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A jump cut is a cut in film editing where two shots of the same subject are taken from different camera positions. This type of editing will cause the subject to appear to “jump” into new positions. For this reason, many classical editors loathe the use of jump cuts. However, Ze Frank made it an extremely popular type of editing amongst YouTubers… especially those looking for comedic value! I thought I’d try my hand at editing using jump cuts. Perhaps I got a little carried away.

Most people will tell you to never use a jump cut. The framing is not different enough to be a new shot, so the transition instead appears to be a mistake in editing. However, jump cuts can add impact and tension in the right place. Be sure you understand what it is you’re trying to accomplish before deciding whether or not to use this type of editing in your film.

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Video Editing Job Gone Horribly Wrong

A text editing program makes work simpler and safer. It helps to organize the work in an easy-to-find way and prevents lost material. The software will save you time.

This probably has happened to you: on some email correspondence or blog comment, you spend time composing and putting down your thoughts in exactly the way that you want. You hit “send” or “post” and something (or nothing) happens. If the browser crashes, then all that hard work is gone — lost! Computer crashes do not happen at convenient times. If you use a text editor, all you would do is go back to the text editor and just copy your work again. Then you can try to paste it in the email or blog a second time — without having to re-think and re-do the whole process again. A good text editor makes it easy to save all that work.

The text editor that we like to recommend is from Eric Fookes. It’s NoteTab. It is an award winning program from a long time supporter of Lockergnome. The program is very familiar to us because many Gnomies have used it for years. NoteTab has been available since 1998, so it has a great proven history. NoteTab is recognized as one of the very best text and HTML editors available.

Just an example of how versatile NoteTab is, one long-time NoteTab user we know likes using the multiple text document feature. Think of it as a text editor with a tabbed browsing feature. People are truly loyal to this program and they would not be without their NoteTab. Some additional features are:

… it easily handles a stack of huge files; lets you format text to your heart’s content; does system-wide searches, and multi-line global replacements. It even corrects your spelling mistakes. Build document templates, add bookmarks, convert text to HTML on-the-fly, and take charge of your code. Use a simple, power-packed scripting language to create anything from a text macro to a mini-application.

This is a “must-have” program for the students out there. This will help you organize your term papers, lecture notes, and library research. This will help in pulling material together in an easy, simple, efficient manner. You know that even after a few weeks of this new school term, the material is becoming overwhelming. And if you are not the most organized person with your text material, this definitely will help.

There are really too many features to this program to mention adequately. NoteTab is easy to use as soon as you install it. However, as you work more with the program, you will see how clever it is. Eric Fookes really has done a superb job with NoteTab.

Eric is allowing our readers a special, time-limited discount on his program for ten dollars off!

This offer expires on January 27, 2010. NoteTab can be used on all Windows versions, as well as OS X / Linux in conjunction with Wine. There are no problems using it with Windows 7. Not only do we have Eric’s reassurance, but we are using it on a Windows 7 machine right now.

If you are doing text work, your editor should really be a tool that makes your work easy. NoteTab is an efficient, reliable program, and you’ll want this program on all of your computers. It is that good; and, with Eric’s discount for our readers, it really is a huge bargain.

Big Savings on a Great Text Editor

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Sometimes, people want to make use of features of Photoshop, but they don’t have the need (or resources) to buy the complete program. Adobe allows you to sign in on the website (or join for free) and use certain elements of PS without having to buy the actual software. There are options to create projects, edit photos and even email them to others when you’re finished. In this screencast, Alex is going to show you where to go, and what to do when you get there!

Head over to the Photoshop website. Register for a free account if you haven’t yet, or sign in with your existing ID. If you have an Adobe account, you can sign in with that, as well. Once you’re signed in and choose a photo, you’ll see all of your options ready for you to make use of.

If you choose to edit, you’ll have a basic editing suite loaded and available. You can crop and shrink, auto-prep the photo, adjust sharpness and saturation, and choose from some advanced editing tools. You can even adjust the white balance so that it’s more to your liking.

This free suite is not as powerful as the actual Photoshop program itself, but you can do basic editing, as well as photo enhancement. There are even cool effects that you can apply to your pictures if you choose.

Once you’re finished editing, you can choose to decorate your pictures. You can add text, colors or stickers on your photo if you wish. This can be a lot of fun to do with those family vacation photos, or pictures of your friends (or kids!) goofing off. Add little fun pictures on the top of your own pic, or even add a frame around it!

If you want to do basic photo editing, using the free Photoshop website tools is a great way to accomplish your tasks. Thanks Alex for this excellent screencast!

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Free Photoshop Online

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Most video editors suck. I don’t mean the people who edit videos. I’m talking about the software itself. Many of them require you to take classes in order to even begin to grasp how to make use of the program. You just want to edit video! Maybe you have video sitting on some kind of media like VHS tapes that you want to digitize, edit and share. If you’re looking to edit video without installing any software (or getting an advanced degree!) – you’re in luck!

