Chris Pirillo » editing

How to Edit Video

Chris — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:18:12 +0000

How to Edit Video is a post from Chris Pirillo

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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 Videos for Free

Chris — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 08:45:18 +0000

How to Edit Videos for Free is a post from Chris Pirillo

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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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Easy Video Effects with Stomp

Chris — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 07:06:17 +0000

Easy Video Effects with Stomp is a post from Chris Pirillo

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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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Free Bitmap to Vector Graphics Software

Chris — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:40:41 +0000

Free Bitmap to Vector Graphics Software is a post from Chris Pirillo

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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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How to Handle Remote Tech Support

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:30:00 GMT

Using GoToAssist is the easiest way to view and control another person's computer online. Use it to provide instant technical support to family, friends and customers. Start a session with just one click, and instantly connect with the other party.

Network Tools for Windows

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

You need these network tools, no matter which operating systems and networks you have to support. SolarWinds ipMonitor: Affordable Network Monitoring for SMBs. Get turnkey network, server and application availability monitoring with SolarWinds ipMonitor v9.0. This easy-to-use, reliable solution for SMBs delivers out-of-the-box availability monitoring so you always know exactly what's up with Active Directory, DNS, Exchange, FTP, Web, IMAP, MS SQL Server, and SMTP. Download your free trial today. Or, try their totally free tools! And, through 2/29, save 20% when you purchase ipMonitor 9.0.

Get Your Own Web Site

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

Starting at just $3.99/month, web hosting from GoDaddy includes 99.9% uptime, 24/7 support and free access to GoDaddy Hosting Connection, THE place to install over 30 FREE applications sure to help you get the most from your hosting plan and Web site. Enter code CP2 at checkout, and save an additional 10% on any order.

Plus, as a friend of Chris Pirillo, enter code CHRIS7, that's C-H-R-I-S and the number 7, when you check out, and save an additional 10% on any order. Get your piece of the internet at GoDaddy.com.

VMware and Parallels for Virtual Machines

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

It doesn't matter if you're running on Windows or Mac OS X - every power user needs either Parallels or VMware (or both). There's never been an easier way to test software without destroying your primary operating system's stability. Think of how many times you wish you could press a 'reverse' button on your computer. Plus, there's no easier way to try new Linux distributions - see what all the fuss is about. Run Windows in OS X, run Linux in Windows, but the best way to do either is with VMware and/or Parallels.

Coupons for Online Shopping

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:56:13 GMT

This feed is fueled by Lockergnome Online Shopping and Coupon Codes

Before you shop next time, see if we have a coupon first.