The 27 November meeting will be postponed to 11 December at 7:30 (the Tuesday following the 5 December Planning Meeting). Let Stan know you're coming by email or phone for last-minute changes, so he can arrange seating. If nobody calls, I'll expect the "regulars" - John Buck, John Sleeman, Jim Dinkey and perhaps Robert Page. And if nobody shows up, I'll eat the snacks, drink the beverages, and listen to music, view videos, and work on the club website for a few hours.
Stan Hutchings's House - 285 Rinconada, Palo Alto, CA 94301 (paste address into Google for a map; you can also get directions from where you start from)
home phone 650-325-1359; note email works best: .
Our activities have evolved into a multimedia focus, with an emphasis on how the Internet can augment and complement the PC for multimedia. Currently we are investigating Audacity, free, open source software for recording and editing sounds, available for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems. Eventually we'll investigate transferring music and video from tapes, vinyl records, and other sources to digital format. We're also looking at iTunes and portable media players, such as the Apple iPod, Microsoft Zune, iRiver Clix, Creative Zen, etc. Reviews and specs on the various portable media players are available online, just google the terms you're interested in. Or, go to a site like Amazon.com or c|net's mp3 player reviewsand read their reviews. Attendees are welcome to bring their players to demonstrate.
Many free online courses are available from CNet; sign up for their newsletter announcements, or visit the CNet online list periodically. I've taken several of their courses, and have learned a lot.
• Refer to the Audacity FAQ.
• The Audacity Quick Reference for 1.2.4 is here.
• The Audacity Wiki is here.
• I wrote a Prez message for the newsletter here.
Stan recommends Apple iTunes to organize and play your music, and download the many free podcasts (including the Stanford University podcasts and videos). Apple makes buying music easy, if you like their selections, and iTunes is required if you have an iPod. Other people prefer RealPlayer or the Microsoft Windows Media Player, especially if their media player is not an Apple iPod.
• Later, (if Stan can get it working!) we'll investigate the VideoStudio 10 software donated by Forrest Lee of InterVideo and ULEAD
Maybe we can pool our expertise and come up with some good links to various sources of information and good products. Please bring your advice and experiences to the meeting.
We'll continue having fun - visit the 2005 funpages or the 2006 funpages, and the2007 funpages. If you like them, check out the rest, and submit your candidates.
In Computer Power User magazine (CPU) Software Tips & Projects, October 2007 Vol.7 Issue 10 Page(s) 96-97 in print issue, the article Make Your Own YouTube: Season One DVD will be helpful for anyone who wants to record FLV (or Flash video) from embedded videos, such as those in You Tube, and then converting FLV format files into a more common format for a DVD, will find this DIY article instructive. It will explain ripping video straight from the Web, converting it to formats most DVD editors can recognize, and then re-encoding it all to a DVD.
Digital Focus: Eliminate Noise From Your Photos An article in PC World about how to minimize noise and distortion in your photos also applies to video. Reducing the ISO setting, increasing light on the subject, using a noise-reduction mode, and using a faster shutter speed are options on some camcorders. Some video editing programs may have noise reduction filters.
Vista's Wow (10.10.2007) The OS does know how to make a mean high-def DVD. By Lance Ulanoff I worried how I could get the video from the camcorder to a DVD. Lately, I haven't had much luck making DVDs out of old videos. My favorite app, MyDVD, had let me down, and even Adobe Premiere Elements sometimes seemed like overkill for what I saw as a simply direct-to-DVD job. I wondered what PC, OS, and application would be up to the task of converting my captured 1080i HD video.
When I got back to the office, I asked PC Labs' Desktop Analyst Joel Santo Domingo which system could handle the job. He pointed to a new HP Pavilion Media Center TV m8100y PC, a Windows Vista-based system that recently garnered an Editors' Choice award. Next, I had to decide how to get the video from the camcorder to the PC. The HV20 has a four-pin FireWire port for transferring video to PC and HDMI out and component video for playback on an HDTV. The HP has a nine-pin jack for FireWire, and it didn't take me long to find the right cable to connect the camera and the PC.
Since I was creating a DVD, I began the process by opening Windows DVD Maker, but there was no option for capturing video from a camcorder. I switched quickly to Vista's Movie Maker software. The Vista build of this app is a model of simplicity: There are just a few options displayed on the main screen and "Import: from digital video camera" is right up top. I selected this option and was pleased to see that the system recognized the HV20 and automatically switched to High Definition Video Device Format (MPEG). The next screen showed that Movie Maker would automatically rewind the tape for me and display it in the video preview window, which was clearly in 16:9 aspect ratio. Everything looked good, so I instructed Movie Maker to begin importing my video.
