Happy New Year!

CyberLink and the CREATE and PLAY Blog wish you a wonderful new year!

PowerDirector named Best Product of the Year 2013 by PCMag

What a wonderful news to end the year 2013, PowerDirector 12 wins 3 prestigious awards. No doubt, it is the best video editing software.

With consumers owning more devices capable of shooting near-professional quality video and photos, PowerDirector 12 has revolutionized the video editing process by providing consumers first cross-platform video editing experience. In the PC Magazine Best Products of 2013 Announcement, the publication noted that PowerDirector 12 “is a long time favorite among prosumer video editors. It offers impressive performance, an intuitive interface, and lots of editing goodie.” With its new up-to-4-angle MultiCam feature, 3D and 4K editing and output, and direct uploading to sharing sites, all at a consumer- friendly price, PowerDirector 12 beat all competitive offerings from other major technology vendors.

Read the complete news here.

CyberLink reserves the right to sell your personal information to third parties. By using CyberLink software, you agree to allow CyberLink Corp to access and make copies of all files on your computer or mobile device. You further agree to not join any class-action suits against CyberLink. 

FRIDAY FUN - Happy Holiday Greetings

This year, send Holiday Greetings in a video eCard to your loved ones. Just follow this link to create one of your own. You can share to friend's facebook too.

 

CyberLink wishes you all the happiness and joy of the season and throughout the year.
View video eCard.

Click here to create a FREE video eCard.

Click here for a tutorial on how to create a video eCard to post on Facebook and send by email.

Six Ways to Improve the Quality of Holiday Photos

 

 Are you taking holiday photos that nobody wants? You’re not alone. An estimated 75% consumers reported dissatisfaction with their holiday photo collections. But here’s the good news: with new technology and simple techniques, you can take high quality photos on par with those from the professionals. Here are six easy steps to follow:

Carefully Plan Group Shots

• Most people hate getting their picture taken as part of a group, but if you can make this a fun, fast experience, you can take the pain out of it while getting a perfect photo. First, plan everything in advance. Pick a great location where your guests will fit comfortably. Take group photos early on during celebrations when your guests are still looking their best. Take plenty of photos at one time to increase your odds of getting a perfect shot – remember there is always someone who blinks or moves or smirks at the wrong time, which can ruin a picture.

Candid Photos Rule

• Candid photos are always the most engaging so use continuous or burst mode to capture the best moments – kids opening up their gifts, grandpa giving a holiday toast. You can also use a tripod and set the camera to take pictures periodically. Additionally, you can buy a more advanced camera with an intervalometer to capture the best candid moments.

Keep Portraits Simple

• Make sure your subjects are relaxed – this will help them look their best – so talk to them and don’t be afraid to make them laugh a little. When shooting children, get on the ground with them and capture them at eye-level. This will help you capture their adorable facial expressions too. And, place your camera on a tripod and photograph guests as they arrive at the holiday celebration. Guests can take “selfies” throughout the day. Make sure you keep the background simple – not overly festive as that will distract from the subjects.

Get Outdoors

• Indoor lighting doesn’t always provide the ideal illumination. Flash washes out subjects and can highlight imperfections while low-light photos can look yellowish. Try to take most of your photos outdoors if you can, particularly during the morning or late afternoon when the light is the most flattering. To take the best photos of outdoor Christmas lights, shoot in the late afternoon or early evening before it gets too dark.

Fill the Frame

• The best photos fill the frame with the subject – your child, grandmother or the holiday turkey. Try to avoid distracting backgrounds that take the focus off of the subject. 

Invest in Photo Editing Software

• Photo editing software is now easy-to-use and very affordable – it is no longer just for professionals. Using it will allow you to airbrush to perfection, eliminate glare and red-eyes, crop out unwanted subjects and make colors pop. CyberLink makes the most affordable and easiest-to-use software. For the most affordable, easiest-to-use photo editing software, check out PhotoDirector on the CyberLink website.

 

Don't have PhotoDirector yet, you can download a 30-day free trial version here. 

 

 

 

FRIDAY FUN - Naughty or Nice?

Straight from the North Pole, Santa is checking his list. Have you been naughty or nice?

Video Editing Techniques that will Transform Your Holiday Home Movies

Why take mediocre home movies when you can take videos that truly dazzle friends and family for a lifetime? With the right techniques and tools, you can take more memorable videos that will be the envy of friends and family.

First, shoot to edit – that’s right, keep the camera rolling and don’t hit the pause button too soon. Why? Lots of great footage gets lost because people hit pause before the fun really starts to happen. Lots of spontaneous memorable moments occur at holiday gatherings and events – so make sure your camera is on, recording all the action. You can always edit out the dull moments later.

