Tuesday, June 28, 2011

WavePad Analyzes Electronic Voice Phenomena

Guest post by Shawna Hunter, investigator with Florida Paranormal Research

Electronic Voice Phenomena EVP sound wavesI love using WavePad Sound Editor from NCH Software to listen to EVPs, or Electronic Voice Phenomena. EVPs are believed to be possible communication with different entities in the paranormal realm. When investigating paranormal activity audio recordings can be made and analyzed later, sometimes bring sounds and patterns to the surface that I didn't pick up with my ears alone, but after I review the audio, using WavePad, there's an EVP! The opposite is sometimes also true and I will personally hear something with during the investigation that is never caught on the digital audio recorder. It really is amazing stuff.

I use WavePad as a tool to review the audio from our investigations. It is a very user-friendly tool. I can cut a section of the audio, amplify, slow-down, and even loop the clip of audio in question. This enables me to show our clients the evidence in a clip. This is one of the easiest programs to use that I have come across for reviewing audio in regards to the capture of EVPs. I suggest WavePad as a tool to help anyone who is looking for an easy to use audio program for the capture of EVPs from their audio recordings.

Become a part of the investigation: www.thewhitenoiseforum.com

Friday, June 24, 2011

Learn or Improve Your Typing Skills with Award Winning Typing Tutor Software

5 Star CNet review for KeyBlaze typing tutor learn to type softwareWe are very grateful that the editors at CNET recently took the time to review NCH Software's KeyBlaze Typing Tutor Software. They wrote a very nice review and awarded our free learn to type software with a full 5 out of 5 stars, saying:

"KeyBlaze Free Typing Tutor from NCH Software can help you learn touch-typing or practice your skills. It offers basic lessons, drills, and speed tests suitable for typists ranging from absolute beginners to keyboard jockeys. It's easy to use and effective, too. KeyBlaze is great for beginners, and has more to offer to those who already know how to type. The lessons are easy to understand, getting progressively more difficult to master, and effective, with immediate feedback that helps users quickly overcome bad habits."

CNET

You can read the complete review of KeyBlaze Typing Tutor on download.com, or download it now to start improving your typing skills right away.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

How to Add Subtitles to Your Videos (P.S. It's not difficult)

Add Subtitles to Videos Adding text to a video is one of the most common reasons why people use video editors, and VideoPad video editor is an easy way to add any kind of text to your video projects. Previously, I blogged about how to use VideoPad video editor to add overlay text to your videos, which is a great primer for adding short bursts of text like captions, title screens, and credits. For more ambitious text projects, you might be better off using the subtitles feature, which allows you to either upload a subtitle file or create your own subtitles.

Import Subtitles
For movies and shows, many people like to have the words—whether they speak the same language or not—so they can easily follow the dialog. If you have a subtitle file in .ssa format, you can easily import the subtitles to attach to your movie or show.
  1. Click the Subtitles icon in the toolbar of VideoPad.
  2. In the upper left corner of the Subtitles dialog, click the Open folder button. Browse to your .ssa file and open it to load it into the Subtitles dialog.
  3. Click the Play button to preview the subtitles with your movie.

Create Subtitles
If you don't have an .ssa file for your movie, or you want subtitles as back up to the audio of a tutorial or video project, you can create your own subtitles.
  1. Click the Subtitles icon in the toolbar of VideoPad.
  2. Use the preview window to cue the video where the first subtitle will start.
  3. Click the green Plus button in the lower right to add a new subtitle, then type the subtitle in the input field, which is the bottom pane. The subtitle will be added to the list of subtitles.
  4. To set the end of the subtitle, cue up where the subtitle should end and note the time from the sequence clock under the preview window on the right. Select the subtitle from the list and click within the Hide field. Enter the time the subtitle should end and click OK.
Any time you make changes to your subtitle file, be sure to save it by clicking the
Save button in the upper left corner.

Working with text is easy with VideoPad, and so is working with the rest of the program. Try VideoPad out now for free, or view our other video software. You can also view our subtitles tutorial for more help with importing and creating subtitles to your VideoPad projects.

Monday, June 20, 2011

New Warp Registry Cleaner Software

Clean and optimize your Windows registry with Warp PC AcceleratorA common problem for aging computers is that they slow down. It isn't just that new computers are getting faster—PCs really can slow down over time, and there are things that you can do to combat this problem. The Windows registry is a central hub of communication on your computer and over time it can get bogged down with unwanted or damaged entries caused by installing, uninstalling and updating software along with other common tasks that compound on each other over time. These bad entries in the registry can cause slower startup times, more frequent error messages and can slow down your computer's performance. Our newest software utility can help solve these common problems. Warp Registry Cleaner will clean and optimize your Windows registry by removing or repairing the old and damaged data that is slowing you down. Improve the speed and stability of your PC and making it run like new by downloading this free software today.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Record Your Own Audio Book

Record an audio book with sound recording softwareBooks on tape have been around a long time, when I was younger we would sometimes get an audio book to listen to in the car on a long trip. Now that people carry mp3 players almost everywhere there is no reason to wait for a road trip to listen to a good book. And, like ebooks, there isn't the pressure to sell huge volumes that is inherent when publishing a printed book, so it is much easier to get into. In fact with just some audio recording software and a high quality microphone you can get started recording your first audio book.

