BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO LIVE MOVIE MAKER

Previous versions of Movie Maker came built-in with Windows. However, if you have

Windows 7 you will probably have to download it. You can download it from here:

http://explore.live.com/windows-live-movie-maker

IMPORT YOUR VIDEO OR IMAGES

Movie Maker can create movies using your still images, or video.

To get video from a camera, it should be plugged into your computer. Then click the arrow

in the top right corner and choose Import from Device. Navigate to your

camera and locate the video.

If your video or images are already uploaded to your computer then choose Click here to

browse for video and photos.

You can also do this by clicking Add Videos and Photos in the ribbon at the top.

Then navigate to your images or video. If you import a video Movie Maker may optimise the

video before you can start editing. A message appears on screen to let you know this is

happening. It doesn’t take long, depending on how large the file is.

Any files you import appear in the story board, on the right, as on the image below.

START EDITING

TRIM TOOL

The trim tool allows you to cut unwanted footage from the beginning or end (or both) of

your movie. Click the Edit tab, and choose Trim Tool.

Video

Images

The ribbon changes and you can select where to start and end the trim. You can do this by

either moving the slider that appears at the bottom of the movie screen, or for control that

is more accurate, use the start or end-point boxes.

SPLIT TOOL

The Split Tool is also under the Edit tab. You might want to split your video into smaller

sections, especially if it is a long video. This way you an insert still images into your movie in

addition to video. When you import your video Movie Maker automatically creates sections

– how many depends on how long the video is. You will see vertical lines in your video when

it’s in the storyboard. Click on these lines to activate the Split Tool.

To insert a still image in between to video clips, simply click the image and drag it to where

you want it.

OTHER CHOICES IN THE EDIT RIBBON

Depending on whether you have selected a video clip or an image, the edit ribbon gives you

some extra choices. These included changing the amount of time an image stays on screen,

changing the speed of a movie, changing the fade-in and fade-out. Play around with some of

the effects to see what happens.

Movie Maker creates section in your video.

You can see these vertical lines in the image.

Click on a line to activate the Split Tool.

TITLES CAPTIONS AND CREDITS

Once you have edited your movie, you can add captions, credits and a title. You can add

captions to either video or still images.

When you add a caption, the Text Tools formatting tab opens. From here, you can add

effects to your caption, such as flying in from left or right. Hover your mouse over the

choices to see how it will look.

There are lots more effects – just click the arrow in the corner.

You can also edit your text and change the font in this ribbon.

ADDING SOUND

To add music (or sound) to your movie click Add Music in under the Home tab. You can then

browse to a music or sound file. When you select your file it appears above the slides like

this:

You can then use the Music Tools options menu to choose when the music starts and stops,

fades in and out, and its volume.

SOME OTHER FEATURES

ANIMATION

You can add transitions, and Pan and Zoom to your movies. Pan and Zoom works best on

still images.

Transitions sit between sections of your movie – it makes the move from one image or

scene to another less abrupt. You can adjust how long the transition lasts, and choose many

different kinds from the drop down menu.

To add a transition, select a section of movie, or one of your still images. The transition will

appear at the beginning of the section you choose. Test a few out to see what they look like.

VISUAL EFFECTS

Choose the Visual Effects ribbon to add effects such as Black and White, or Posterise to your

movies, or individual sections.

SAVING YOUR MOVIE AND MOVIE PROJECT

SAVE YOUR PROJECT

You can save your Movie Maker Project at any time. Click the arrow in the top right corner

to get a drop-down menu. Choose Save Project As, and then give your

project a name. It is saved as a wlmp file. You can now return to your project at any time to

continue editing.

Note that doing this saves the project – it does not mean that you save your movie to its

final format. To do that, click the down arrow and choose Save Movie.

SAVE YOUR MOVIE

When you have finished your movie you need to save it as a

movie file. This is the final part of making a movie – it is not

the same as saving the project.

When you click Save Movie from the arrow in the top right

of the screen, you are given several options. Choose

Recommended for this Project to allow Windows to choose

the best settings. However, you can also choose to save as

High Definition (HD), or a range of other formats. You can

also burn to DVD.

SHARING YOUR MOVIE

At the right-hand side of the home ribbon, you can choose to share your new movie on

Facebook, YouTube, or on a few other platforms. In order to do this you will need to have a

Windows Live account.

OTHER STUFF

You can do a few other things in Movie Maker. You can add built-in auto movie themes. Just

choose the theme you want, and Movie Maker does the work for you. To see what each

theme looks like, hover your mouse over the icon in the Home tab. You can also add video

directly from your webcam.