Windows Movie Maker
This feature is also offered after importing files already on the hard drive. There are in all 49 effects and 63 transitions.Newer cameras using USB 2.0 give much better results. 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. 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.
Installation requires Windows Vista and is only intended for use on computers where the hardware accelerated version cannot be run. In Windows 7, the latest iteration of Windows, Windows Movie Maker is no longer included in favor of its Windows Live counterpart, Windows Live Movie Maker, but it is based on a different code base and has different functionalities as Windows Movie Maker. If no video or image is present, then it is possible to simply export the sound clips you have as a .wma file. Versions 2.x included in Windows XP includes 60 transitions, 37 effects, 34 title and 9 credits animations.
They are applied by using a drag and drop interface from the effects or transitions folders. Microsoft also provides SDK documentation for custom effects and transitions.
The accepted formats for import are .WMV/.ASF, .MPG (MPEG-1), .AVI (DV-AVI), .WMA, .WAV, and .MP3. Due to the flexible interface, programming custom effects and other content is possible for version 2.0 and higher using XML.
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 another position. Earlier versions of Windows Movie Maker did not support direct burning of DVDs.
Movie Maker also allows users to publish a finished video on video hosting websites. Windows Movie Maker can also be used to edit and publish audio tracks. Version 2.1, a minor update, is included in Windows XP Service Pack 2.
Therefore, Microsoft has also released an updated older version 2.6 for Windows Vista on the Microsoft Download Center. New effects and transitions can be made and existing ones can be modified using XML code.
This version includes the old effects and transitions, and is basically the same as Windows Movie Maker 2.1, but without the ability to capture video. Since the effects are XML based, users can create and add custom effects and transitions of their own with XML knowledge. Movie Maker 1.0, introduced with Windows Me, was widely criticised for being bare bones In June 2008, a memo purportedly by Bill Gates from January 2003 was circulated on the Internet in which he heavily criticized the downloading process for Movie Maker at the time. .
That is, at each point where the Record button was pressed, a new clip is generated. The HD version in Premium and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista adds support for capturing from HDV camcorders.
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. However, it is still possible to run any version of Windows Movie Maker by simply copying the original Movie Maker files from a previous version of Windows into Windows 7 and registering the dll files. The layout consists of a storyboard view and a timeline view, collections for organizing imported video, and a preview pane.
The project had to be first saved as an AVI file, and a separate authoring program used to produce and burn the DVD. Windows Movie Maker in Windows Vista includes new effects and transitions, and support for the DVR-MS file format that Windows Media Center records television in.
The storyboard/timeline consists of one Video (with accompanying Audio bar), one Music/Audio bar, and one Titles/Credits bar. Windows Movie Maker is also a basic audio track editing program.
It contains features such as effects, transitions, titles/credits, audio track, timeline narration, and Auto Movie. (Limited but adequate authoring software was often bundled free with DVD drives).
Version 1.1 was included in XP in 2001. Version 1.1 was included in Windows XP a year later, and included support for creating DV AVI and WMV 8 files. Additionally, the Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate editions of Movie Maker support importing MPEG-2 Program streams and DVR-MS formats.
Alternatively, most DV cameras allow the final AVI file to be recorded back onto the camera tape for high quality playback. Windows Movie Maker is a video creating/editing software, included in Microsoft Windows.
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). The most reliable results can be obtained by adding an extra hard disk dedicated for scratch space, and regularly re-formatting/defragmenting it, rather than simply deleting the files at the end of the project.
Titles and credits can be added as stand alone titles or overlaying them on the clip by adding them onto the selected clip. The Windows Vista version includes a different set of transitions, effects and title/credits animations while dropping a few older ones.
The Windows Vista version supports Direct3D-based effects. Some standalone DVD recorders will also directly accept DV inputs from video cameras and computers. After capture, any clip can be dragged and dropped anywhere on the timeline.
In each bar, clips can be added for editing (e.g., a .WAV music file will belong on the Music/Audio bar). Right-clicking any clip brings up the range of editing options.
However it was not available for Windows 2000, which was released in the same year as ME (2000). 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.
The capture wizard will create DVR-MS type files from HDV tapes. The Windows XP Media Center Edition version, bundled the Sonic DVD Burning engine, licensed from Sonic Solutions to author and burn the DVD.
However, the Windows Vista version of Windows Movie Maker no longer supports importing video from an analog video source such as an analog camcorder, VCR or from a webcam. Some systems might not be able to run the new version of Windows Movie Maker. Still images can also be imported into the timeline and stretched to any desired number of frames.
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 is not 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. However, the actual recording on the hard drive is still one continuous file.
Version 2.0 was released as a free update in November 2002, and added a number of new features. Importing of other container formats such as MP4/3GP, FLV and MOV, MIDI, AIFF, AAC and SWF are not supported even if the necessary DirectShow decoders are installed.
When in Storyboard view, the video project appears as a film strip showing each scene in clips. It can apply basic effects to audio tracks such as fade in or fade out.
Titles range from static (non-animated) titles to fly in, fading, news banner, or spinning newspaper animations. Fragmented AVI files result in jerky playback on the editing screen, and make the final rendering process much longer. Although it is 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.
This is probably due to copyright issues. 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. 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.
The audio tracks can then be exported in the form of a sound file instead of a video file. The first version was available for Windows Me in 2000, followed by Windows XP in 2001, including other XP editions. Development of Windows Movie Maker was abandoned after the release of Windows Vista; its replacement, Windows Live Movie Maker, will be included with Windows Live Essentials, a free download from Windows Live; The first release was included with Windows Me in 2000. 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.
