There are going to be many, many improvements and additions made in Version 2.  However there are THREE very major changes which are technical challenges, and are initial work has focused upon these.  They are

1. Slowing Down below 50%
2. Maintaining High quality audio with slow down
3. Keeping the audio and video synchronized at all times

We have successfully completed the first item as the video below demonstrates, and have worked on, with partial success the other two items.  This video below is a video of a video so it looses some of its quality…and of course this is a very rough, developers UI (user interface).. but it clearly demonstrates that we are able to slow down the tempo well below the 50% level in Version 1.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U37rc8oSTJQ

Please watch for our future newsletters to stay abreast of the continued progress of vthe development of Video Surgeon Version 2.

What I have decided to do for is to offer the upgrade protection for Video Surgeon -  which will give you Version 2 absolutely free -  for only $4.95, as opposed to the normal cost of $27.  This special offer is only for new customers, not existing ones. 

http://shopping.videosurgeon.net/

Until Next Week,

p.s.  The development of Version 2 is for BOTH Mac and Windows versions simultaneously.

• Slow down video to at least 25% hopefully slower
• Have better synchronization between audio and video at slow speeds
• Have better sound reproduction with pitch and tempo change
• Ability to make on-screen changes permanent by export changed video to a new file
• Ability to maximize screen size
• Ability to view in a split screen mode
• Ability to review video frame by frame when necessary
• Ability to create multiple loops within the same video and customize the settings for each
• Ability to create marker (or bookmarks) on a timeline for labeling and for ease of locating sections quickly in the future.
• Ability to edit videos, including copy, pasting, deleting, insert silence, inserting blank video frames
• Ability to insert title frames into videos of specified duration.
• Ability to print any frame
• Ability to FF or FR in preset increments with preset buttons.
• Foot pedal interface
• Possibly the ability to annotate (write or draw directly on a frame when stopped.
• The development of Mac and Win version simultaneously.
• Standard and Pro Versions

We anticipate the development effort will be between 6-12 months so please be patient. I will give you regular updates as they are available.

The dog days are here.  Many of you are on vacation or just returning, the whether is hot (as I write there is a massive heatwave in the Midwest that I headed east), life slows down for just a bit – and that normally translates to fewer visitors to our site and fewer sales.  

So… to help boost our sales during this traditionally slow time we have to do something to get your attention  (Don’t you love capitalism).  For those of you who are still around and reading this newsletter, this is to your great advantage. We are offering a special promotion between now and the end of the month – that is perhaps our BEST ever. 

When you buy Video Surgeon, we’ll not only give you a 23% discount ($27 off Video Surgeon and Sniffer Module package)  BUT….

We are ALSO throwing in the 32 GB multi-media player pictured below.  This is NOT an Apple product. It is a generic multi-media player, so it isn’t tied to Apples I-tunes software.  I checked out the price on the Internet for comparable products and the closest ones I could find were priced at well over $150 and some were even more than $200.  Take a look at what this little gem can do

• It plays audio
• It plays video
• It records your voice
• It plays back your recordings
• It has a built in FM radio
• It displays pictures.

Pretty nifty ……and it is yours absolutely FREE, when you buy Video Surgeon between now and the end of the month.

I only have 20 of these players so when they are gone, they are gone.  The link below will show you a picture of this player.. if you don’t see it after clicking the link, then you are too late and they are all gone.  If it’s there, you’d better grab it while you still can.

http://shopping.videosurgeon.net/

Until Next Week,

p.s.  In case you missed it, last week we announced the discontinuation of the Version 1 for Mac.   We are pleased to announce that Version 2 discussed above will feature the simultaneous development of the Mac version along with the Windows version.

Many of you have been writing and asking me about the status of the Mac Version of Video Surgeon.  I have delayed any response for several weeks now, hoping to have some good news for you… but I don’t.

As you will recall my first developer resigned from the project due to health issues, shortly after he delivered the Beta version.  I found and hired a second developer and this developer worked very well for about 6 weeks and then his mother became critically ill. He asked for time off which I, of course, granted.  However, at this point now almost two months from that initial request, he is still caring for his mother and unable to resume work on Video Surgeon.  As a result I have stopped the development of this Video Surgeon for Mac – Version 1.  This may be more understandable when you read the good news in the next few paragraphs.

