Sound and Video Software

If you have spent any time surfing the Web, you are probably familiar with digital audio and video formats such as MP3, Real Audio, and MPEG. These formats are used to add sound to Web sites, to allow users to share music files, and to broadcast news and sporting events and even movies. Home computers are increasingly used to create home movies and personal music collections. To create these digital files, you need digital audio and video software tools.

Audio editing software is used to record, edit, and compress digital audio. Some common audio formats include WAV (Microsoft), WMA (Windows Media Audio), RM (Real Media), and MP3 (MPEG, audio layer 3).

Video editing software is used to capture and edit digital video files. The editing process includes adding transitions and special effects and text elements like titles and credits. Video editing software also saves the video in a compressed format which can be read by a computer. Some common video formats include AVI (Audio Video Interleave), MPEG (Motion Picture Experts Group-three standards 1, 2, and 4), MOV (QuickTime), and RealVideo (from Real Networks).

Player software is the application which plays back the audio and video formats. You can listen to audio or watch videos in these programs. Audio players can usually play regular audio CDs as well as computer files. You can usually download basic versions of player programs from the Internet for free.