When it comes to inexpensive video capture, two programs rule the arena: SnagIt for Windows and SnapzPro X 2 for Macs. These programs cost more than the other solutions here, but they're also much more versatile and are good buys if you want to capture more than just Web site videos.
SnagIt, put out by TechSmith, costs $39 and provides a simple way to capture anything that finds its way onto your screen. To grab video, select the Record Screen Video option from the main screen and click the microphone icon in the Options box to grab the audio, as well. When you've got your chosen video in place, click SnagIt's big, red record button. The SnagIt interface then disappears and you're prompted to drag a rectangle across the area you want to save. Press the Start button in the pop-up window and then start your video. When you're done, finish recording by pressing the program's hot key (PrintScreen, by default). You'll then return to the SnagIt interface where the program prompts you to save your creation.

Ambrosia Software offers two versions of SnapzPro X 2, but you'll need the more expensive $69 version for movie capture. The controls can be a bit confusing at first, but read through the included PDF manual and you'll have it in no time. SnapzPro is set to launch at start-up and run in the background by default. You can activate it by pressing the default hot-key combination, which is Ctrl+Shift+3, unless you change it. Click the video button, place the outlined capture square over your video, and then customize the video settings. Be sure to select Mac Audio Track if you want to include the sound. Double-click within the video-capture area to start recording, then press play on the video. When you're done, press the hot keys again to stop recording.

You'll be prompted to set the audio- and video-compression information before the program creates your video. We like the degree of options, although we wish the program allowed users to name the file at this point. As is, it creates a default name based on the program it captures from.

For tips on converting video for your MP3 player, check out our Insider Secrets feature on video conversion.

One of the most common do-it-yourself projects is building speaker stands. Almost everyone needs them, you can make them cheaply, and they are a great starter project.

Many home-theater systems use bookshelf speakers for left and right main channels. Bookshelf speakers require stands to get them to the right height. With store-bought stands, you'll probably find that one stand sits your speakers down too low, another raises them up too high, and the only stand that does work sports a ghastly price tag that makes you gasp. This is a perfect place to add some DIY know-how and get a perfect fit.

Basic bookshelf speaker stands
First, measure the footprint of your speakers, which is just the width and depth of the bottom of the speaker. You usually want to match that pretty closely with your stand; too much excess and the stand looks like it was made for larger speakers (and we don't want that!). The stand tops shown in figure 1 are 8 inches wide and 8 inches deep. These stands are about as simple as you can get and still look good.



Figure 1. Basic speaker stands


Once you've measured the base of your speakers, obtain some 3/4-inch thick, medium-density fiberboard (MDF). Cut two rectangles to your speaker measurements, then cut two more squares slightly bigger (for example, cut two squares 8 by 8 inches, and two more 10 by 10 inches). The smaller squares are for the speaker base and the larger ones are for the stand base.

Next, cut four longer rectangles; these should be about 2 inches less deep than your speaker base. So, if you have a top plate that is 8 inches deep, these rectangles should be 6 inches deep. To obtain the height, you'll need to know how high you want your speaker to sit. Then, just subtract 1 inch and cut to length.

The top and base of your stand actually total 1 1/2 inches in height, but assume 1/2 inch of settling, especially if you have carpet. In fact, if you have really thick carpet, you might want to assume even more. So, these might be 6 inches deep and 30 inches wide (for example). Two of these become the connectors for one stand and two for the other.

At this point, if you're able, bevel the long edges of the connectors. You also should round all four edges of the tops and bases. This will add a polished, classy look to your stands and allow the base of the stands to sit more firmly on the floor.

With the rounded sides up on both the top and bottom plates, the two long pieces should be evenly spaced, centered, then angled slightly (see figure 1 as a reference). Now, glue and nail in place. All that's left is to paint the stands; prime first, then lay on a couple of good coats of black or whatever color you prefer.

Sturdier stands for heavier speakers
If you have heavier speakers, you might want a sturdier design. This design also works well if you need your speakers quite high; the basic stand sometimes looks a little wobbly as the connector pieces get really lengthy. The basic procedure is similar, with just a few twists for stability.