Pixorial lets you easily edit your home movies online. You can upload your content from your own computer, or send old tapes to them and they’ll upload them for you. You’ll have your own password-protected account that stores all of your movies, right in one place. Some estimate the average lifespan of a VHS tape to be as low as eight years. Do you really want to chance losing all of those memories?

Pixorial lets you view, label and organize your video content all in one place, on your own password-protected digital video library on the web. It currently supports Firefox and Internet Explorer. Sadly, other browsers – such as Safari – simply cannot handle the high volume that is needed to temporarily store these files.

Making your own high-quality productions is fun and easy with Pixorial. If you can click, drag, and drop, you can produce something extraordinary to enjoy! Add titles, credits, transitions, and remix old and new footage.

Safeguard your memories today. Take a look at Pixorial, and see how they can help you make your life last a … well … lifetime.

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How to Edit Video

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If you hadn’t noticed, I do happen to record and upload a lot of videos. I don’t really like to do video editing. However, there are times it needs to be done. One of the programs I use to edit videos is called ZS4. This was recommended to me by Steve Johnson.

This is available for Mac, Windows and Linux! It’s also a free program, with a handful of very useful features. ZS4 Video Editor can be used like an object oriented photo-manipulation program with a timeline: things that can be manipulated in a photo (workshop) program can be manipulated in ZS4 using parameters which alter over time. ZS4 Video Editor is worth using when…

• the final output is a combination of more than 2 media sources rendered simultaneously. (like nine talking heads separately filmed, but later arranged in a 3×3 video wall combination)
• every aspect of the compositing process needs to be ‘tweened with an adjustable interpolation algorithm, from rotation angles to audio volume and chroma key sensitivity etc…
• it becomes necessary to create custom effects and imaging processes by combining any number of effects using a highly flexible and infinitely variable toolbox of imaging “primitives”.
• the user likes to be limited by their own imagination instead of the software-makers ideas of the “desirable”.

The program is free, yes. It works well, yes. It’s easy to use, yes. It’s just… ugly. I can’t help it! I didn’t design it. But if you’re looking for a free video editing tool that won’t require you to take a class to learn, ZS4 is for you!

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How to Edit Videos for Free

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ShinyWhiteBox is one of our sponsors. I want to highlight one of their newest products in this video. It’s their new Video “editing” program called Stomp. To actually call it an editor would be incorrect. It’s just so much more than that. It has tons of effects, tools, tweaks and very very VERY cool things you can do to your videos.

Stomp takes in big videos and spits out small ones, and does it so easily, even Grandma can do it. A helpful list of included presets for popular devices (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPod Video, Apple TV and YouTube) make converting videos a snap. Creating presets is as simple as 1 – 2 – 3 and you can save them into preset folder for managing multiple presets. It also has a dead-easy cropping feature. Drag a box around your video and Stomp crops the movie. That’s it, no more searching for parameters or pixel width. You can also scale videos with a single click. Manipulating your videos has never been this easy.

There are a ton of cool effects you can add to your videos. Here are just a few of them:

• Linear gradient
• Sharpen with a sliding scale
• Exposure higher or lower
• Color changers and color effects
• Distortion levels
• Geometry to change the scale and prospective
• Blending

Those are nowhere near the only effects thata you can apply to videos. But… you get the picture. This program is just unparalleled. If you want to “slice, splice and dice” videos, this isn’t the tool for you. For that, you’ll need an actual video editing program. However, if you want to crop your video, make some changes to how it looks, and compress it for uploading… then this is what you need. And at just under $30.00, it’s a steal.

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Easy Video Effects with Stomp

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When you resize a small image to make it larger, it tends to run the color together, and makes the edges jaggy or blurry. By turning a photo into Vector art, you get rid of those little imperfections.

If you want to clean up your image, make the lines clearer and colors cleaner when resizing it, you definitely want to use VectorMagic. This website and service is absolutely free, which amazes me. It’s easy to use, and the results are astounding.

Upload your image, and watch the tool detect what type of image it is. In my case, it detected my logo as a logo with blending. If I wanted to, I could change that to a logo without blending, a regular photo, whatever the case may be. It then asks what the quality (NOT the resolution) is of the picture. Analyzing begins, and it will stop to ask what color palette you want to use. Once analyzing is done… you can see the results. It’s amazing to see the difference between the original stretched image on the left, and the new cleaned up version on the right. That’s Vectorization, baby!

What is Vectorization, you ask? Vectorization (aka tracing) is the process of converting a raster image to a vector image. Raster images are pixel-based, whereas vector images are represented by geometric shapes such as lines, circles and curves.

Any time you come across a site like this, please let me know so I can help spread the word. I love finding places like this. This site is definitely something I’ve needed for a long time.

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Free Bitmap to Vector Graphics Software