Ok, now this is a very underrated piece of software...
What's this icon?
Like most of you, I've been using Windows XP since 2002, and have totally ignored the Windows Movie Maker software which came bundled with SP2, thinking that it was just another cheap media file utility that would copy your movies to a DVD or some such thing.
Well, I was wrong - :) I have this tendency to totally ignore stuff that I don't use every day...
Hmm...that's probably a subject for a different blog entirely.
Wait, where was that icon?
Since the birth of our child Kathryn, we have been taking video clips of the various cutesy things that she does, which is just about everything - - - can you tell I am a new parent? In any case, my wife wanted to put some of these short videos on her blog, and I was tasked with finding a way of doing this that was easy enough for the non-geeks.
And so I said to myself, "wasn't there some sort of Microsoft tool that gets installed with Windows XP?"
Lo, there it was.
Yea, there was great rejoicing.
The Microsoft blurb:
Windows Movie Maker 2.1 makes home movies amazingly fun. With Movie Maker 2.1, you can create, edit, and share your home movies right on your computer. Build your movie with a few simple drag-and-drops. Delete bad shots and include only the best scenes. Then share your movie via the Web, e-mail, or CD. Using third-party software you can even take movies you've made and turn them into DVDs. You can also save your movie back to the video tape in your camera to play back on a TV or on the camera itself.
Well, I don't know how 'amazingly' fun it could possibly be, but my wife was having a ball using it...
Essentially, you can use Windows Movie Maker (WMM) to piece together (or split) captured or imported audio, pictures, and video. For instance, you can save videos from the Internet and splice them together to make your own "frankenvideo". Then, upload your creation to the 'Net to share with your friends and family.
You can also add transition effects, titles and captions, and audio tracks to your video project. It is actually quite easy, even for the uninitiated.
The real bonus is that you can select what type of video output you would like to save the file with, allowing you to make the most out of your viewers' bandwidth (or falling within a web hosting provider's limitations). For example, you can save a video suited for Pocket PC viewing, or for broadband...as you select different output formats, WMM will tell you about how big each video will be per minute. Handy.
Importing videos?
You can import a surprising (although incomplete) number of popular video formats. Of course, you could convert a non-supported video with another tool such as Super or Mediaconverter SA... Import formats supported are avi, mpg, m1v, mp2, mp2v, mpeg, mpe, mpv2, wm, wmv, and asf.
Capturing video (Digital Video Camera, web-camera, etc.)? If you are capturing video from a DV Camera, you will be brought to a window that will ask you what video source you want to use, and then to another screen that will ask you to record the video stream. This isn't unlike having a VCR set on 'Pause'+'Record' during re-runs of 'Manimal' and waiting for the commercial to be over before you hit pause again to resume recording...I can't believe I just busted out a 'Manimal' reference. Awesome.
Once you have selected or captured your video(s), you will be brought to a timeline window (a staple of video editing software), allowing you to arrange and split or trim your video/audio sources.
Subtitles!
WMM gives you the option of inserting captions and titles to your videos. You can select from a number of title/caption formats, so you aren't limited to just a string of text on the screen during the whole video. Transition effects apply here as well.
Likes:
- Easy to use
- Quick
- Many output video compression algorithms available
- Left pane features links to common tasks
- No support for Quicktime .mov files
- No ability for add-on filters/transitions, etc.
So, WMM is an excellent freebie for anyone who wants to put together quick videos for relatives, or perhaps underground journalists. You know, if you coupled this with something like CamStudio, you could have a killer tutorial/demo creation tool that would be great for educators.
See below for a sample video I shot at home - no, I know I won't win any Oscars, and I know it is dark, but it's an example, so don't make fun :). The music was done by me, however, so feel free to comment on that.
Also note that I'm using a draft feature of Blogger.com - if you want to upload videos into your Blogger.com account - goto http://draft.blogger.com and use the site as you normally would with blogger.com.
Alternates
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Alternates
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1 comments:
I use WMM all the time, but am only now finding that there are some tricky file management issues when using more than one computer. I am teaching a class on it for teachers who want to use it for student portfolios and assessment, and have found out the hard way (egad) that saving project files to a network doesn't work. I am still trying to find out how to do it properly.
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