Creating customized DVD movies is a piece of cake with Droppix DVD Maker. The program takes care of everything so that you only have to worry about enjoying your favorite videos from the couch.

You can use any video files stored in your local drive (the program supports the most popular formats) or import videos right away from famous video websites like Youtube, Daily Motion or Google Video with just a single click. Droppix DVD Maker also includes several ready-to-use menu templates you can use to create personalized DVD menus, though the method to change them is not very well implemented (a double click on the current menu image would be much more intuitive than having to open the program's settings menu).

Another drawback to Droppix DVD Maker is the fact that you can't preview the video before converting and recording it to the actual disc, while other similar tools usually include a built-in player. At least the conversion process is easy and quite fast too.

Droppix DVD Maker lets you create customized DVD movies in a very easy way, but lacks some handy features found in other similar tools.

Download Droppix DVD Maker 1.5.0 in Softonic

If you think that creating a video with your photos is too complicated for you, think again while you take a look at Windows Movie Maker.

This easy tool lets you create completely customizable multimedia presentations that include not only your dearest shots and favorite video clips, but also some nice video and transition effects that will add a professional touch to your creation. This is in fact a new version of Windows Movie Maker that has been especially developed for Windows Vista.

Windows Movie Maker is really simple to use: import all the media you'd like to use (images, video files and even video captured in real time) and drag it on the timeline. Then add as many effects as you like, and check how everything looks in the preview window. There's even a special tool that enables you to add titles and credits to your movie in a very easy way.

Once your work is finished, Windows Movie Maker lets you export the video with two main options, depending on where you want to use it: saving it to your hard drive or recording it to a tape on your DV camera. I'm surprised to find only these two options, especially when the XP version of Windows Movie Maker features a lot more.

Also, bear in mind that this tool is intended for people with little or no experience in video presentations at all, which means that more advanced users may find it a bit too limited.

With Windows Movie Maker you can easily create your own video presentations with your favorite photos, video clips and some nice transition effects.

Download Windows Movie Maker Vista 2.6 in Softonic

If you think that creating a video with your photos is too complicated for you, think again and take a look at Windows Movie Maker.

This easy-to-use tool lets you create completely customizable multimedia presentations that include not only your dearest shots and favorite video clips, but also some nice video and transition effects that will add a professional touch to your creation.

Windows Movie Maker is really simple to use: import all the media you'd like to use (images, video files and even video captured in real time) and drag it on the timeline. Then add as many effects as you like, and check how everything looks in the preview window. There's even a special tool that enables you to add titles and credits to your movie in a very easy way.

Once your work is finished, Windows Movie Maker lets you export the video to several different formats in various sizes, depending on where you want to use it: publish it on a website, recording it to a CD or simply saving it to your hard drive are some of the options included.

That said, bear in mind that Windows Movie Maker is intended for people with little or no experience in video presentations at all, which means that more advanced users may find it a bit too limited.

With Windows Movie Maker you can easily create your own video presentations with your favorite photos, video clips and some nice transition effects.

Download Windows Movie Maker 2.0 in Softonic

Sometimes I prefer watching movies and TV series on the computer rather than doing it on the couch. The image quality in my PC monitor is better and I can handle more formats than just DVD.

Of course, I need a good video player in order to enjoy my favorite movies at their most, and my choice is no other than BSPlayer. This great video player features anything you need to watch movies or any other kind of video on your PC. It supports all popular video formats (and audio as well, in case you were wondering) and though its basic interface is not really the nicest one I've seen, you can easily customize it with skins.

BSPlayer supports video subtitles, takes screenshots of movie currently playing, lets you create bookmarks and chapters to move along videos more easily and has also support for plug-ins. I especially liked the way you can control playback, either by using keyboard shortcuts or simply your mouse: one click to stop the video, two clicks to go full screen, mouse wheel to raise or low the volume…

The only thing I didn't like was the fact that, being a free version, you're obliged to install an adware element on your PC that displays ads from time to time while you're browsing the way. It's a safe app that doesn't compromise your privacy, but still it's not my cup of tea. I guess it's just the price you have to pay for having such a great video player for free.

BSPlayer lets you enjoy your favorite movies on the PC with a wide range of features (subtitles, screenshots, bookmarks and more) provided you're willing to accept some ads on your desktop.

Download BS.Player Free 2.31.974 in Softonic

Slideshows are one of the best ways to add colour and life to a photo collection no matter what the subject matter is.

Slideshow Magic is aimed at both home users and business professionals who want to impress friends or colleagues with their photo slideshow creations. Best of all, it doesn't require the viewer to have the program installed as all slideshows can be saved in any QuickTime compatible format.

The easy to use interface is somewhat like that of a video editor allowing you to add music or audio tracks either for the whole slideshow or just specific segments. You can add some impressive transitions and titles much in the same way as you do with Windows Movie Maker for example. The program also features a useful guide to help you get your photos online or burnt to DVD. However, unfortunately the program doesn't provide either it's own webspace or burner for uploading and saving photos. For uploading, you'll need an FTP client and web host and for burning, a third party burner such as Nero.

In addition, although it's a cross platform application, sharing with other platforms requires some form of network solution between clients (although this needn't be something complicated - a program like MSN Live Messenger is enough

Slideshow Magic is a relatively cheap but powerful way to get your photos either online or burnt to DVD.

Download Slideshow Magic 5.0.5 in Softonic

There are a number of video editing packages out there, from the simple Windows Media Maker to industry standards like Adobe Premiere or Final Cut. Sony’s contribution is Vegas Video and like most Sony products, it offers an original take on the editing genre.

