Media Conversion Tools

In Toast 8, media conversion tasks were sprinkled around in several places. Now they are grouped into a handy new project category called Convert, with a lot more options. Here, you can convert audio and video files for use with all different types of video playback and portable devices, from your HDTV to YouTube and your iPhone. You can convert DVD-Video discs and disc images, as well as audio and video files (including EyeTV, TiVo, and AVCHD camcorder sources) to the format of your choice -- even batch process multiple files, a real time saver. Just drag in the files you want to convert, click the Player Setup button at bottom left to choose your output device and quality options, and press the Convert button. Video output options include: Apple TV, iPhone/iPod Touch, Video iPod, PSP, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, BlackBerry, Palm Treo, 3G phone, DV, HDV, DivX, H.264, MPEG-4, and QuickTime. Audio files can be converted to AIFF, WAV, AAC, Apple Lossless, FLAC and Ogg Vorbis.

The new Convert project category makes it easy to convert most any type of audio or video file.

Before you convert videos, take advantage of another great tool in Toast 9. Now you can crop out unwanted video segments from virtually any type of video -- no need to use iMovie to trim clips for a DVD or uploading to YouTube. Just click the Edit button next to any video in your Project window, then slide the pointers along the timeline. Add as many additional splits in the middle as needed by clicking the Crop Marker button underneath the timeline.

You can now trim and crop unwanted video segments from QuickTime video files right within in a Toast project.

Finally, the new Quick Look feature in the Media Browser makes it easy to preview the items you are converting or editing (in Mac OS 10.5 Leopard only). Just select an item in the Browser and press the spacebar.

Toast 9 takes advantage of Leopard's Quick Look feature to preview most items in the Media Browser window.

Roxio Streamer

Probably our favorite feature in Toast 9 is the new video streaming capability. When you first start Streamer, it prompts you to create an account, which you'll use to access your video from the Web. After that, you simply click the Start Streaming button and drag video files to the window. Toast will then convert them and make them accessible from your special Web page in any standard Web browser: on your Wi-Fi connected iPhone, iPod Touch, Mac or PC.

With Streamer, you can convert and upload video to the Web for playback on your Wi-Fi-connected iPhone, iPod Touch, Mac or PC.

Imagine using Streamer to view your EyeTV and TiVo recordings on your next business trip. Or just making today's video of your baby's first steps available to the grandparents, without the public exposure of YouTube.

AVCHD Editing & Blu-ray Burning

Have an AVCHD camcorder? You can edit and burn video direct to Blu-ray disc with Toast 9 and the optional HD/BD plug-in. You can also make special DVDs that play back in Blu-ray players in full high-definition -- they simply have proportionally less capacity than Blu-ray discs. This is a great way to create discs for your Blu-ray player and HDTV without having to buy an expensive Blu-ray burner.

First, bring in AVCHD files from your camcorder with the Media Browser, then drag them into a Blu-ray disc project. The resulting video will be perfect, since Blu-ray uses AVCHD as its native video file format. Choose one of the HD menu styles, or create your own backdrop.

Creating a Blu-ray disc project in Toast 9.

You can also edit and trim the clips using a simple slider to remove unwanted segments. (This editor works with EyeTV and TiVo recordings as well.)

Editing AVCHD video with Toast 9.

When you've arranged your edited clips the way you want them, just press the Burn button to create your Blu-ray Disc or special Blu-ray format DVD.

Streaming Audio Capture

Want to record streaming Internet Radio, or any other audio playing on your Mac? Now you can, with CD Spin Doctor's new capture mode. To save audio to disk, select “CD Spin Doctor” from the Toast Extras menu, and click "Start a new recording." The CDSD Audio Recording Assistant will appear. Then choose CD Spin Doctor Capture Support from the list of audio inputs, and start recording.

Record Internet Radio, podcasts and any other audio playing on your Mac.

New Get Backup Utility

Toast 9 Titanium’s all new backup application, Get Backup, makes scheduling backups and avoiding disaster a breeze. Get Backup provides complete control over backing up individual files and folders, along with a plethora of other features such as compression and disc spanning.

To create a Get Backup project: 1. Launch Get Backup from the Toast Extras menu and click on "New Backup Project."
2. Select the files or folders to add to your project and designate a backup destination. Option include burning to disc as well as backing up to any hard disk, flash drive, network volume, or even your iDisk.
3. Click on the Options tab and choose between full, incremental, and versioned backups.
4. Click on the Filters tab and choose exclude specific file types, such as invisible or Finder data files. You can choose to exclude applications and aliases from being part of your backup.
5. Click “Backup Now” to start your backup, or click on the Schedule tab to pick a regular time.

Toast 9's new Get Backup utility makes scheduling backups easy.

Capture Your Video Clips

The first step in any video project is of course to bring clips from your camcorder into your computer. To start, connect your camcorder to your PC with the USB or FireWire cable that came with it, and turn it on in the proper mode for computer transfer (usually the Playback mode -- see your camcorder's manual). Then, within MyDVD, choose File>Capture/Import. The Media Import tool will open, and you can select your camcorder from the device list and start capturing clips. Tip: First cue up your camcorder to the beginning of clip you want to capture, and pause it. Second, click the Capture button in Media Import to start the recording, and then press Play on your camcorder. There will be a few extra frames to crop out at the beginning of the recording, but this is easily done when you start to create your DVD.

The Media Import window lets you import clips directly from your camcorder.

You can also use video from other sources, such as cell phone or digital camera movies, Web video downloads, and clips you may have recorded with a TV tuner card.

Beginning Your MyDVD Project

Now that you've gotten all your video onto your PC, it's time to start creating your DVD. Open MyDVD, and click the "Change Menu Style" button under the Edit pane to select an overall theme for your disc, such as "Birthday," "Safari" or "Snowing." This is what will appear on screen when you insert the disc into a DVD player. Menu styles consist of background images, button styles and placements, and font selections. Next, click the Add New Movie button. Select a clip or group of clips that you'd like to be accessed from the first button in your DVD menu. If you select a group of clips, check the box to import them "as one movie" when prompted.

MyDVD 10 Premier comes with dozens of professional menu styles to choose from.

Keep adding movies until you have all your intended chapters. At this point, you may want to experiment with different typefaces and styles, or reposition some of the graphic elements. Simply drag elements to move them, or select them to change fonts or styles. There are dozens of available button styles, for example. To change the background image, choose the "Change Menu Background" option in the Edit pane.

A MyDVD project with three chapters in the main menu.

Editing Video Clips

If some of your video clips need trimming, or if you'd like to add special effects and transitions, select the video in the Preview area, then choose Edit Movie under the Movie menu. You'll be presented with a full timeline video editing system where you can also add background audio and photos to your movie. Once satisfied with your movie, click the "Back to Menu" button at middle top to return to the DVD menu view.

Editing a movie within MyDVD.

If you'd like to do more with your video clips, but don't want to take the time to edit them manually, MyDVD 10 Premier also includes CineMagic, Roxio's 3-step movie creator. Just select clips and stills, add a music track, and choose one of the eye-catching built-in styles. CineMagic does the rest!

Finishing Your Disc

At this point, you have imported all your clips, made chapters out of them, and edited them where desired. You've also made graphic design choices for your DVD menu. It's time to preview your finished movie to see if it runs the way you want it to. Click the Preview button at top right, and wait while it loads (it may take a few minutes, depending on the complexity of your disc). Finally, check the appearance, playback and navigation of your disc using the onscreen controls. You can easily go back and tweak the graphics or video if you find problems.

Now you're ready to burn! Simply click the Burn button at top right, and choose your target drive. You can also create a Disc Image file on your hard disk if you like, which can be burned later or uploaded to a Web site for others to download and burn.

Making a Slideshow

While we've covered the basics, MyDVD has lots more cool features to explore. For example, you can add an Intro movie that will play when the disc is inserted, before the main menu appear. (Like the FCC warnings and movie trailers that appear on commercial DVDs.) You can also customize the audio file that will play when the main menu is onscreen. But our favorite trick is using the Add Slideshow button to open the Slideshow Assistant, which leads you through the process of making a photo slideshow, then drops it right into a chapter on your DVD! This way you can combine home videos and photo shows on one disc. MyDVD 10 Premier even includes Roxio's full PhotoSuite editing package, so you can remove red-eye, rotate, crop and adjust your photos as needed.

