Windows Movie Maker

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Windows Movie Maker

A screenshot of Windows Movie Maker in Windows Vista.
Developer:	Microsoft
Latest release:	6.0.6000.16386 / November 8, 2006
OS:	Microsoft Windows Me, XP, Vista
Use:	Video editing software
License:	Freeware
Website:	Microsoft

Windows Movie Maker is video editing software that is included with newer versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system starting from Windows ME. 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.

1 Layout
2 Importing footage
3 More about the program
4 Criticism
5 Version history
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Layout

The layout consists of a storyboard/timeline (click the Show Timeline or Show Storyboard icon to toggle), collections (for organizing imported video), and a preview screen. When in Storyboard view your "project" (the video you are making) 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 (e.g., a wav music file will belong on the 'Music/Audio' bar). Still images can also be imported and drag and dropped onto the 'Video' bar of the timeline.

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. Segments can also be deleted and/or copied and pasted using the standard Windows keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl-X etc).

Like all non-linear editing systems, the original camera file on the hard drive is not modified in any way; the "current" project 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 program can be simultaneously made from the original camera footage.

[edit] Importing footage

When importing footage into the program you can either choose to "Capture Video" (from camera, scanner or other device) or "Import into Collections" to import existing video files into your collections. The accepted video, image, and audio formats are wmv, jpeg, gif, png, wma, wav, and mp3. Movie Maker will also accept short MPEG-2 files but this may be unreliable.

When importing from a DV tape, if the "Make Clips on Completion" option is selected, 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 facility is also offered after importing files already on the Hard Drive).

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 moved to another position. (Right-clicking any clip brings up the range of editing options).

Although it is possible to import digital video from cameras through the USB interface, most older cameras only support USB 1 and the results tend to be rather poor - "sub VHS" - quality. (More recent model cameras using USB 2 give much better results). For any serious editing application, an IEEE 1394 interface card (also known as i.Link or FireWire) should be considered essential equipment. These are very cheap and if not already fitted, installation in most PCs is very simple. (Unlike USB, IEEE 1394 normally does not require any drivers, the camera essentially becoming part of the computer hardware). IEEE 1394 will allow recording and playback of images identical in quality to the original recordings if the video is imported (and subsequently saved) as AVI files, although this consumes disk space at about 1 Gigabyte every five minutes (12GB/Hr). Note: Current versions of Windows Movie Maker do not allow capture of MPEG-2 files from DVD or Hard Disk cameras.

Current versions of Windows Movie Maker also only allow the burning of Video CDs; that is, they do not support DVD burning directly. However there is plenty of software available which will convert the resultant edited files to the standard consumer DVD format as a separate step. In many cases, limited but perfectly useable software is bundled with DVD burners (eg Power Producer Gold). 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.

[edit] More about the program

There are over 130 effects, transitions, titles, and credits available in the program. They are applied by using a drag and drop interface from the effects or transitions folders. For titles and credits you have the option of adding them as stand alone titles or overlaying them on your 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 by implementing xml coding into the program's files.

Although the range of dissolve/fade effects are fairly limited, quite impressive effects can be had by importing still images from a photo editing program. For example, you can fade from an original version of a still to one where the brightness has been selectively manipulated to highlight one particular person in the scene.

[edit] Criticism

Windows Movie Maker has been criticized for its limited effects (Though, as stated above, it is possible to create advanced effects, but it is harder and more out-of-the-way to do than most other programs). The program has also been known to crash occasionally, resulting in the loss of any unsaved work.

[edit] Version history

Windows Movie Maker was first introduced with Windows Me, but suffered from poor reviews due to its modest feature set in comparison with the just-released iMovie product on the Apple Macintosh. Version 1.1 shipped with Windows XP a year later, and included support for creating AVI and WMV8 files, as well DV video support. Version 2.0 was released as a free update in November 2002, which added a number of new features.[1] The current 2.1 version is included in Windows XP Service Pack 2. Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 introduced a new version of Windows Movie Maker with more transitions and DVD authoring.

A screenshot of Windows Movie Maker in Windows XP.

In Windows Vista, Windows Movie Maker has been upgraded to version 6 (to match the version number of the operating system) and is only included in the Home Basic, Home Premium and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista.[2] Its major new features include support HD encoding (though only in the Home Premium and Ultimate editions; Home Basic does not support HD), about 20 new effects, a few new transitions, and support for the DVR-MS file format which the Media Center records television in. WMM 6 also integrates with the Windows DVD Maker application also included with Windows Vista.