TubeMaster++ is software for capturing video files to your computer and converting them to different video or audio formats. It includes a video and music search feature as well.

What is TubeMaster

TubeMaster++, available for PC, Linux and Mac, is a free downloadable video conversion software that includes search engines for video and audio.  Goofy name, but an impressive variety of features for a free product.

It can capture multimedia files from your internet browser, or you can drag and import files you want to convert. Files can be saved on your PC or converted to other video or audio formats (such as AVI, MPEG, MP3, MP4, IPod, PSP, etc.)

Giving it a Spin…

I downloaded TubeMaster and gave it a try, and was impressed by how well this worked. The software is built around three primary components: media capture/conversion, video search and MP3 search. The audio/video search features in an of themselves are impressive features.

The media capture allows you to click and drag in media that you’d like to convert, while the video and MP3 search features offer robust search engines for finding video and audio. I was impressed by the speed this software returned results for my queries.

Running Some Video Conversion

I was able to use TubeMaster++ to convert films to different formats, then preview them with TubeMaster++. From my own observation, these all converted without a hitch and played fine for me.

TubeMaster++ can convert a number of files at the same time, and lets you preview the video in a smaller popup window in the application.

Video Searches

The Video Search feature is a decent one, and offers basically a no-frills search engine that can perform a global video search across a number of different sources (e.g. YouTube, DailyMotion, and dozens of others) and presents the results back on the screen.

The video results display the video title, length, category and even the source. Scrolling through the results and making a selection, you can then kick off any video which launches in your default browser.

Music Searching too

The Music Search also works in much the same way as the Video Search, and a few of the searches that I ran brought back a number of results.

Once you’ve found a song that you want, you can select the download option to bring it into the TubeMaster++ tool for conversion.

What Reviews Say About the TubeMaster

Most of the reviews that I found for TubeMaster++ were favorable. Freewaregenius noted some of the positives of this software, including how it can be launched independently wihout having to install itself as an extension of your browser.

CNET’s editors were a little more harsh, pointing out some issues with the interface and application instability. They also noted, and I’d agree, that the documentation/tutorials could have been a little more comprehensive.

TubeMaster++

• TubeMaster++
• TubeMaster++ Features

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Any Video Converter is Freeware that allows you to convert video clips of various format into numerous video output formats.

What Any Video Converter Does

As far as freeware goes, Any Video Converter (AVC) does a decent job of quickly converting video files between different formats. From my own tests the conversion results were satisfactory.

In addition to just conversion, the software can also clip segments and merge or sort them to make new movie clips, in addition to trimming frame sizes of videos.

Install and Getting Started

Download and install when quickly, and one of the nice things about AVC is that, as freeware, I wasn’t bombarded with ads as soon as the application started. In fact, it started right up and I could go right to work selecting a file and converting it.

Having started the app on my desktop, I was impressed that the converter had no problems running even with other apps running on my PC at the same time. I selected a VOB format file and opened this, then selected ‘Convert’.

AVC went to work with the conversion, and after a few minutes had rendered a new conversion of the file. I experimented with different format conversions and each of them seemed fine for me.

The Professional Version

While working with AVC, I learned that if you want to rip DVD movies, or need additional output formats, such as iPod, Zune, PSP, etc, that I would need to upgrade to the Professional Version. But considering that there are many free options, this is fine with me.

AVC can convert video formats such as:

• avi
• asf
• mov
• rm
• rmvb
• flv
• mkv
• mpg
• 3gp
• m4v
• vob

YouTube videos can be imported and converted as well.

Output formats include:

• avi
• mp4
• wmv
• swf
• flv
• mkv
• mpeg-1 and mpeg-2
• mpg (PAL or NTSC)
• mp3
• wma
• ogg
• aac
• wave
• m4a

Video Example of the Any Video Converter in Action

Any Video Converter

• Any Video Converter
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SuperTinTin is webcam recording software for Skype that records both audio and video from Skype calls and emails.

What is SuperTinTin?

SuperTintin is a webcam recording application for Skype. SuperTintin can record audio and video streams for all kinds of Skype calls and voicemails. The program requires Skype 3.0 or higher.

As an aside, ‘SuperTinTin’ is sort of a goofy name (for some reason it makes me think of a 1960’s TV dog with super powers…)

Features of SuperTinTin

SuperTinTin works with both the audio and video features of Skype. You can record both audio and video from calls and voice mails, with the ability to record and playback as well.

It also captures original media data, insuring that no data is lost. Since it isn’t a screen-capture recorder, the video quality isn’t affected from opening, closing or changing the size of Skype windows while recording.

