Those who want to go beyond the basic functions of Windows Media Player and RealPlayer have a lot of great - and free - software to choose online. Not all of the programmes are easy to use, but with enough effort and help from their fans at related forums, they can be useful for those who want to be a bit more creative.

VLC Media Player is a long-time favourite of mine. When I cannot get any other programme to play a video, I open it and most times it works. VLC is open-source and provides frame-by-frame advancement, speed controls and can record streaming video. Splash Lite is an alternative cited for its superior rendition of high-definition video formats. It can be combined with a TV tuner to view HD broadcasts.

KMPlayer is rated highly by CNET as "one of the most powerful freeware video players we've seen". You can use it to capture streaming video and audio and numerous controls and tweaks, such as frame capture and frame-forward. It also boasts the ability o play incomplete or damaged AVI files.

Jing is another video recording program, and offers the ability to make screen captures and recordings of streaming video that often cannot by saved in any other manner.

You use the program's crosshairs to outline the capture area and then take a still or a recording. Features include the ability to record at a 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratios. Some people use it to video their actions on a computer. The image or video can be saved to your hard drive or uploaded to a free Screencast.com account (run by Jing) for instant sharing.

I should mention Free Online TV Player, which lets you watch live streaming television from an impressive number of broadcasters from around the world. While a lot of channels were working, I got cut off a few times. The programme also bothers me by trying to sell me its premium service, which offers movie and sports channels. But it is better than having to go to the online streaming sites to watch my favourite shows. An alternative is JLC's Internet TV Viewer, a channel guide that is maintained by users. It requires Windows Media Player, Real Player or VLC to work.

The equivalent for radio is RadioSure, which lists 12,000 stations you can tune into using the software. Stations are categorised by style of programming, call numbers, city and language. A record feature allows instant taping of favourite shows.

For fine control of video editing I use Windows Movie Maker 2, but it gets a poor rating from CNET for its promising "simplicity with drag-and-drop storyboard options, though during testing, it was more like drag and freeze" and they couldn't "recommend this freeware for any user". Another drawback is it can only be used on Windows XP.

Better yet is Avidemux, which receives five out of five stars for multi-purpose video editing and processing coupled with well-documented tutorials. Avidemux is open source and can be used to edit your video and re-encode it into different formats, useful for when you want one version for the internet and another higher quality for playing back on your TV or via a digital projector, if you can afford one. Like Movie Maker, you can mix and synch audio and video to micro-seconds. The advanced options include user-defined filters.

iWisoft Video Converter is another option. In addition to converting almost any time of video format into another, including those used by the iPod, iPhone, Apple TV, PSP, PS3, Zune, Creative Zen, Xbox 360, Archos and many smartphones. It does duty as a video editor, allowing you to crop, trim, merge videos, add text and picture watermarks, change brightness, contrast, gamma and adjust sound volume.

For audio recording and editing, many rate Audacity as among the best, however I find the sound quality is lacking when I use it to digitally record sound from my stereo player. Most likely I do not know how to use the controls properly, as many have found it great for creating good sounding podcasts.

JetAudio Basic receives a higher rating from both editors and users. It can rip sound from CDs, convert between various formats, read and edit MP3 tags. It features a timer and alarm so you can end a recording without having to hang around so that you don't end up with a full hard drive.

With such freeware available, you can record and manipulate sound and video without having to open your wallet.

Send any comments to elamin.ahmed@gmail.com