Once you have decided to record an audio book you can start getting prepared. You want to be very familiar with the text. Read first and record second. You can do some editing of the audio after recording, but you want to keep that to a minimum and keep a flow to the prose. Being familiar with the text will help you keep a steady pace. Keep your pace in check, you don't want to zip through it fast so that the listener can really appreciate and hear everything you are reading. In addition to keeping that slow pace, be sure to add pauses after sentences and paragraphs, and beware being monotone. Try to breathe some life into your reading, no one will want to listen to you drone on in a flat voice. Another suggestion would be to consider printing out a hard copy of the book. Unbound, single-sided pages will make page turning easy.

Once you are prepared you just need to schedule yourself a chunk of quiet time to sit down and start recording. You can estimate the total amount of time you will need by timing how long it takes you to read through a single page and multiply by the number of pages. For a longer book you might want to break it out into more than one sitting. A good choice for audio recording is WavePad Sound Editor. By recording directly into an audio editor like WavePad you can easily go in to the recorded audio file when you are done recording to cut out any places you might have stumbled or make any other adjustment that might be needed like amplifying or equalizing the audio file or eliminating any background noise that might have crept in. And if you recorded in more than one session you can merge the files together before publishing your final mp3 file and sharing it with the world.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Voice Command Dictation

Voice Command Feature in Express Dictate Dictation SoftwareDid you know that you can set up custom voice commands to control dictation recording in Express Dictate? Express Dictate works with your computer's speech recognition engine so you can have hands-free control while dictating to write notes, flip through files, or to just relax a little.

To set up this feature you first need to configure your computer's speech recognition engine. Express Dictate requires a SAPI 5 compatible speech engine—but don’t worry if you don't know what this means—if you have either Windows Vista or Windows 7 you already have a speech engine that meets this requirement. To configure your speech engine, go to your system’s control panel (found from the Windows Start menu) and click Ease of Access, then Speech Recognition Options, then Start Speech Recognition. You’ll go through guided steps that will teach your computer to recognize your voice and accent.

Once you have finished that, Express Dictate will also be able to recognize your voice. To set up your custom dictation commands, open the Voice Commands tab in the Options dialog of Express Dictate and make sure the Enable voice commands box is checked. Click the Add button to create a new command, type in the spoken phrase you want Express Dictate to recognize and select the command it should trigger from the pull-down list by clicking in the Command column. Try to select voice commands that you aren't likely to use while dictating to avoid any unwanted program activity, yet specific enough that you will remember what they refer to. Once you're done, starting to record can be as easy as simply saying "Record."

To try out the new speech commands for yourself, download Express Dictate dictation software today and enjoy the added freedom of having hands-free control.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Free Timesheet Tracking Software

4.5 Star CNet review for HourGuard timesheet software time tracker programFrom freelancers to lawyers, keeping track of the amount of time spent on different projects can be a necessary evil for many in the working world. So if you bill by the hour an easy-to-use program like HourGuard Timesheet Software to make this chore easier could be just what the doctor ordered. Reviewers at CNET have even called HourGuard among the best time-tracking programs available.

"We liked that HourGuard Timesheet Software lets you create base tasks and subtasks, making it easy to record what you're working on in detail. The program even has an intelligent tracking feature that stops the timer when it detects that you're no longer working, ensuring that you don't waste time making corrections after realizing that you've left the meter running."

CNET

You can read the complete review or learn more and download your free copy of HourGuard timesheet recorder software from our website today.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Open, Convert and Manage Archived Files

convert archives like rar to zip files with express zipCompressing and archiving files and folders is very useful thing to do when emailing and sharing information, or simply to save disk space. The zip format is one of the most widely used there are a large number of other archive file formats out there. Instead of getting a program for every archive file format out there Express Zip offers a more complete solution. With Express Zip not only can you create, edit and manage any zip file, you can also open, extract, or convert any of the following archive file types into a zip file, so files and data won't be out of reach, no matter if they are compressed as a rar, cab, tar, tgz, 7z, iso or img archive.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Making A Music Video

Making A Music Video Over on Review Explorer Chris McGivern posted a detailed interview with Singer-songwriter Andy Fosberry of Ironlight River about making a music video. Fosberry took a do-it-yourself attitude and made a great video without sacrificing his creativity or breaking the bank. And we were particularly thrilled that Fosberry turned to NCH Software using Switch Audio Converter, Prism Video Converter and VideoPad Video Editor to help him along the way.

"As a musician, I use a piece of software call Switch by NCH Software which converts audio formats. And it’s brilliant. To convert these video files I used their A/V equivalent which is called Prism. When it was downloading, I had the option on loads of other things and saw something called VideoPad, which was billed as editing software. I figured it would be like WavePad and, therefore, just for clips etc, but it’s a fully working, kind of mid-level piece of editing software ... Its just so beautifully usable. So much so that I had a working edit in about 8 hours. All the effects, are nicely editable in themselves. So you can really make significant changes to what you are working on."

– Andy Fosberry

If you're interested in making your own music video(s) we would encourage you to go over to Review Explorer and read How To Make A Music Video – For Free for more details on what Fosberry did for his video, and to see the results.