How to Get Started with SuperTinTin

SuperTinTin is available for download from a number of places online such as CNET. Available as shareware for a (meager) 5-minute recording trial, it’s $24.95 if you want to purchase it.

I downloaded, installed it, and toyed around with the software on my PC. It’s very simplistic in its design, with options for recording and playback, and the ability to open the recent file folder in explorer. Not a lot of bells and whistles, but to it’s credit it was a fast install and ran quickly.

Reviews and Feedback about SuperTinTin

There were only a couple reviews on CNet, both of which seemed unimpressed with the audio recording of SuperTinTin.

Softsea listed out a number of helpful features about the SuperTinTin, such as the fact that you can browse other web pages or videos during the recording, meaning that you can minimize the MSN/Skype/Yahoo Messenger window while its recording.

Buy SuperTinTin & More info

• More info on the SuperTinTin website.

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A Growing Sector

The lifecasting and citizen journalism sectors are both growing in popularity and importance.

Services such as Ustream, Justin.tv, and Livestream allow ordinary people the opportunity to broadcast, well, whatever they want to, within reason.

And with everyone owning a mobile phone, and new models coming complete with built-in video cameras capable of shooting good quality video, citizen journalists a growing band who can no longer be ignored.

iPhone, iPod Cameras

Apple added video cameras to its latest models of iPhone and iPod Nano, and clearly sees the worth of giving its customers a way of shooting video.

The company saw this as a way of competing in an emerging market currently led by Flip with its compact camcorders.

However, there’s no point giving people the chance to shoot video wherever they are without giving them the tools both to stream the video live to the Web and share it with a wider audience.

Live Streaming Apps

Last week saw Apple approve two live-streaming video apps for the iPhone. Apple decided to drop its restrictions on the feature and both Ustream and Knocking Live Video apps are now available from the App Store.

So, in effect, everyone who has an iPhone 3GS now has the capability of shooting video and streaming it live to the Web.

Apple’s Future

This could be the start of a big plan for Apple to place online video at the core of its business. Steve Jobs isn’t one to miss a chance to get in on a new trend at the ground level, and that would seem to be the idea.

And Apple does, of course, have the perfect software in iTunes to immediately become a big player.

[Via Wired]

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YouTube & Upwards

YouTube in particular, and online video in general, is fast becoming a means of gaining fame, popularity, and wealth. We’ve seen the people behind certain viral video hits make a mint from their content creation.

Lauren Luke started off uploading short make-up tips on YouTube and is now an in-demand make-up artist. And Lucas Cruikshank has already made a load of money for his ever-popular Fred shorts and is currently involved in making a movie based on the petulant man/boy.

However, the story of how Federico Alvarez landed a huge Hollywood deal beats those hands down.

Ataque de Panico!

This is Ataque de Panico!, or Panic Attack in English. It’s a short film of just 4:49 minutes length, and around a minute less than that once the credits are removed.

It was made by Federico Alvarez, a relative unknown filmmaker even in his native Uruguay, on a budget of just $500. It shows the invasion of Montevideo by giant robots and flying ships, which starts through the eyes of a child and ends with total destruction.

Hollywood Calling

The video was uploaded to YouTube and spread around the Web like wildfire. And it wasn’t long before a host of the biggest names in Hollywood came calling to offer Alvarez a deal to bring his vision and skills to the big screen.

Alvarez ended up agreeing a deal with Mandate Pictures after a phone conversation with director Sam Raimi, eschewing even meeting with the likes of Dreamworks, Fox, Warner, and The Weinstein Company in the process.

Now, Alvarez has been handed a $30 million budget to make his film (not a longer version of Panic Attack but still involving big robots), a $1 million director’s fee, and new apartments and cars in L.A. for him and his girlfriend. And all for producing a five-minute short and uploading it to YouTube.

Conclusions

This story reads like a work of fiction, surely being too dreamlike to be real. But the likes of Variety, FilmJunk, and SlashFilm are carrying the story, proving it’s actually happened in the way being reported.

This is a stunning victory for YouTube and online video. It’s changed the lives of a few people and means Hollywood adds a new (possibly visionary) filmmaker to its midst. And if the movie ends up being as good as Neil Blomkamp’s District 9 then moviegoers will also benefit.

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The Mighty Joost

As Joost reaches this unfortunate end, it’s hard to imagine quite how big a deal the service was in the run up to and around its launch. Hell, it was so secretive and self-important that it was known as The Venice project prior to being renamed Joost.

The service began life in October 2006 after being created by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis. The pair were already well-known for both Skype and Kazaa so the signs were all there that Joost was guaranteed to succeed.