Creating a photo slideshow with the Slideshow Assistant.

Exporting Your Movies

MyDVD is not just about making DVDs. It's also the perfect tool to convert your movies for portable players or Web sites like YouTube. Roxio Copy & Convert lets you choose any of the clips you imported or edited for your MyDVD project, and then export them in the appropriate format for your player. You can even upload clips directly to YouTube at the click of a button, and sync movies with your iPod or other handheld player using the included Media Manager application.

Exporting movies in iPod format.

Picture Quality

Along with physical size and cost, picture quality is the most important criterion when choosing a camera. And image quality is not just about megapixels, but about the lens and the sensitivity of the camera's image sensor (expressed as ISO).

For most users, 6 megapixels is more than enough information in an image. That will let you print 8x10s with ease, unless you crop a lot (in which case consider an 8 or 10MP model). Rather than spending money for more pixels, consider a longer lens that lets you capture the action in sports and wildlife photography. A 3x zoom is fairly standard, but there are cameras that go up to 10x or 12x. These tend to be larger physically, so there's a trade-off in camera size and versatility. Note that we’re talking optical zoom here; while digital zooms can seem useful, they reduce underlying picture information. (Digital zooms do the same thing as blowing up a picture on your computer screen. )

The ISO tells you the light-gathering ability of the image sensor. The higher the ISO number, the more likely you’ll be able to get a usable photo when shooting indoors and in low light. Just be aware that often at the highest ISO a camera will produce very noisy pictures. Camera review sites like DPReview.com usually provide examples of photos taken at high ISOs, so you can compare.

This image from Nikon's CoolPix P50 brochure illustrates the benefits of a high ISO in capturing good pictures at low light levels.

Picture-taking Modes

In the olden days, photographers had to learn how to focus and set shutter speed and aperture to produce good results in different situations. Today's cameras do most of the work for you, but there is more to life than the "Automatic" setting. Choosing one of the available Camera or Scene Modes tells the camera both the kind of image you want to capture (single shots, sequential bursts, video, time lapse) and the situation you are in (Sports, Sunset, Close Up, Backlit, Portrait, etc.) In reality, what you’re doing is telling the camera how to adjust itself. For example, for sports it will try to use the highest shutter speed, and for backlit subjects it will increase the exposure.

Camera modes can do wondrous things for your photos, if you know what they mean and remember to use them. So make sure they are readily available from a dial on the camera, rather than buried in menus. Similarly, if the camera doesn’t clearly remind you what mode it's in, you can end up with lots of incorrect exposures and disappointment. And if the camera has manual modes, you can even do things the old-fashioned way in those situations that confound the camera's tiny mind.

Image Stabilization & Focusing

Image stabilization, formerly a high-end feature, has now found its way into the mainstream. It's a great advantage when shooting in low light (which usually requires longer exposures) and with long zooms. It allows you to capture sharper images by adjusting the optical path to account for camera shake or movement. There are two types of stabilization: optical and digital. Look for optical, which is preferred. Some cameras offer digital stabilization, which boosts the ISO (and the shutter speed) of the camera. This is less useful since it will increase the noise in your pictures.

Optical image stabilization is performed in the lens, rather than digitally, for better image quality, as shown in this diagram from Canon.

Image stabilization and focusing go hand in hand in making sure your image is sharp and clear. Cameras generally offer either fully automatic focus, a semi-manual mode (that lets you choose what part of the image to focus on), or fully manual focusing. Manual focusing works best on cameras like DSLRs (digital single-lens reflex) that let you quickly turn a lens ring or push a slide to adjust focus. Whatever method you expect to use, make sure it's convenient and ready to use at all times. If you have to spend 30 seconds focusing each shot, you'll probably end up just using the autofocus.

Face detection is also appearing on many cameras. This is a great and easy way to make sure your subject is in focus, as long as they are facing the camera!

Face detection lets you keep your subjects in focus, as illustrated on Olympus' website.

Video and Sequence Capabilities

Digital cameras have been able to capture sequences of video since the early days, but the resolution and frame rates were generally low. These days, video quality in some cameras rivals that of low-budget video cameras, and SD cards are getting capacious enough to handle it. If a camera can capture 640-by-480 at 30fps, it’s essentially matching the resolution of standard-definition camcorders.

In addition to image size and frame rate, consider whether you can zoom the lens while capturing video, and whether you can quickly switch between capturing stills and video. Sound capabilities are improving too; some cameras now support stereo audio capture.

The kind of video compression the camera uses matters too, as it affects file size and editing options. Make sure your favorite editing software can handle it, and that you have sufficient memory card space. Finally, check if there is a limit to the length of the recording; some cameras are only restricted by available memory, while others capture up to a certain amount of time.

Burst or continuous mode shooting is important if you’re a sports photographer, or just want more chances to capture the perfect candid. A camera's ability to capture multiple images rapidly is defined by the time between shots and the maximum number of pictures that can be taken sequentially without stopping. Some cameras feature a burst mode that lets you take several photos rapidly, but then the camera will stop while it saves those images to memory.

Batteries

Most cameras use either rechargeable Lithium-ion batteries, or standard AAs. In the latter case, you can use either rechargeable NiCads, or throw-away Alkalines. Lithium-ion batteries are usually smaller and longer-lasting than NiCads, allowing for more compact, lighter cameras. And while they are more expensive up front, they are usually much cheaper in the long run than buying Alkalines.

If you're a heavy user, or like to shoot video, you'll want to buy a second Lithium-ion battery or extra NiCads, which is something to factor into the purchase price. An advantage of AA batteries is that in an emergency, you can always buy some replacements.

Also consider any power-saving features of the camera. For example, many higher-end cameras have LCDs you can turn off when you use the viewfinder, greatly prolonging battery life.

Other Goodies

Our camera shopping list is starting point, but you may have other requirements to add. Interested in infra-red photography? Macro or underwater shooting? Want something that will fit in your shirt-pocket, or send your pictures straight to a printer? There's a camera just right for you.

Assuming you already have Toast 8 or Popcorn 3, all you need to do is add one of the Elgato EyeTV recorders, such as the EyeTV 250 Plus, EyeTV Hybrid USB stick, or the HDHomeRun network tuner (which allows any Mac on your network to use one of the two tuners in the box). Whichever way you go, Toast and Popcorn make it easy to save the programs you've captured on your Mac to DVD or export them to your iPhone, iPod, Apple TV or other media player.

Elgato EyeTV 250 Plus with remote.

The EyeTV recorders do a lot more than just record video to hard disk, however. The software interacts with the free TitanTV online program guide to schedule recordings, and maintains a list of past recordings stored on your hard disk, so you can use it like you would a TiVo box, but without the monthly fees. It even lets you pause live TV, skip commercials, and enjoy instant replays. Since most newer Macs, and many older ones, have video output capabilities, you can plug the output from your Mac into a TV set, and then use the remote control to watch or record video from the comfort of your couch.

The EyeTV 250 Plus can accept almost any form of analog video, with a coax jack for antenna or unscrambled analog cable input, and S-Video and RCA jacks for plugging in sources like VCRs, camcorders and DVD players. Digital cable or satellite users can also connect, by using the set-top converter box supplied by their provider to change channels, and then plugging the output from the converter into the EyeTV, which should be tuned to channel 3 or 4, depending on your service. It even comes with an infrared remote control, so you can control all functions from across the room.

Using EyeTV

Open the EyeTV software and three windows appear: a resizable video window, a program list of all available recordings on your hard disk, and an onscreen controller (which you can use along with or in place of an infrared remote). The onscreen controller (pictured below) tells you what the current show is and how far into it you are, and provides typical fast forward/reverse/pause/record/volume/channel functions, as well as instant replay, mute, program guide, and 30-second commercial skip buttons.

