02-20-2003, 04:00 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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muvee AutoProducer: The Best Damn Video Software on the Planet!
I've been meaning to do up a full review of this software for some time now, because it's so amazing, but I just haven't been able to set aside the time I need to really get into it. When Digital Media Thoughts launches, I'll do a full-blown review, but for now let me just say this much: if you want to be stunned into silence, download this software. (affiliate) I raved about this software in Faster Smarter Digital Video (affiliate), and if you ask anyone at the Mobius 2002 event in Seattle last year, they'll tell you that I'm a very enthusiastic evangelist of muvee. I was showing it to everyone who was near me. 
So what does it do? In a nutshell, it takes raw video footage (either already on the computer or from a Firewire-based camera), analyzes it looking for human faces, jittery footage, and many other things that you do and don't want, then comes up with a video based on the parameters of theme and length that you feed it. That's right people, it's automated video editing software. Say that to yourself a few times to let it sink in. 8O
Let's say you have a 60-minute wedding video and you want a "trailer" that lasts only 60 seconds? muvee will slice and dice that video into a great-looking video - and you can even add background music for a compelling experience. You have a dozen vacation video clips from your digital still camera? Feed it through movie, pick a nice template, and watch the magic. I've used this software on a few different projects, and I've been consistently thrilled with the results. I took a 60 minute wedding video that I shot, fed it some Enya music, picked a black and white slow dissolve template, and had a wonderful three minute mellow video. I then took the same footage, picked an upbeat rock tune, selected the "music video" template, and had a three minute music video with crazy transitions worthy of being broadcast on VH1. I've never encountered a software tool that lets me be so creative so quickly!
The software has its limitations - you can't select key scenes that you want to be included - but for 80% of the video footage out there, muvee is a Godsend. I don't give out that praise lightly - when I was working on the digital video book, I used more crappy software than I care to admit - it's amazing what sludge is out there. muvee was a like a bright shining gem...it simply rocks. There are areas they could improve (like the titles), but overall this is an amazing tool for home video users.
So why is this not in the "off-topic" category? Because they have Pocket PC templates for movie export! Yeah baby! Once you've created your movie, you can export it in a WMV 7 format that will work very nicely on any of the current Pocket PCs. Check it out by downloading the free trial version. [Affiliate]
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02-20-2003, 04:04 PM
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Magi
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,341
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Wow!!
I'm a digital media idiot.....this could work for me.
Dave
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02-20-2003, 04:05 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 405
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Thanks Jason, I have been discouraged by the lack of anything "automated" for cleaning up video, I've got everthing from the kids latests concert to 8mm-to-VHS transfers from when I was a tot.
Hope this can take some of the tedium out of the job.
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02-20-2003, 04:08 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 355
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Re: muvee AutoProducer: The Best Damn Video Software on the Planet!
jason turned me on to this, it's great stuff, worth the price.
cheers,
pt
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02-20-2003, 04:18 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 405
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Jason,
Will "Faster/Smarter" publishing NOT let you produce an electronic version of your book?
Seems at cross purposes, no?
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02-20-2003, 05:01 PM
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Oracle
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 952
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Hypothetical Scenario
Say I have a Fly Grabber CF card that lets me view video on my iPaq, would I be able to use this software for on the fly recording to a CF or PC Card hard drive?
Don't Panic!
Bobby
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02-20-2003, 05:01 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by ux4484
Thanks Jason, I have been discouraged by the lack of anything "automated" for cleaning up video, I've got everthing from the kids latests concert to 8mm-to-VHS transfers from when I was a tot. Hope this can take some of the tedium out of the job.
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It absolutely can, as long as you're looking for a "snapshot" of the memory, not a fine-tuned editing job. One of the things that muvee doesn't do well is pick out key scenes - let's say there's one exact moment you want to get, like a baptism where the child is dunked under the water. There's no way to tell muvee you want that exact scene, so the only way to get it is to let muvee have at it, and see if that scene gets included. If it doesn't, you can adjust the time up or down by a few seconds, and let muvee try again - it's random, but it usually works.
BUT...if your tape contains a bunch of random scenes, and random memories (ie: kids at park being cute for 20 minutes), muvee will work its magic. 8)
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02-20-2003, 05:04 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by ux4484
Will "Faster/Smarter" publishing NOT let you produce an electronic version of your book? Seems at cross purposes, no?
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Microsoft Press owns the electronic rights to the book, and they aren't really into magic eVersions. I've asked them if I could take individual chapters and sell them, but I doubt they'll say yes.
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02-20-2003, 05:06 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Re: Hypothetical Scenario
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Don't Panic!
Say I have a Fly Grabber CF card that lets me view video on my iPaq, would I be able to use this software for on the fly recording to a CF or PC Card hard drive?
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I think you're misunderstanding what muvee does - it's not a video-recording program. It takes pre-recorded video, edits it automatically with minimal input from the user, then spits out a nicely edited video. That video can be saved to an source, including a CF card, but you seem to be asking for real-time automatic video editing and recording...which is something I've never heard of. 8O :wink:
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02-20-2003, 05:17 PM
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Magi
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 2,386
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My boss is quite the gadget freak himself (he owns an iPaq and just ordered the Dell X5)... so we'll often find ourselves in all sorts of gadgety discussions.
He's really big into digital video recently showed this off this application's capabilities to me. I was VERY VERY impressed at some of the cool effects he could apply to his own home videos as well as some of the unbelievably small sizes he could compress some of them to.
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Linear Mode
