For a number of years, I have experimented with whatever the latest version of RealPlayer was, found it annoying, and uninstalled it. It was an ugly little music player, and always seemed focused on getting me to use to RealPlayer file formats, which no one uses in my sphere.  Then a year would go by, and something would tempt me to take another look. Lather, rinse, and repeat.

I think the iTunes experience changed the the view of what a media player should do.  Have you noticed that the latest versions of Windows Media Player and countless other media players are now trying to take over all of your media, offer channels for buying media, and other options to organize your media -- all in an attempt to get you to 'live' in their players for everything media-related?  The obvious incentive is to get you to watch their advertisements, and purchase and download products right from that environment.

Recently, RealPlayer caught my attention again -- this time labeled "RealPlayer SP" --when I was looking at the latest generation of video file converters. (See why, below.)

Upon the latest install of RealPlayer SP, I was pleasantly surprised by several things.  First, it's a much more attractive and complete player.  It plays videos and music of a variety of formats, for example, and lets you burn material to CD/DVD. Second, it does the kind of video file conversion I want to do very well.  Finally, it does a better job of organizing all of my media than any of the other all-encompassing media player envirnonments.

File Organization

When you first start RealPlayer SP, it gives you the option of finding all the media (or only of the types you select) and showing it to you in its Library.  Having taken that step, you can see and customize your view of a ton of information about each video.  When you select the Library tab, and Videos in the left column, you'll see that there is a thumbnail view of your video that resembles FlipShare.  However, RealPlayer really shines in its detail view:

• You customize what columns of information you want to see, and arrange them in an order to your liking
• You can sort on any column -- for example, the date the clip was created, its file format, or its length
• You can add keywords to each video clip, and then search for all videos sharing one or more keywords
• You can create a descriptive name for each clip
• You can right click on any clip and edit its properties, giving it a rating, adding comments, or adding/changing keywords
• You can right-click on any clip to convert it to another format.
  

Key to any successful file organization is the ability to search. RealPlayer's search lets you find media by media type, clip name, keywords, and other criteria. It is powerful, and fast.

Video File Conversion

Now let's talk about file conversion. FlipShare is wonderful for getting people to edit who didn't edit before.  We can all be happy that more people are at least trimming out some of the crap before forcing you to watch their videos, a la Clockwork Orange.  But many of these people, having discovered from FlipShare the delights of adding titles and smooth fade transitions between clips, want to do more.

On Windows, the obvious choice is to use the version du jour of Windows Movie Maker.  The problem is that each version presents different problems for editing Flip's .MP4 videos.  Each version would be happier if the videos were, say, the Windows Media Video (.WMV) format.

Here are some ways to use RealPlayer SP when you're ready to edit your Flip .MP4 videos:

• Add a specific keyword to each clip you want to use in your project
• Sort on keywords to co-locate all the clips you want to use, and select them
• If your editor is happy with editing .MP4 video, simply drag the selection to your editor.  Otherwise...
• Right-click on the selection, and choose "Convert Media Format..."
  

You'll notice that you now have the opportunity to convert your Flip video so that it will play on a large number of different devices.  The device that starts out being closest to what we want is the Xbox 360, which will play HD movies to your HD TV.  Select that and click the "details" button.  Change "Quality" to 10 Mbps.  Change "Resolution" to 720p HD.  At the bottom of the dialog, click the "Save as custom device" link and give it a name, like "Flip to Windows 780p." Click the OK button, click OK again, choose the destination for the converted clip, and click the "Start" button.

The resulting video should closely match the original in both size and quality.  It should be editable in almost any Windows video editor you want to use.

There is More to Talk About

I tend to talk about Windows, because I'm a Windows user, but there is a BETA version of Real Player SP available, as well.  When I get a chance to try it out on my son's MacBook Pro, I will do so.

Here's the place to go to get your free download:  http://www.real.com/

There is much more to learn about this particular piece of software, and you may have questions about the details of what I explained in this tip.  FlipInFocus members can ask questions, get answers, and offer their own suggestions by clicking the "Add new comment" link, below.