When you first installed VideoSpin, you were able to use the optional Advanced Codec Pack costing $14.99 for a 15-day trial period. The codecs associated with this pack include MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, MP3 audio (with DivX files), Dolby Digital audio and AAC audio.

For most of us home users who do not want to spend any money or get too technical, the most important question is: "Will VideoSpin still work after 15 days if I do not purchase the advanced codec pack?"

The wonderful news is "Yes!".

Without the advanced codecs, VideoSpin can still create movie files in the following formats: AVI, MPEG-1, Real Media and Windows Media with WAV audio. And these simple codecs are more than enough for basic home video editing.

Ok, so we won't win any Emmy Awards but we have a free abide basic and simple tool to use. What more can we ask for a free program. We don't need any flashy equipment or sophisticated software to start making home movies or online videos to connect with our viewers.

Before we go any further, let's review what is "codec". Simply stated codec is short for "code-decode." This is the software that converts your videos from and into formats used by specific recording or playback devices.

OK, why do we make movies or videos? Because we want to upload them to social websites like YouTube or Yahoo! Video to connect with people in ways words and pictures never can. We want to share favorites with friends and family and connect with other users who share our interests.

YouTube accepts a wide range of video file formats such as WMV, AVI, MOV, and MPEG. Your video is limited to 10 minutes and 1GB.

Yahoo! Video supports the following file types: Windows Media, ASF, QuickTime, MPEG-1, and MPEG-2. Your video needs to in WMV, ASF, QT, MOD, MOV, MPG, 3GP, 3GP2 or AVI format, and must have audio. File size less than 150MB.

Now that we know the basics of what the free VideoSpin program can do without the Advanced Codecs package and what are the requirements of YouTube and Yahoo! Video, we can now focus our attention to the source videos we have stashed up in our computers.

"What if my source videos are in MPEG-2, MPEG-4 or DivX with MP3 audio and still want to use VideoSpin without having to spend $14.99?"

No problem! We just convert these video and audio files into MPEG-1 or Windows Media Video (WMV) with WAV audio. Although the AVI file type for digital video is itself widely supported, the actual coding and decoding of video and audio data in an AVI file is performed by separate codec software.

So, for hassle-free and problem-free editing with VideoSpin, I strongly recommend that you focus on MPEG-1 or VCD files and WAV audio for all your videos production. You can always re-encode to the video formats that you want later on without losing any quality in the process.

And how do we do the conversions?

It's very simple and with a free software known as WinFF.

WinFF is a GUI for the command line video converter, FFMPEG. It will convert most any video file that FFmpeg will convert. WinFF does multiple files in multiple formats at one time. You can convert MPEG's, FLV's, and MOV's, etc. into AVI's all at once. WinFF is available for Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, XP, VISTA, and Debian, Ubuntu, Redhat based GNU/Linux distributions.

You can download a free copy here: http://www.winff.org

WinFF has a very simple interface. You can convert most video or audio files in 5 simple steps.

Step 1: Click on "Add" button to upload the video/audio file (e.g. MPEG-2 file) you would like to convert.

Step 2: Open the "Convert To.." window and select the desired video format such as MPEG-1/VCD or WMV. Do not use AVI as it doesn't specify how it should be encoded. It could end up as MPEG-4 or DivX and your free VideoSpin will not work. Forget about RealMedia (.rm) format as the file can't be converted.

Step 3: Pull down the window and select "NTSC VCD (HQ)".

Step 4: Select the site where you would like to save your newly-converted video file. It has the same file name as your original file but with a different extension.

Step 5: Click on the "Convert" button. A black-screen window appears and it will take a couple of minutes to transcode your video file. Once it is finished, you'll need to press any key to complete the process.

Note:

You can use WinFF to convert MP3 files to Wav. In Step 2, select "Audio". In Step 3, select "Wav for CD" and that's it, you're all done.

After the conversions, your source videos should be in MPEG-1/VCD format and your audio file is WAV. Use these to make your own movie with the free VideoSpin program without the Advanced Codecs Pack. When you have compiled and edited all your video clips and images, click on the "Make Movie" button and select "MPEG-1" with preset "Video CD Compatible". Click "Create file.." and VideoSpin will render it to a new VCD movie.

You can now upload your video to YouTube or Yahoo! Video. Uploads usually take 1-5 minutes per MB on a high-speed connection, and converting your video takes a few minutes.

Or you can transcode your new video to any other format of your choice using the WinFF program.

After uploading your video to YouTube, your video is resized to 320x240 pixels, and encoded to Flash 7 at a data rate of approximately 250 kbps and audio is compressed to MP3 (22.050 KHz, monophonic).

It's very important that you keep an aspect ratio of 4:3, otherwise the quality of your video will be degraded. Flash 7 codec performs best when the frame width and height use multiples of 16. This is optimal for video playback.

Uploads usually take 1-5 minutes per MB on a high-speed connection, and converting your video takes a few minutes.

On the other hand, Yahoo! Video resizes your video to 512x323 pixels and transcodes it to Flash at a 700 dpbs and then stream the video at varying rates based on the speed of the viewer’s connection.