Prior to its launch, Joost had hundreds of software developers working on the service and had signed up a million eager beta testers (me included). But its launch at the end of 2007 was to be the high point for the service.

Joost Is Dead

This week saw Adconian Media Group acquire the assets of Joost for an undisclosed sum of money. Adconian is an online advertising network which clearly wants the Joost technology and branding to roll out better online video advertising.

Adconian maintains it intends to keep Joost.com running but the site is sure to change over the next few months as a result of the acquisition. 12 out of approximately 20 Joost staff members have joined Adconian as part of the deal, but details are very thin on the ground.

What Went Wrong?

This is a sad end for a service which had bags of potential and interest from around the world when it began. So, what went wrong?

Two things clearly contributed to Joost’s downfall:

1. A lack of essential, new content. Programming on Joost was bitty to say the least, with a combination of short, niche clips and archive shows from yesteryear. And while some enjoyed watching this content, it wasn’t enough to pull in the viewers.

2. The need to download the peer-to-peer desktop client meant many simply turned and fled. Joost finally switched to a Web-based solution in October 2008 but it was too little, too late by then.

Conclusions

The huge build-up to the release of Joost and its subsequent failure to really pull in viewers against the likes of YouTube and Hulu should be a lesson not just to online video startups but technology startups everywhere.

The market moves at such a pace that anyone caught stalling for even a moment can fall behind and fail to ever recover. Oh, and content is still king – that fact is as clear as anything.

The Xilisoft DVD Ripper Platinum is a quick and easy-to-use DVD converter software. It allows you to easily burn DVDs into some of the most of the popular video and audio formats.

Features of the Xilisoft DVD Ripper

Xilisoft DVD Ripper Platinum includes functions for both DVD Ripping and DVD Audio Ripping.  Following are some of the video and audio formats supported:

Video conversion formats include:

• AVI
• MPEG
• WMV
• DivX
• RM
• MOV
• MP4
• 3GP
• 3G2
• Xvid
• ASF
• etc.,

Audio conversion formats include:

• MP3
• WAV
• WMA
• AAC
• AC3
• M4A
• MP2
• OGG
• etc.

To me this is an impressive number of formats, and covers most all of the formats that I’d have converted for my own use.  Another plus is allowing for adjustable output sizes, since these files can get pretty large and take up a good chunk of hard drive space.

Other Additional Features

The Xilisoft DVD Ripper auto-detects the CPU of your PC, so the ripping will be done at the optimal speed. It also supports the auto-splitting of output file into several files, so that it can fit to a CD-R or other device.

Xilisoft DVD Ripper In Action

User Reviews for the Xilisoft DVD Ripper

Softpedia reviews were fairly positive for the Xilisoft Ripper, noting the ease of usage and it’s ability to rip material.

Amazon reviewers were mixed: some praised the Xilisoft Ripper as being worth the price and working as expected, while some cited negatives in terms of how slow it performed, and also noted some poor customer service experiences.

Xilisoft DVD Ripper Platinum – Prices, Deals and Discounts

On Amazon:
Available to buy at Amazon

On eBay:

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These days it seems as if a lot of people have older media on their hands that they’d like to have transferred to a digital format (for instance, VHS tapes or old family footage captured with a camcorder, etc.)

For anyone who is looking to make some backups of old video footage like this, and would like to capture this video on a digital format with a PC, the Diamond VC500 One Touch is an ideal choice.

The Diamond VC500 offers capture technology for a number of different sources such as VCR, camcorder, DVD (or basically any device with video output offered through S-video or composite RCA ports) the One touch allows the user to capture video footage easily with just the touch of a button.

Once the capture software has been installed on the users PC, the Diamond VC500 device is then bridged between the particular video player to the computer’s USB port.

The software that is included with this helps guide the user in the process of capturing the video footage, and allows one to change the details and size of the video being saved.

There are a number of ways that a user can capture older video and bring it into a digital format on a PC, such as using a DVR system for example, but with a simple device like the Diamond VC500 One Touch, the transition is going to be very straight-forward and simple, using a simple connection between the device and your computer.

System Requirements

The system requirements are relatively simple, requiring 256 MB ram with an Intel or AMD CPU 1.4GHz (or faster) system. Disk space would depend on how much the user wishes to capture with this device, but 200 MB is recommended (with 600MB to 3GB per 1 Hour of Recording, again depending on how much the user wishes to capture).

Since this is dealing with video footage, and potentially a lot of it, it’s probably a good idea for those using older PC’s to close out other applications while running this capture software.

Hands-On With the Diaomond VC500

The Diamond VC500 One Touch offers an ideal and affordable solution to backing up older-format video footage, and is worth checking out for anyone who has old, nearly-obsolete video footage on their hands.

