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Andree writes, "How do I play ssa file extensions?"

SSA stands for SubStation Alpha, which is a subtitle file format commonly used in conjunction with online video downloads. As a standalone file, an SSA file isn't particularly useful, as it will merely play text subtitles associated with some other movie file. You really need the movie file and the SSA file to get the full experience. To playback an SSA file either by itself or combined with a video file, you need an application called VSFilter, which allows the SSA file to playback in virtually any Windows compatible media player. The easiest way to associate your SSA subtitle file with an actual video file is to play both of them back simultaneously in an application like VLC Player.

To use VLC Player with your SSA file:

First download VLC Player.

Open VLC Player and go to Settings > Preferences on the menu. Expand the Video section and click on Subtitle/OSD. In the right hand pane, click Browse next to the Use subtitle file box and locate your SSA file. Click Save and then either click play to see only the SSA file playback or open a video file and play it back.

Amit writes, "How do I convert Digital8 tapes to DVD?"

Digital8 is Sony's alternative to MiniDV and remains available only in limited camcorders in the Sony product line. Fortunately, the capture process is identical to what you'd expect from a MiniDV camcorder. You connect the Digital8 camcorder from the iLINK (aka FireWire or IEEE 1394) connection on the camcorder to the FireWire connection on your PC and import the contents of the tape. You can then edit the footage with your favorite video editor and author a DVD.

For a tutorial on capturing video from a Digital8 Camcorder follow the steps here:

Capturing video from a Sony Digital8 Video Camera

Once you capture the footage from the Digital8 camcorder, here's a number of tips for editing video:

Video Editing with Windows Movie Maker

For authoring DVDs, my favorite solution is Sonic MyDVD. You can walk through the process of making a DVD here:

DVD Authoring Step-by-step

"How can I save a still image from my video project in Windows Movie Maker?"

Windows Movie Maker provides a very simple solution for saving a frame of video as a still image. Keep in mind this still image will be saved at whatever the resolution of your video is, which is probably not high enough quality for printing. If the video you want to grab a still image from is on DVD, you'll need to use a slightly different method for saving still images from DVD.

To save a still image from a movie in Windows Movie Maker, first select the video clip you want to save an image from in the Collections pane. Move the playback slider in the video monitor to the point in the video where you want to save a still. Click the Take Picture button below the preview window.

When prompted, choose a name for your file and click the save button. You can also save still photos from video files on the Timeline.

Ashirwad writes, "I just bought a Canon S3 IS and am pretty much satisfied with it except for one big issue. Its AVI files eat up the memory too fast and I can get a max. of 4-5 minutes of video on my 512MB SD card. I heard that an MPEG format video could have saved me. Now, as I had taken this camera on a trial basis, I can always, within a few days, get it exchanged. Are there any suggestions about another camera with similar specs and prices but one which can record more at the same quality?"

While there are other Digital Cameras with similar feature sets to the Canon S3 IS, I wouldn't recommend switching cameras simply because you're running out of room for recording video. The S3 IS records AVI files with M-JPEG compression, which does offer a substantially smaller file size than many other compression options used in the AVI container, without sacrificing image quality. Getting a still camera that records in MPEG-4 may save you a little space, but it's quite possible your video will look worse as a result too. What you really need is higher capacity SD cards. A very quick search of memory prices turns up 2GB SD cards in the $20 price range and 4GB cards in the $40 price range (as of this writing).

Another thing to consider in your video recording process is where you will use the video once you're done with it. If you're putting your video on the Web at someplace like YouTube, you can reduce the required space by shooting 320x240 video, especially if what you are shooting will never appear anywhere other than online.

If what you really want is a video camera, that's another story. I'd suggest opting for something like a hard drive based JVC Everio line camera or the Panasonic PV-GS320 for both affordability and overall quality.

Peter writes, "I have captured some video and now I would like to play it backwards and insert it into a film to give the appearance of catching a knife when in fact I threw it. How can I do it? I have Videowave II and Pinnacle Studio, neither of which seem to be able to do this. Do I need extra software?"

To the best of my knowledge, even the newest version of Videowave still lacks support for playing film clips in reverse. The latest version of Pinnacle Studio does support playing video clips backward, although the way you get there is a not intuitive. I'll also show you another way to play your video backward using AVISynth and VirtualDubMod to make a reverse clip compatible with any video editor.

Playing a Clip Backward with Pinnacle Studio

With the clip you want to play backward on the timeline selected, open the Video Toolbox Effects lists by choosing Toolbox > Add Video Effects. (You can also do this by clicking the video camera icon above the timeline and then clicking the power plug icon, but the menu gets you there faster)

In the Standard RTFX category of Video Effects, choose Speed and click OK.

On the Speed effect configuration, check the box next to Reverse. You can speed up or slow down the reverse playback by changing the Speed percentage.

Your video should now play backward on the timeline.

Read how to play a video backwards using AVISynth and VirtualDubMod. (This method works for any video editor, including Windows Movie Maker and Roxio Easy Media Creator).