The EyeTV controller.

Step-by-Step from Videotape to DVD

Now that you know something about the features and capabilities of EyeTV, here's a step-by-step guide to burning your recorded EyeTV programs to DVD or converting them for your iPod, iPhone or other media player.

1) First, decide what types of inputs you want to use with your EyeTV, which will dictate the model of EyeTV recorder you buy. Connect things up according to the EyeTV instructions, the run the EyeTV software setup program to sign up for the online program guide (so you know what you're watching, and can program future recordings). The setup process will also tune all the channels coming off your antenna or cable input. The program guide supports over-the-air, cable and satellite services.

The EyeTV program guide.

2) Next, choose a future show to record by clicking the red Record button that appears next to it. You can even set a show to record all season long, so you'll never miss another episode of American Idol or Gray's Anatomy. Better yet, if you set the preference to "Start EyeTV when a device is plugged in," it will wake up your Mac from sleep to record, and even boot up your machine if it is off (with OS 10.2 or later and automatic login enabled in your Mac System Preferences)! No worries about having to leave your machine on all the time.

3) When you're done recording, the show will appear in the Recordings window, where you can select it for playback on your computer, or select it within the Toast 8 Media Browser to use in a DVD or export to a portable player.

EyeTV recordings in the Toast Media Browser.

4) Once in Toast, you can customize your DVD menus, add additional video or photo slide shows to your disc, or export the video for your iPod or other media player. To export for iPod/Apple TV/iPhone, select the video you want to convert, click the Export button at the bottom, and choose one of the easy presets from the drop-down menu. Click Save and you're done!

Choosing an export format for your EyeTV recordings.

But don't let the fun stop there. Roxio's Easy Media Creator 10 takes Windows Vista's media capabilities to a whole new level by providing advanced editing, conversion, organization and burning tools. Fully certified for Windows Vista, Creator 10 is the perfect digital media companion.

Get Guidance & Inspiration

Creator 10 boasts a brand new user interface, featuring Windows Vista's sleek Aero Glass look, and including the Roxio Central home screen, an integrated hub with handy task lists and educational resources like step-by-step video tutorials. Never edited a video before, or made a photo greeting card? Wondering how to backup your hard disk? You'll find all the answers here, as well as plenty of inspiration.

Easy Media Creator 10's revamped interface and central task-based hub make it easy to get started.

Take Control of Your Media

Creator 10's Media Manager lets you organize, tag and rate all your digital media in one place. Take control of all those photo, video and audio files you have floating around in various locations and centralize them with the Media Manager so you can use them in your media projects. It's fully integrated with Vista's metadata system, so that ratings, tags, keywords and orientation written in Vista are reflected in Media Manager and vice-versa. To launch Media Manager from the Roxio Home screen, select the Media and Devices tab, and then select "Manage Media."

The Creator 10 Media Manager.

Make a Greeting Card

Photos are meant to be printed, and Creator 10 makes it a snap to output greeting cards, albums, calendars, collages, gift tags and more. They make perfect gifts for friends and family. To make a greeting card for any occasion, just open the Photo Projects task from the Home screen, and choose one of the many customizable templates. You can add your own photo, text and background image.

Making a greeting card in Creator 10's Photo Project Assistant.

Record Audio with the Roxio Gadget

Want to record your child reading his first book aloud? Or perhaps practicing piano? Install the Easy Audio Capture Gadget in the Windows Vista Sidebar, and you can record clips right from your desktop.

The Gadget can capture any PC audio from your microphone or sound card. Simply press the red Record button to start, and blue to stop. Use the settings window to choose your audio format and adjust recording levels. Creator 10 also includes an Audio/Video Converter Gadget, for handy drag-and-drop conversion of media files.

The Roxio Audio Capture Gadget (middle), and Audio/Video Converter Gadget (bottom).

Make Movie Magic

Want to make a movie out of your holiday videos, but don't have time to learn about video editing? We made CineMagic just for you. In just three simple steps, CineMagic takes your raw video clips and creates a Hollywood-style movie out of them, complete with special effects and a music track, then saves it to hard disk, CD or DVD. If you like, you can also "direct" by telling CineMagic which particular scenes should be included or excluded, and choosing a style for your movie, such as "holidays" or "memories." It can even have title pages at the beginning and end.

Create Hollywood-style movies in three easy steps with Cinemagic.

Sync to Your Mobile Device

Want to sync your photos, music, videos, data and ringtones with a mobile phone or other portable device? Just attach a new device to your PC and run the Creator 10 Media Manager, and the Device Sync Wizard should launch automatically. Otherwise, you can select the "Tools/Sync Settings" menu in Media Manager to launch it. Now you're ready to sync! To move media to your device, just drop files into the appropriate buckets. They'll be synched the next time you attach your phone. Media Manager will also sync back from your phone to PC, so you can get pictures off your cameraphone easily, for example.

Creator 10's handy mobile sync feature.

To learn more about how Easy Media Creator 10 can enhance your Windows Vista Experience, click here:

http://www.roxio.com/vista

Masking & Cutouts

If there's one key area you should master, it's masking. Masking is the process of isolating and cutting out an area of a photo, which you can then use by itself, or in combination with other tools and photos. Typically, a person or object is separated from an uninteresting background, and then placed on a new background or used alone. The toucan in the photo below could be isolated using the Mask/Cutout Edge Tracing tool, or using the Mask/Cutout by Color tool. The first lets you trace the outline of an object with a series of clicks around it, while the second lets you select a relatively uniform background by clicking areas of like color around it. Cutout by Color works great for an object set against a blue sky or white wall, for example.

Here, we're using the Mask/Cutout by Shape tool to put a frame around our subject, which will make a nice portrait for printing or use in a greeting card. The slider at the bottom of the tool window determines the amount of "feathering" of the frame edge. Here, we've used quite a bit of feathering to give it an old-fashioned look.

Using PhotoSuite's Mask/Cutout by Shape tool to create an oval frame.

We can use the finished cutout in all sort of projects, from collages to calendars.

The finished cutout.

Cloning & Stamping

Another handy tool, which is surprisingly easy to use once you try it, is the Clone Brush. The Clone Brush allows you to copy, or clone a portion of an image elsewhere, using a variable-size brush to "paint" it in place. Here, we're going to give this lonely humpback whale a companion.

To use the Clone Brush, you simply select the tool, then click in a corner of the object you want to clone to set the "start point." Then you brush it directly into the area where you want to duplicate it. As you brush, you'll see the object beginning to appear; simply keep brushing until you have as much of it cloned as you like. You can do this as many times as you want in one picture. So you could fill a night sky with cloned fireworks or stars, for example.

Using the Clone Brush to give this humpback whale a diving partner.

Special Effects & Clip Art

A myriad of special effects can be found under the Enhance menu. Here, we're starting with a tranquil forest scene, and would like to deepen its mystery.

Our starting forest scene.

Clicking on the Special Effects tool brings up dozens of possible effects, from color variations to painterly effects to warping. Here we've chosen to warm the colors in our mage to give the desired feeling of being in an enchanted forest.

Using the Special Effects tool to warm the colors in an image.

In this alternate take, we've use the Charcoal Special Effect to give the scene almost a snowy look, then planted a snowman with a road sign taken from the built-in clip art collection, also accessible under the Enhance menu.

Creator and PhotoSuite come with a huge collection of clip art, like the snowman above.

Framing Your Masterpieces

Frames are great ways to enhance photos for greeting cards or other print projects, and PhotoSuite makes it a snap to add them. You simply select the Frames tool from under the Enhance menu, and select from the large number of options. The frame is automatically put around your photo. There's also a companion Mat tool, for the full framing effect.

Apply a picture frame in PhotoSuite.

Removing Dust & Scratches

If you scan in a lot of old photos and slides, the Dust and Scratches tools, found under the Fix menu, will be your best friends. Each does just what it sounds like, removing dust or scratches from your photo completely automatically. You can control the degree of removal using sliders.

Using PhotoSuite's Dust removal tool.

