
I wanted to offer a video clip to website visitors at www.feastoflanterns.com, so I started looking for a way to extract some video and offer it to web surfers.
This is starting to sound like a Mac Switch ad - but here is the odd twist: WinXP comes with a free stripped down video editor called Movie Maker. My choices at that point were to dump the video into something like the ATI TV, recording the motion, then find another app to cut and paste something 2mb worth. Before risking the registry to more bilge from bundled softwares, I thought I'd try this MS app.
Plugged the camcorder's analog output to the ATI All In Wonder's inputs. Fired up MM2. Read no instructions. Several choices were offered to capture from - including the ATI. Picked that, chose the highest quality offered to save in and hit play on the Sony. Saw the pics in the preview, rewind and begin capture.
MM2 saved one enormous wmv, then copied the file in chopped up bits. These clips were not only delimited by obvious stop/start points, but also clipped out segments of wild camera sway. I reviewed the clips and dragged the usable ones to a multi-tracked display that let me adjust volume and import an mp3 for one segment.
I was able to add fade in/out, title segments using any font installed, and make rolling credits at the end. The old PIII never flinched, froze or did anything to ruin the project. Only drawback is the wmv format.
It was actually fun. Something's definitely wrong when I discover an existing feature that required no hardware upgrades or needing to redo over and over after every reboot.
Needed to comment on the poor attempts being made to get music swappers [TechTV] to go legit. Found BuyMusic.com today after hearing about it on the electric radio - first off I was at work and tried to check it out while on break aHem! Ratso - could not get past much more than the home page since I did not have WMP9 on the company computer. OK, so email myself a reminder and check it out later.
So I found it - and it purty much looks like it is pushing the same slurm that the record labels have been pushing all along. Iffin you ain't lissenin to rap, you aint got much to buy.
Here's the current want list - I plugged these in and got maybe three hits, several hit-but-no-downloads, and lots of suggestions to download rap.
The list is compiled by listening to 'net radio pioneer KPIG radio (via terrestrial signal, lucky me) while at the computer and checking the homepage when I hear a tune I want. Don't want the whole $16.99 CD, just that song. Hope I live to see the day when nearly every recorded song ever made is accessible.
"Hey Ivan, check your six." -- Sidewinder missile jacket patch, showing a Sidewinder driving up the tail of a Russian Su-27