programs and have settled on Ulead Video Studio 7. Mike demonstrated version 6 last year. I finally upgraded to version 7 and have found it a bit easier. I love the fact that you can lighten dark video and also adjust the playback speed. This is not important to regular video tapes because of the sound but has been a real help when transferring old 8mm movie files to DVD.
Ulead has finally gotten smart and put several tutorials on their content cd and also on their web site. I wish they had been there when I first started as it would have saved a lot time trying to work with the manuals and trial and error. They also offer free trials on all their products so you can try before you buy. I have several Ulead products and find them to be about the best affordable editing photo and video products.
The other product you will need is good DVD media. I have a lot of "coasters" I've made with off-brand disks I ordered from the Internet. I've had good luck with Memorex, Fujifilm and Maxell.
If you have XP you can make some pretty good videos with Windows Movie Maker. But the only format it accepts is WMV. You could save it to a CD but not VCD or DVD. I searched the internet and found a program that will convert Microsoft formats to any format you need. EasyX Video Converter (http://www.easyxsoft.com/EasyXVC/) does a pretty good job. Sometimes I have to try 3 or 4 times but eventually I have been able to convert my Microsoft files. It costs $30.
When I was working on my videos I was very disappointed in the quality I saw on my computer screen but pleasantly surprised when viewing it from a DVD player on the television screen.
I've found another program that I truly love. It's Microsoft Plus! Digital Media Edition and you can usually buy it for $12 or less. This ties into this program because I have been able to make some wonderful slide shows and convert them to MPGs with EasyX Video Converter so that I can make VCDs or DVDs with them.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I want to again thank Docia for doing the presentation this month. She really did a good job. At the October meeting we will take a look at printing MIDI music using some of the latest software. Come join the fun at the Harmon Foundation, 2901 S. Harvard, on the third Tuesday of each month at 7:00 PM.
For more information on the Tulsa Computer Society click here