Last week, Microsoft's video editing program, Windows Live MovieMaker, came out of beta and is available to the general public to download and use. You might be familiar with the previous version, Windows Movie Maker, but this one has a whole new look and some great new features. It's received some excellent reviews and is being compared favorably to Apple's iMovie:
http://www.vistanews.com/2YM16P/090827-Movie-Maker
Best of all, it's free. You can install it on Vista or Windows 7, but unfortunately for Windows XP users, it doesn't run on the older operating system. If you'd like to give it a try, you can download it from the Windows Live web site at
http://www.vistanews.com/2YM16P/090827-Download-Movie-Maker
You'll first need to install the Windows Live Installer (if you don't already have it; if you do, just run it; it's called wlsetup-all.exe. It's only 134 MB, so it shouldn't take long to download on a broadband connection. Note that this is the installer for all of the Windows Live programs. You'll need to accept the service agreement, then you'll see a dialog box that shows you which (if any) Windows Live programs you already have installed. If you have the older version of MovieMaker, you should see a message telling you that it will be updated. Uncheck the boxes for any programs that you don't want installed. If you select to have the installer close open programs for you (such as IE and Outlook), it will reopen them after the installation completes.
You'll find the MovieMaker icon in the Windows Live folder in your program files (or, of course, you can just type MovieMaker in the Start/Search box). When you open it up, you'll see a clean interface with a black box in the left pane. You'll also notice that it uses a Ribbon interface somewhat like those in the latest Office programs. You can drag videos or photos into the right (storyboard) pane or click in the pane to browse your folders to find the content you want to add. If you drag a video here, you'll see a frame-by-frame representation.
You can also make a movie/slideshow out of still photos or you can mix photos and video clips. Once you have them lined up the way you want them in the right pane, you can start really having fun. You can add a title page, captions and credits, rotate photos 90 degrees left or right, and add music or other audio to play over the video/slideshow. You can start the music at the beginning, or at the current point you've selected within the storyboard. You can also have the video automatically set to fit to the music.
There are a large number of transitions that you can insert between photos/clips, including fades, shapes, flips, wipes, rolls and so forth. Another cool feature is the "pan and zoom" effect, which is very configurable and makes it look as if the camera is moving from side to side, top to bottom, diagonally, and so forth. You can click the Visual Effects tab and convert to black and white, sepia, pixelate the photo, cycle through the color spectrum, and more.
With the Video Tools, you can split or trim video, set fades, choose a background color or control the video volume. With the Music Tools, you can fade the audio in and out and edit the audio track. With the Text Tools, you can set effects (such as how the text enters), edit the text, change the font and set text transparency. Of course, it's still a consumer-oriented program, and if you want to create professional video, you'll want a more sophisticated program. For example, the Windows Live MovieMaker storyboard doesn't even include a timeline.
Lots of file types are supported for importing video, including .AVI (which some cameras use to record), .MOV (used by other cameras and the iPhone), .WTV (the format in which Windows 7's Windows Media Center application records TV programs), MPEG4, MT2, AVCHD and more. Unfortunately, it only saves in one format: .WMV. You can save in 16:9 or 4:3 aspect ratio and in a choice of resolutions.
Perhaps the most high profile new feature is AutoMovie. You choose your video clips and/or photos and click the AutoMovie button, and it will automatically add title page, credits, transitions, and music (you have to select a song). What's missing? The most noticeable thing was the ability to make voiceovers with a microphone connected to your computer. When you've finished making your movie, Windows Live MovieMaker makes it easy for you to publish your masterpiece to YouTube or burn it to DVD.
For a free program, it works well. And for most home users and even some small business use, it has all the features you're likely to need. So if you've always secretly aspired to be a film maker, check it out.
In the Digital Workshop Powered by Windows, be sure to attend the Your Away-From-Home Movie session to learn all the features that Movie Maker offers and you’ll be on your way when you decide to experience Windows Live Movie Maker.
You can publish your video to YouTube or Facebook, save it in high definition (or a smaller format), transfer it to a mobile device, burn it on a DVD, or email it to a friend. The open architecture allows you to add more third-party sharing services.
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