First, I'll assume you have larger speakers. For this job, mine had a footprint of 16 by 10 inches, so my tops were a bit larger than in the basic stand. Again, round the tops. The base follows the same process; in this case, my bases were 18 by 12 inches, also rounded. Instead of long connector pieces, though, I made a square box out of MDF (3/4-inch thickness is fine). This box was half the depth of the top--in this example, 5 inches--and the height was calculated as shown in the basic stand section. For a nice look, the edges of the box should be sanded slightly round, to look less...well...boxy.

Glue and nail this box to the base of your speaker; I set mine in the shape of a diamond for a bit more visual interest (see figure 2).



Figure 2. Sturdier speaker stands

Now glue and nail on the top. Before you finish up and paint, though, drill a hole in the center of the top plate, which opens into the box that acts as a support. Now prime and paint. However, before putting these stands into action, fill the box support with sand. This really solidifies these stands, allow them to hold heavier speakers and look more substantial.

Costs involved
Believe it or not, it cost me only about 30 bucks to make all four stands. Online, similar stands ran from $30 a pair (on the low end; and this is only for two) to hundreds of dollars in higher-end shops. Clearly, this is a no-brainer way to get into DIY and save some bucks. Also, don't be afraid to get creative. If you don't have a lot of tools, find materials you can work with that require only simple tools. Buy premade shelves and have the hardware store cut them to the sizes you need. Substitute threaded rode (the line you see attached to the anchors of small boats) or PVC pipe for the center supports. Add door or corner moldings to get a different look. Whatever you can come up with that gets the job done and saves you money will make your project successful.

Using Creative's bundled Media Explorer, you can convert just about any kind of video file (AVI, DivX, MPEG, WMV, and so on) for viewing on your Zen Vision or Zen Vision:M. Of course, because the Zens have native support for such a broad range of formats, it's possible that some files won't require conversion at all. That's the beauty of Media Explorer's Convert Video utility: it will tell you which of your selected movies require conversion and just direct-copy those that don't.


Video conversion novices will find Creative's Media Source software a breeze to use.
Start Media Explorer and click Convert Video.
Click the Add button and choose the files you want to convert.
Click Next, then adjust the quality settings as desired. For example, if you want your videos to look their best and you have space to spare on your Zen, choose Best Quality.
In the same dialog box, select an output folder for the converted files, then click Next.
Review the selected files to see which ones require conversion and which ones don't. You shouldn't have to make any changes here, as the utility won't bother converting videos the Zen can already play.
Check the box marked "Transfer converted files to this player after conversion," then click Next. Now go get a cup of coffee while the utility works its magic and copies the reformatted movies to your player.
Convert Media Center shows
If you have a Windows XP Media Center 2005 PC, plug in your Zen and wait for the Sync option to appear. Choose the Add More option, then choose Recorded TV. Select the shows you want to copy to the Zen, then start the process. Note that you may want to remove (by highlighting and clicking the X) all the other sync selections that are listed by default, otherwise you could be in for a long wait.

If you want more control over what you copy to your Zen (the Media Center interface limits you to recorded TV shows and forces you to take three episodes at a time), you can use Windows Media Player 10 to manually select and sync TV shows, movies, photos, and the like.

Folks love a digital video recorder such as TiVo because it lets them easily record their favorite TV shows. But what are fans of radio shows to do? Well, so long as your favorite show is broadcast on the Web, you can set up your computer to capture it. Download the right software and fiddle a bit with some settings; your computer will automatically launch a browser and record your show each time it airs. You'll then have it as an MP3 that you can listen to at your leisure, transfer to your MP3 player, or burn to a CD.

Required attention span: 30 minutes Ingredients
Before you start, you'll need to gather these elements:

PC


Replay Radio 6.1 ($30)

Follow these simple steps


1
Download and install Replay Radio
Download and install Replay Radio. You can try it in demo mode, but it allows you to record only one-hour segments for a period of seven consecutive days. Once you purchase the software, your recordings can be as long as you like.

Replay Radio is a straightforward app with an attractive interface.


2
Configure the software
Configure the software. When you first launch Replay Radio, you'll be greeted with a window that lets you choose where your recordings will be stored. Make sure that you select a hard disk with plenty of room. If you're on dial-up, you'll need to check the appropriate box and test the connection. Otherwise, you should be able to leave the rest of the settings as they are. If you have trouble, you can come back to this screen later to adjust settings (such as tuning options) to get better recordings.