The first hour-long tape took an hour to process. When it was done, I inserted the second hour-long tape and simply selected the import option once again. Next, I dragged and dropped the video thumbnails, which were created for each video processed, onto Movie Maker's storyboard. I didn't bother with transitions or any other options. I wanted to get straight to the DVD creation. I found the option to create a DVD for "playback on your DVD player or computer" under "Publish movie." This sounded good, so I selected this option and Windows DVD Maker launched.
This is another super-simple app. It offers a preview window of my opening menu screen, with a title, Play, and Scenes already positioned. Again, I could have changed menu styles or done more with the DVD, but I simply wanted to get this job done. I inserted a Verbatim dual-layer DVD, hit Burn and went home.
The next morning, the PC's DVD tray was open, and in it sat my freshly burned disc. I took it over to the new Sony VAIO VGC-LT19U, a combination HDTV, DVD player, and PC that we recently tested. It features a gorgeous, near-1080p HD screen and a nice slot-loaded DVD player on the side. I popped in the disc, and it loaded instantly on Windows Media Center (under Vista). Playback was superb. I remember thinking, "Wow, that was easy."
And there you have it: That's the story of how I discovered Vista's wow."
Vista succeeded in taking the somewhat complicated and frustrating process of transferring video from camcorder to PC to DVD—even with the added complication of HD video—and made it truly effortless. It's one of the few PC tasks I've ever undertaken that I knew anyone–even a computer newbie–could accomplish without any help at all.
Scrappy video-sharing rivals offer better quality than YouTube does, and many will share ad revenue with you. Read the whole story at PCWorld -
Tested: The 10 Best Places to Share Video Online.
Interestingly, DivX's Stage6 requires you to convert video to that format before you upload it. Thankfully, the site links to free and painless conversion software (Dr. DivX), and the resulting video quality ranks as the best we saw outside of an original source file--impressive, given that the software took just under a minute to squish our test file down to only 10.5MB - almost 10:1 compression.
Rotating Video
What if you take a video while holding the camera vertically. Is there a way to rotate the video so it plays normally?
You're in luck! There are a few programs around that will rotate video, and one of them is Microsoft's Movie Maker, which comes with Windows.
To rotate a video, just import it into Movie Maker and drag it to the timeline. Then choose Tools, Video Effects from the menu. Depending upon which way you held the camera when you filmed the video, drag the Rotate 90 or Rotate 270 video effect onto the clip in the timeline. Save the movie, and it'll render correctly.
A video review of BitTorrent - 7/6/07 at C|Net Reviews. (Note: you first need to have the Macromedia Flash player installed, and enabled JavaScript on your browser.
RealPlayer 11 beta is a stream ripper by Peter Butler July 2, 2007…"the new version 11 beta specifically allows users to save streaming content to their hard drives with the click of one button." However, if you're not "wedded" to RealPlayer, Quintessential Player 4.51, with full support for most popular audio formats, including MP3, MP3 Pro, Ogg Vorbis, WAV, and Windows Media; other convenient features that include CD ripping, MP3 encoding, cross-fading, and CDDB integration, may be a better choice.
Many of these items were copied from online forums on the iPod, and generally cove problems you may have that are not covered in the usual instructions or Help areas, and for multiple computers/iPod issues.
If you have all the songs on your iPod [but not on a computer], there is a simple program that allows you to reconsititue your library form your iPod library. The program: iPod Rip, download a free 5 day trial version, 1 day is all you need to do the job.
The link is: www.thelittleappfactory.com/application.php?app=iPodRip
Its done wonders for me.
RedChair's Anapod software, which they claim WILL allow you to transfer your iPod tunes back to your PC. ref: www.redchairsoftware.com/anapod.
This method requires your iPod be configured to be read as an external drive; you do this from the iPod configuration when you set it up on your computer.
Actually, if you have the songs on your iPod, you can get them back on your computer. You plug in your iPod, and open it from your MY COMPUTER (it should show up as an external drive, maybe labeled "ipod" or "F:", something like that). Open that drive
so, you're accessing the iPod's hard drive (not from iTunes though, from MY COMPUTER). All the songs should be there. you might have to go to FOLDER OPTIONS and click to show hidden stuff. Futz around, if it's on your ipod, you WILL be able to access it from your computer and transfer them back.
More detail—Everyone who owns an iPod and runs Windows XP, I have solved all your problems regarding getting your music back from your iPod into iTunes.
The first thing you gotta do is connect your ipod and go to my Computer and click on your iPod Hardrive.