Fixing Mobile Phone Photos

Finally, if you have a cameraphone, PhotoSuite's Mobile Photo Doctor tool is indispensible for correcting these often washed out or too-dark images.

A photo taken with our Treo before fixing in PhotoSuite.

One click on the Mobile Photo Doctor, and color and contrast are restored to this image.

The picture after using PhotoSuite's Mobile Photo Doctor.

First, take some time to practice with your new camera and learn the basic controls. Make sure it is charged up, and that you have adequate spare batteries and tape or memory cards for a few days of shooting. Christmas morning is not when you want to be opening the package for the first time, even if it's a gift. You can rewrap it if necessary.

Next, read up on how to take better pictures and shoot interesting video. You don't need to learn fancy manual camera settings, just absorb some easy-to-remember tips on subjects, lighting and composition.

Tips for Digital Cameras

Put your subject off-center. This tip works especially well with other interesting material in the background, such as a Christmas tree.

Move in close. Make the subject the star of your photo. Fill the frame for greatest impact.

Shoot first, ask question later. Always be ready to capture the moment. Don't worry about settings or flash if there's not time. Just use automatic modes. And take as many pictures as you can. The odds that some will be great will improve.

Don't forget the lead-in. The holiday is not just the big day itself, but also the preparations for it: Buying the tree, wrapping presents, baking cookies. Capture the spirit and joy of the season by capturing these moments as well. They will often be more fun and candid, too.

Avoid indoor flash. Flash is harsh and can create bright spots on your photos, not to mention red-eye. Have people stand near a window or flood the room with as much ambient light as possible and take a longer exposure.

Set the scene. Take some shots of your house, the tree, the decorations, the snow on the trees outside, candles burning in windows, anything that sets the scene and mood for the holiday. You can use these shots in collages, greeting cards, slideshows and videos mixed in with your standard material.

More tips:

BetterPhoto.com's Top Ten Tips for Better Holiday Photos

About.com's Tips for Perfect Holiday Pictures

Tips for Digital Camcorders

Follow the rule of thirds. This guiding principle of photographic composition applies to video as well. Put your subject in the first or last third of your frame, depending on which direction they are moving. If the subject is looking at something, make sure the object of their attention is in the following two thirds and clearly visible.

Zoom in on faces. Every once in a while, capture an expression or moment by zooming in on a particular person. Use this technique sparingly, however.

Shoot from different angles. Even with only one camcorder, you can move it around or zoom in and out (slowly!) to get different perspectives. Get down to the same level as your kids, for example. Just leave the tape rolling and edit out camera moves later.

Don't forget the audio! Monitor your camcorder's audio recording to make sure you are getting a good soundtrack.

Ensure adequate lighting. If your camcorder video looks to dark or grainy, turn on a few more lights in the room, or ask people to stand in a different corner.

Shoot establishing shots. Establishing shots are things like the wreath on the door, stockings hanging in the fireplace, and presents piled under the tree. Also be sure to get around the house, not just in the main room. What's happening in the kitchen?

More tips:

Video Forum's Digital Director Tips

VideoMaker's Shooting for the Holidays

Gather it all Together

Now that you've done the hard work of creating your raw material, be sure to ask other family members who've taken pictures or video for copies of theirs too. They will likely have different perspectives and interesting shots that you lack, and vice versa. As soon as possible, import it all into your PC and organize it into a project folder. Even if you don't create anything with it yet, getting it organized and labeled while it is still fresh in your mind will ensure you don't forget things. Creator 10's Media Manager can help with the importing, tagging and organizing.

Create a Video or Slideshow

Finally, put it all together into a slideshow or video using Easy Media Creator 10 that you can burn to DVD or upload to your Web site. Learn how in our step-by-step tutorials:

Creating a CineMagic Movie

Getting Started with MyDVD]]> tag:blog.roxio.com,2003:/myroxio//5.39 2007-11-26T08:00:00Z 2007-11-26T17:30:49Z

However, you've got a secret weapon in the war against the black magic marker: Easy Media Creator 10! Next time you make a party compilation disc, digital photo album, or DVD of your kid's birthday party, try making a printed jewel case cover. It's simple with the included Label Creator program. You can print three ways: to label templates from most major manufacturers, such as Avery and Neato; to printable discs with an appropriate printer; or even directly to disc using a LightScribe drive.

We recommend the latter two printing methods, since labels can sometimes get stuck in slot-loading drives like those in many cars and most Apple Macs. LightScribe is a new technology that etches labels right onto the reverse side of specially made discs, using the laser in your recorder. They have a cool holographic look, and come in several colors. Printers with direct CD/DVD print support are available from Canon, Epson and HP, among others, and LightScribe drives from companies like HP, Samsung, and Toshiba. For both LightScribe and direct disc printing, you'll need to buy special recordable media. Look for discs labeled "LightScribe" or "printable."

Taking the Express-Way

There are two basic ways to use Label Creator. For quickest results, use the Express Labeler wizard, which is invoked whenever you launch Label Creator from within another Roxio application. It's also available from the Tools menu within Label Creator. Express Labeler provides a series of dialogs that quickly step you through the process of creating labels, booklets, inserts and more. You can have finished labels in just a few clicks, using the convenient styles and automatic track name import. We won't go into the details here, since they are largely self-evident. Instead, we'll show you how to get creative by customizing your labels and inserts.

Taking the fast lane to disc labels with Express Labeler.

To launch Label Creator in full mode, choose it directly from the Windows Start menu in the Roxio Tools folder, or by clicking the "Edit in Label Creator" button at the end of the Express Labeler wizard (this method lets you start a label quickly in the wizard, and then use Label Creator to add any custom elements). At startup you will be presented with a generic template for the disc label. Clicking the Show/Hide Layouts icon at the bottom of the window brings up the other 11 options available: front and back jewel case inserts, booklets, slim case inserts, mini disc labels, core labels, disc sleeves, and DVD case inserts and booklets. To get started, check the boxes for all the layouts that apply to your project, such as label, booklet and back insert for an audio CD. The linked layouts will then appear at the top of the window, and you can move back and forth between them.

All the templates are sized to fit perfectly into standard plastic jewel boxes, so all you need to do is add artwork and information. And Label Creator helps you there, as well. The easiest way to add glamour in Label Creator is to choose from one of the many different pre-designed templates, or Styles. Styles are professional graphics backgrounds combined with strategically placed text fields. Simply choosing a Style (by clicking on the Select Style button at the left of the screen) and filling in relevant information creates a handsome jewel case package. A Style can be applied to all the parts of your project for a consistent look, or just a particular layout. (Don't worry, you can also create custom designs, which we'll get to later.)

Customizing a disc label with Label Creator.

Once you've selected a design theme, it's time to enter information about your project into the text fields. For data CDs, that information will likely be title, contents, and date created. For Audio CDs it might also include the artist name and song list. If you've already entered any of that information already while burning your CD-R in Easy Media Creator, Label Creator can read it off the disc and position it for you in the label using the Smart Objects feature (click the Smart Objects button at left to select the elements you want on your label). Hitting the "Auto-Fill from Disc" button then polls your disc drive and returns with title, contents, artist, and other information and places it in the appropriate fields. Audio CD info will be automatically looked up on the Web for you. For any remaining fields not filled in, you can just double-click the text boxes and enter data manually. By using Styles and the information available on a disc, making a handsome jewel case cover and label can be faster than putting on earrings.

Adding Your Own Graphic Elements

Of course, you don't have to use the Styles as they are. You can use a Style as a starting point, then add or delete graphic elements, and change, reposition, or add text fields. The "Add Objects" tools let you add photos or graphics, rectangles, circles, lines and text, making Styles completely flexible. Label Creator doesn't mind if you overlap multiple fields, and lets you send objects to the back, bring them to the front, and align them in various ways by using the positioning tools at the top.

You can also apply special effects like curved text, shadows and rotation to text. To experiment, select the field or fields you want to edit, then choose Properties from the Edit menu. You'll get a dialog box with a preview field. Selecting multiple text fields at once and editing Properties or using the text toolbar at the top of the layout window is also an easy way to apply the same style across multiple text boxes.

