LITTLE ROCK — We’re constantly being pitched to write about upgraded video-editing programs, like Nero, version 11, but frankly, we find the free ones easier and just about as good.
Joy recently made a video using the free Live Movie Maker that comes onboard with Windows 7. If you use an earlier Windows system, you can also get it from Explore. Live.com; click on “essentials” to find it. It’s so easy to use, an 8-year-old could probably make a movie with assorted video clips and pictures. We dug a bit further and found a raft of other free creation tools at YouTube.com/create.
The latest one, WeVideo, lets you add special effects, titles and animations to any series of video clips and still pictures. In coming months, a paid version will be offered that lets you buy music for your videos and collaborate with others. The music will probably cost $10 a song, which sounds high, but it’s cheaper than copyright-infringement suits.
There are currently seven other free video editors at YouTube.com/create, including Go Animate, which lets you make a cartoon without any drawing skills. Choose a scenario like the 2012 election or “Office Gossipers” and off you go, selecting actions from menus and typing in comments for your characters.
GROUP ME, PLEASE
If you or someone you know sends a lot of text messages, and don’t have the benefit of the iPhone’s iMessage, a better way to go might be GroupMe, an app from Skype. com that works with any cell phone.
It lets up to four people send one another text messages and photos for free, so they don’t use minutes from their phone plans. It works with all kinds of phones, even cheap pre-paid phones like one we bought at a grocery store. Just set up a “push notification” in the app, so you know when a message is coming in, even if the app isn’t open.
Another Skype service that might come in handy is their “online number.” It lets people call your computer, iPad, iPod Touch, Android tablet or any other device connected to the Internet from a cell phone or landline, just by dialing that number. It costs $60 a year for the online number or $18 for three months. It costs nothing to receive calls this way. But if you make calls to non-Skype users, you need to buy “Skype-Out” credits, which cost about 2 cents a minute. If both parties are using Skype, then the calls are completely free.
READ ALL ABOUT IT!
It’s annoying to find a great video or article but not have time to view or read it right then. Using a new free Spool app from GetSpool.com, you can tag it and watch the video or read the article offline later. Among our host of pet peeves are long articles and videos that have several minutes of introduction and then move forward by explaining how man discovered fire before they get to the point. You can watch those long ones later on any computer or mobile device that can access the Web. The app is free, but you have to sign up for an invitation and get on the waiting list. We found the response was quick.
There is a similar free application called Instapaper, which makes it easy to tag text for later reading, but not video. Spool covers more, since it handles video and audio, as well as text. And if you’re reading a thread (a continuous discussion) in a user forum, or a multipage article, Spool saves the whole thing, not just the first page.
TOO MUCH QUICK CUTTING
Bob covered the start of the Sesame Street TV show many years ago when he was a reporter and said it immediately struck him that it was way too fast for little kids and would likely make them hyperactive. (The producer gave Bob a dirty look and no answer.) Now a new study supports his initial view (took ’em long enough) and concluded that fast TV is as bad for kids as fast food.
The study from the University of Virginia found that the SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon show is also bad for 4-year-olds’ attention spans, but that a PBS program called Caillou is OK. (Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood was a nice lowkey program that kids liked.)
The researchers divided a group of 4-year-olds into three groups: One group watched SpongeBob SquarePants, a second watched Caillou, and the third drew pictures for nine minutes instead of watching television. They found that the Caillou and picture-drawing groups performed equally well on tests administered afterward, but the SpongeBob group scored significantly worse. (Angry letter from the SpongeBob producers to follow.)
ART FROM PHOTOGRAPHS
Ray Turley, an 82 year-old New Zealand woman, got a new career when she started taking tutorials on how to turn photographs into art. Now she sells around 12 canvases a year, she says.
Landscapes are her big sellers. She learned how to use Corel Painter and Photoshop from tutorials on Karen Sperling’s latest DVD, called “Painting for Photographers.” We were impressed by Turley’s art. You can see it at tinyurl.com/artmag1.
You don’t have to know much to follow the DVDs. They go step by step. But you will need patience to learn the full bag of tricks. The DVD isn’t cheap at $140, but it’s probably cheaper than tuition for art lessons.
NOTE: Readers can search several years’ worth of On Computers columns at oncomp.com. Bob and Joy can be contacted by e-mail at bobschwab@gmail.com and joydee@oncomp.com.
Business, Pages 22 on 10/31/2011