Enable Hidden Folders (Click on Tools, then Folder options, then click on VIEW, click SHOW HIDDEN FOLDERS) Then open your iPod (it should have a name like F: or the name you gave it when you first bought it) there should be a folder named IPOD CONTROL open that, then You will see about five more folders, open the one that says MUSIC. When you open it, it'll have a lot of folders (depending on how many songs you have on your iPod) with names like F54, etc. Those folders will contain the music and TV shows etc. that are on your iPod. The files are gonna have weird names like N7J8, but that's okay, Copy and Paste the files you want to your iTunes music Library folder.
BUT, songs you've bought, you might not be able to play in iTunes, cuz of the stupid privacy apple put on each song when you bought it from iTunes. IF, you originally transferred them from a CD, to your computer, to your iPod (meaning, you didn't pay for them on iTunes store), THEN you can play them on iTunes.
Oh yeah, the files will be there, but they probably won't be labelled correctly. You'll probably get a bunch of folders, each w/ a few files, randomly labelled w/ numbers and letters (like "N22JSZ"). Just double click the file, so it plays in iTunes. your iTunes will decipher it, and all the correct information will show in your iTunes.
You can "consolidate" your library in iTunes (Advanced–>Consolidate Library...).
Note: this duplicates all of your music, and you will have doubles. If you have 50 GB of music, you would have 100 GB after consolidation, and possibly no more HD space. Consolidate, then delete the original folders your music was in. After you consolidate, you will find your music in your My Music–>iTunes–>iTunes Music folder folder if you are using Windows. Just leave it there and it should be safe (but back it up to CD or DVD periodically!).
Another [Mac] option: go to versiontracker.com and download senuTi (iTunes spelled backwards). This is a very nice program that that allows you to transfer music from your iPod to your [Mac] computer. This is how I sync my laptop to my desktop iTunes. It doesn't seem Apple allows this over my wireless network, likely because of limitations placed on them by the music industry.
MacbookPro Mac OS X (10.4.8)
How to use your iPod to move your music to a new computer
docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300173
Copying from iPod to Computer threads...
discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=776996&tstart=0
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=3536077#3536077
discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=797432󂫸
Also these useful internet articles...
www.engadget.com/2004/11/02/how-to-get-music-off-your-ipod
playlistmag.com/help/2005/01/2waystreet
iPod: Frequently Asked Questions—docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60920
Q: I have bought a new external hard drive because my laptop was full, moved the itunes library on to it, changed the setting in itunes preferences, and it refuses to recognise a single song. The data is not missing--it works fine when I move it back. Can some kind person tell me what to do?
A: I think what you need to do is copy all your music to the external drive. Then, in iTunes, delete all items in your music library. Then, again in iTunes, use "File->Add Folder to Library" and select the folder on your external drive that contains all your music. This will set the pointers in iTunes to point to your music on the external drive. Then re-sync your iPod.
Now understand that I am assuming you have ALL your music on the hard drive. If you 'Imported' music into iTunes, make sure you have a copy of it before you delete the library. There is a difference between 'Importing' a file and 'Adding' a file (or folder)- the former just adds 'pointers' to your files (leaving the files in the original location), whereas the latter moves the actual file to the iTunes folder.
If you are really not sure, just delete one file and add it (from the external drive) to the library to make sure the process works as I suggest.
The Radio LIbrary is only for built-in stations so you can't add your own stations to it. However, I set up a smart playlist for my own stations. In case you don't know how to do this then I'll explain. The Smart Playlist should be set to look for any Kind containing "url" or any Kind containing "Stream". That should ensure any stations you have will appear in the Smart Playlist.
For external and internal hard drive users – on an External Drive. create a new folder for music - set up iTunes to look at that folder, then consolidate the library. This will move ALL the library to the new folder. Then remove the OLD folder on laptop/desktop (it should now be empty) -- and here's the biggy: make the new folder/drive "available offline" and Map the drive. Then the music is always available if the external drive is not connected, and you have a backup, too. If you don't want the entire library available on your internal drive, use this variation:
When the library is consolidated to the external drive folder, start up iTunes while holding down the option key and created a new library, aptly named iTunesShortList, since it is now my internal drive subset library. Then change the iTunes music folder to a new folder on the laptop, so that as you import the playlists you want from the master library, it will copy the files to the hard drive, making them available all the time (at home, on the road, in the office).
Now when you launch iTunes with the old master library, you can play all the songs when the external drive is connected and the external drive (PC shared folder) is mounted, but iTunes can't find the tracks otherwise. To change the songs on my laptop, simply Export a new Playlist from the master library, close iTunes, open iTunes with the subset library, and then Import the new Playlist.
Libra (macupdate.com/info.php/id/13728) has worked flawlessly in maintaining multiple libraries. I have an external hard drive that is a complete collection, and a smaller selection on my laptop.