Whether its editing, watching, or backing up your videos, I give you the low-down on the free tools you can use.
Share your videos
Almost everyone who shoots videos wants to share them. Well, the best way to do this is to upload those clips to YouTube. Besides, your Google ID provides you with your own channel on the service. And you can even keep your videos private, and accessible only to friends and family, not exceeding 50 people (it should be noted that the folk you intend to share your videos with will also require a YouTube/Google account). Some tips for uploading videos:
Use the MP4 format for smoother uploads.
If you want to upload videos longer than 15 minutes, click on 'increase your limit' on YouTube's upload page. It's free, but you will need to provide your cell phone number for verification.
YouTube offers an easy-to-use online editor where you can edit your clips, apply effects, and add audio before uploading.
If you have a high-speed internet connection, upload full-resolution videos. YouTube will automatically create lower-res versions. This means your viewers will the have option to either watch it in full resolution or in lower resolution.
On the other hand, if you want a video-hosting site that allows you to share videos with more than 50 people, try Vimeo. All you have to do is add a password to your video, and then share the link and the password with your friends. It's as simple as that.
Edit your videos
So you have an idea of how your holiday videos can be made more interesting with the help of a few cuts and edits. The only problem is that video-editing software is rather expensive. And heck, even if you had such a tool, it would probably be too tough to master. Well, not true. Here are a few programs that are not only free, but also simple to use.
Windows Movie Maker: When it comes to basic video editing, few software beat WMM. Adding a title to your video takes a couple of clicks; adding effects like 'sepia' or 'black-and-white' requires a minute or two - indeed, if you are a beginner, it will only take you a few days to learn how to carry out basic editing tasks like trimming, applying filters, joining clips, etc.
And once you're satisfied with your "director's cut", you can export the final product to the MP4 format.
The program even has a few pre-defined video settings for FullHD TVs, as well as iOS and Android devices, but if you are comfortable with technicalities such as bitrates and frame rates, you can also manually play around with these settings.
VideoPad: If you're looking for greater flexibility than what Windows Movie Maker offers you, then try VideoPad - a free software that offers sequence-based video editing. This means you can cut parts from various clips, rearrange them in a different order, apply effects and filters on selective parts, and overlay the clips with audio. It sounds a bit daunting, but VideoPad is simple to use. And of course, once your video is done, you can export it to any of the popular video formats.
Any Video Converter: Your buddy has just sent a few videos of your school reunion. Sadly, your tablet doesn't recognize the file format. Try Any Video Converter. Just select the clip that you want to convert and then choose the device on which you want to play it. For example, if you're going to play the video on an Android tablet, select that option from the list. Just hit convert and the program will take care of the rest. AVC also supports batch conversion which makes it easier to convert several clips at once.
Manage your DVD collection
We all have our favourite DVDs and VCDs, but if you're looking for a way in which you can store/backup your expensive collection on a hard drive then you'd do well to keep reading...
ImgBurn: This is a free program that creates an exact copy (ISO file) of a DVD, which is then saved to your hard drive. And it's simple to use too. Insert your DVD into the optical drive of your PC. Click on ImgBurn, select 'create image from a disk' and follow the on-screen instructions. You can later burn the resulting ISO file onto a writable DVD by using the 'write image file to disk' option. Making an image of a DVD is the best way to preserve it because ISO files include the disc's data in its entirety, without changing anything in it.
Daemon Tools Lite: This program, which is free for non-commercial use, will help you play the ISO files you have created on your computer. It basically creates a virtual optical drive on your PC through which you can 'mount' the ISO images stored on your PC to play them. Using Daemon Tools is simple: Once you have installed the program, it creates a virtual disk that shows up alongside your hard drive or other optical drives. Depending on how many drives you have in your computer it will take the next free drive letter. For example, if you have a 'C' and a 'D' drive, it will be called 'E'. To access it, open Daemon Tools Lite. You will see the virtual drive within the program. Double-click on this drive, navigate to and select the ISO file you want to play. Mount the ISO file and it should start playing. Unmount it when you're done.
DVDFab Decrypter: The free version of this software strips DVDs and Blu-rays of copy protection and 'rips' the movie to the hard drive. Ripping films with DVDFab Decrypter is easy and just takes a few clicks. The ripped movies can then be converted into other formats such as MP4, FLV and 3GP to view on tablets or older television sets by using programs like Any Video converter.
XBMC: Now that you have ripped your DVDs, there must be a large number of folders and videos on your hard disk. Use XBMC to organize it all. The free program seeks out the movies on your PC, and then tags and sorts them into various genres by pulling this information, including album art, from websites like IMDB. XBMC is also a capable video player that can handle many video formats and codecs with ease.
Watch videos on streaming sites
While the best way to watch an online video is in a web browser, there are a few plug-ins and extensions that actually improve your experience...
MagicActions for YouTube: This Chrome browser extension adds quite a few nifty features to your YouTube experience. It lets you play videos in a loop - and it even comes with what it calls the 'cinema mode' where the space around the video goes black so you can enjoy it without any distractions. The extension also lets you easily share videos on Facebook; play the clips in HD by default; control audio with the mouse wheel; zoom into a scene during playback; and even hide the player controls.
Install from the Chrome extension store
Flash Video Downloader: This extension for the Firefox browser lets you download videos from quite a few websites, including YouTube, DailyMotion, FailBlog, CNET Video Reviews, CollegeHumour and Vimeo. One handy feature within this extension is that it can download clips in different formats (MP4, AVI, FLV or 3GP), and in the case of YouTube, different resolutions.
If you use Chrome, you can use a similar extension called YouTube Downloader. You won't find this tool in the Chrome store because Google doesn't condone people downloading YouTube videos. Instead, get it from the link listed below. Once this extension is installed, it creates a button that shows up under the videos on YouTube. Clicking on the button downloads the video for you.
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