To add your own custom image as a background, click the "Edit Background" button at bottom left. This lets you select a picture or graphic file, or a solid color, then apply it to some or all of your layout templates. Label Creator automatically resizes image and photo files to fit the template, which can save a lot of work. Or, instead of making a photo the background, use the Add Image tool at left to import it on top of the background. You can then scale the image to any size and thus effectively replace the background.

Choosing a background image or color in Label Creator.

If you're making a photo album or DVD, you should have plenty of photos or video stills to choose from for your cover art. For audio CDs, try the Web: it's full of pictures of celebrities, singers, and bands, including CD cover art. Right-clicking on just about any image on the Web lets you save it to your hard drive, typically as a JPEG file which can go straight into Label Creator. What's more, you can find lyrics to a large majority of popular songs on the Web, often at an artist's own Web site, which you can cut and paste into your jewel book. Just be aware that these images and lyrics might be copyrighted, and should not be downloaded for anything other than personal use within the copyright laws.

If your cover art is not available on the Web, you can also scan the original album cover directly into Label Creator, with any standard scanner and the Scan Image tool at left. Or try scanning old family photos for a picture CD.

Printing Options

Once you've got your labels and cover art designed, it's time to print! Any color inkjet printer and photo paper will do, but for best results and to save cutting time, try the special labels made for the task (available at any office supply outlet). Label Creator already has most popular brands listed in the Print dialog). To ensure exact page placement, test things first on some plain paper, then use the Calibrate button to fine-tune the alignment. Once you've gotten the placement perfect, you can create future labels and covers over and over with the same template and positioning.

Label Creator's print dialog is where you choose options like specialty label types, or even LightScribe laser-etched labeling.

For disc labels, Label Creator also supports printers that can print directly onto CDs. For these printers, you can choose printable silver, white or other media. Just look for the word "printable" in the media name.

If you're using stick-on labels, be sure to position them precisely over the middle hole, and then squeeze any air bubbles out by pressing from the center outward. Blank silver CDs without any logo printing work best, printed lettering may show through your labels, or create unsightly ridges.

That's all there is to it. So next time you make a CD, there's no excuse for using magic markers! Your CD rack, your friends, and your customers deserve better. Making yourself look like an artist doesn't require any crown jewels, just well-designed ones.

What you'll need: a scanner and/or digital camera, photo editing software like Roxio PhotoSuite, clip art and border collections, a color printer or DVD burner, and lots of creativity! Here is a tutorial on using PhotoSuite's Collage project to create sizzling scrapbook pages, as well as a resource list of good sites for free artwork, tips and inspiration.

Making Photo Collages in Creator

Easy Media Creator and PhotoSuite make it a snap to create beautiful digital scrapbook pages, using the Photo Projects collage wizard. Just open the Photo Projects Assistant from the Creator home screen or Windows Programs menu, and click the Collage button. You'll then have the option of choosing your own background artwork, or one of several professionally designed themes.

Choosing the Collage photo project assistant.

Once you've chosen your background image or theme, the next step is to add photos and text. Here, we've added three photos to the background image, and arranged them by dragging into position and resizing using the corner grab handles. You can even turn the pictures at an angle if desired. We've also edited the title at the top from the original placeholder text on the collage template. You can add as many text fields as you like. We could have added captions at the bottom of each picture.

Adding photos and text to the collage page.

You can crop and enhance your photos right within the project assistant by double-clicking on the photo you'd like to edit. You can also eliminate red-eye and rotate pictures in the editing window.

Cropping and editing photos.

Once you're satisfied with the page, click on to the Output screen, shown below. From here, you can use the photo collage in several ways: send it via email, print it out, save it to disk, or send it to PhotoSuite for further editing.

Output options for photo collage projects.

That's all there is to making a scrapbook page with the Photo Projects Assistant. The hard part is gathering all your photos, background art, and other digital tidbits to place on the pages. To bring in items like menus, ticket stubs, kids' school artwork, report cards, letters and other ephemera, use your scanner. If you don't have a scanner, you can also take photos of them with your digital camera. for clip art and background images, read on.

Scrapbooking Resources:

The Web is the best resource of all for digital scrapbookers. A quick online search will yield hundreds of pages offering free clip art, backgrounds and frames all perfect for customizing your scrapbook pages. You'll also find a myriad of tips and tricks, including some excellent advice from Kodak and About.com. Finally, get inspired by galleries of scrapbook pages created by people just like you. You can find great examples for every theme imaginable.

Photo Backgrounds and Frames

> ScrapbookFlair.com
> ScrapbookScrapbook.com
> Cartoon Cottage.com

Valentine's theme backgrounds at ScrapbookFlair.com.

Tips and Tricks

> Kodak's scrapbooking tips
> Family history scrapbooks

Sample Scrapbook Page Galleries

> Creating Keepsakes
> Memory Makers Magazine

User scrapbook page gallery at CreatingKeepsakes.com.

Here's an overview of some of CinePlayer Surround's key features.

1) Getting Started with CinePlayer

When you install CinePlayer, you have the option to make it your default DVD player, so that it will open automatically when you insert a DVD-Video disc. You can also open it from the Start menu or Creator Home screen, of course.

CinePlayer can handle much more than just DVD-Video discs, however. It plays back DVD-ROM titles, Video CDs and Super Video CDs, DVD images on your hard disk (Video_TS folders), and even individual video files, such as MP4 movies, residing on your hard disk. Use it as your total multimedia player, and benefit from the pro-level user interface and playback features. For example, you can drag and drop a file or disc icon onto the CinePlayer icon or video window and it will start playing.

When CinePlayer opens, the main video playback window appears. Double-clicking the video window toggles the player between normal and screen-filling modes:

The main video window provides access to all of CinePlayer's features, settings, and help files. You can also perform navigation and number entry functions from the keyboard. Almost every CinePlayer function has a keyboard equivalent, listed in a handy guide within the built-in Help file.

2) CinePlayer Controls

Looking at the window's controls in more detail, you'll see basic DVD control buttons at bottom middle. You can pause, fast forward or reverse, and skip chapter by chapter, just as with any set-top DVD player. There's also a button to take you to the main DVD menu. The name of the disc is shown at the top, and you can see your location on the disc (in minutes) at bottom right. At bottom left, there's a handy volume control slider.

At top right, in addition to forward and back buttons, there are four icons for Home, Open files/folders, Tools/Settings, and Help. Home takes you to the CinePlayer start screen. Use the Files/Folders button to locate particular files and folders to play on your hard disk, or play a loaded DVD or Video CD. You can browse for Video_TS folders, for example, and play them back just as if they were physical DVDs. Help opens up the CinePlayer Help file. We'll discuss the Settings button in more detail in the next section.

3) CinePlayer Settings

The CinePlayer Settings button brings up a host of playback and viewing options, such as aspect ratio choices, audio and language options, closed caption support and more. For example, the Playback Options tab lets you decide whether to automatically resume playback at the place you left off, start from the beginning, or have the program ask you each time.

If you output your video from PC to a TV set or LCD projector, you will want to play with the DVD Settings to find the best Stretch mode, such as Wide, Wide Cinema or Wide Zoom.

If you use closed captions, the Audio tab lets you set a preference to show them whenever possible, instead of having to turn them on for every disc you play. The Language Settings tab does the same thing for foreign languages.

Many CinePlayer controls and settings can also be accessed directly by right-clicking anywhere on the screen

4) InterActual Playback

If your disc has special InterActual content on it, like this Monsters, Inc. DVD, CinePlayer will prompt you on insertion to ask if you want to play the InterActual content or the DVD movie. Here, we are playing the added game content on the DVD using CinePlayer.

But for experienced users, the best new feature in Popcorn 3 may be the revamped and streamlined production workflow that offers both batch conversion and an incredibly useful pause/resume feature. You'll never again need to surrender your Mac to an encoding project. With Popcorn 3, you can literally queue up your entire collection for conversion, and then just pause and resume the job at your convenience it until it's done.

