10. See your work on the big screen
Look at the top of the Nokia N8 and you’ll see there’s a HDMI socket. Use the included HDMI adapter to connect the Nokia N8 to a large screen TV, and you’ll see increased quality when viewing videos and photos. If you’re shooting HD movies on the N8, they really deserve to be shown off on the big screen.
9. Edit photos into videos too
Video editing needn’t be limited to your live action clips. If you’ve got a Nokia N8 full of photos, the video editor can turn them into a swanky slideshow, ready for you to upload to websites, e-mail to friends or simply play on the big screen TV at home.
Just fire up the Video Editor from the Nokia N8 applications menu, then tap the icon labeled “Make a stylish slideshow”. Scroll left and right through the different styles of slideshow on offer, and tap the “select media” icon in the lower left to feed the N8 your photos.
Tap as many photos as you like, marking them with a tick icon, then choose the large tick in the lower left of the screen to use them.
The Nokia N8 slideshow generator will churn through your photos, so if you’ve chosen a lot, sit back and wait for a few seconds.
To add music, tap the musical note and choose a track from the Nokia N8 music library. Finally, tap the large tick in the lower left to see the finished article. Hit “Save” in the lower left to keep it saved on your Nokia N8 for posterity.
8. Insert stills into movies
If you’re editing a movie on the Nokia N8, don’t forget you can insert still shots too, they can be used with the N8 video editor effects to add punchiness and pacing to your creations. Just insert them in the same way as a movie clip, using the “select media” icon, then tap them and hit the stopwatch icon to change their duration. Add a transition each side, to give your photos a bit of movement, and you’ll have a great effect to use in conjunction with moving images.
7. Edit your own sounds too
The Nokia N8 video editor doesn’t just chop up moving images, it’s also a capable sound editor. Load a music or audio file using the music icon, after you’ve selected a video to go along with it, then hit the “Cut” icon, letting you choose in and out points for your accompanying audio
6. Search for sounds to match your videos
Got a Nokia N8 full of audio, but can’t find the file you want? No problem, tap the music icon in the N8 video editor and then prod the magnifying glass to search the whole of the Nokia N8 for the music you’ve misplaced.
5. See audio without hearing it
If you’ve added music to a movie in the N8 video editor, you’ll see a pattern of musical notation above your video clips. It’s there to indicate there’s a background track, and helps you identify which project still needs a final audio polish.
4. Edit as you shoot
We touched on this in our guide to Hollywood-grade HD home movies, but it’s worth recapping as a top tip: The N8 video recorder lets you pause between shots, without ending the clip. It has the effect of inserting jump-cuts between shots, while reducing the amount of clips you need to import at the editing stage.
Plan your shoot well, and you’ll be able to group shots as they’re recorded, saving you time when it comes to chopping them up.
3. One touch editing
You don’t have to go through the lengthy process of loading the Nokia N8 video editor and importing your clips manually each time you want to edit them. Say you’re browsing the photo library, and spot a video you shot which could do with a quick trim. Just press it, hold it and tap “edit” and the Nokia N8 will automatically import it into the video editor. Hey presto, you’re ready to work your editing magic!
2. Multi-function handles
If you’re editing text into your videos, keep an eye out for a multi-function toggle when controlling its size and shape. Add text to your video timeline, and you’ll see a rotation icon above the words “Enter text here”. Tap it, so it’s selected and coloured blue, then use the “handles” around the text to rotate it. If you’d rather use those handles for resizing, just tap the rotation toggle again, and resize at will!
1. Multitask while editing movies
The Nokia N8 is a multitasking powerhouse, but it’s so slick you’d hardly notice the clever stuff going on underneath, and how it can supercharge your video editing. Say you’ve chopped together a visual masterpiece, but can’t find the right soundtrack to accompany it.
Don’t quit the N8 video editing app, just hold down the N8 menu button to call up the multitasking control and scroll to the browser. If the browser isn’t open, tap the menu button and load it – don’t worry, the N8 video editor app will stay open in the background.
Now you’re free to scour the web for free audio files to accompany your video. Also, remember to check out Nokia Music, where you can buy music to suit your movie. Once it’s saved to the N8’s memory, hold down the menu button, skip back to the video editing app, and add it from the music library before hitting save.
A telling list of “top tricks” for the N8. These are fine tricks for a great camera that also makes phone calls. But, is this truly a “smart phone”? I wonder.
At any rate, this *is* a good list of top tricks for the N8’s fine, fine camera.