Everything about Windows Movie Maker totally explained
Windows Movie Maker is
video creating/editing software that's included in recent versions of
Microsoft Windows. It contains features such as effects, transitions, titles/credits, audio track, timeline narration, and
Auto Movie. New effects and transitions can be made and existing ones can be modified using
XML code.
History
Windows Movie Maker was introduced in 2000 with
Windows Me, but suffered from poor reviews due to its modest feature set in comparison with the year-old
iMovie product on the
Apple Macintosh. Version 1.1 was included in
Windows XP a year later, and included support for creating
DV AVI and
WMV 8 files, but can't be used with Windows Me. Version 2.0 was released as a free update in November 2002, and added a number of new features. Version 2.1, a minor update, is included in
Windows XP Service Pack 2.
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 introduced a new version of Windows Movie Maker, 2.5, with more
transitions and support for
DVD burning. A
WPF version was included in some builds of Windows "Longhorn" (now
Windows Vista), but was removed in the
development reset.
Windows Vista changes
In
Windows Vista, Windows Movie Maker has been upgraded to version 6 to match the version number of the operating system. The
SDK, however, refers to it as version 3.0. It is included in all editions with the exception of Windows Vista Starter. A
high-definition version is included in Home Premium and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista.
The Windows Vista version includes about 20 new effects, a few new transitions, and support for the
DVR-MS file format which
Windows Media Center records television in. The HD version in Premium and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista adds support for capturing from
HDV camcorders. The capture wizard will create
DVR-MS type files from HDV tapes. However, the Windows Vista version of Windows Movie Maker no longer supports importing video from an analog video source such as a
VCR or from a
webcam.
All Windows Vista versions require
pixel shader hardware support. Some systems might not be able to run the newer version. Therefore, Microsoft has also released an updated older version 2.6 for Windows Vista on the Microsoft Download Center. This version requires Windows Vista and allows the use of Windows Movie Maker on systems where the Windows Vista version can't be run.
Layout
The
layout consists of a
storyboard view and a
timeline view, collections for organizing imported video, and a
preview screen. When in
Storyboard view, the video project appears as a film strip showing each scene in clips. The storyboard/timeline consists of one 'Video' (with accompanying 'Audio' bar), one 'Music/Audio' bar, and one 'Titles/Credits' bar. In each bar, clips can be added for editing (for example, a
.wav music file will belong on the 'Music/Audio' bar). Still images can also be imported into the timeline and "stretched" to any desired number of frames.
The Video and Music/Audio bars can be "cut" to any number of short segments, which will play together seamlessly, but the individual segments are isolated editing-wise, so that for example, the music volume can be lowered for just a few seconds while someone is speaking.
Importing footage
When importing footage into the program, a user can either choose to
Capture Video (from camera, scanner or other device) or
Import into Collections to import existing video files into the user's collections. The accepted formats for import are
.WMV/
.ASF,
.MPG (MPEG-1),
.AVI (DV-AVI),
.WMA,
.WAV, and
.MP3. Additionally, the Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate editions of Movie Maker support importing
MPEG-2 Program streams and
DVR-MS formats. Importing of other container formats such as
MP4/
3GP,
FLV and
MOV,MIDI, AIFF, AAC and SWF isn't supported.
When importing from a DV tape, if the "Make Clips on Completion" option is selected, Windows Movie Maker automatically flags the commencement of each scene, so that the tape appears on the editing screen as a collection of short clips, rather than one long recording. That is, at each point where the "Record" button was pressed, a new "clip" is generated. However, the actual recording on the hard drive is still one continuous file. This feature is also offered after importing files already on the hard drive. In the Windows Vista version, the "Make clips on completion" option has been removed — the clips are now automatically created during the capture process.
The efficiency of the importing and editing process is heavily dependent on the amount of file fragmentation of the hard disk. The most reliable results can be obtained by adding an extra hard disk dedicated as the Movie Maker "Scratch Disk", (it need not be very large), and regularly re-formatting it, rather than simply deleting the files at the end of the project. Fragmented AVI files result in jerky playback on the editing screen, and make the final rendering process much longer.
Although it's possible to import digital video from cameras through the USB interface, most older cameras only support
USB version 1 and the results tend to be poor — "sub
VHS" — quality. Newer cameras using USB 2.0 give much better results. A
FireWire interface camera will allow recording and playback of images identical in quality to the original recordings if the video is imported and subsequently saved as DV
AVI files, although this consumes disk space at about 1 gigabyte every five minutes (12GB/Hr). Alternatively, most DV cameras allow the final AVI file to be recorded back onto the camera tape for high quality playback. Some standalone DVD recorders will also directly accept DV inputs from video cameras and computers.
Editing and output
After capture, any clip can be dragged and dropped anywhere on the timeline. Once on the timeline, clips can be duplicated or split, and any of the split sections deleted or copied using the standard Windows keyboard shortcuts or clicked and dragged to to another position. Right-clicking any clip brings up the range of editing options. An
AutoMovie feature offers predefined editing styles (titles, effects and transitions) for quickly creating movies.
Like all
non-linear editing systems, the original camera file on the hard drive isn't modified in any way; the current project file is really just a list of instructions for re-recording a final output video file from the original file. Thus, several different versions of the same video can be simultaneously made from the original camera footage.
Windows Movie Maker can only export video in
Windows Media formats or
DV AVI. It includes some predefined profiles, however, users can create custom profiles which utilize newer codecs using
Windows Media Profile Editor (part of
Windows Media Encoder 9 Series) and copy those profiles to the
%ProgramFiles%Movie MakerSharedProfiles folder for them to be used in Windows Movie Maker.
Earlier versions of Windows Movie Maker didn't support direct burning of
DVDs. The project had to be first saved as an
AVI file, and a separate authoring program used to produce and burn the DVD. The
Windows XP Media Center Edition version, specified software licensed from
Sonic Solutions (Sonic DVD Burning engine) to author and burned the DVD, however in many cases basic DVD authoring software often bundled with DVD burners (eg
Power Producer) was adequate. The Windows Vista version of Windows Movie Maker passes the video project to
Windows DVD Maker to burn
DVD-Video discs.
Video can be exported back to the video camera if supported by the camera. Movie Maker also allows users to publish a finished video on video hosting websites.
Effects and transitions
There are over 130 effects, transitions, titles, and credits available. They are applied by using a
drag and drop interface from the effects or transitions folders. Titles and credits can be added as stand alone titles or overlaying them on the clip by adding them onto the selected clip. Titles range from static (non-animated) titles to fly in, fading, news banner, or spinning newspaper
animations. Due to the flexible interface, programming custom effects and other content is possible for version 2.0 and higher using
XML. Microsoft also provides SDK documentation for custom effects and transitions. At the Movie Maker Forums (link below) you can get assistance on creating these custom effects and transitions, and a variety of ones already made that you can add.
Problems
Movie Maker 1.0, introduced with
Windows Me, was widely criticised for being "bare bones" and suffering "a woeful lack of features"; and saving movies only in Microsoft's ASF file format. However, critical reception of versions 2.0 and 3.0 has been more positive.
Earlier versions
Notes and references
Further Information
Get more info on 'Windows Movie Maker'.
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