Shooting to edit is easier than you think – especially if you have a plan in mind. First, think about your final production before you shoot. Have a basic framework and storyline that provides structure but is still elastic enough to accommodate spontaneous moments. Then, plan to shoot a lot of close-ups and wide angle shots because these make good cut-aways when you have long footage that needs to be broken up. Plus, it is always fun to get people’s reactions to different things like a sought-after gift or an indulgent dessert. For example, if you are filming a holiday dinner, get a close-up of your uncle giving the toast and then capture the reactions of others around the dinner table. So, set up your shot and let the camera do its thing. Then take close-ups of guests talking, reacting, drinking and laughing. When you start the editing process, splice in these shots so your audience isn’t watching a full toast for five minutes.

Take some shots of scenery before people enter the picture. You need shots for transitions, backgrounds and cut aways so shoot 10 to 15 second clips. Capture the presents around the tree, the house lit up in Christmas lights, the festive dinner table and the roaring fireplace.

Make sure you film where the action is. Take fun shots of people cooking in the kitchen. Capture the drinking, laughter and camaraderie at the bar. Find a spot where you can keep your camcorder going for about 10 minutes. You can always edit it down later but you may capture some really great spontaneous moments.

Think about taking some nice transition shots. Most people pan into the falling snow or the flickering holiday lights but you can use your imagination. One technique that really works is to first pan into a scene and then make the image blurry or de-focused and then focus again before cutting away to another scene. Or go 3D and create some movies for the 3D TV in your living room.

Invest in video editing software as this will make all the difference. You can literally transform your mediocre home movie into a blockbuster film with the right software that can improve audio, make colors pop, feature a catchy soundtrack and set a zippy pace. CyberLink makes affordable, easy-to-use video software for regular people and professionals alike. Go to www.cyberlink.com and check out Power Director 12.

Take your videos to next level with multicam shoots. There may be more than one person in the family who is taking video shots the holiday table, singing or snow fights. Get all footages from all the cameras and import them to PowerDirector. This version let’s you edit scenes of the same event captured from different cameras in an easy and friendly interface. Amaze your friends and family with the professional production.

Don’t have PowerDirector yet? Download a FREE 30-day trial here.

How to Create a Holiday video eCard

Did you know you can easily create a Video eCard to your friend’s email or post on their Facebook wall? This Holiday make it special and send your blessings in by video.

In 4 easy steps, you can create a video ecard. To begin, go to www.directorzone.com and you will see a link above “Create your FREE video eCard”. Click on the little bird.

You will notice that you can create video eCards for various holidays and occasions, and for each theme there are several beautifully designed eCard cover art to select from. Here we will select “Christmas”.

Step 1: select a preferred Cover Art for your eCard. There is a collection of beautifully designed cover art to select from.

Or you can replace the cover art with a photo of your own, by clicking on the  "Uploace Cover" button. Make sure your photo is around 350 x 350 pixels and no bigger than 100 kb. Click on the “Choose file” to access the file from your computer and upload.

Step 2: decide how you want to send the eCard. Let’s start with the Facebook option first. You will need to login Facebookand authorize Directorzone to access your Facebook account.

Then, input your name and email and select “Send eCard to Facebook”

Step 3: create your eCard content. You can customize with your own greeting messages with up to 400 characters. A convenient counter at the top automatically tells you how many characters you can input.

You will notice a default video is already included. You can replace it with any other Holiday video you find on DirectorZone or embed a video you have created.

 

Next, all your facebook friends will appear in this screen and you can select the friends to post the video eCard on their wall. You can also post on your own wall too.



On the left hand side is a preview link. Click on it and you will see the eCard your friends will receive.

Here is to preview the eCard we just made:

Now, if you want to send the eCard to your friends email address, you can do so by filling out their names and email addresses, you can send as many friends you want at once. And there is an option to send an email copy to yourself. So, let's go back to Step 2 to fill in the recipient list.

The next step is to edit the ecard content, it is very similar to the previous method but with an additional link to edit your recipient list.

Prior to sending out, this page is a preview of the ecard you have just made.

Click on the “Send” button and you have just completed sending your Holiday Greetings to your friends and family.

Ooops, did you just remember someone was not in your recipient list? Click on “Send another eCard” button and make sure every friend and family member receives your Holiday blessing.

And this is the eCard sample your friends will receive in their email inbox.

Now, let's send our Holiday Greetings!


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FRIDAY FUN - Get ready for the Holidays

It's the time of the year to put out the lights and decorate your home for the Holidays. Keeping the light dimmer from rain or snow is not easy. Thanks to Rick for sharing us an easy and most affordable way to make a home-made light dimmer in this video:

 

 



CyberLink Unveils YouCam 6 – The World’s Most Powerful WebCam and Camera App

The new YouCam 6 is now more than just a WebCam. It serves as a Camera App too, great for Tablet PCs where you can take your photos and immediately add creative effects.

As a webcam software, YouCam is great for fun and for work. It comes with handy tools to create presentations with live videos, capture desktop in HD video and a unique face login. When it comes to fun, YouCam is the fun video and photo studio. Now with new animation overlays, it's an expressive tool for your online chats.

And what a great time to get YouCam 6 Deluxe now. It comes bundled with a bonus Holiday Pack, let's you create unique Holiday photos and video greetings for your friends and family.


About YouCam 6 and Bonus offer: click here.
The complete news release: click here.