More new time-saving features include optimized encoding presets for most popular devices, a video quality preview window, and Turbo.264 encoding support. The preview feature lets you check what your converted video will look like with specified video quality settings, ensuring things are optimal before beginning a long project. Turbo.264 support means that owners of Elgato's popular video recorder can use it to encode H.264 video within Popcorn, dramatically speeding up encoding times and freeing up your Mac CPU. If you've ever tried to move more than a few videos onto an Apple TV, Xbox 360, or even an iPod, you'll know just how valuable these features are.

Copying DVDs & Disc Image Files

The heart of Popcorn is still its ability to copy non-protected DVDs and image files. It includes compression technology that lets you fit a full 9GB dual-layer movie disc onto a standard 4.7GB recordable DVD. You can copy directly from physical DVDs, or use VIDEO_TS folders and disc image files residing on your hard disk. Popcorn works great with discs and image files created by Toast, iDVD® and DVD Studio Pro®.

For any of these sources, you can choose exactly which parts of a DVD to copy, so that you don't waste space on foreign language tracks, trailers, and so on. Eliminating unnecessary parts of a DVD maximizes video quality on the resulting copy by minimizing the amount of compression that will be needed.

To start a DVD copy project, first choose a video source from one of the first four DVD options: DVD Disc, Image File, VIDEO_TS Folders, or VIDEO_TS Compilation. Then insert your original DVD or drag and drop an image file or VIDEO_TS folder into the content area. You can then either click the Record button and Popcorn will compress the content as needed to fit your recordable media (which can be single or dual-layer), or you can customize your disc by selecting particular tracks. To create a custom disc, just click the Options button and select from the menus. The bar at the bottom indicates indicates the amount of compression needed. Eliminating elements will result in improved quality (less compression). Under the Video menu, choose "Main" to copy the longest running main video or all videos of similar length (such as episodes of a TV show), or choose "Custom" to create a custom compilation, where you select the specific videos, audio and languages to include. (The ABC icons at right drop down to show audio options for each video track.) The custom compilation feature even lets you combine tracks from multiple DVDs or image files.

Creating custom DVD compilations with Popcorn 3.

Batch DVD Encoding

To queue up multiple DVD projects for encoding, first choose the VIDEO_TS folder project type, then drag in all your folders (which can be from Toast, iDVD or other sources). Customize the copy options for each DVD-Video folder as outlined above, then choose "Save as Disc Image" from the File menu. The processor-intensive encoding process will begin, with each DVD being saved to its own image file.

Batch DVD encoding.

Once encoding is complete, you can then use Popcorn to quickly burn each image file to DVD. During encoding, you can pause and resume the process at any time, freeing up your Mac for other work.

Popcorn's encoding Pause/Resume feature.

Creating DVDs From Video Files,
Including EyeTV & TiVo Recordings

In addition to copying DVDs and image files, Popcorn lets you create DVDs from scratch from almost any type of video file. You can even create custom DVD menus for your project. Popcorn supports more video formats than any other Mac burning software. You can add any QuickTime supported video files, such as DV, AVI, MOV, HDV (1080i/720p), and MPEG-4. You can also add files that QuickTime doesn’t support, such as MPEG-2, DivX, XVID, titles and chapters from DVD-Video and DVD–VR/RAM discs, plus EyeTV and TiVo recorded television programs.

To start a DVD project using video files, select the DVD-Video option, and then choose your videos from the Media Browser (open it from the Window menu if not already present). Here, we're selecting TiVo recordings that have been transferred to our Mac using the TiVoToGo software included with Popcorn.

Selecting content from the Media Browser.

Each video you add will have a button in the DVD menu. Click Edit to change the button image or text. For most videos, you can also do basic cropping and set DVD chapter options for scene menus if desired. Finally, click the More button at lower left to edit global DVD menu options, and then burn your DVD!

Popcorn's DVD menu options.

New Roxio Central Home Screen

Roxio Central, the hub of Creator 10, now integrates handy task lists with educational resources like step-by-step video tutorials, user profiles, how-to articles, and a monthly Digital Media Report. Never edited a video before, or made a photo greeting card? Wondering how to backup your hard disk? You'll find all the answers here, as well as plenty of inspiration.

Easy Media Creator 10's new task-based Home screen.

Media Manager

The revamped Media Manager takes Vista's built-in media tools to the next level, letting you organize, tag and rate digital media all in one place. It's also fully integrated with Vista's metadata system, so that ratings, tags, keywords and orientation written in Vista are reflected in Media Manager and vice-versa. To launch Media Manager from Roxio Central, select the My Media tab, and then select "Manage Media."

The Media Manager integrates with Vista's media tools, making it simple to organize your content.

HD Video Capture & Edit

Just purchased an HD camcorder? Or eyeing one for Christmas? VideoWave now supports HD video capture and editing, and you can burn to Blu-ray or HD DVD discs as well! VideoWave has a powerful 32-track video editor with studio-quality tools, effects, and transitions.

Editing an HD movie in VideoWave.

Copy Media Files from Any iPod

Need to download pictures and videos from your brother's iPod? Creator 10 can copy any non-copy-protected media files through the Media Manager, where your iPod will appear in the list of available devices. Then use the files in your Creator projects.

YouTube Uploading

Want to send a movie to YouTube? Just right-click it in the Media Manager, select "Upload to YouTube," and go! The first time you will be asked for your YouTube account name and password. From then on they are remembered for you.

One-button YouTube uploading from the Media Manager.

One-Click Disk Copying

Want to copy that (unprotected) DVD your sister made for your birthday? Just pop the disk into the Video Copy & Convert tool, and click go! You'll be prompted to insert your blank media, and then you're all done.

Copying a video DVD.

Internet Radio Capture

The Easy Audio Capture Gadget now resides in the Vista Sidebar, for ready access. It has the capability to capture any PC audio from your microphone or sound card, including streaming Internet radio. Simply press the red Record button to start, and blue to stop. Use the settings window to choose your audio format and adjust recording levels.

The Easy Audio Capture Gadget resides in the Vista Sidebar.

Mobile Device Synchronization

Want to sync your photos, music, videos, data and ringtones with a mobile phone or other portable device? Media Manager makes it simple. First, create a "profile" for your device using the Device Sync Wizard. Normally, when you attach a new device to your PC and run Media Manager, this will launch automatically. Otherwise, you can select the "Tools/Sync Settings" menu in Media Manager to launch it. Now you're ready to sync! To move media to your device, just drop files into the appropriate buckets. They'll be synched the next time you attach your phone. Media Manager can also sync back from your phone to PC, so you can get pictures off your cameraphone easily, for example. You'll need a multimedia-capable mobile phone with ObexFTP support and USB or Bluetooth connectivity.

Synching media files to mobile devices.

Multiple CD Ripping

Got more than one CD/DVD drive in your machine? Use two or even three drives to rip audio CDs simultaneously! Now you can make short work of loading your CD collection onto your iPod. The Ripper can even automatically detect duplicate tracks and prevent ripping them again. Finally, the tool uses both the GraceNote CDDB and MusicID fingerprinting systems to identify your tracks reliably.

The Multiple Audio CD Importer makes short work of large collections.

Getting Started: Adding Content

The first task is to bring your video clips into the computer, if you haven't already. Use your video camera's transfer software, or use Creator's Plug & Burn feature to capture clips automatically. CineMagic can handle all major Windows video file formats, so don't worry about that for now. Once you have your clips ready, as well as any still photos you might want to mix in with the video, it's time to start. Choose CineMagic from the Video task list on the Creator Home page, and you'll see the following screen:

Roxio's CineMagic Assistant lets you create polished videos in three quick steps.

Step one is to Add Content by bringing in the video clips and photos you want to use in your movie. Just click the Add Video/Photos button, and select your media files. They will appear in the viewer at right, where you can also play any clip to preview it by clicking the little arrow in the corner. Tip: Number your clips if you want CineMagic to keep them in a particular order. Here, we are creating a wedding video, and want our scenes in sequential order.

