Mediaboss Marketing

In attics and garages across the country, there are boxes marked "VHS Tapes." Back in the day, families would shoot hours and hours of Christmas mornings and ballet recitals, Grand Canyon vacations and grade school birthday parties. Few of these video tapes were ever watched more than once, and they were all exiled to some dark corner of the house.

Digital video changed all that. Thanks to "nonlinear editing," regular folks could upload their footage and chop it into a coherent short film. Families no longer had to fast-forward to the "good parts." An aspiring cinematographer could take the best clips and arrange them on the editor, adding titles and music.

Still, editing software can be expensive. The cost of Final Cut Pro has dropped considerably in recent years, yet the $300 price tag may still scare a lot of people off. Avid and Premiere use subscription services can get costly over time.

Click here to learn how to edit your videos like a pro.

Unfortunately, YouTube is dissolving its online editing service. But you'll find plenty of other inexpensive options for chopping down your masterpieces.

So what kind of editor can you get for free (or on the cheap) that still gives you impressive movie-making tools? You might be surprised how impressive these programs can be, especially for the amount you have to spend on them.

For millions of amateur filmmakers, iMovie was the software that made video editing seem possible. The platform has always been simple and welcoming, and each version is more versatile than the last. You can piece together any kind of movie on iMovie, but the program also boasts a range of handy templates, so you can make a trailer, a vacation roundup or even a narrative film without needing to know very much about video. Better yet, Final Cut Pro X was modeled on iMovie, so if you're feeling ambitious, you can easily export your iMovie project into FCPX for fine-tuning. The downside: While iMovie is free, it only works on iOS.

If you're wondering what Lightworks can do, check out "The King's Speech" or "The Wolf of Wall Street." Lightworks has been used for so many major Hollywood films, it's hard to believe the software is free and available for anyone to download. Lightworks is another miracle of Linux programming, placing powerful tools in the hands of everyday people, regardless of their computer brand or operating system. If it's good enough for Martin Scorsese, it's good enough for pretty much anybody.

Like the YouTube editor, WeVideo empowers you to edit your films online. There are some drawbacks to this kind of platform, but if your projects are generally shorter and your Wi-Fi signal is strong, you'll love being able to instantly access your work on almost any device on the planet. Understand, WeVideo is ideal for schools and workplaces, and you won't mind shelling out $4.99 per month if you only need to export 30 minutes of video every four weeks. But if you're looking to produce longer projects with unlimited volume, the annual subscription costs quite a bit more (just under $100.)

Filmora is already a beloved video editor, with powerful features and lots of nifty effects. The suite is pretty simple, so almost anyone can figure it out, but it's powerful enough to turn out some sophisticated films. Meanwhile, there's FilmoraGo, a separate free version designed for mobile devices. If you're the kind of filmmaker who likes to shoot and edit from the comfort of your phone, this is one of the sharpest products available.

Not sure about FilmoraGo? Click here to learn about Magisto, another great mobile editor.

If you're looking for top-tier software, HitFilm Pro has earned its stripes, even if the company hasn't been around very long and doesn't have major motion pictures to its name. (We expect it will.) But HitFilm Express is free and fun to use, and the company takes pride in its 180-plus visual effects, such as lightsabers, futuristic computer displays and shotgun blasts.

Adobe Premiere is an industry standard, and editors routinely use this heavy-duty software to assemble feature-length Hollywood films. Not long ago, Adobe changed its business model, taking the ultra-expensive Premiere and turning it into a monthly subscription service. (Projects can be saved to a cloud.) But if you're looking for a simpler version of Premiere for a one-time price, look no further than Premiere Elements. This package gives you all the most essential Premiere functions without all the bells and whistles, which may make your projects even easier to put together. It isn't free, but for around $60, you'll get every feature you'll ever need.

An amazing free alternative to Photoshop

Unbelievable wildlife videos captured by drones

Stunning filters turn your photos into works of Picasso, Rembrandt and more

Please share this information with everyone. Just click on any of these social media buttons.

Previous Tips

Random Tips

Visit link:
Best free (and low-cost) video editors used by the pros - Komando

DES MOINES, Iowa

A Des Moines murder case could be an early test of Iowas new stand your ground law.

Sera Alexander, 29, is charged with shooting and killing her stepfather, Anthony Hartmann, in her home May 8, but she claims it was a case of self-defense.

Now, a judge will decide if the new law that went into effect July 1 applies retroactively for the crime committed three months prior.

District Court Judge Robert Blink will decide of the stand your ground defense can be used for the first time in the state of Iowa.

It essentially says if youre in a lawful place, you have a right to use deadly force even from a perceived threat, said Robert Rigg, of the Drake Legal Clinic.

Court documents show a no-contact order filed against Hartmann last fall after he grabbed his wife by the hair and pushed her head into the driver side glass window. Prosecutors said Alexander shot Hartmann in the basement of the family home.

There was violence in the home for a considerable time inflicted against all members, defense attorney F. Montgomery Brown argued. Youre presumed to feel threatened if you have an intruder in your home unlawfully. I read the statute to say youre presumptively justified to use deadly force.

Brown said the defense should apply because this case will go to trial after the law took effect July 1. Legal experts expect to see it used often in any self-defense case.

