Occasionally somebody comes up with an idea that seems so obvious in retrospect, that we wonder why we didn't think of it first. Magix Fastcut could be one of those ideas. It's a new video editor that's intended for high-action videos. If you have an action cam such as a GoPro, you'll find that Fastcut has some optimizations built in. But if you have a standard video camera or a digital camera that can shoot videos, that's fine, too.
This $50 application includes features that improve videos that have been made with moving cameras, features such as automatic image stabilization, distortion correction, and editing presets designed to create action films.
Here's an example. One of the cats was hanging around and I grabbed one of her toys, a feather that's at the end of a string that's attached to a stick. I held the camera with one hand and flipped the feather around with the other. Then I put the camera on the floor and used my foot to reposition it. The result was about 90 seconds of relatively boring video.
The magic began when I selected a template. Fastcut sliced the video into short segments and repositioned them, intercutting the handheld view from above with the foot-held view from the floor. I manually removed the part during which I was repositioning the camera. The result is a 56-second video that's lively and fun.
If you don't like the way the template cuts things together, you can try another template or manually edit the result, as I did when I removed the segment during which the camera was being repositioned. You'll find additional treatments such as vintage look, tracking shots, and slow-motion effects that can be added individually.
Modifying the transitions is easy, too, because the interface is surprisingly easy to learn and a brief introductory video explains the basics so that even a new user will be able to figure out how to start using Fastcut. Recognizing challenges that are inherent in videos made with cameras such as the GoPro, the developers have included audio processing that attempts to reduce wind noise, video effects to correct tilted videos and remove distortions that are common when wide-angle lenses are used, the ability to rotate videos created when the camera is upside down or on its side, and to adjust the color and contrast.
After customizing the video, you can share it easily by creating a file that can be viewed on your PC, displayed on mobile devices, or uploaded to services such as YouTube, Vimeo, and Facebook.
Although Magix Fastcut works with video from any source, it's optimized to work with GoPro devices, the tiny cameras that can be strapped to head gear, worn on the body, or held on an extending pole. GoPro cameras are often used in extreme-sports environments.
GoPro has announced an agreement with LG Electronics to create a GoPro Channel app for LG smart televisions. Currently owners of these televisions can stream more than 400 hours of GoPro high-definition videos on demand. This gives users of Fastcut yet another way to share their videos.
GoPro and LG demoed the new system at the Consumer Electronics Show last week. A similar GoPro Channel on YouTube provides access to similar content.
GoPro initially was designed to help athletes self-document themselves, but it has been adapted by a wider range of users who simply want to show what they see as they skiing, snowboarding, running, or engaging in any other sport or physically challenging activity.
Fastcut is as fun to use as it is easy.There are lots of video editors on the market, but Fastcut is definitely worth checking out if you're someone who likes to create action videos. The easy-to-understand interface works just as well with standard videos, but it's optimized for action cameras such as the GoPro.
Additional details are available on the Magix Fastcut website.
Every time I've had the opportunity, I've grumbled to Adobe product managers about the lack of support from the company's mobile applications for Android devices. Apple devices have the most complete set of Adobe mobile applications, but Lightroom Mobile came to Android this week. More is "on the roadmap."
To use the mobile version of Lightroom, you need to be a Creative Cloud user, a program for photographers that makes Lightroom, Photoshop, Bridge, and Camera Raw available for just $10 per month. In the old days, a serious photographer would pay at least that much just for film and processing every week. If you think the price is unreasonable, go back to using nothing but film for a month and see what you think.
Lightroom Mobile is intended for Android phones, not Android tablets even though it works on both phones and tablets from Apple. I'll tell you more about that in a moment. Lightroom Mobile is a companion for the Lightroom 5 desktop software and it's part of Adobe Creative Cloud.
This image shows one of the phone views.
Click any of the smaller images for a full-size view.
Press Esc to dismiss the larger image.
This image shows the "Camels" collection from my desktop computer. It includes camels from The Wilds and from the Columbus Zoo.
The app was available first for Ipad and Iphone starting last year and Sharad Mangalick, Adobe Senior Product Manager (Photography) says that it allows users to edit, organize, and share images anywhere and anytime.
If your device doesn't support Flash, here is a direct link to the audio.
This image shows the same view as before, except that I've tapped the phone with 2 fingers to reveal information about the f/stop, the ISO of the sensor, and the shutter speed.
This image shows that a second 2-finger tap reveals more information about the images: The date and time each picture was taken, the size of the original image, and the file name. Some of these images are the original raw (CR2) images and others have been manipulated by one or more desktop processes and saved as a TIFF.
Sharad Mangalick says that the new Android version resembles the IOS version in many ways.
If your device doesn't support Flash, here is a direct link to the audio.
Here I've cropped and rotated one of the images and I've also set a 5x4 aspect ratio. The crop information will be reported back to the desktop version of Lightroom.
After rotating and cropping the image, I applied a preset to make the image warmer.
On the desktop, the raw images are usually 18 to 20MB and the manipulated TIFF images are often considerably larger. Moving files that size over the Internet and trying to process them on a phone would be challenging to say the least. Mangalick says that's why Adobe's software engineers developed what they call Smart Previews.
If your device doesn't support Flash, here is a direct link to the audio.
Because of the limited screen size of even the largest phone, a split before/after view wouldn't be very helpful. The screen responds by displaying the before version when the user touches the screen with 3 fingers.
