Easy Laser Zap Effect in ANY Video editor.

Ever fancied zapping people (filmically speaking) with a laser? Perhaps this is just the effect you need to put the fininshing touches to your own no-budget Sci-fi short but the ability to produce such an effect is beyond you?

After all, this stuff isn't easy. Hollywood spend gazillions of  dollars on special effects like these. Producing such a feat requires high-end editors and an encyclopaedic knowledge of specialist programs like Adobe's After Effects doesn't it? 

Well usually, yes but there is a simple technique you can use to pull off a pretty respectable laser-zap effect with minimal tools and skills. You can emulate the classic Star Trek style Laser/Phaser zap with surprisingly little in the way of fancy editors.

In fact, this Classic effect can be created on virually any video editor - even the most basic ones. If your editor can do simple cuts, fades and screen grabs (and they nearly all can) - Then you can do this. Check out the video to find out how.

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TOP 5 TIPS - How to make a Youtube Video for Newbies.

Are you a potential movie maker? Always wanted to do SOMETHING, but don't quite know how to start? Are you one of those people who are always planning to make their first video for Youtube, but somehow never quite get started because of the fear that you might make a pig's ear of it?

Well fear no more. Meejah's latest video is all about addressing this very problem, with five Top Tips that will steer the ususpecting newcomer away from the most common mistakes that newbies tend to make.

There's nothing difficult here, just some common-sense advice that will give you a jump-start in the art of making videos. You could of course find out about these tricks yourself eventually by simply making the mistakes, seeing the results, and saying "Well I won't do that again", but now you can save yourself all that time, hassle and pain, and hit the ground running.

So, check out these Top Five tips, grab your Video camera, and go and make some great videos - Now!

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How to get FREE licence-Free music and Sound effects from Youtube

I get an awful lot of messages from people asking about where they can get hold of copyright free music and sound effects for use in their video productions. Which is understandable because appropriate sound effects and music can add a whole new dimension to a video.

The reason they need licence-free music is because they know that the use of unauthorised music in their videos could lead to their video being pulled by Youtube for copyright infringement. What's more, they could be laying themselves open to a legal challenge from the music's owners.

It seems that it is not generally known that Youtube have a library of copyright-free music and sound effects that are available for free download by anyone with a Youtube account. These downloads are all absolutely safe to use in all Youtube videos (and indeed, any other videos for that matter).

So this video shows you exacly how to go about accessing these great freebies - Courtesy of Youtube. Check it out. You'll be glad you did.

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How to Bleep out Bad Language and Swearing on your videos with ANYvideo editor.

Ever had a great bit of video that you really wanted to upload, but were too embarrased to show because it contained swearing, cursing or bad language? 

Well now you can use that golden footage -  dig out those clips, because in this video tutorial you can find out how to "Bleep" out those naughty words and make your video suitable for everyone, not just Builders and Sailors. 

It's remarkably easy to do and the technique can be used on pretty much ANY video editor - Including basic ones. If you can split your clip then you can use this method. 

To prove the point that the technique can be used on any video editor, the demonstration in this video is performed on Windows Movie Maker - So C'mon - don't just sit there, get %@%! Bleeping!

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Easily Remove Background Noise from your Video Soundtrack

Ever been dissapointed by a video recording that you have made because of some annoying background noise going on that was unavoidable when you were recording. Or maybe the camera itself produces an unacceptable ammount of hiss that you just wish wasn''t there

The two great quality indicators of video making is lighting and sound and sound is one of the most neglected aspects when making a video. Perhaps you think that there is nothing you can do about background noise or a hissy soundtrack and that you will just have to learn to live with it - Not so.

Removing hiss and background noise is quite straighforward and easy to do with an excellent (yet free) program called Audacity. And this one simple process will do wonders in increasing the percieved quality of your videos. It's quick, simple and it works. This video will show you how - Check it out.

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Everything you wanted to know about Windows Movie Maker

Most of the messages I receive at The Meejah Channel tend to be questions about how to use the basic functions of Windows Movie Maker. It would seem that there are a lot of would-be video editors out there who are struggling with the technicalities of Microsoft's free video editor.