Diamond VC500 Marketplace – Deals & Discounts

On Amazon:
Available to buy at Amazon
On eBay:

NEW Diamond VC500 One Touch Video Capture Device US $36.24   Auction Ends: 24d 17h 21m Make it yours…

Diamond Multimedia One Touch Video Capture VC500 USED US $18.36   10 Bids Auction Ends: 1d 3h 40m Make it yours…

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Live Video Streaming

The live video streaming sector is one of the most competitive across the whole online video market. Big names such as Justin.tv, Ustream, and Mogulus continue to evolve and improve in their efforts to become the number one brand and recognized in the same breath as Google, eBay, Amazon, and YouTube.

Mogulus recently rebranded itself to LiveStream, buying the frankly worth its weight in gold domain name to go with it. While Ustream underwent a radical redesign this time last year and then again in April of this year. Now, Justin.tv, the current traffic leader, has done the same. As well as a complete redesign of the site there are also a number of new features being added to the mix.

Justin.tv Redesign

The Justin.tv site has been given a visual overhaul, now looking cleaner and more simplified than before. The usability of the site has also been made more simpler, obviously an attempt to persuade more people than broadcasting isn’t something which requires degrees in film-making and electronics.

The main way this simple approach is achieved is by the introduction of one-touch recording. There’s no longer any need to sign up for an account or log in to an existing one. You can now start sharing live video with the world by “Live broadcasting in one click.” There is also now a Meebo IM chat bar present on each page of the site.

Camtweet and DVR Functionality

Justin.tv has also introduced a couple of very nice features in the last month. June saw DVR functionality come to the service. Now, when you’re watching something and realize you need to pause or stop watching for a while, you can click a button to give you the option to, “Continue watching this later.” The video will be recorded and you can begin watching from the point you left the video stream for up to seven days.

Just a few days ago Justin.tv also unveiled Camtweet, a new side project aimed at users of the micro-blogging social networking site Twitter. In essence, the yet-to-launch Twitter app allows you to broadcast live video on Twitter. Camtweet is a devilishly simple idea that brings Justin.tv functionality to the much-hyped Twitter just as it goes mainstream.

Conclusions

These changes are making Justin.tv a whole lot more user-friendly than it was previously. Which has got to be a good thing in such a crowded and competitive market. By appealing to the masses, and taking the pain out of live streaming, Justin.tv could be about to increase the lead it holds over its rivals. Until, of course, they up the ante once again. Either way, it’s broadcasters who benefit.

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IPhone 3GS Video

The recently-released iPhone 3GS includes some fantastic video features. The device includes a 3 megapixel camera which is capable of recording video at near-HD quality with full audio and at 30 frames-per-second. What’s more, there is some excellent basic editing software included as standard which also allows captured clips to be uploaded to YouTube and the like with ease.

This inclusion of a good quality video camera in the iPhone is a worry for video camera manufacturers, because if this sort of device is available in a smartphone, where is the need to buy a product which costs more and is only capable of doing that one job? However, the iPhone is still a costly prospect for most people thanks to the monthly contract required to use one.

IPod Touch Video

This isn’t the case for the iPod Touch, the product which has almost everything in common with the iPhone, apart of course from the phone part, with the Touch instead focused on being a multimedia device you can carry in your pocket. Imagine what would happen if Apple decided to put a video camera inside each and every iPod Touch, and possibly other flavors of iPod as well.

This is the latest rumor to have hit the InterWebs. TechCrunch claims a source in Asia is reporting that Apple has recently placed a massive order for the camera modules of the type used in the iPhone 3GS. The order is said to be so large it can only be intended for the next generation of iPods. MacRumors has added weight to this theory with the posting of alleged new designs for the new iPod Touch and iPod Nano, both of which have holes intended for camera lenses to poke out of.

Immediate Effects

If true, this would firstly have a huge impact on the video camera market because millions of iPods are sold every single month, and who would buy a more expensive video camera when they could just upgrade their iPod and get a whole bunch of other features thrown in for the price?

The other obvious impact would be on the amount of people suddenly able to flex their creative muscle and shoot reasonably good looking video on a mobile device. Video shot on a crappy cellphone camera is one thing, video shot on a smartphone or personal media player is quite another. Mobile uploads to YouTube would likely increase by a huge amount once again.

Conclusions

Apple could quite easily corner this particular market while killing another one off if it chooses to go down this route. And as there’s no real reason why the company wouldn’t, it seems likely the speculation will prove to be correct in the months to come. Mobile video is about to come of age, and as with so many other markets, Apple is at the forefront of making it mainstream.

iPod Touch Products on eBay

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