When you initially start Replay Radio, you can choose where you want your recordings to be saved.

3
Configure your PC
Configure your PC. Replay Radio can record only when your PC is turned on. If you turn the PC off or if it automatically goes into standby mode, you'll miss your recording. Click Start > Control Panel > Power Options. Make sure that the System Standby setting is on Never.

Use the bottom drop-down menu to set your system standby mode.





4
Add listed radio shows
Finally, it's time to add some radio shows. Click Add Show, then Pick Show. Click the "Get updated list from the Web" button to make sure you have the latest list of radio shows. If the show you're interested in is in the list, just select it and click OK.

You can pick a show from a long list of Internet broadcasts.

5
Add unlisted radio shows
If your show isn't listed, click Pick A Station. This works the same way. Then enter the time and days that your show is on.

Once you've scheduled a recording, this screen pops up with a summary of the settings.


6
Customize recording settings
Once you've picked a show or a station, you're presented with a pop-up that lets you customize settings for the recording. You should be able to leave everything at its default. You may opt to change the output options to a particular quality. For example, the KQED stream of All Things Considered is very low quality, so you might opt to use FM quality rather than CD quality. This will save you some disk space. We also prefer to check the "Mute sound while recording" box. (Click the Recording tab for this option.) If you've left the volume on too high, it's pretty startling when your computer automatically tunes in to the radio.

The settings box lets you choose your desired output quality.





7
Find URLs for obscure radio shows
Don't despair if your show or station isn't in either list. You'll just need the URL for the station you're trying to record. If, for example, your station of choice has a Web site with a link labeled Listen Live or something similar and that launches RealPlayer or Windows Media Player, simply right-click that link and select Copy Shortcut. Return to Replay Radio and click Add Show. Name the show, right-click in the URL field, select Paste, then set up the time your show airs. Other radio Web sites launch various pop-up windows that make this process more difficult. Try using the URL-finder feature on the main page of Replay Radio in this situation.

If you copy and paste the URL for a station that's not listed, Replay Radio will tune in for recording.


8
Minimize Replay Radio
Now you're done. Just minimize rather than close Replay Radio--it needs to run in the background. And don't forget to leave your PC running.



9
Hear the results
After your show has aired, open Replay Radio from the icon in the taskbar and click View Recordings to hear what was recorded.

Once your computer and your display are getting along, you can start figuring out how to build and manage your library of digital media.

With Windows XP Media Center Edition, Microsoft has built a very functional package for keeping track of all your media files, plus DVR recording, that's easy enough for novices to use. A sizable percentage of new PCs come with the Media Center version of Windows by default; it looks just like regular Windows XP until you switch into the Media Center view. Even if your new PC doesn't have a TV tuner card, it's still useful for photos and music and video files, plus it has big menu icons that are easy to use and can be seen from 10 feet away on the living-room couch.

If you want to record TV without the Media Center operating system, similar products on the market can do the job. SnapStream's Beyond TV comes bundled with many TV tuner cards, so if you're building a home theater or upgrading a machine you already own, you might end up with a copy by default. Add the Beyond Media program for organizing photo, music, and other media files, and it does pretty much everything Microsoft Media Center does. Beyond TV doesn't support every TV tuner card on the market, so check the hardware specs first.

Meedio offers several interconnected programs that can control your music, photos, and videos--even your lights and household appliances. MeedioTV is its DVR program, and it'll grab the local program guide for your cable or satellite signal and record shows. If you want just DVR functionality, that's one way to go. Or, you can get one of Meedio's software bundles, such as Meedio Pro, for the full media library experience.

If you have no interest in recording TV programs, you can even use programs such as Windows Media Player, iTunes, and PowerDVD to manage your preexisting media library using software you already have. Whichever option you choose, make sure to include plenty of hard disk space; once you start recording TV shows or showing off vacation videos on a plasma TV, you'll find it hard to stop.

Whether you bought a new machine or upgraded an existing system, once your PC's ready for action, it needs to be integrated into your home-theater setup.

Keep in mind that using a TV tuner card with a Media Center PC offers certain options not available from a set-top TiVo-style box--but there are also compromises to be made. First, if you have access to high-definition cable signals, most home-theater PCs can't handle them.

