This is not always best. And if you are using Camtasia Studio to edit the video, it does not read the MP4 format that Flip Video uses.

Before December 2009, Flip Video's software, called FlipShare, used to convert and compress the videos to a WMV or MOV format. However, with the firmware upgrade at that time, they got rid of the conversion. They compress it, but leave it as an MP4 format.

After pestering Flip Video's support staff for a day, I finally got in touch with a knowledgeable tech who explained all of this. And, on the down-low, recommended I use Koyote's free video converter (found at http://www.koyotesoft.com).

I downloaded the converter and saved the video from the MP4 format on the device itself into a host of formats on my local drive. WMV works well, as does AVI (and of course, AVI has better quality).

So, if you're using Camtasia and are extremely frustrated about not being able to edit your Flip Videos, give Koyote's video converter a try, or any other free converter to move it from the MP4 format to a workable one.

Linda - http://how.best-free-information.com - The "How" Blog

The HD version helps to see some of the smaller details as he gets into the settings. I've followed along, and this tutorial really works!

I love GIMP for graphic design (especially since it's free), and the buttons I've made with this tutorial really look great. Enjoy!

Linda - http://how.best-free-information.com - The "How" Blog

It shows a technique of using YouTube to generate content for your blog.  They make the case that much of the actual content of YouTube isn't indexed by Google, and you can leverage that to easily create content for your own website.

Not only does posting and commenting on an existing video make writing a blog post super-easy, but it makes your site 'sticky', meaning visitors don't bounce as quickly.

The whole story can be found here: YouTube Trick to Create Blog Posts

Linda - http://how.best-free-information.com - The "How" Blog

For example, when Susan Boyle, a frumpy-looking 47-year-old woman stood in front of three cynical judges and thousands of cynical audience members, and shocked them with her beautiful voice, that video received over 30 Million views within the first week.

I decided to try to capture a part of that sensation. So I downloaded the video from YouTube, edited it, and re-published it. Directions on how to do that are below the video.

Here is the edited version of that video (edited to be "Popup Video" style, with comments inserted):

(Frankly,the video isn't that funny, but I just threw it together for the purposes of demonstrating that editing someone else's YouTube video is possible.)

1. I searched YouTube for the original video. You can sort by number of views, descending, so you can see the most-watched video.

2. I copied the URL of that video and went to http://mediaconverter.org. I used the free version there to convert the video to an MPEG format, then downloaded it to my hard drive.

3. I downloaded a free version of VideoSpin (http://www.videospin.com). You can use Microsoft Movie Maker to edit movies, too, but VideoSpin has some better options, such as being able to add graphics (like the lipstick kisses in the movie above).

4. I loaded the downloaded video to VideoSpin and edited it. In the case of the video above, I used 'Titles', and simply tweaked their font, their size, the location, and how long they appeared (and under what segment).

5. I used tubemogul.com to upload the finished video and distribute it to multiple video sites at once. It is important to note that I didn't claim ownership, nor did I blatantly use the content of the video to advertise. However, I did place the URL of this site in the description, as the first words of the description. For YouTube (where you'll get the most traffic), that becomes a hyperlink, and your chances of having people visit your site increase, if that's why you're tweaking a video.

Linda - http://how.best-free-information.com - The "How" Blog