Time-Saving Tips: Get creative with iLife

Working with photos and editing video can be fun, but that doesn’t mean you want to spend all your free time in front of the computer. Here are 18 simple iLife tricks that'll speed you through the boring parts.

Mark chapters in your videos with…Garageband

Section: Software + Apps, iLife, Utilities, Video, iPod + iTunes, iTunesThe Mac is easily one of the best choices you can make if you want to edit and store home videos. It was practically built to consume media, and movies are no exception. But what if you want your videos to have easily accessible chapter markers like scenes in DVDs? It’s not really that hard, and you have a couple choices, though the built in way is not obvious. Heck, who would have thought to use Garageband enhance a video? Macworld has a great article detailing the process of adding chapter markers to any videos you may have. It works great if you have your own podcast, recorded television or even if you just want to have a record of those funny things that happen at family events. I mean really, it never gets old watching people fall down. They made an entire show out of it...America’s Funniest Home Videos. Back to the point. Adding these markers is really simple. Just edit your video in iMovie or other program if necessary, and export the finished product. Just make sure that wherever your video comes from, that it’s finished. Open Garageband, and drag the video into a new music project. Select that movie track in the timeline and a chapters area appears below. Move the playhead to a place where you’d like to add a chapter, click the Add Marker button at the bottom of the window, and in the Chapter column enter a name for the chapter: Opening, Pie Fight, or Rude Bit, for example. Don’t bother entering a URL title or URL. Then, after you are done adding chapter markers to your heart’s content, just click Share in the menu and Send to iTunes. You’ll get some choices for quality level, and then click Share to complete the process. The movie is automatically added to your iTunes library, which is great if that’s final destination. Now your video has chapter markers, and feels that much more professional! It should also be noted that you can also add chapter markers with a program called HandBrake, which, if you are into editing videos, you probably already have. In HandBrake, under the Output Settings, go to the Chapters tab. Just remember that you only want to add chapters to a final video. If you edit it again with iMovie, it does something really dumb; it erases them. Someday, Apple will fix this, I’m sure, and probably add the chapters functionality into iMovie where it belongs. But until that day, at least you have a couple options. Via [Macworld] Full Story » | Written by Jake Gaecke for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

Creating chapters in iTunes-compatible movies

You've ripped a DVD you own but danged if you can figure out how to make an iTunes-compatible version with chapter markers. Here's how.

Macintosh/iPhone software update round-up - October 6, 2008

Section: Software + Apps, Miscellaneous, Third-Party, iPod + iTunes, iPod touch, iPhone + Communications, iPhone, iPhone SDK & Apps, Mac + Computers, SoftwareMacintosh and iPhone software updates and announcements for October 6, 2008: Freeverse has announced they will be temporarily be reducing the price of their popular iPhone racing game, Moto Chaser. Moto Chaser will be available for $0.99, less than the price of a gallon of gas. Developed exclusively for the iPhone and iPod touch, Moto Chaser provides a unique racing experience in the palm of your hand. Utilizing the device’s built-in accelerometer, Moto Chaser features intuitive motion sensitive control, which allows you to steer your vehicle by physically tilting the device either to the left or to the right, giving you the extra precision that you need to make it to the checkered flag in one piece. Berbie Software has announced an update for TrailRunner 1.8, the outdoor oriented route-planning and journaling software for Mac OS X. Among other improvements, the latest update has a full integration with GPSies—a community web site to store, view and share outdoor activities and routes. With this new release, TrailRunner users can easily find routes in their neighborhood and share their own with other hikers, runners and mountain bikers. Subatomic Studios has announced the release of Fieldrunners, an action-based strategy game in the much-loved tower defense genre. In Fieldrunners, you defend and control a field under heavy attack by enemy forces. At your disposal lies a wide array of devastating upgradeable towers, each providing their own unique advantages. You must plan out your strategy wisely in order to stop the oncoming fieldrunners from infiltrating your base. With multiple levels of difficulty, Fieldrunners offers both casual and hardcore players alike a challenging and enjoyable experience. Code Line has a great reputation for outfitting designers with software applications to make their jobs easier. Now, artists on the go can turn to their iPhone or iPod touch for Code Line’s newest creation, Color Expert. Color Expert contains powerful tools to help artists and designers identify, translate, capture and showcase color. And now they can do that anywhere. Opcoders has announced Toolbox 0.8.2 for advanced editing tasks involving bitmap and vector graphics. Toolbox can be used as a texture generator, as a logo editor and more. Focus for this release has been to make Toolbox user friendly. A new Light block has been added that has 12 parameters. The new Light block accepts up to 4 inputs allowing for fine grained control of ambient, diffuse and specular. The Dream Apps has announced Dream Capture 2.2, an update to their video recording utility for Mac OS X. Dream Capture is a simple and intuitive utility to record videos that are perfect for uploading to various video sharing websites, importing into iMovie or GarageBand for the creation of Podcasts or burned to DVD. This makes Dream Capture a great compliment to Apple’s iLife Suite. Dare to be Creative today announced the release of Dragoman 1.4, a universal batch file conversion utility for Mac OS X Tiger and Leopard. Dragoman is a utility application that batch converts images, photos, PDFs, music and archive files with a lightweight drag and drop interface. Big Stone Phone’s audio and photo recorder TalkingPics 1.2 is now available. Create projects with many audio, photos, maps and notes, and make slideshows. Upload files to Mac or Windows via browser. New MP3 compression option. This version adds a new preference to choose either the ultra high quality lossless format or the WAV compressed format. Big Stone Phone’s compelling painting and public art sharing app iGraffiti has been enhanced and is now available at the AppStore. New features include a pick any color from photo option and view the Public Art right from within iGraffiti. Key features include the use Library photos, take snapshots, or use a simple colored canvas. iGraffiti offers unique paint brush controls, choose color from crayons or pick a color from anywhere in the photo and more. Freeverse today announced the release of their acclaimed puzzle game, Burning Monkey Puzzle Lab, for the iPhone and iPod touch. Burning Monkey Puzzle Lab combines multiple game modes that have been enjoyed by millions, all in one great game, and priced at only $0.99. Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

Apple Camp '08 schedule posted

Today Apple posted the schedule for Apple Camp. Apple Camp is held at Apple retail stores for kids 8-12 to go learn about creative things like: making presentations with Keynote, taking and managing photos with iPhoto, creating music with GarageBand, and making movies with iMovie. Each sessions lasts about 3 hours and is available at all Apple retail locations. Kids attending will receive a DVD or CD with their creations on it, field guide, t-shirt, and will be able to get other giveaways. Best of all, Apple Camp is free though registration is required.Kids under 13 must have a parent/guardian present; otherwise, you'll have to bring an Apple permission slip (PDF link). You can now register on Apple's Camp registration website.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Sign up the youngsters for Apple Camp ‘08 now

Section: Apple, Apple News, Retail & Apple Store, Software + Apps, Audio, Design, Home and Personal, iLife, iWork, Music, VideoFor those with fledgling Apple lovers at home, put this in your iCal. The schedule for this summer’s Apple Camp has been announced by Apple. If you have a child between ages 8 and 12, be sure to snag one of the free (but limited) spaces for lessons on the creative aspects of a Mac, such as how to create a good Keynote presentation, how to capture, manage, and edit shots in iPhoto, how to make custom music in GarageBand, and videography tips with iMovie.  Registration is open now, so be sure to claim a spot ASAP.  Sessions last three hours and include a shirt, field guide, DVDs and CDs of your child’s masterpieces, along with other goodies picked up during giveaways along the way. Register at Apple. Via [TUAW] Full Story » | Written by Mark Rowland for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »