While the Flip video camera is ultra simple to use, the software which comes built into the camera is still very useful indeed and in this article I’d like to take a look at the four current features you will find installed on your new camcorder.

It is important to underline before we start that the software comes preinstalled on the Flip video camera and when you plug your camera into your computer the software should fire up automatically. It includes a version for PCs and a version for Macs so whichever computer you are using you should have no problems with the Flip video software.

Once opened up, you can view the videos that are currently on your camera and play them from inside the software making it easier to work out which videos are worth saving and which ones are suitable for deleting.

Down the left-hand side of the software you will find the simple navigation menu too which contains links to the four main areas of the software.

They are, in turn:

Save Videos – The first option allows you to save videos by moving them from one place to another, for example saving videos from your camera onto your computer, or the reverse. The process is incredibly simple whereby you just select the location of the videos you wan to access, highlight the specific video clips and then choose the save button. The videos will then be moved as per your instructions.

Share Videos – This options allows you to upload videos you have made to any of the various social networking sites like Facebook and YouTube. You simply select the specific videos you would like to upload, then select the website for upload. Finally uo enter in a few basic details about your account (username, password etc.) and your videos are then automatically uploaded for others to enjoy.

Make Movie – This is probably the weakest feature of all in my opinion and is as far as video editing currenrly stretches with the Flip video camera. Be aware of course that like with any other video clips you can use third party software applications to edit them (like Windows Movie Maker, for example) but looking purely at the softeare that comes preinstalled on the Flip Video Camera this “editing” element is basic at best.

What it basically allows you to do is to take a number of existing video clips, “stick” them together into one long clip, and then add music in the background if desired or a few nothing-special video effects.

The results are really just for fun – you are unlikely to use this software more than once in my opinion and it is unlikely to give you the sort of result that you might want to show off to family and friends.

For a professional look check out Sony Vegas Movie Studio which is generally accepted to be the best “amateur” video editing software available which most users swear by.

Delete Videos – Not surprisingly this function simply allows you to select which videos you would like to delete.