Next, click on the Select Scenes button, and after a little processing, you'll see a list of all the distinct scenes that appear in your clips. If there are any that you definitely want to appear in the movie, select them and click the "Use Selected" button. Also select any you DON'T want to appear and click "Remove Selected." Any remaining scenes may or may not be used, depending on the length and style of movie you choose later on. Click the Preview button to play a selected scene.

Selecting scenes to use in your video.

Clicking OK brings you back to the CineMagic window, where it's time to add background audio to your project. You can choose to add an audio track, such as a CD track or MP3 file, or use SmartSound audio to create custom "mood" music that fits your video length precisely.

Selecting background audio for a CineMagic project.

We chose to use SmartSound audio, so were presented with additional options. With SmartSound, you first select a style of music, such as Blues, Jazz, Latin or Classical, then a title, and then variations on that theme, depending on the mood you want to project in your video. For our wedding video, set mostly in a church, we selected Classical>Bach Guitar>Adoration.

Creating custom SmartSound background audio.

Customizing Your Movie

Just a few more decisions now, you're almost there! In Step 2, CineMagic lets you customize your movie by choosing a style, such as Party, Sports, Theater, Travel or Wedding. You'll also choose a duration for your movie, or whether you want it to fit precisely to the background audio you've already selected. For our wedding video, we chose to have CineMagic keep the clips in sequential order, and entered a title for the video: "Meredith & George, June 12, 2007." At this point, you can preview the movie, and then go back and change things if you like.

Customizing your CineMagic movie.

That's all there is to making the movie. Now it's time to Save & Share it! There are several options for saving, including DVD Playback and Web video. Choose the one you want (you can save multiple versions for different purposes), and click Create Video File.

Saving & Sharing your CineMagic movie.

Rendering the movie will take some time, but it goes surprisingly fast. For a typical short video, take a coffee break, and it will probably be done when you come back! Then be sure to send it to all your friends!

The final rendering.

Creating a Greeting Card

To create your own unique cards for birthdays, graduations, holidays and other special occasions, simply open the Photo Projects task in Creator 10. You'll be presented with a list of possible project types. Select Cards, then click the Next button.

Roxio's Photo Project Assistant lets you create perfect printed cards and calendars in four quick steps.

Now you'll see a scrolling list of card templates, each of which is fully customizable with your own pictures, text, background artwork, font styles, and more. You can view all templates at once, or subcategories like Birthday and Holidays. Choose the card that comes closest to what you want, and click Next.

Choosing a greeting card template.

Now comes the fun part! Select the photo on your card, then click the Replace Placeholder button to import your own picture into the frame. Here we've replaced the picture on this baby announcement card with a photo of Daddy Santa and the baby (who was born a couple weeks before Christmas). We also typed our own text into the box on the left, and changed the text color to red to match the holiday theme. We could also have added more text boxes, or even replaced the background artwork with another photo of our own.

Customizing the front of the card with your own picture and text.

Next, customize the inside of the card. Click on the "Inside Bottom" tab to view the text placeholder, and type your own text in the box. Again, we changed the color to red, and also changed the font style using the tools at the top. That's all we did to this card. You could also customize the inside top and back of the card with additional photos and text if you like.

Customizing the inside of the card.

Printing Your Card

Now it's time to print! First, however, be sure to save your card project, in case you want to print more copies later. Then click the Print button. (You may also want to email the card to some recipients, click the Email button for that.)

Printing and saving your finished card.

In the Print Settings box, examine your card to be sure it's positioned properly on the page, then select the printer you want to use, and the number of copies. Now press the Print button to print the first side of the paper. (We recommend high quality photo card stock, which you can find in most big office supply stores.) Next, turn the paper over and reinsert it into your printer in the proper direction, and print the inside of the card. Do a single test page first to be sure you have the orientation correct and that the card folds properly. Finally, use a paper cutter (or ruler and x-acto knife) to trim the edges of your cards. Enjoy!

Customizing the print settings.

Creating a Photo Calendar

While making your own greeting cards is quick and easy, if you really want to impress people, give them a customized calendar that they can use every day. To start, open the Photo Project Assistant again, and select Calendars instead of Cards. You'll see a scrolling selection of templates for your calendar. Select the template that comes closest to your ideal, and click Next.

Choosing a calendar template.

Now replace the various calendar placeholders with your own pictures and text, as you did with the greeting cards. Also choose a start date for your calendar. Again, you can customize any of the page elements, and change fonts, styles and colors. Finally, save and print your project, and let the compliments roll in!

Customizing your calendar project.

And even if you have an offsite backup, do you have easy access to it? Would you be able to get your business or Web server back up and running on short order?

If the answer to any of these questions is no, you need a disaster plan. It doesn't need to be overwhelming. For example, a basic plan might be to simply burn a DVD of your entire digital photo library and mail it to a few relatives. You'll spread the risk over several disparate locations, and let others enjoy your photos too. Do the same for any large archives of material you don't want to lose, such as your email folder, iTunes library, Documents folder, and so on. If some material is private, use Toast's encryption option to burn a password-protected disc, and put it in a sealed envelope to be opened in the event of need. Repeat this process once a year or so, perhaps at holidays where your relatives are all in one place.

Now that you have some basic protection against losing the bulk of your files, it's time to turn to the regular daily and weekly backups. You are making these, right? Okay, well, if you haven't yet gotten the habit, here's how:

Toast 8 offers three main ways to keep your data safe. First, it includes Déjà Vu, a powerful, yet easy-to-use program that helps you schedule automatic backups to a second hard drive, a network server, or to a blank CD or DVD. Second, you can use Toast's Volume Disc and Disc Spanning features to make an exact copy of a hard disk volume onto a set of CDs or DVDs. Finally, for everyday quick-and-dirty backups or file transfers, you can of course just drag and drop selected files or folders into the Toast window and press the Record button.

A good backup plan might include all three of these methods. For example, you might keep a CD-RW or DVD-RW handy for quick manual backups of key files on a daily basis, use Déjà Vu to schedule weekly backups of all your documents, and use Volume Disc copying to back up your entire hard disk, including the System and Applications, once a month. For the weekly and monthly backups, use two rotating sets of discs, and keep the most recent set in a different location, such as your office.

Backing Up with Déjà Vu

Déjà Vu lets you back up any number of folders manually at the click of a button, or automatically on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Backups will take place even if you aren't logged in. If you forgot to check the option to install Déjà Vu along with Toast, you can add it later by rerunning the Setup Assistant from the Toast Help menu.

The three-step backup process could not be easier. Just select When (time), What (files & folders) and Where (destination drive), and you're done. Other powerful features of Déjà Vu include remote backup to networked servers, intelligent backup of changed files only, and folder synchronization. Read on for a complete tutorial on using Déjà Vu.

1) First, select the Déjà Vu pane from the System Preferences window. Then click the lock icon at the bottom left and enter your administrator password. This unlocks the features of the program. Also choose "Enable" from the drop-down menu at top left if not already selected.

Make sure Déjà Vu is enabled and unlocked before starting to create backup schedules.

2) Next, select folders or files you want to back up by double-clicking "Choose folder or disk" under the What heading. Keep adding folders to back up by clicking on the plus sign at lower right. If you want to make a "clone" or exact copy of your entire hard disk, select your system drive icon instead of a folder.

Backing up in Déjà Vu is a simple matter of choosing What, When and Where.

3) Then decide how often you want to back up each file or folder in your list by choosing Daily, Weekly or Monthly under the When heading. You can also specify exact times for your backups by clicking the Options button at lower right, then choosing the Schedules tab.

Change the default time for your daily, weekly or monthly backups in the Schedules Options pane.

4) Finally, choose the destination for your backup, the folder where files should be saved, under the Where heading. This can be any drive available at backup time, from external hard drives to networked servers to CD and DVD recorders. You can even back up to the unused hard disk space on your iPod if it's plugged in. Déjà Vu will check to see that the drive is available, and that there's enough space to complete the backup. If you are making a clone of your entire hard drive, be sure to reformat (erase) the destination drive (as Mac OS Extended) just before cloning. Also check off "Repair Disk Permissions" and uncheck "Remote Backup" in the General Options pane. If your destination drive is a remote server, enter a username and password (if needed) for the server in the Auto-Connect Options pane.