About 2 weeks ago we initiated the development of the 2nd generation of Video Surgeon. This is not only good news for Windows users, but it is also good news for Mac customers because, we are also going to develop the Mac counterpart to the Windows version at the same time. And, this is one of the main factors driving my decision to stop the development of Version 1 for Mac amidst the problems mentioned in the above paragraph.

There are going to be many significant changes in this new version. I am not guaranteeing you will see all of these because we have to make certain they are technically feasible, but here is a partial list of some of the changes planned:

• Tempo change to 25% of the original
• Ability to EXPORT a modified video, thereby making changes permanent and portable.
• Ability to resize and maximize screen size
• Ability to create multiple looping areas
• Addition of video editing functions
• Addition of markers for annotating video
• Frame By Frame Forward/Reverse
• Ability to Print Any Frame

I am sure you are going to ask for a time frame. The truth is that it is much too early in the process to give you an accurate one. For now, I would suggest to you a time frame of 6-9 months.

Until Next Week,

The good news is I have found a replacement programmer. He has to familiarize himself with the project and the previous developer’s code… and then we have to get back to making beta testing fixes and changes. How long will this take? I don’t know with any certainty.. but because I know you are going to ask the question, let me give you a guess. My guess is 1-2 months. Keep in mind, this is a guess, it is not a guarantee.

Hopefully there are no other surprises along the way and it will all be worthwhile and I will look back and smile about all of the road blocks. However, at least for right now, I am not smiling.

A few weeks ago I started a contest for Song Surgeon customers, and I would like to do the same thing here for Video Surgeon. Here is how it works.

Send me an email describing a novel use of Video Surgeon in detail. If it is something that I haven’t encountered before and think is valuable to our broader user base, I will send you a free mp3 player (you need to supply a $10 memory chip) for your submission. Send your submissions to info@videosurgeon.com.

NOTE: The decision to award an mp3 players is at MY discretion because I don’t have an unlimited supply of these mp3 players– and I need to be able to decline entries that are not unique – or that are not described in sufficient detail.  

Until Next Week,

p.s.  Over the next couple of week we will be making some changes on the main website in preparation for the launch of Video Surgeon for Mac.  We have also launched a Video Surgeon blog.  If you haven’t been there yet, you might want to check it out, http://blog.videosurgeon.net
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcNUwacfFpw

It should be posted on the main site within the next couple of weeks.

I wish it were otherwise, but we are a small company and we just couldn’t handle both products at the same time.  The good news is, we are working on it again.

Bottom line… the beta version is ready for testing. The testers have been identified.  I need to finish the Quick Start Guide so the testers have some instructions for operating the software.

Once that is done it goes out to testing… I expect to complete my work on the QSG in about 1 week and have beta testing underway next week.

I will keep you posted.

Song Surgeon is similar to Video Surgeon except it works on audio only. It has been around longer than Video Surgeon and this newest release of Version 3 is a tremendous product.  It contains a many features that I want to incorporate into the next version of Video Surgeon.  For example:

• The ability to set multiple loop areas not one.
• The ability to assign each loop area with different settings
• The ability to slow down below 50%
• The ability to slow with no distortion and perfect synchronization
• The ability to EXPORT changes and SAVE them permanently in the newly created file.

These are all things built into the newest version of Song Surgeon PLUS a whole lot more.

Watch this video to see how it easily it creates a customized lesson using multiple loops and cutting and pasting pieces of the audio together.

http://tinyurl.com/494uxmr

There is a fully functional, 4-hour working demo available on the site. I would urge you to go take a look at it. It really is a great tool, and we have some nice discounts running until the end of the month, when the launch period comes to an end.

http://tinyurl.com/37r5ncz

Until Next Week,

An IT Manager and Musician
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a software application make
such a dramatic improvement in just one upgrade

Guitar Instructor
~~~~~~~~~~~~
GRAND SLAM!!!!!  It’s far better than Riffmaster Pro

Guitar Instructor
~~~~~~~~~~~
The first person I showed this program to bought a copy
the very same day

Guitarist
~~~~~~~
Song Surgeon 3 is quite possibly the best tool
I have ever seen for guitarists

Violin
~~~~~
Thank you for developing such a fantastic product.
I like it so much that I’m using it daily in my Erhu
(i.e. Chinese Violin) practice.

http://tinyurl.com/37r5ncz