From the StarWitness Team:

Have a Voice in 2010

Another successful year is winding down and as always, we are excited to see what the future holds. We're also excited to hear what you'd like to see in the future of our products.

In 2008 when we opened the vote in the StarWitness Uservoice forum we gained awesome insight and knowledge from the ideas and votes that you submitted. Some of the ideas are now a reality, added to the software in this past years software releases. Other ideas are in the pipeline for upcoming releases, including the most highly voted idea, to add audio capture and feedback to FreezeFrame. There are even some ideas that have been added just recently that are awaiting feedback and votes.

So if you haven't been to the Uservoice forum for a while, or if you've never been before, check it out now to add and vote on ideas. You have ten votes. You can vote on ten ideas or weigh in with more than one vote on an idea that you really like. You can also enter new suggestions you have for any product, training or anything StarWitness.

The Lowdown on Grants

It's no secret that one of the best ways to gain money for new equipment is through Government grants. The challenge is finding the grants that work best for what you need and writing the application. Here are some tips we've come up with to help you with those challenges.

Know what kind of grant you're applying for.
There are different types of grants each allocating the money differently. Knowing the difference may give you the heads up you need when writing your application. For example, Direct Grants require applicants to apply directly to the federal government, where Pass Through Grants contain money passed to the state and allocated out by the state. In the case of Competitive Grants a specific amount of money is assigned each year and organizations compete for awards. This may require you to be more focused on the state's priorities and how they align with your goals as applications are evaluated on how well they meet the objectives of the grant program. With Formula Grants the funds are assigned to a predetermined set of recipients based on a formula. How the funds are used is also determined by the appropriations legislation.

Know the key things to remember when writing your application.
Here are some best practices when writing grant applications:

• Don't judge the grant by it's title. Make sure you understand what the grant is really about before deciding if it fits your needs.
• Gain support from your local officials.
• Refer to previously awarded applications. This may give you an understanding of what reviewers are looking for in applications.
• Address your short and long term goals.
• Place important information at the top of the applications. The first paragraph of any article or story is where the author hooks the reader. It's the same concept for writing your application.
• Edit thoroughly for mistakes. It only takes one mistake on your application to prevent your agency from being awarded the grant money. Edit, edit and edit again.

Know where to find information.
Here are a couple of places to look for grant information:

• grants.gov
• The Federal Register
• The catalog of federal domestic assistance.

Audio Capture in FreezeFrame

Someone recently asked us: "When playing a vhs or dvd thru the Star Witness Freeze Frame software there is no audio. Do we have something hooked up wrong?"

No.

The current version of FreezeFrame does not support audio recording or playback: no matter the source of the video it will not have audio when played through FreezeFrame.

There is good news. Our next version of FreezeFrame, v1.7, will support audio. This support includes audio capture for the Record a New Video option and the Import a Video File option. This capability will pair the captured audio evidence with the video evidence throughout the analysis. You will hear the audio played as the video plays. When you export a video file from Freezeframe the audio evidence will be exported with the video evidence - to either uncompressed AVI format or WMV.

We are excited about this new feature, which came directly from your input. If you have not visited our StarWitness Voice website you should have a look at: starwitness.uservoice.com. You can vote on new features you think we should implement and enter suggestions.

Tools to Help with Your Video Evidence

Between gathering video evidence at a crime scene and using it as a tool in the courtroom there may be many steps and obstacles. How do you keep the evidence viable for the courtroom? How do you deal with possibly obscure digital file formats? Where do you look for answers when you hit a doorstop? To help knock out some of the obstacles we have put together a list of useful free video software and reference websites. Here are some of the highlights:

GSpot is a codec appliance software application. This freeware application helps you establish what codecs are required to play a media file and identifies whether the codecs are present on your system. It will also identify problems associated with the codecs and the media files.

Virtual Dub is a video playback and editing software application geared towards processing AVI files. It can also read MPEG-1 files and handle sets of BPM images and is available as a free download.

FileInfo.com is a searchable file extension database containing information about thousands of file extensions. Each entry contains information about the file format, a description of the file and the programs that can open the file.

Media Geek is a forensic multimedia community containing a variety of downloads and links as well as forensic video news, blogs and forums. This is a great place to go to ask questions about or read up on video forensics. It is also a great place to download proprietary players and codecs.

These are just a few of the helpful sites and downloads we have found. The complete list can be found in our upcoming issue of Video Scene Magazine. Visit the Video Scene Magazine website and subscribe now to make sure you get the next issue.

Training, Training, Training

It seems as though we've been on a training kick for the past couple of months. Between our new Product Certification class and our bi-yearly Recovery and Analysis class, it's been a pretty busy season. We're thrilled to be educating the community and providing tools to help put criminals behind bars.

Our latest training was the Recovery and Analysis class held this past September. We were extremely pleased with what trainees took away from the class: A complete picture of how to use video to capture bad guys. Not just an overview but really digging into the details. Dealing with all the problems of video evidence from analog to digital video systems (digital video was a big component of the class).

We were thrilled that everyone learned so much and found the class to be so thorough. Here is some of the feedback we received from the latest trainees:

"Very good class, material presented in a good manner, nice setup for the classroom"

"The training was the most thorough that I have had this far. Very helpful regarding the legal aspects of Video Evidence"

"class was good - plenty of hands on and good lecture"

"The training was above and beyond my expectations"

Our next Recovery and Analysis training class will be held February 8th - 10th, 2010 in Phoenix, AZ. To find out more about the training visit our website or email us. Also check out our training calendar to find out about other StarWitness classes.

Product Certification

A few weeks ago we held our first Product Certification class with great success. One of the great things about conducting any training class for the first time is gaining valuable feedback from the trainees. We were thrilled to learn what trainees gained from the class and what they would like to see added to future classes.

Here is what some of the trainees had to say about the class:

"Both Instructors were experts on their topics"

"I think the product Certification course is an excellent idea and I would recommend it to other Signalscape Users."

One valuable tip we gained during this class is that a week is not long enough to cover Video products and information and Audio products and information. That's why going forward we are splitting Product Certification into two classes, one dedicated to Video and one dedicated to Audio. The Video class will cover StarWitness FreezeFrame and Video Pro capabilities and filters as well as video best practices and technical information. The Audio class will cover StarWitness Audio Pro and SoundBite capabilities and filters as well as an overview of audio technology.

The next Video Product Certification Class will be held March 22nd - 26th, 2010 and the first Audio Product Certification class will be held April 19th - 23rd, 2010. For more information contact a sales representative or visit our website. We hope to see you at our upcoming Product Certification classes!