DVR apps can see HD only in the form of over-the-air broadcasts, for which you need a big antenna and an HD-capable TV tuner card. That means no HD HBO or Discovery Channel, so for most, this is hardly worth the effort.

Another thing to keep in mind: even if your digital cable signal looks great, the image quality suffers when the TV signal is sent through a PC. This discrepancy will be especially noticeable on big displays, since you'll be taking a digital signal and converting it to analog.

Most Media Center PCs come with a Media Center remote. It sounds ideal, but to get the remote to work with your cable box, you'll need to use an IR blaster, a tiny, wired receiver that you connect to your PC and affix to your cable box. The blaster lets you use your Media Center remote to change the channel, but the signal has to go from the Media Center remote's receiver, through your PC, and out to the IR blaster that you stuck in front of the IR receiver on your cable box. It's an awkward setup, to say the least. Worse, it results in noticeable lag every time you change the channel.

Sending the signal to your display can also be a challenge. While it's possible to use a PC monitor for your home theater, it's more likely that you'll be using it with a big-screen display, such as a plasma, LCD, or DLP set. There are many different audio and video options for joining the two; the method you choose will obviously depend on the inputs and outputs available on both your PC and your TV.

Older, standard-def TVs will have, at a minimum, a composite-video connection (a yellow video connection that's usually accompanied by red and white stereo audio jacks). Hopefully, it will also provide an S-Video port. Newer sets should provide component inputs, and more advanced HDTVs will supply DVI or HDMI inputs.

Unfortunately, unless your computer was specifically built for home-theater use, it probably doesn't have too many ways to output a signal to an external display. Take a look at your video card and match up the best connection option that both the display and the PC share. DVI is becoming more common (replacing analog VGA); it's your best bet for a high-quality connection. HDMI is a newer digital connector, but you won't find it yet on most displays, and it's on even fewer computers.

We'd like to see more computers with component-video connections--the red, green, and blue cables. Some higher-end home-theater PCs are starting to come with these jacks. If you have slightly older components, S-Video--a single, black four-pin cable--is probably what you're going to end up with.

Here's a quick recap of the connections you're looking for, from best to worst:
HDMI: It's unlikely that you have this on your PC or display.
DVI: There's a 50/50 chance for both PC and display--a good choice.
Component: You probably have this on your display--less likely on the PC.
S-Video: Most likely candidate--decent quality.
Composite: Single old-school yellow cable. You might want to consider upgrading some components.
Getting the output from the PC and your screen to match up exactly can be a bit of a chore, thanks in part to the vagaries of overscan, an old TV technology that hides the edges of video signals. Your best bet is to find out the exact resolution of your display and set the computer resolution as close to that as possible. Right-click and go to Properties > Settings on your desktop to change the resolution. Your video card may also have a special control panel that offers more flexibility

Whenever you e-mail a photo or post in on the Internet, you’ll want to reduce the file size because large digital images take a long time to view/download online in a browser. To reduce file size, you need to change the number of pixels in the image. This can be done in many free and easy image editing programs, including Paint Shop Pro, Photoshop Elements (shown below), and even Microsoft Office Picture Manager (available with Office 2003 and 2007).
Here’s how to do it:
First crop the image the way you want it. A width of 700 is a good target for e-mailing. Then use your software’s zoom tool to make it appear the size you want on the screen—maybe you prefer a small thumbnail, or maybe you want to fill the monitor. Either way, take note of the percentage size of the image. Then use your software’s “image size” tool to reduce it in pixels to that percentage. Important: Do not save over the original file. Save it in a “Web+email photos” folder designated for this purpose.


Reduce the number of pixels in a photo before e-mailing or posting it online.

Now you’ve created a much smaller file because you’ve reduced the number of pixels in the image. It won’t be as good for printing, but it’s much better for e-mailing or putting on the Web.
The information in this tip originally appeared in the Print, Save and Organize Your Digital Photos online class.

No room is too small for surround sound.

A surround system doesn’t have to be big to be effective.

A good sound system can make the difference between a mediocre home theater system and one that’s top-notch. [Speakers, receiver matching placements, and room acoustics] may be a pain to learn, but if you take the time when purchasing and installing your sound system, you’ll find that the payoff is definitely worth it.

A surround system can be enjoyed even when played at volumes that don’t blow the neighbors away.
You might be surprised at the difference surround sound can make in a sports telecast!