Shannon writes, "I don't have a video iPod, but I was wondering if there was some program or anything that would help me strip the audio off of a video from YouTube and convert it so it will play on my iPod."

Without knowing exactly which iPod you have, there are two possibilities. Many of the newer iPods with no video support will playback the audio portion of an MP4 file without playing the video portion. If your iPod will support MP4 playback, the easiest thing to do is use one of the software apps for converting YouTube videos for iPod playback. If MP4 playback is not an option, taking video from YouTube and converting it to an audio file is relatively easy. You download the video file and then use file conversion software to go from the FLV format used for video on YouTube to an MP3 file playable on an iPod, Zune or any other portable media player. This second option requires a two step process. First download the video and then convert the file.

Tom writes, "I really need some help with Windows Movie Maker. When I am making credits for the thing I've made, how do I get video to play alongside the credits. I have picked the option where you can have video rolling alongside but I don't know how please help!"

We've all seen credits rolling along next to the closing scenes of a television show or at the end of a movie. Windows Movie Maker supports this feature, but it gets applied in a counterintuitive way that makes you feel like you did something wrong. If you already created the credits you're almost there. I'll walk through the process of making credits that play over a video clip and how to get this feature to actually work when you select it.

With your movie on the video timeline, choose Tools > Titles and Credits from the menu. Choose the option to add credits at the end of the movie.

Enter all the details for your title in the available boxes. Click Change the title animation.

In the Credits section of title animations choose either Credits: Video Left or Credits: Video Top. Click Done.

At this point the credits you created will appear at the end of your movie in the Video section of the timeline.

Select the credits clip on the timeline and drag it to the Title Overlay section of the timeline below the Audio/Music section of the timeline. Overlap as much of your movie as you need to have video playing for the full duration of your credits.

If you play back the timeline you can see the credits overlaying the video in the preview window.

Anna writes, "My question is about Movie Maker - is there a control for the scrolling of the credits, i.e. to make them scroll more quickly?"

Windows Movie Maker includes an effect for speeding up video clips which works for both your movie clips and for the credits. The speed only offers one setting, which doubles the speed of the clip, making a 30 second clip playback in 15 seconds, for instance. With some creative stacking, you can use this effect up to 6 times to zip through your credits.

After creating credits for your movie, scroll to the section of the video Timeline where your credits are located.

From the Collections, choose Video Effects and locate the Speed Up, Double effect from the list of effects. Drag the effect onto your credits on the timeline.

After dragging the Speed Up, Double effect to the timeline, there should be a little blue star on your credits clip in the timeline and the length of the clip should be half the original length on the timeline.

Repeat these steps to add up to six Speed Up, Double effects to your credits as needed to adjust the speed. This same trick can be applied to any video clip to speed it up, with the caveat that a maximum of six total effects may be applied to any one video clip.

Keith writes, "How do I make DVD to play on my home DVD player?"

To make a DVD that plays on your home DVD player, you need DVD authoring software to convert the video to the file format for the DVD, as well as add menus and chapters (if you want those features). There are a number of DVD authoring software applications available. My personal favorite for making DVDs is Roxio MyDVD, which is available as both a standalone application as well as part of the Roxio Creator authoring suite. Here's how to make a DVD using Sonic MyDVD.

Dustin asks, Is there any way that you can download streaming video off the Internet?

Many sites don't want you to download the videos they stream and in some cases it might be a violation of their terms of service to do so. Having said that, there are several ways to download streaming video. Each method depends on knowing what the URL of the video is and what format is being streamed.

Sandy writes, I have a Dell Dimension 8400. I recently purchased a JVC digital camcorder. The camcorder came with some software Digital Photo Navigator and also a USB connection. When I go to put my video on the computer all I get is the still pictures on the SD card. I just bought a FireWire cable but cannot for the life of me find a spot to plug it in to the computer.

Camcorder manufacturers made things a little confusing when they added USB support for transferring still images because they don't generally ship the required cable for transferring video in the camera box. It seems like a major oversight that many computers are still shipping without FireWire ports, but I know it happens because I have a system that didn't ship with a FireWire port by default. Before we rule out that your system does not have a FireWire port, lets take a look at a few possibilities.

Norma writes, "I edit a lot of movie clips of 2 to 4 minutes in length, & would like to know how to compact them down enough to send via e-mail. The clips run approx 50 to 100MB, but the e-mail seem to take only 4MB. I get e-mail with short videos from others that have been downloaded from YouTube or a commercial site & sent as attachment. Is there a program that does this?"

I personally recommend against sending videos via email. Considering all the issues people have with infected messages and blocked content, it's far easier to send someone a link to either view online or download after they get to a site. The other complication is being forced to compromise both image quality and file size do to the limitations of whatever company provides your mail service.

If sending via email is a matter of privacy, use a service like Eyejot, which lets you define who has access to each video you want to send. You create the video, use Eyejot to share the video, and their service notifies your friends or customers that they have a video to watch. You retain complete control over who gets to watch your video. After you signup for Eyejot, you have the option to either record videos with a Webcam or upload other videos to send to people.

