Become a DJ: Learning the Software is Half the Battle

Zulu Virtual DJ Software is an easy-to-use dj software program for mixing track after track during live performances, or you can simply let Zulu be the DJ for you.

To make getting started even easier, we put together this introduction to Zulu DJ Software video tutorial to help aspiring DJs learn their way around the Zulu interface. The video covers the music list, auto play, using the deck, setting the beats per minute (BPM) and using auto-sync, the pitch slider and speed controls for smooth transitions between tracks. It also covers setting cue points, looping, applying effects, and using the headphone output.



Once you've learned some of the basics covered in this video, then all that's really left is picking out the songs to play and keep things moving at your next party.

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Video Editing Is Easier Than You Think

Are you guilty of using your video camera to record and then letting all of those videos sit unused in a closet or on your hard drive? If the reason you put off doing anything with all of those video recordings is a fear of how much work it will be, then we have the answer for you—VideoPad Video Editing Software.

In early December we released a new version of VideoPad with more transitions and effects, plus a variety of other improvements including a new overlay track that will allow you to extend the same text over one or more video clips, making things like scrolling credits a breeze. And now we have just updated a two-part VideoPad video tutorial series to walk you through many of the features you will need to transform all that video footage into truly memorable home movies to cherish and share. VideoPad is easy to use in itself, and with these tutorials it’s now even easier.

The new tutorials cover the basics: adding media to your movie, working with the sequence, and exporting your finished movie. They also cover the fun stuff, like placing transitions between clips, and adding effects. You’ll also learn some tips for working with VideoPad, so you’ll always be able to achieve the finished product you imagined.

So what are you waiting for? Check out the VideoPad video tutorials, download VideoPad, collect up your SD Cards and other video recordings out of hiding, and get started. You will be making your own movie masterpiece within minutes.

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See How In Action

We have been working on expanding the number of video tutorials on NCH Software products. Since our post back in March we have added several more video software tutorials plus the series on to help you with some the programs that you might want to make available to others over the Internet. Be sure to check out these video tutorials, and let us know if you are itching for a tutorial on one product in particular so we can try to move it up in the queue.

So now in addition to the BroadWave, Golden Records and WavePad tutorials we previously announced, you can also find video tutorials on VideoPad, BroadCam, Troubleshooting server-based software applications and Setting up Web Access in Express Invoice.

These videos are part of our continuing effort to help users get our software up and running as quickly as possible. We hope that these videos will answer some of the common questions about basic functions, especially for people with a visual learning style. Stay in the know and see all of our tutorials by subscribing to the NCH Software YouTube Channel.

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Helping or Hindering Users

I can't stand it when a software program like Word decides it knows what I want to do better than I do. In their efforts to be user-friendly they seem to actually gone past helping me do what I want to do, and have started making some incorrect guesses that make it harder for me to do what I wanted in the first place. While I applaud the effort to remove some of the tedious work of formatting out of the hands of the user so that they can focus on the content I find some of the formatting changes disrupting. While on the other hand automatically correcting obvious typos like changing 'teh' to 'the' for example actually was an absolutely marvelous idea.

Sometimes we as developers think we know best, but it is a question worth considering: Where do you draw that line between what you do for the user in the name of usability and what you leave for the user to do themselves?

At NCH Software we strive to make our software as user-friendly, and easy to setup as possible, so we need to think a lot about what the default settings for programs should be and make as many educated guesses as possible about what will work for the most users. Whenever there are options you will never be able to pick settings that will actually work for everyone but you want the defaults to work for as large a majority as possible, and make it easy for the few that need to change them to do so.

If there are too many question marks as to what will work best for the majority of people that is often when we introduce a setup wizard for programs like Axon PBX Software which allows us to ask questions to help us set default values for the user instead of straight out guessing how many phone lines the user will have on their phone system. By carefully choosing the questions we ask we can get all the answers we need to help the user get their customized system ready as quickly as possible without them needing to hunt down every option on their first run, even though all of those settings can easily be changed later.

It is a fine line to walk trying to help the user along the way but not get in their way of being able to configure options for themselves, but it is one we are doing are best to get better at in our ongoing effort to make our applications user-friendly.

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Video Tutorials of NCH Software Products

For those of you who follow NCH Software on Twitter, you may have seen that we have started putting together video tutorials about some of our programs. This is part of our continuing effort to help users get our software up and running as quickly as possible. We hope that these videos will answer some of the common questions about basic functions, especially for people who have more of a visual learning style. So far we have put together video tutorials for the following programs:

• WavePad video tutorial series with three videos that cover WavePad basics, an introduction to audio editing and an introduction to effects


• BroadWave Streaming Audio tutorial covers how to configure your router so people can access your stream, and how to create playlists of recorded audio or set up for streaming live audio


• Golden Records video tutorial covers connecting your turntable to your computer and walks you through the steps of the vinyl-to-CD conversion wizard
  

We have tutorial videos in the pipeline for more of our products, so this list will be expanding. You can subscribe to NCH Software YouTube Channel to stay up-to-date with new video tutorials as they are released. And be sure to let us know if there is anything in particular you think would benefit from a video tutorial so we can add it to our queue.

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Do More With Software... In Three Minutes or Less (Part One)

When you’ve downloaded as many NCH Software applications as I have, you’ll notice one thing time and time again: the applications download and install faster than you can recite Mary Had a Little Lamb. It amazes me every time. As product downloads become more common on the Internet, and we are becoming more and more an on-demand culture, it’s moments like these we really appreciate.

Of course, while fast downloads and installations are important, it’s what comes after that really counts. During installation we have stars in our eyes, anticipating what this application we’re downloading can really do. We’re hoping it’s better than other programs we’ve tried; faster, smarter, and more attractive. We’re hoping to witness software evolution and reap the benefits. And we want to do it quickly.

That’s why NCH focuses so heavily on the initial experience. Each application is designed with the goal that a user will be able to be up and running within three minutes.

Only the first impression matters, especially when you’re sitting alone at your computer. If that slideshow creator you just downloaded doesn’t load properly, or you can’t figure out how it works right away, you’re likely to walk away right then and there and go try something else. We know you do that, because we do it too. That’s why we work so hard to win you over quickly.

To help make sure we’re meeting this goal and providing the best user experience, we have several tactics in place. First, every time an application is updated, a design committee provides feedback and makes suggestions to improve the application. User feedback is also considered, and even rewarded. If NCH uses a customer’s suggestion for a product, they will receive the next release of that application for free.

Another approach we use is to provide quick start guides and tutorials for some of our applications. Quick start guides either load in a browser upon installation, or are included in the help documentation. And we’re always working to add more videos to our tutorial series. You can view the tutorials we've completed on our NCH Software YouTube Channel.

We also do user testing so we can watch new users interact with our software. User testing allows us to see how we can improve the user experience firsthand. The data we collect from these tests is compiled into a list of suggestions, given to the application’s developer to be implemented in the application's next release.

In Part Two, I’ll talk more about the user experience and how it affects those first three crucial minutes.

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