With so many social hubs and video portals online, more people than ever are creating an audio video recording to post to websites. An audio video recording is a short movie with a soundtrack and a series of still or moving pictures. If you use a current operating system like Microsoft Windows XP or newer, it may surprise you to learn that you already own audio video recording software. Audio video recording programs are also built into Apple Macintosh computers.

In Windows systems, built-in Movie Maker is the tool that creates audio video recordings. Apple Macintosh has iMovie, part of a larger suite of multimedia applications bundled as iLife. There are also a variety of free, third party audio video recording programs, some of which are open source. Open source software is typically stable and highly rated, as the coding is publicly available for peer review.

Every audio video program is unique, but the basic steps for creating an audio video recording is to import the audio video files needed, then arrange them along a timeline of the audio track. At its simplest it is a drag-and-drop operation. In Movie Maker the wave pattern of the audio track lays like a horizontal ruler along the audio video desktop. Blank frames run its length, each one corresponding to a specific interval in the soundtrack. Dragging the movie file(s) or still digital photo files to the blank frames matches pictures to the soundtrack.

By playing the audio video recording and watching your placed pictures progress, you can edit the order and timing of each picture or video clip. You might want a video clip to play in slow motion, for example, or a particular photograph to hold longer than others. Pictures and video can also have Photoshop-style effects applied and transition effects. Many programs allow audio editing, and tools for creating opening titles and credits are also available options.

If you don’t already have your audio video files on your computer, audio video recording programs can capture feeds from any device connected to the computer. This includes DVD or CD decks, camcorders and digital cameras. Connections require the proper ports on the computer and cables — normally the Universal Serial Bus (USB) or Firewire ports are used for this function.

Once an audio video recording is finished you can save it in a format that will make it easy to upload to the Web or burn to DVD. You may be surprised just how easy it is to create your own audio video movie. A homemade audio video recording using family photographs makes a great gift to Mom and Dad at holidays or anytime. Memorialize your wedding, a birth, graduation, a vacation, or any cherished memory.

Once you get the audio video bug, you may want to try other programs. Avid Technology, Inc. is an Emmy award-winning manufacturer of professional audio video recording software that offers a scaled down, free audio video recording program called Avid Free DV. An on-site tutoring course will give you an idea of the complexity of this free audio video recording program, which runs on Mac and Linux as well as Windows. Other popular, free audio video recording programs include Jashaka (open source), Virtual Dub and AVIedit, among others.