Greg Atkinson

This just in from Jake Ludington:

Wavosaur is a lightweight audio editing application with VST support. All the basics are covered here, including support for multitrack audio files, trimming, adding effects, making loops, and normalization. Most processing settings are also available for batch conversions, making Wavosaur a handy tool for applying the same settings to a bunch of files. I like are the option to remove silence in a batch, which is a convenient way to speed up spoken word audio without altering pitch. A vocal removal preset also scrubs music files of vocals, so you can make your own karaoke tracks in a batch. The vocal removal doesn’t always get chorus sections perfectly scrubbed, but it shouldn’t hurt your ability to sing over the top of the file. The application runs as a completely standalone executable, meaning you could put it on a thumb drive and use Wavosaur anywhere. The user interface is generally more intuitive than the popular freeware app Audacity, but the two make nice companions rather than being replacements for each other. While Wavosaur doesn’t bundle all the features of things like Sound Forge and Audition, it does most of the common audio tasks well at a price neither of those two apps can touch. [Windows 2k/XP/Vista $0.00]

BONUS:

Jake also thinks Mixcraft is the Windows equivalent to GarageBand. He has searched at length to be able to say that. If you use a PC, I think it’s worth checking out.

It’s good to be back in Dallas. Today is going to be a day of rest and family time for me. I haven’t seen my kids since last Saturday. HERE is a link to a FREE soundpack that you can use on your podcast.

Free DVD authoring software is hard to come by. Many of the FREE apps are buggy. SoThink Movie DVD Maker is among the best of the free solutions available for DVD authoring. The app converts most formats, including AVI, MPEG, WMV, MP4, RMVB, MOV, and 3GP to DVD. Basic video editing features like trimming clips and combining smaller clips into a larger movie are also supported. When your video is ready for DVD you can burn straight to disk. The default video format is PAL, so if you are authoring home movies created in the US, you’ll need to change the defaults for NTSC support. This is especially useful in combination with something like Windows Movie Maker for Windows XP, which includes no DVD burning support. While the app will work with Vista, the Vista DVD Maker application has a better burning engine and far more features for authoring DVDs. Check it out!

BONUS:

SermonSpice is offering FREE illustrations and video clips from Spider-Man 3 (which I’m going to see this afternoon).

The wonderful folks at Passion, including Louie Giglio, have released a special EP to encourage and minister to anyone affected by the events at Virginia Tech and for anyone just searching for hope in this world. To download the songs of hope, go HERE.

EXTRA:

The folks who you brought you Church Marketing Sucks and the Church Marketing Lab can now help you get a job or fill an opening. CFCC is now helping to connect churches and creative professionals with the launch of their job posting sites, the Job Lab and the Freelance Lab. Churches can post listings for full-time job openings as well as freelance projects and creative professionals who want to help the church can find the job or project to make that dream happen.

For a limited time postings are FREE while they bulk up the listings and work out any kinks. Check out the sites and spread the word. For more Center for Church Communication news visit their web site.

I’ve mentioned Jake Ludington’s newsletter before. I always learn of some cool new media resources through his newsletter. Here are a few things that he mentioned and I’m going to give a try:

• Spin It Again: Transfer your old 45′s and 33′s to CD or to your new MP3 player or iPod. This dedicated record and tape conversion software makes it child’s play to record and edit your old albums. The wizard driven process guides you through connecting your hardware, getting the correct recording level, and splitting your recording into multiple tracks. The software automatically removes clicks and pops and that unwanted tape hum and hiss. Convert your recordings to MP3s or burn them on to an audio CD.
• Eyejot: I’m doing a little video experiment with an online video tool. Eyejot is a FREE video app that lets you record video messages in your browser and send them to a recipient via email or RSS. This would fall under Web 2.0 tools for ministry. Check it out!
• JPG Video: Time lapse video is something I’ve always found fascinating. Take a series of images from the same place over the course of a day, week, month, etc., and then build them into a video to express the time change in a matter of minutes or seconds. JPGVideo is a simple app designed to make a time lapse video from a series of stills. JPGVideo is billed as a tool for Webcam images, but JPG files from any camera source will work.
  
• Windows Media Player Plug-in for Firefox: This plug-in allows you to use Windows Media Player inside of Firefox. It is designed to support the following Windows platforms: Windows XP SP2 and Windows Vista.
• Registry Booster: They claim to be the safest and most trusted solution to clean and optimise your system, free it from registry errors and fragmented entries. Through Advanced Error Detection Technology, Register Booster automatically identifies missing, corrupt or invalid items in your Windows registry and dramatically enhances performance and general stability. * This I actually downloaded and used to clean up my computer. So far, I’m very pleased with it. *
  

NEW PRODUCER:

Check out Erwin Brothers Pictures, a new producer, available at their website or at WorshipHouse Media.

I had a great time in Indy, but as I mentioned: I overdid it. My back is now out and giving me some serious trouble. I’ve had back surgery in the past, so I’m no stranger to back pain. I believe the wearing of “the boot” on my bad foot has aggravated my back (the boot makes one leg taller than the other). So, I’m at home with my laptop, rotating heat and ice on my back. I’d appreciate your prayers.

NEW:

My new backgrounds, called “Fresh Backs Vol. 1“, are available at the Shoutable Store. Look for “Recent Additions”, then “Downloadable” or click HERE and scroll down to “Fresh Backs”.

FREE STUFF:

• A video with a point called “What’s Your Price?” – FREE from SermonSpice
• “Numb“, FREE from WorshipHouse Media, includes 1 Short film, a leaders guide and teaching outline, along with handout questions.

EXTRA:

LifeChurch.tv just updated their website. Job well done to Terry Storch and crew.

Here’s where I’ll be speaking for the next three months:

• Apr. 17-20: National Church Music Conf. in Indianapolis
• *May 7-9: The Orange Conference in Atlanta (just attending with other church staff)*
• May 21-24: Moody Bible Pastors’ Conference in Chicago
• June 26-28: Saddleback Worship Conference and Festival

If you’re attending any of these, let me know and we can arrange to meet.

BONUS:

Get the new FREE download from WorshipHouse Media, which includes 1 Short film, Leaders guide and teaching outline, along with handout questions.

Tony Morgan recently blogged on volunteers. You can read his blog post HERE. Here’s a quick look at facts on volunteerism as reported in the April issue of Men’s Health:

• Women are more likely than men to volunteer.
• 32% of women serve in some volunteer capacity compared to 25% of men.
• Working mothers are the most active as volunteers.
• Busy people are more likely to volunteer.

Tony’s church, NewSpring, (which I’ve blogged about several times) recently held their first conference. They have made their two main sessions available FREE online. You can see them HERE.

* For more thoughts on recruiting volunteers, you can read an article I wrote HERE.

This past Thursday I got to take a break from Easter prep and hang out with several church leaders from around Dallas. We all got together for the Igniter Release Party for Igniter Videos Volume 5 – which is great (and on sale right now). Here’s a pic of the Igniter team – a talented team with a heart for providing the Church with quality resources. I encourage you to get to know them and their resources very well.

BONUS:

Sign up for ImageVine’s newsletter and get a bunch of FREE backgrounds!

My friend, (and member of my church) Craig Lillard, and the team at SermonVideos.com just came out with their Easter Pak 2007. I’ve reviewed several Easter products from many companies and still have some to get to, but I must say – this is my favorite so far. Their new video “By His Wounds” is amazing. I’d encourage you to check out the whole Easter Pak, which includes the video, a countdown, 11 motion backgrounds and 11 stills.

BONUS:

You can get a FREE Easter video entitled “Easter Drawing” from SermonSpice.