F.A.Q.

Frequently Asked Questions

People often ask me the same questions for help. Please read these questions before asking me something. Any questions you need to be answered must be mailed to splat.7@live.com.

1. How do I film Club Penguin?
You need screen filming software; I recommend HyperCam, it’s the easiest to use and produces great quality clips once you figure the thing out. If you don’t register it, it does leave “Unregistered HyperCam 2″ at the top of every video clip. Remember to leave room for it when you film so it doesn’t cover up any words. If it really bothers you, or you just want to make it look more professional, you can register your HyperCam for $39.95 (United States currency). Download HyperCam here.

(If you understand .zip files or not, here are the steps on how to get the full version for free. It has a tutorial with visuals.)

2. How do I make a video?
The question you ask makes it sound so simple–yet it isn’t at all. You need a software to edit video clip files. Everyone who owns Windows should have Windows Movie Maker (if you don’t think so, see the next question). This is the program almost everyone starts off with. This tells you about some of the basics. IMPORTANT: When you click “Save Project” or “Save Project As…”, you are saving as a project file. Projects are used just for later editing, but they DO NOT upload to YouTube. If you finished your video and want a finalized product, go to File, then “Save Movie File”.
There are, however, other ways of making videos. Other software for *advanced* movie makers are available for purchase all over the net and in stores. Some of the best are CyberLink PowerDirector, Ulead Video Studio, and, the most powerful I’ve heard of, Sony Vegas. These are all very costly, so if you plan on getting one in the future, I’d suggest you Google up some reviews of movie making products and see which one you’d like best. If you buy something you didn’t want in the first place, obviously you’ve lost a good chunk of money.

3. I don’t have Windows Movie Maker.
If you have a Windows computer, yes, you do. It should be under Start > All Programs > Accessories > Entertainment > Windows Movie Maker. If not, go to Start > Run, type “moviemk.exe” (no quotes), and press OK. It should start up.

4. How do I get good video clarity?
In HyperCam, go to the AVI File tab. Go to where it says “Video Compressor” and go to the side, look in the drop down menu for “Full Frames (Uncompressed)”. This keeps your video clear. Another thing you should do is to keep your filming box the same exact size every time you film. To do this, make your box within the same ratio of the video that your editor will produce, and have enough room to show your penguin and its speech bubble. (Click here to learn more about sizing within ratio.) Then, go to the “Hot Keys” tab. See the check boxes at the bottom? Make sure you only have “Shift” selected. Now, start the box in PAUSED mode and hold down shift. Move your mouse around, and the box will move to the area you direct it. Do every clip like this, and keeping the same size will produce better quality after editing.

5. How do I move my HyperCam box around?
See question 4.

6. My video’s audio just got a copyright claim! How do I get my video back?
This is a problem that many video creators come across. I find it unfair, but you can easily remove that claim if you make a good statement. Go to “My Videos” and find the video that has been disabled due to copyright. There should be a button that reads, “Resolve Copyright”. It should provide you information on your video as well as options, such as “muting” and “audio swapping”. There should be a link that says “I need more information. I want to learn more about the dispute process.” Click that, scroll down, and click “I have a valid reason to dispute this claim. Take me to the dispute form.” You will see a fill-out form. Click the second bubble. Where it says “please explain briefly”, fill out the reason you used the audio in your video. This is what I put (credit to LordofDoom5432):

“Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.“

Type in your *real* name in the signature. Don’t worry, this information will NOT leave the hands of the YouTube staff.
Now it tells you to type in the statement of good faith belief. Copy what it gives you and paste it into the box. Press submit, and on the next page, press Dispute Claim.
Your video will be up within a few minutes. But sometimes, if they don’t like your submission and/or video description, they will remove your video again, but you won’t get a second chance to dispute it. So make your claim wisely.

Also, you might need to change your video description. Add this to the end:

“The song [enter song name here] solely belongs to [enter artist(s) name here] and [Choose: WMG/UMG/Sony BMG]. The material used in this video was given full credit to the copyright holder, and is used for entertainment and/or educational purposes only. No copyright infringement was intended in any way.“

Note: YouTube should have sent you an email telling you about your issue. It should say if WMG, UMG, or Sony Music Entertainment (Sony BMG) claimed your song.

If you prefer a visual tutorial, please watch this video by LordofDoom5432. You will not navigate away from this page if you press the link.

7. How can I make audio in my videos fast forward as well as the image playing with it?
This isn’t that hard as you think it is. You just have to simply have the sound attached to your video clip. To do this, import your audio/video into Windows Movie Maker and make your video the way you want it, WITHOUT fast-forwarding. Save it as a movie to your computer. Then, start a new project and import the video you just saved. Fast-forward that clip, and there you have it, you get chipmunk sounds! But remember, if you have the Vista version of WMM, the pitch will not change, the sound will just play faster.

8. How do I use NewBlueFX?
NewBlue is not a stand-alone program. It is an add-on for video editing software.
You must have one of the following programs to utilize NewBlue:
- Adobe Premiere
- Adobe After Effects
- Avid Media Composer / Xpress
- TGV EDIUS
- Pinnacle Studio
- Corel VideoStudio
- Sony Vegas
- Sony Vegas 64 bit

When you download the free trial, it will ask you to choose the program you want the effects to go onto prior to installation. Once you finish installing successfully, you can run your video editor and look under effects and/or transitions and use them.

9. How do I take screen shots of my penguin so I can have an image for something [such as my YouTube background or user icon]?
Go to CP, focus on your penguin or player card, and press “Print Screen”, which is either above ‘Insert’ or ‘Num Lock’ depending on what company made your keyboard. Go to an image editing software, one that everyone has is Microsoft Paint (start>programs>accessories). Press “edit>paste” and you’ll see a picture of your entire screen at the time you pressed “Print Screen”. Edit the picture the way you want it, and save it. Upload it to an image hosting site. One of the most popular is Photobucket. You can copy the URL to YouTube if you want it as your avatar or background image.

10. Will you meet me at a certain time on CP and add me to your buddy list?
No. I don’t have enough time to meet everyone, all at a specific time, to just see you on a virtual game that you don’t need to follow me around on to talk to me. I’m not a bot. I instant message, which is better than talking on CP. On top of that, my buddy list is full anyway. I’d like to add everyone if it was simple, but it’s not, therefore I am not wasting my time this way. I do accept all friend requests on my YouTube account.

11. How do I get music that works in my editor?!
iTunes music works in Sony Vegas Pro (but not WMM, and I’m not sure it’ll work in anything else). You can also buy songs from Amazon MP3. It’s sometimes cheaper than iTunes, and every now and then, they’ll have “sales” on MP3 downloads and you can get something even cheaper. Beemp3.com (no www, or else you won’t get there) has music downloads for free if you’re desperate. The chance of getting a virus or trojan by downloading there is increased, but not likely (and it’s illegal). There are other ways to illegally download MP3s for free, but I’m not going to encourage it.