Déjà Vu's General Options pane has several useful settings.

5) Now your backups are ready to go. Automatic backups will occur at the scheduled time, provided the destination drive is available. Or if you want to backup manually, click the Backup button at lower right to start the process. All items that say "Manually" and are checked off in the left-hand column will be backed up immediately to the selected destination. If you are backing up for the first time, do a manual backup and check to be sure everything went okay. Then future backups can be performed according to a schedule.

Note that you don't have to be logged in for scheduled backups to take place, but they will not occur if your machine is sleeping. You may want to change your Energy Saver preference to prevent this from happening. Be sure to click the Schedule button again each time you change any options or add any new files/folders to the back-up list.

6) If you're backing up to CD or DVD, you can also take advantage of Toast 8's data compression and encryption features, which let you fit up to fifty percent more on your data discs. And with 128-bit encryption and password protection, you can be sure that your data is secure from prying eyes. To use either feature, simply select the Compressed or Encrypted option from the disc settings drawer before burning. Note that these options are available for "Mac only" data discs-not Mac/PC hybrids.

Decompressing or decrypting is even easier. These two functions are built right into OS X and no special software is needed, not even Toast. All you need is the password you selected when burning your encrypted disc.

Using Mac Volume Recording

One of Toast's unique and useful features is the ability to burn entire Mac volumes to CD or DVD. This is great for making personal backups of smallish hard disks onto sets of DVDs (or up to 50GB per Blu-ray Disc). Here's how to record a disc in Mac Volume format (Mac OS standard HFS) with Toast 8 Titanium:

1) First, choose the Mac Volume project under the Data button (if you don't see it, check the box to "Show Legacy Settings" in the Toast Preferences). Note that you can't use Volume format to create bootable discs, and that File Sharing must be turned off on volumes you want to copy.

Toast's Mac Volume recording option tells you which disks can be burned as CD or DVDs.

2) Then drag the volume you want to copy into the Toast window from the desktop, or click the Select button to choose it. You can only select volumes with the comment "ok to write."

3) Click the Record button, insert a blank disc, and you're done!

Now that you know just how easy it is to be backup with Toast, we're sure you will be the most prepared person on your block.

And even if you have an offsite backup, do you have easy access to it? Would you be able to get your business or Web server back up and running on short order?

If the answer to any of these questions is no, you need a disaster plan. It doesn't need to be overwhelming. For example, a basic plan might be to simply burn a DVD of your entire digital photo library and mail it to a few relatives. You'll spread the risk over several disparate locations, and let others enjoy your photos too. Do the same for any large archives of material you don't want to lose, such as your email folder, iTunes library, Documents folder, and so on. If some material is private, use Creator's encryption option to burn a password-protected disc, and put it in a sealed envelope to be opened in the event of need. Repeat this process once a year or so, perhaps at holidays where your relatives are all in one place.

Now that you have some basic protection against losing the bulk of your files, it's time to turn to the regular daily and weekly backups. You are making these, right? Okay, well, if you haven't yet gotten the habit, here's how:

Creator 9 offers two main ways to keep your data safe. First, it includes BackOnTrack, a system rollback utility that undoes the damage caused by software conflicts, accidents and malware. With BackOnTrack, you simply click a button to record a "snapshot" of your system at a point where it is working cleanly. Then if things go wrong, you just press the Restore button to roll things back. It's that easy! For a full tutorial on using BackOnTrack, click here.

The second key utility is Backup MyPC, a powerful, yet easy-to-use program for Windows XP/2000 that helps you schedule automatic backups to a second hard drive, a network server, or to blank CDs or DVDs. For everyday quick-and-dirty backups or file transfers, you can of course just drag and drop selected files or folders into the Creator Drag-to-Disc window on the desktop.

A good backup plan might include both of these methods. For example, you might keep a CD-RW or DVD-RW handy for quick Drag-to-Disc backups of key files on a daily basis, and use Backup MyPC to schedule weekly backups of all your documents, or even your entire hard disk.

Here's an introduction to using Backup MyPC.

Starting Up

Opening Backup MyPC displays the Welcome screen, from which you can choose one of four key step-by-step guided "Quick Start" tasks, or one of the three main function buttons on the left (Backup, Restore, Compare). Beginners should choose the Backup Wizard or Automatic Data Protection to start, depending on whether you want to perform a one-time backup job, or schedule ongoing automated backups. We recommend setting up a schedule, assuming you have a second hard disk or CD/DVD drive available to back things up to on a regular basis. Backup MyPC also supports tape and other removeable media drives, as well as networked hard drives.

Clicking on Automatic Data Protection takes you through a simple three-step wizard where you choose the time of the backup, select the drive to back up to, and enter your Windows username and password. That's all there is to it! Your entire drive will be backed up weekly at the time you specify, and frequently changed files and folders can also be backed up daily. The process could not be easier.

To just back up specific files and folders on a one-time basis, choose the Backup Wizard, which leads you through five simple steps in similar fashion. You'll see a progress screen showing how your backup is going, and prompting you to insert new media if needed. There is full support (of course!) for CD/DVD drives, including double-layer 8.5GB DVD media, which makes it much easier to back up big hard disks.

Creating a Disaster Recovery Disk Set

One of the most valuable features of Backup MyPC is the ability to create disaster recovery disks for your system, in the event of a catastrophic failure where you are unable to boot your machine. These disks, along with your backup set and Windows installation CDs, can be used to perform a complete restoration of your system. In one easy step, Backup MyPC will analyze your system and hardware, and prompt you to insert blank media to create the disks. Then you can put them aside secure in the knowledge that your system is safe. You should redo the disaster disks after major system updates or hardware changes.

Customized Backups

After you've used Backup MyPC for a bit, you may want to customize your backup jobs. Clicking on the Backup button on the left brings up the backup window, from which you can configure all backup options, such as incremental backups, and choose options like compression (to save valuable backup disk space), passworded backups (to keep your data private), and verify (to immediately check all files in the backup to be sure it was successful). Backup job settings can be saved for repeated use.

Now that you know just how easy it is to back up with Creator, we're sure you will be the most prepared person on your block.

Capture Your Video Clips

The first step in any video project is of course to bring clips from your camcorder into your computer. To start, connect your camcorder to your PC with the USB or FireWire cable that came with it, and turn it on in the proper mode for computer transfer (usually the Playback mode -- see your camcorder's manual). Then, within MyDVD, choose File>Capture/Import. The Media Import tool will open, and you can select your camcorder from the device list and start capturing clips. Tip: First cue up your camcorder to the beginning of clip you want to capture, and pause it. Second, click the Capture button in Media Import to start the recording, and then press Play on your camcorder. There will be a few extra frames to crop out at the beginning of the recording, but this is easily done when you start to create your DVD.

The Media Import window shows a live preview of your camcorder recording.

You can also use video from other sources, such as cell phone or digital camera movies, video downloads, and clips you may have recorded with a TV tuner card.

Beginning Your MyDVD Project

Now that you've gotten all your video onto your PC, it's time to start creating your DVD. Open MyDVD, and click the "Change Menu Style" button under the Edit pane to select an overall theme for your disc, such as "Birthday," "Safari" or "Snowing." This is what will appear on screen when you insert the disc into a DVD player. Menu styles consist of background images, button styles and placements, and font selections. Next, click the Add New Movie button. Select a clip or group of clips that you'd like to be accessed from the first button in your DVD menu. If you select a group of clips, check the box to import them "as one movie" when prompted.

A MyDVD project with three chapters in the main menu.

Keep adding movies until you have all your intended chapters. At this point, you may want to experiment with different typefaces and styles, or reposition some of the graphic elements. Simply drag elements to move them, or select them to change fonts or styles. There are dozens of available button styles, for example. To change the background image, choose the "Change Menu Background" option in the Edit pane.

Editing Video Clips

If some of your video clips need trimming, or if you'd like to add special effects and transitions, select the video in the Preview area, then choose Edit Movie under the Movie menu. You'll be presented with a full timeline video editing system w