The modified image is saved separately and the changes will be reported back to Lightroom on the desktop so that all of the changes will be shown there.
Currently there are minor differences between the IOS and Android versions, but Senior Product Manager Sharad Mangalick says that the goal is to make the two versions as similar as possible.
If your device doesn't support Flash, here is a direct link to the audio.
Although Android tablets aren't supported at this time (Adobe is working on providing that support), I found that Lightroom Mobile worked reasonably well on a Nexus 7. This is the Camel collection that you saw before.
And here are some additional images from The Wilds as synchronized from the desktop system via Creative Cloud.
I should probably note that the Nexus 7 is really more of an overgrown phone than a full Android tablet and that may be why Lightroom Mobile works acceptably on that device. If you install it on a larger device, you should probably be prepared for some problems -- but Adobe is working on a version that will be fully compatible with tablets.
Lightroom Mobile was released on Thursday and is available as a free download for Android phones from the Google Play store. Users need Lightroom 5.4 or higher and must be enrolled in either the full Adobe Creative Cloud ($50/month) or Creative Cloud Photography ($10/month).
When I returned to the desktop and started Lightroom 5, my modified (cropped, rotated, and warmed) camel was waiting for me.
The primary capabilities provided by Lightroom Mobile include the ability to synchronize edits, metadata, and collection changes between desktop and mobile devices; to import images from the smart phone automatically to Lightroom on the desktop; to edit images on a phone using a reduced feature set from the desktop application; and to flag and rate images on the mobile device.
Professionals will avoid color corrections on mobile devices because color management isn't (yet) available there. Adobe's product managers hint that they are working with other companies to provide that at some time.
Lightroom Mobile for Android unleashes magic on your phone.I'd give Lightroom Mobile for Android 4.5 cats, but I can't bear the thought of cutting a cat in half. So 4 cats. And the only reason it's not 5 cats is that the app is currently intended only for Android phones. By leveraging Creative Cloud, this free app extends photo editing in ways that would have seemed impossible just a year or two ago.
Additional details are available on the Adobe Lightroom Mobile website.
This is the kind of effort that's sure to get lost in politics and that's a pity. Some cities are attempting to provide their residents with access to high-speed Internet service and they are, of course, being opposed by cable providers. This is happening at a time when broadband service in the United States is substandard compared to just about any other developed country and when users in other countries pay less for better service.
Cedar Falls, Iowa, is trying to do something about it. Cedar Falls Utilities provides 1-gigabit broadband to its 40,000 citizens. To put that into perspective this is nearly 50 times faster than the average speed in the US. Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Wilson, North Carolina have both asked the Federal Communications Commission to exempt them from state laws that currently bar cities from providing Internet access.
The telecommunications industry doesn't think much of town like Cedar Falls because they say that Internet communications shouldn't be treated like the utility it is. Internet access has more in common with electricity, water, gas, and telephone service, but it's not regulated the way those utilities are.
The Federal Communications Commission is still working on its "Net Neutrality" ruling and there is some optimism that the ruling might classify Internet service as a utility.
The Commerce Department could become involved in helping cities build better Internet access just as the federal government began, in the 1950s, to build a better highway system.
WordPress is a popular tool for creating blogs and entire websites and because it's so popular, it's also a common target for malware. Updates are released frequently for WordPress, but users often forget to check for updates. As a result, lots of websites that run on WordPress are running on vulnerable software.
IT security experts at Foregenix have created a scanner that enables WordPress owners to check their sites for infection. The company notes that more than 11,000 websites have been blacklisted by Google because they've been compromised by "SoakSoak" malware. That number -- 11,000 -- sounds like a lot, but there are millions of websites and at least several hundred thousand of them use WordPress.
Still, it doesn't hurt to check. I don't use WordPress, but I know some people who do, so I visited the Foregenix scanner and ran the scan on their sites. Both of the sites I tested were clean. Foregenix requires an e-mail address, but so far all they've sent is confirmation that the scan indicated no problems. The company says that its scanner has already been run against one million websites globally, finding an average of two percent compromise rate. If that percentage holds up across all sites, it could indicate 20,000 infected sites.
The appropriate response to this statement is "No you're not," followed by hanging up. The Federal Trade Commission has whacked a couple of these moles, but the fakers are still out there trying to find a way to gain access to your computer. The first thing to understand is this: Microsoft does not make outbound calls to users. Ever. Period.
So the caller says that they've been receiving error messages from your computer. They'll tell you this even if your computer is a Mac, by the way. They'll probably tell this even to people who don't have computers.
Once they have their mark's attention, the "technician" will explain that he needs to download some software to fix your computer. He'll also ask for a credit card number so that you can pay for the tech support "services" and the software. The FTC has managed to shut down some of these operations, but the proliferation of Internet-based phone systems that can make the calls appear to originate from anywhere makes it hard to separate the good guys from the bad guys -- or so people think.
Actually, it's not hard at all. Anyone who announces that the call is coming from "Windows support" is a fraudster. But this sometimes gets lost in a user's worry and confusion. After all, the caller ID on the phone says "WINDOWS SUPPORT" or the area code is 425 (that's where Redmond, Washington, is). Sometimes the scammer claims to be from your Internet service provider, Cisco, Lenovo, Dell, or some other well known company.
When they have your credit card number and they've loaded their software onto your computer, they can do anything they want with your money or your computer.
So if you receive a call from "Windows support", just say NO.
