The Thrifty Trainer

Part one of two installments of audio/video tools, this group focuses on tools for capturing audio/video/images and editing the captured media.

Audacity
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Cross-platform sound file editor. Highly functional, though it’s a bit awkward to use, at first glance. Strongly recommend you download the LAME audio encoder so you can output directly to mp3 format, and download the plugins to add dozens of audio filters. Works on most OSes. CJ Favorite

CamStudio
http://camstudio.org/
Record from computer screen, edit, and create avi/swf files for playback on any website. Comparable to Camtasia. Windows only.

Kaltura
http://corp.kaltura.com/
Video management platform. Make your own YouTube. Video editing, publishing and management, all rolled into one. Plug into a number of content management and learning management systems (already supported!), up to 10GB streaming available, or install on your own web server. Windows, Linux, or Mac Server (must have Apache, PHP, MySQL, mail transport).

ScreenToaster
http://www.screentoaster.com/
Software as a service, record screen activity, annotate, edit, and publish, all in the same website. Share or stream finished videos with anyone. Browser based, any platform.

SUPER
http://www.erightsoft.com/S6Kg1.html
Stands for “Simplified Universal Player Encoder & Renderer,” which kind of explains it all.  Convert just about any media file into just about any other media format. Portable version available (not easy to find, however…). Windows only.  This link is direct to installer file, because their website is a labyrinth.

SaveVid
http://www.savevid.com/
Software as a service, helps you to pirate video content out of just about any web page as a downloadable video. What you do with it afterwards is none of my business. I don’t want to know. Browser based, open platform.

Toucan
http://aviary.com/tools/toucan
Free software as a service. Works like kuler.adobe.com to create a color palette you can use for creating art, styling presentations, or anything else you’re working on. Adobe’s Kuler (pronounced “color”) requires you to have Photoshop for full service. Toucan is free. Any platform, browser based.

VirtualDub
http://www.virtualdub.org/
Video capture and editing tool. Like a primitive version of Adobe Premiere. Processes AVI and MPEG-1, and can work with .bmp images.  Excellent utility. Windows only.

Windows Movie Maker
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/moviemaker2.mspx
Edit, compile and share movie files. Works with WMV format and AVI format, but not much else, in my experience. Can be used to capture video from attached devices such as digital video cameras and web cameras. Free for Windows users. Obviously, Windows only.

Wink
http://www.debugmode.com/wink/
Tutorial and presentation editor with built-in screen capture, full motion or static. Extremely robust, with a simple interface. Excellent alternative to Macromedia Captivate. Portable version available. Windows and Linux only. CJ Favorite (and yes, this tool appears elsewhere)