So I thought "why not produce a basic how-to guide for Windows Movie Maker"? A guide that covered everything from getting your video clips into the editor, right through to rendering the finished edit into a movie.

This was not such a quick 'n easy job as I had at first thought and I ended up producing a series of seven videos explaining all the various aspects of using WMM in a quick no-nonsense way.

The videos (and these are links by the way - click on them to see the videos), cover these topics:
Importing your Video
Editing your Video
Editing your Sound
Video Transitions
Video Effects
Editing Titles and Credits
Rendering your Edit into a Movie

You can also access the whole playlist Here:
You can subscribe to Meejah's Youtube channel Here

So if Windows Movie Maker has ever confounded you, or if you're just curious as to what it's capable of, then check out this series - It may just surprise you.

Watermarking with Windows Movie Maker - The Easy Way.

Watermarking on video. - In case you don't know what "Watermarking" a video means, it is the addition of a name, or a channel identification logo to a video. It is usually quite small  and unintrusive - frequently semi-transparent - and more often as not, lives in one of the corners of the screen, where it remains for the entire length of the video.

What's it's point? - Well it's not just an excercise in vanity, a "Look what I made" statement. It's actually a security measure. The internet is replete with "bad'uns" who are happy to download videos they have taken a liking to from places like Youtube and then re-upload them elsewhere as their own work. This is of course ruined if the true owner of the video has their name or channel indelibly marked into the very fabric of the video.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of nascent video-makers use Windows Movie Maker as their video editor of choice and being a somewhat basic program, has no facility for producing true video watermarks - So does this mean that WMM users will just have to do without Watermarking.

Actually, No. Because although standard watermarking as we know it cannot be produced by WMM, we can nevertheless produce something mightily similar by tweaking the "Titles" options. It's quick, It's easy and It WORKS, and you can find out how by checking out this video:

Compose your videos like a Pro

Ever thought that your video and photographic compsitions were lacking that certain "something"? Wondered why your snaps never looked quite as good as some of the pro shots you have seen?

So what is the secret to composing pleasing shots with your camera or camcorder - Is it something which requires an artist's eye and years of training?

Well, actually, the secret of composition rest in the application of a very simple rule - more a guideline really - called "The Rule of Thirds". It's actually a very simple technique that was discovered hundreds of years ago by the great artists of old and continues to be used by artists, photographers and cinematographers to this day.

The technique is simple to learn, yet very effective. Adopt this technique and you should get successful results 90% of the time.Check out the video and you'll see what i mean.

Creating voiceovers and adding music in WMM

One of the most useful things that you can do with a video editor is to add narration to your video. In fact if you want to make a documentary of any sort, it's pretty much vital.

Windows Movie Maker is a great little program for what it is - and the price is right (Free). But sophisticated it is not. It offers only one Audio/Music track which usually means having to choose between having background music or a voiceover.

With a little bit of cheating however, you CAN have both and although Windows Movie Maker does not allow you to gently fade between different volume levels, this too, can be done by cheating.

So if you want to know how to use Windows Movie Maker to remove an annoying sound-track, add some nice music, a narration AND drop the background music level whilst the narrator is speaking, then this video is for you - Check it out.

How to produce an Echo effect in ANY video editor inc. WMM

Everyone loves an echo, and it has to be one of the most useful sound effects that the video/film maker can use. It can give the impression that you are in a  tunnel, hall or other cavernous place.

Where would classic horror movies be without the creepy feel that comes from dialogue laced with a generous helping of echo?

Unfortunately, not every video editor comes with a built-in facility to produce them. The high-end editors will have it as part of a more comprehensive audio management toolbox, but few if any of the free video editors will posess anything like this.

But that's no problem, because in this video I am going to show you a quick and easy method that can be used to make your clips echo - whatever video editor you use, and to prove the point, the demonstration uses good old Windows Moviemaker. It's quick, easy and effective so you need never be without an echo again.