Hi W7Fers,
Is there a shareware or free video editing app out there for Windows 7 that is better than another?.
And can any of them handle the .kmz or .kml format from Google Earth?
Thanks for any input that you can give me.
digiday
If you're planning on using the software for non-commercial purposes there's a free editing tool called VideoPad (scroll down about a quarter of the way.) VideoPad supports just about any video file format (according to them) but based on personal experience some formats might need to be converted first. As far as Google's kmz or kml formats, they might be proprietary and conversion might not be possible although some products say they can. You might have to experiment a bit.
Use caution at any site offering "free" products. Read the small print because some might have a limited trial basis or hit you with an unexpected fee for using their product. If something sounds too good to be true....
Video Editing Software - Edit Videos, AVI, Movies & Add Effects
Free Video Converter - Any Video Converter Free Version - convert video to any formats, avi to MPEG, avi to MP4, flv to MPG
Convert google kmz to avi file at PTF
Hi nelsonedwards & marsmimar,
Thanks for your refs.,
I'm not sure about the ability that the "AVI Video Converter" has... according to several others, including Google Earth experts, the .KML/.KMZ format is completely proprietary... but I will investigate that "AVI VC" app for sure.
I posted the question above and one other question on several forums yesterday... this is what I found...
The .KML (Keyhole Markup Language) is just an .XML file... its is not a video file at all. The .KMZ is just the .KML file zipped up with the extension changed to .KMZ... these are tiny 1 kb to 5 kb files, even for a Google Earth tour that is 2 minutes long... so there isn't much there to get ahold of.
The Google Earth Pro Movie Maker Module is apparently the only way to sort of treat .KML or .KMZ files like they are video files and convert them in to working video files... the GE Movie Maker Module now comes stock in the $399 Google Earth Pro app.
So for us peasants not willing to drop the four benjies on GE Pro, the alternative, that most people who have posted these GE animated travel-tour videos on YouTube, etc. have used is a desktop recorder/video capture app that simply records the GE tour playback from the desktop and then makes a video file, like an MPEG, MP4, WMV, or AVI.
Currently, in the realm of free software, not being willing to spring even for the $59.95 that some video capture software is priced since one never knows what software is going to be like unless one tries the free version first... and that isn't even the best indicator since much of the free software out there, with a few exceptions, is vastly inferior because these free versions are meant to be a disappointment so a user will then pay for the "Pro" version software... or one is lucky enough to try full version software before hand to see what it really does.
I've now tried the free version of "NCH Debut Video Capture" software... it works but produces a terrible, choppy result... I've heard the "Pro" version is good and samples look good, but based on the free version, I wouldn't go for it.
Then I tried FRAPS, recommended by another forum responder... it didn't even have an interface for doing anything and the webpage for it said that pressing a certain hotkey would start and stop the video recording action when one is in a "game" interface... totally useless and I guess oriented for video game potatoes.
I still have some searching to do, but so far, for a free desktop video capture device that is actually free and works, the best with the most control that produces by far the best result that has all the features one might hope for that are simply easy and intuitive to use, is a piece of software that works through a webpage in a web-app.
It is called http://www.screencast-o-matic.com and it is the simplest, best little website that I've ever seen... you just click "create" and it gives you an adjustable dotted line perimeter that stays on your screen after you minimize the webpage, and it stays on top of everything from there on until you are done. You can pause it, move it over a new window, un-pause it, save it to one of 3 video formats, export whatever you "filmed" on the desktop, and it produces a very good rendition of the original that played on your screen in any size that you choose before or after you record the video.
The only drawback to this amazing free, online web-app is that it puts a "Screencast-o-Matic" watermark/logo in the lower left hand corner of one's video... it's not exactly small, but not overwhelming... this is to encourage one to pay $9, that's nine dollars, per year for a desktop "Pro Account" that gives one more features and produces video captures with no watermark/logo. But somehow this "Pro Account" is limited to one hour of desktop video a year, so I'm not sure how much it costs beyond the one hour.
I'm just experimenting, but I made a pretty nifty little video that zooms and flies from place to place in San Francisco and then goes to the Cristo Redentor statue in Rio de Janeiro, then back to SF to zoom in to and away from the Transamerica Pyramid building... I pumped up the color during playback in Quicktime 7.6 and sped it up a bit, then re-recorded it in Screencast-o-matic to create a slightly smaller video file for emailing.
I still want to find a good desktop video capture device that doesn't put a logo on the videos, but for now, this Screen-o-matic thing has allowed me to do what I wanted to experiment with to start.
Thanks for your input,
digiday
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