Legion asks, "What makes a capture card considered "Real Time"?"

The basic definition of a real time video capture card is one that's capable of capturing data accurately at the same rate of speed it's receiving information. When capturing data from a tape in a VCR or video camera, this means capturing every second of audio and video information on the tape as it plays without losing any of the information in the process. In a live video scenario, real time video capture means the card is capturing and processing video received from a live camera feed as it's happening with no additional buffering required to process the information after the fact.

Contrast this with video compression software, which often compresses video at several times less than real time in order to get a smaller file size that still looks good. The amount of processing less than real time is often a trade off between how small you need your video file to be, how quickly you need your video file, and whether the playback mechanism for the video file has any major limitations that make compressing the video file in a particular way important.

Todd writes, I am running WinXP Media Center 2005 Edition SP2 on my P4, 1GB Ram, home machine. I recently did a Windows Update and part of that was to update Windows Media Player. I was using Version 10 already, so it was just a small update (but, if recall correctly, it was classified as "critical"). After the update, WMP would no longer play .avi files in color...only in black and white. It handles everything else just fine. Media Player Classic, VLC, BSPlayer, and Nero Showtime all handle the files just fine. I am using FFDshow for most of my codecs and I can find nothing wrong there nor can I find a way to rollback that particular WMP update.

It shouldn't require a Windows Media Player rollback in order to fix your problem. In all likelihood, this problem doesn't impact every AVI file on your system, only ones using a common codec like DivX or XviD. Sometimes updates to Windows Media Player disrupt the way a specific codec is addressed by Windows Media Player and you need to re-install that codec in order to return things to normal. These are generally third-party codecs not officially supported by Windows Media Player with their own custom integration with the player. Before proceeding you need more information.

The first step in solving your problem is to download the codec information application GSpot. This will provide detailed information about specific AVI files impacted by the problem. Open one of the files with GSpot and make note of the codec information provided.

After determining which codec is associated with the quirky AVI file, download the latest version of the codec and re-install the specific codec to solve the problem.

This solution will also fix video playback with no audio, as well as fixing video playing back upside down.

Run Time: 92 minutes
Director: Robert Wise
Starring: Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal
Rating: G
DVD Release Date: March 2, 2004

Compare Prices on The Day The Earth Stood Still

A classic science fiction film that should need no introduction, The Day The Earth Stood Still is as much a commentary on the 1950's political climate, as it is a disturbing premonition of humanity's self-destructive tendencies. Combining a religious parable with a flying saucer obsession and fear of Communism, the movie is a snapshot of American imperfections. Despite a lack of special effects, much of the imagery in this movie has been repeated throughout the evolution of sci-fi. The film's quality has been restored to a state that may be better than the original theatrical release without losing the old time feel of the movie. Extras on the DVD are a must for any sci-fi fan, including a documentary on the making of the movie, the shooting script, and a before and after comparison of the restoration.

Watch LikeTelevision

While some of the programming available through LikeTelevision is available free through the Internet Archive, many of the classics presented here remain available by subscription only through this and other movie services. For either $14.95/month or $125 annually, you get access to a library of MPEG-1 videos from Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon, Bruce Lee in The Chinese Connection, a ton of Betty Boop, Felix the Cat and Superman cartoons, the Three Stooges, Popeye, and a bizarre assortment of other titles. While this isn't on par with digitally remastered footage released by the studios, it is a very affordable way to get your eyeballs on some classics more quickly than we'll see them released through Archive.org. Although the quality isn't quite DVD standard MPEG-2 formatting, you could easily burn an of the movies to DVD-R for playback on your home entertainment system with better than VHS quality. Unlike other online services, these movies are available DRM free, allowing you to play them back on the computer or device of your choosing.

Run Time: 146min
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Tom Cruise, Samantha Morton, Max Von Sydow, Collen Farrell
DVD Release Date: August 24, 2004
Rating: PG-13

Compare Prices on Minority Report

Raising some disturbing questions about the future of technology, Minority Report takes us to the not-too-distant future, where crimes may be predicted before they happen. Based on a sci-fi detective novel by Philip K Dick, the author responsible for the story behind Blade Runner, Minority Report is one of the more cerebral science fiction stories to hit DVD markets, possibly since the release of Blade Runner (unless you count the sci-fi Pinocchio that was A.I.). Both thought provoking and socially relevant, Minority Report sucks you in the way any good murder mystery should, with the interesting spin that the detectives know whodunit before it happens. This is probably one of my personal favorite Tom Cruise performances. The DVD extras are about as Hollywood glossy as you can get, with each special segment over-produced, losing the conversational intimacy present in some behind-the-scenes work. Speilberg continues to make his mark on the sci-fi genre and we are privy to his assembly of a "League of Superheros" from the motion picture world in the construction of this film.

You can hear the original story as part of the audio book Minority Report & Other Stories.