Vidiary Brings a Diary on Your Mac

July 25, 2011 in Apps, Reviews by Daniel

Tired of actually making the effort of writing down your every thought into your diary?

Vidiary is a new application from software developers Neatberry that records your daily thoughts without having to type a word.

Functionality:

The interface is super clean, opening with a screen offering six options; add a new diary, edit an existing diary, erase a diary, import a video, proprties and lock/unlock.

Clicking the plus button (if you are just starting out) adds a new diary which you can name whatever you wish. Double-clicking the diary opens up the file, and allows you to create video entries using the built-in iSight camera on your Mac or an external recording device. (In preferences you can  select what kind of recording quality and audio quality Vidiary records. Very handy.)

Pressing the ‘+’ button in the corner of the screen creates a new entry. Clicking on the record button automatically starts your iSight and allows you to record.

If you don’t like the quality of your iSight (I know I don’t), or you wish to add video from your iPhone or other recording device, you can upload movies from external cameras.

If you wish to add special memories associated with the video that weren’t recorded, text can be added above or below the movie.

Exporting video from Vidiary simply requires pressing the export button next to the video. You have the option of saving it anywhere on your computer.

The Pros and Cons:

The software is very bare bones. Don’t expect a steep learning curve, but also don’t expect lots of extra functionality. I would have enjoyed seeing a document drop function, kind of like scrapbook feature, that allows you to add other memories to the software. I dragged a few pictures into the program, but couldn’t move them around. Documents dropped into the software wouldn’t open when clicked and were not visible as anything more than an icon.

Verdict:

A nice, simple video recording program for diary enthusiasts. So easy to use little kids and the elderly alike can use it. If you like all singing and dancing programs, this might not be for you. But altogether a great piece of software.