March 2008

Free VideoSpin Software for you PC

Obtained from author with the author's permission for publication by APCUG member groups.

Many of us routinely perform the tasks of taking digital videos, and then editing them, converting them to a multitude of formats, and uploading them to one or more video hosting websites. While Windows XP users can download and install the free Windows Movie Maker 2.1 from Microsoft (it may already be installed on many machines with Service Pack 2 installed), and Windows Vista users have the Vista version of Movie Maker built in, there are also other superior, free video utilities available.

One of the best free and fully functional video editing utilities is Pinnacle’s VideoSpin, available for free download (150 Meg) from www.videospin.com  (free registration required). VideoSpin enables the user to easily mix videos, photos and music together, add titles to the images, and enable smooth transitions from scene to scene. Once the editing is completed, VideoSpin supports direct upload to the web, including to YouTube. VideoSpin is compatible with both Windows XP and Vista.

Once downloaded and installed, VideoSpin can either use videos and images already on the hard drive, or can import them directly from the digital video camera, CD, DVD (DivX or MPEG-2 formats), memory card, USB flash drive, tape, or other device. On the left side of the screen is the “Album” which contains video transitions, titles, photos, sound effects, and music. The user can simply drag and drop any desired items on the timeline at the bottom of the screen, and VideoSpin will do the integration. This very simple process creates the personalized video, which can be viewed at anytime with the video viewer in the top right corner of the window. The length of each selected scene can be edited by placing the “play head” over the desired beginning or end of a scene, and using the digital “razor blade” to trim the scene.

Transitions, of which over six dozen are included, can be placed between scenes by dragging and dropping the selected transition to the desired place on the timeline. Clicking on the “T” icon displays 18 title selections that can be easily edited, and dragged on to the center row of the timeline to display the title at the proper time. Double clicking on the title opens an editing window that allows the user to select a color and font for the title. A photo or video can be used as a background for the title if desired. Photos can be loaded either from the hard drive or directly from a digital camera, by clicking on the still camera icon. Once a photo is selected, it is simple dragged onto the timeline, and stretched to appear for the desired length of time.

VideoSpin also includes a collection of music and sound effects which can be incorporated in the presentation. Clicking on the speaker icon displays the sound effects menu, which included several categories including animal sounds, backgrounds, crowds, squeaks, vehicle sounds, and a miscellaneous group, which included about 30 more sound effects ranging from a typewriter (remember those?), telephone ringing, jack hammer, glass breaking, and many others. To insert music into the video, click on the quarter-note icon, which will then display the music selection. Music can be downloaded from the internet, use existing play lists already on the computer, or other digital music resources.

Once all of the desired content is placed on the timeline, the video can be reviewed by clicking on the play button on the viewer on the top right of the screen. If the video appears satisfactory, then the user clicks on the “Make Movie” tab on the top of the screen. The user can select the desired format of the movie, including AVI, DivX, iPod, MPEG (1, 2, 4), RealMedia, Sony PSP format, and Windows Media formats (additional Codecs may be required). The screen size of the video can then be selected (WARNING! The bigger the image the larger the file!), including full screen DV (720x480), full screen MJPEG, medium (352x240), small (176x120), or a custom display size. Once the video is created in the size and format desired it can be saved to the hard drive to be burned to CD or DVD if desired (separate DVD burning software required). If the user desires to upload the video, clicking on the “globe” icon will display the built in upload sites, which include Yahoo! Videos and YouTube. Clicking on one will convert the image to the requisite image size, and allow the user to select an image quality of “Best” (480x480 on Yahoo!, 320x240 on YouTube) or “Fast Upload” (352x240 on Yahoo!), which creates a smaller file of slightly lower video quality.

Pinnacle has hit a homerun by offering VideoSpin as a free download for anyone who wishes to use it. For those who are novices at video editing, an integral tutorial is built into the software, or can be viewed online at www.videospin.com/tutorial.asp . Additional information and help about the program can be viewed at www.videospin.com/faq.asp . For those who would like to read a manual, free manuals are available online in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Dutch. For basic video editing, VideoSpin is about the best that you can get for free. Pinnacle apparently hopes that users will eventually upgrade to its commercial editing utilities, such as its premier Pinnacle Studio 11 series, but for most people, VideoSpin will do just fine.

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