Youre going to have two people shooting at each other and both saying I was standing my ground, and police will have to sort that out at the time, Brown said.

The judge will make a decision in the next few weeks. He set a trial date for Dec. 4.

Alexander remains free on bond.

Originally posted here:
Stand your ground defense could be applicable to murder case - KCCI Des Moines

Things that should not be abridged.

Starting in September, Texas will allow you to open-carry swords. The state already allows you to carry around blades shorter than 5.5 inches, but this fall that restriction will be lifted and Texans can get their saber on.

I think thats great. Seriously. I am totally cool with the right to bear swords. Its an originalist interpretation of the Second Amendment. A sword is way closer to an 18th-century musket than any of the sub-assault-pocket-Uzis turning our country into a shooting gallery today. If you could get people to turn in their guns to receive a personally crafted sword, Id vote to melt down the Intrepid for steel and enslave Hitori Hanzo to do the work.

Guns kill innocent bystanders. The only innocent bystander ever to be killed by a sword was Polonius, and Hamlet felt super bad after that happened. Guns kill indiscriminately. Swords kill their intended target. If we accept that in an free society, some killing must be done in the fight for scarce resources, swords are tactical weapons while guns are weapons of mass destruction.

And while were here, lets remember that a sub-5.5 inch knife is probably way more deadly than a freaking broadsword. Christ. An enemy will make you look like a bloody sprinkler system in the time it takes for you to unsheathe your katana. Youre not a damn Jedi. If Texas is already allowing knives (and guns!), then nobody is made less safe by toting around a sword. Once the F-150 comes out with stab-proof seating, nothing will even be significantly damaged by these things.

I dont know that you can ever go back again. I dont know that you can ever get rid of all the guns lurking in our country. But our country made a wrong turn when we broadly interpreted arms to include rapid-fire hand-held artillery units, as opposed to something limited to personal stabbing weapons and slow reload rifles.

Hannibal didnt need guns. Batman doesnt need guns. Guns are for cowards. If you want to defend your people, you should be limited to the ax aisle at Walmart.

New Texas Law To Allow Open Carry Of Swords, Machetes [CBS Dallas-Fort Worth]

Elie Mystal is an editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.

The rest is here:
Open-Carry Swords: A Civilized Second Amendment Right - Above the Law

This opinion was handed down in Wrenn v. District of Columbia,a case wherein the D.C. Circuit ruled that the citys good-reason requirement for concealed carry issuance is not constitutional. When the ruling was issued, Breitbart News reported that the court issued a permanent injunction, barring future use of the good-reason clause to limit concealed carry permit issuance.

The Wrenn ruling was welcomed with open arms by concealed carriers, as it came roughly a month after the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) refused to hear Peruta v. California. In Peruta, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that Americans have no right to carry a concealed handgun outside the home for self-defense.

Perutas majority opinion was written byJudge William Fletcher and said, We hold that the Second Amendment does not preserve or protect a right of a member of the general public to carry concealed firearms in public. And contrary to what the D.C. Circuit ruled this week, the Peruta ruling upheld Californias good cause for concealed carry permit issuance.

So we have two views, diametrically opposed, on two separate coasts. On the east coast, the D.C. Circuit defended the right to carry firearms for personal self-defense beyond the home, and on the west coast, the Ninth Circuit ruled that no such right exists.

As this split festers, we may end up getting the SCOTUS review that Justice Clarence Thomas has been urging his colleagues to undertake. Hecalled it indefensible when they refused to hear Peruta,and if D.C. appeals the D.C. Circuit decision, his colleagues will get the opportunity to review a similar case Wrenn in the shadow of an obvious circuit split.

Thomas is already on record saying SCOTUS ought not sit idly by as state-level gun control cripples the Second Amendment.

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host ofBullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter:@AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.

P.S. DO YOU WANT MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE DELIVERED RIGHT TO YOUR INBOX?SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY BREITBART NEWSLETTER.

Read this article:
Circuit Court: 2nd Amendment Protects Right 'to Carry Firearms for Personal Self-Defense Beyond the Home' - Breitbart News

Complaints from Slovakia and Hungary were thrown out by the Advocate General who said the scheme was 'appropriate'

A EURO judge has ruled eastern European nations should be forced to accept refugees under a controversial Brussels migrant crisis plan.

Complaints from Slovakia and Hungary were thrown out by Advocate General Yves Bot, who said the scheme was appropriate.

EPA

And he blamed the two countries for the partial or total failure in the fair sharing of burdens in the crisis.

Commission President Jean Claude Juncker two years ago urged member states to lift the burden on Greece and Italy by divvying up and resettling their share of 160,000 refugees and migrants.

New figures revealed so far just 24,700 have been moved from Greece and Italy under the plan.

The slow progress triggered a move by Brussels for mandatory quotas across member states.

In March Hungarys hard line PM Viktor Orban labelled Europes refugee policy a Trojan Horse of Terrorism. Poland has also refused to take a single asylum seeker under the plan.

Speaking today EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said: If these member states decide to change position, we are ready to work with them to address their concerns.

We dont want to go on like this.

See the rest here:
Euro judge rules eastern European nations should be forced to accept refugees under controversial EU migrant crisis ... - The Sun