Vegas actually began as an audio editing app and it shows – the entire feel of the program is more like an audio editing program than conventional video editing programs. On the plus side, Sony has emphasised giving users the greatest control over soundtracks and audio tracks to ensure that your film sounds great.

Sony Vegas Video 7.0 includes an entire suite of tools – Vegas itself as well as DVD Architect 4 to help you burn films and Dolby Digital AC3 coding software to enable you to offer broadcast quality sound in your productions. Vegas allows you to edit DV, HDV, SD/HD-SDI, and all XDCAM formats in real time and even give them surround sound. As HDV starts to become more popular, the ability to edit this particular format means that for some users, it’s their preferred editing package by default.

The video timeline works on a typical Windows drag-and-drop principle where you can add a myriad of effects to video and audio, cutting and splicing it with ease. However, as mentioned earlier, the interface is tailored more for audio than video editing. Unlike Windows Movie Maker or Adobe Premiere, the actual video preview window of what you’re working on is given little space, being tucked away in the corner. This is rather annoying when you’d rather see a decent preview of what you’re creating than have the timelines dominate the screen.

However, one nice feature of the layout is that the interface can be customised according to your preference. You can save these configurations so that for different projects, you can have different layouts. This is especially useful if you’re trying to concentrate on one particular aspect of your film such as special effects or rendering options. You can even create your own keyboard shortcuts, a handy option for those who are mouse-shy.

The audio features are first class though. Sony Vegas was one of the first to support 24 bit audio as well as 5.1 surround sound – usually the preserve of professional editing programs such as Avid. To add surround sound, you’ll need to use the Dolby Digital AC3 software. Another excellent Sony idea has been to add a network connection to other PCs during installation. So for example, if you’re working on a project with a friend, you can edit seamlessly in real-time together.

For creating really cool titles, Vegas now features the Sony ProType titler (available in the Media Generators tab) which allows you to make some really swanky looking graphics. There's also new digital signage support which allows you to create rotated projects for viewing on a vertical or inverted display. Encoding has also been improved with support for 10-bit video encoding when previewing or capturing from AJA SDI video cards.

Vegas is never going to compete with prosumer programs based on the traditional Avid way of editing. For those used to such programs, the interface could prove too awkward, limited and confusing to make editing video a pleasure. However, as regards sound, it can’t be touched. For many users, it makes the perfect package to polish the soundtrack on their film after editing it in another package. Be warned also that if you’re unfamiliar with video editing programs, it's going to take a while to get accustomed to Vegas, so the bundled tutorial is highly recommended.

Download Sony Vegas Video 8.0.217 b in Softonic

I don't know about you but I've got plenty of golden home videos and old shows lurking in my video cabinet and stored on my digicam. If only, there was a way for me to put these onto a disc to share with my pals. Oh hang on, there is. As the title rather suggests, MAGIX Movies to CD and DVD allows you to import movies from any source and commit them to optical media.

The package is aimed largely at novices, and as a result you get a clear and straightforward interface that's easy to traverse thanks to its obvious icons and large window panes. You can quickly grab video from a range of sources, including a digital camcorder and VHS player, or even capture footage from the TV (provided you have a TV tuner, of course). The importing process is dead easy, although the addition of a preview image would make things even better, in case your filenames are in a jumble.

Once you've imported a movie file, it's automatically added to the timeline at the foot of the screen. You can then edit your footage from the application before saving to disc. Although the editing features are pretty basic (you basically just chop segments between two points on the timeline), the Story Maker mode allows you to play with the video a bit more. You can choose from a range of effects and video enhancements after checking out thumbnail previews of them. This includes video softening and auto enchanement of brightness and contrast in your video.

As a result of its ease of use, MAGIX Movies on CD and DVD is one of the best solutions for video novices to make decent quality discs from their old movies. However, if you're after a more advanced video editor then this one isn't going to be enough for you.

Download MAGIX Movies on CD & DVD 6.0 (UK) in Softonic

Cool Flash Players is a very easy-to-use flash player (flash viewer,flash browser) which not only reinforces functions provided by Macromedia Flash Player, but also has its own expanding that give you the opportunities to enjoy or collect flash and manage your flash movie files more conveniently.

Cool Flash Players have many other function such as collecting flash from internet,converting flash file to Cool Flash Players .exe file,converting flash file to flash screensaver and capturing flash pictures as wallpaper.

So Cool Flash Players is not only a easy-to-use flash player but also a flash collecter,a flash screensaver maker,a wallpaper maker and a flash .exe file maker. You can control the process of a flash file at your pleasure including full-screen mode,multi-window mode and playlist mode,and preview flash files before enjoying them.

In addition, the playlist it integrated provides a easy way to manage your flash files, such as search flash files from a destination folder,from all driversor even IE cache. Cool Flash Players also includes the unique OpenGL hardware accelerated technique for visualizing Flash movies full screen at maximum frame rate. Fully support Flash 6 technology,the Ocx Plug-in of Macromedia Shockwave Flash 6 must be installed before installing Cool Flash Player.

Download Cool Flash Player 2.21 in Softonic

With Miraizon Cinematize, you can finally extract a video or audio clip from your DVD, and save it in formats compatible with popular applications such as QuickTime, iMovie, Final Cut, Windows Movie Maker, Premiere, PowerPoint, iTunes, or even an iPod.

Features:

• Create a new DVD with your favorite movie scenes
• Watch movies or movie clips on your video iPod
• Edit your recorded TV programs
• Incorporate DVD movie clips into your presentations
• Create high-quality still pictures from DVD movies
• Share your home DVD movie clips on the web
• Extract video alone and add your favorite music
• Extract audio alone and burn it to a CD, or listen to it in iTunes or on your iPod

Download Miraizon Cinematize 2.02 in Softonic