Fun and Easy Music for Slide Shows or Videos

We think making videos or slide shows is a great idea, and we’ve found a fun and easy way to add music: Sonicfire Pro 5 (www.Smartsound.com), an amazing music editor.

The program includes a sample of original musical pieces, created as music blocks that you can arrange to make the music you want. It’s called SmartSound, and you can have the program add the music automatically or have the entire selection or any block stretched or squeezed time-wise to fit your video or slide show. You can also watch the video as you match the music to the action.

And–-it’s quick and easy to find and preview optional additional SmartSound music by genre, mood, tempo, intensity and more.

 Add narration or add music from your own audio CD, and the program fades the music volume up or down to fit. Save your completed soundtrack with the video, or export the music soundtrack separately.

We used Sonicfire Pro 5 to build a soundtrack for a youngster’s “How to Make a Muffin,” video, and it was a charge. We customized the music for the on-screen action and had fun doing it. Loved the results.

SmartSound’s Web site has detailed online tutorials if you need help, so no reason not to enjoy this program.

New Webcam

If you haven’t used a webcam, now is the time to do it--so you can enjoy the fun of seeing and talking to family, friends or business associates over the Internet (think video conference). You’ll need a webcam, software such as Skype (www.skype.com free), a computer with Internet connection, and someone at the other end who has similar stuff.

We’ve just tried the new award-winning Logitech HD Pro Webcam C910 (www.logitech.com $80). Easy to install, includes built-in stereo microphones, and lets you zoom, tilt and pan the auto-focus webcam using on-screen controls while talking. Works in any place you can bring your computer, webcam and have Internet access.

Two of the cool features we used during our “Skype” sessions and with still photos were terrific: facial recognition to automatically keep your face centered within the frame, and auto-focus Carl Zeiss ultra-wide glass lens for a sharp, clear pictures.

 

Video for calls is 720p, with 1080p resolution for video recording, and snapshots are at 10 megapixels. And Logitech Webcam Software (included) has fun effects: turn yourself into an on-screen alien, cat or bat, add a crown or arrow-in-head to your image, add distortion, and more.

We use this webcam to talk to people in this country and abroad–-people we couldn’t easily connect to any other way. Try it!