Editing Video with Windows Movie Maker (Digital Home Movies) Part 2

Adding a Clip to the Timeline

Adding a Clip to the Timeline

1 Click the Collections button.

2 In the Collections pane, select the Collection containing the video clip to be added.

3 Drag and drop a clip on the point in the Timeline you want to insert the clip.

INTRODUCTION

Clips may be added to a movie in the Timeline view, just like adding them in the Storyboard view. Dragging a clip from a Collection to the Timeline updates your movie with the new clip.

TIP

Repeat Clips

To repeat a video clip on the Timeline, it isn’t necessary to drag it from the collection again. Highlight the clip on the Timeline, press Ctrl+C on the keyboard to copy the clip, and Ctrl+P to paste it in an open slot on the Timeline

Removing a Clip from the Timeline

Removing a Clip from the Timeline


1 On the Timeline, right-click on the movie clip to be removed.

2 Select Delete from the menu.

INTRODUCTION

Every movie director has to make decisions about what to keep and what to remove. When a video clip no longer fits your movie, remove the clip while performing other edits on the Timeline.

TIP

Deleting Two Clips

To delete two side-by-side clips on the timeline, click the first clip, hold down the Shift key and press the right arrow key to select the second clip too. Release the Shift key and press the Delete key to remove both clips.

Preparing an AutoMovie

Preparing an AutoMovie

1 Click the Collections button on the Toolbar.

2 Select the Collection you want to use to create a movie.

INTRODUCTION

AutoMovie does exactly what its name implies, automatically creating an entire movie from a selection of clips. To prepare the video clips for an AutoMovie, the clips must be selected.

HINT

Multi-Collection AutoMovie

Movie Maker provides no way to simultaneously select two collections. To use video clips from more than one collection to create an AutoMovie, either copy or drag all the clips into the same collection.

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3 In the middle Collection pane where the clips are displayed, hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard while clicking on each of the movie clips to be included in your movie.

4 From the menu, click on Tools and select Auto Movie.

TIP

Clean the Slate

AutoMovie assumes the Timeline or Storyboard are empty when you start. If there are movie clips already on the Storyboard or Timeline, AutoMovie will append the auto-generated movie immediately after the last clip currently on the Timeline or Storyboard.

Customizing an AutoMovie

Customizing an AutoMovie

1 Select the Editing Style for your movie.

2 Click Enter a title for the movie.

3 Type your title in the space provided, and then click Select audio or background music.

4 Click Browse to locate music for the movie.

INTRODUCTION

In addition to choosing the video clips to be included in an AutoMovie, Windows Movie Maker offers a choice of editing style, custom audio selection, and some simple titling. For users who want to build a movie from their video clips quickly, AutoMovie is a great way to get most of the elements in place in the fewest steps. This task assumes you completed the previous task on "Preparing an AutoMovie."

TIP

Multiple Music Tracks

AutoMovie only accepts one audio file for background music. To add a series of songs, pick the first song to be added automatically by AutoMovie, then manually import the other songs by selecting File, Import into Collections. After importing the tracks, drag them to the Audio/Music section of the timeline.

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5 Choose the music for the movie by clicking on the file and clicking Open.

6 Slide the audio level more toward either Audio from video or Audio/Music, depending on whether you want to keep the audio from your movie clip.

7 Click Done, edit movie, and then AutoMovie processes all your movie clips, adding transitions automatically.

8 Preview the AutoMovie by clicking the Play button in the preview pane.

HINT

AutoMovie Time Limit

AutoMovie limits the length of its creation to the length of the music track selected during the customization process. If no music track is selected, AutoMovie defaults to a three-minute maximum.

TIP

Muting the Video Track

By default AutoMovie assumes you want to hear the audio track associated with the video    clips as well as the soundtrack music. If you didn’t mute the audio track in step 6 of this task and you decide it should be muted,    switch    to Timeline view and then    select all the audio on the Audio section of the timeline by pressing Ctrl+A. Right-click the selected files, and choose Mute from the menu.

Saving an AutoMovie

Saving an AutoMovie

1 Click T asks on the toolbar.

2 Click the down arrow next to Finish Movie.

3 Click Save to my computer.

4 Type a name for your movie file and choose the folder where the movie will be saved (My Videos is the default). Click Next.

INTRODUCTION

With an AutoMovie successfully created in the previous two tasks, it’s time to save the movie. Saving the movie to the hard drive makes it easy to import the file into a DVD-creating application, burn it to CD, or save it to MiniDV tape later.

HINT

Sharing an AutoMovie via Email

The DV-AVI format is far too large for sending video via email. If you plan to share an AutoMovie with family and friends, choose one of the settings optimized for email from the list of save options.

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5 Click Show more choices, to select a format. Click Next.

6 Click Other settings, and then choose DV-AVI (NTSC) from the drop-down menu.

7 When the movie has finished saving click Finish.

TIP

Don’t Want to Preview?

Uncheck the Play movie when I click Finish check box if you do not wish to view the finished movie immediately.

HINT

Number One Fan

If you have movie clips and music from a favorite band, AutoMovie is an easy way to create your own music videos. Be sure you have the rights to the video or audio content before sharing a movie like this with other people.

Splitting a Movie Clip

Splitting a Movie Clip

1 Select the clip you want to split from the list of clips in the Collection pane.

2 Click and drag the slider to the approximate point in the clip where the split will be made.

3 Use the Next Frame and Previous Frame buttons to position the clip more precisely.

4 Click the Split button.

INTRODUCTION

Splitting a movie clip into two clips lets you use the clips in separate parts of your movie. Divide the clip into two parts at the frame where you want the split to occur, making it easy to use each piece of the clip in any part of your movie.

TIP

Splitting Clips on the Timeline

Video clips may also be split from the timeline. With Movie Maker in Timeline view, use the blue slider to find the point in a video clip where a split should occur. Click the Split button under the monitor pane.

Combining Two or More Movie Clips

Combining Two or More Movie Clips

1 Press the Ctrl key on your keyboard and click to select the clips from the Storyboard you want to combine.

2 From the dip menu, choose Combine.

INTRODUCTION

Combining movie clips eliminates breaks in the flow of your video. If two video clips follow each other chronologically in your movie, combining them helps keep the story flow organized.

TIP

Combining Sequential Clips

To combine a large series of sequential clips, select the first clip on the storyboard, press the Shift key, and then click the last clip. When all the clips are selected, choose Combine from the Clip menu.

Trimming Movie Clips

Trimming Movie Clips

1 Select the clip you want to trim in the Collections pane and drag it to the Storyboard.

2 Click Show Timeline on the Storyboard toolbar.

3 Click the Zoom In button to stretch your clip on the Timeline.

4 Drag the play marker to the point where you want your clip to start, and then from the Clip menu choose Set Start Turn Point.

INTRODUCTION

Trimming movie clips allows you to remove frames from the front or back of the clip. Trimming is useful when a movie clip includes extra material on either end or contains footage irrelevant to the movie project. Trimming is most often used to remove things like unintended shots of feet, walls, the lens cap, and other obstacles to the intended subject.

HINT

Hidden Frames

Trimming a clip doesn’t actually remove the video frames from the Timeline; it merely hides them. The hidden frames are skipped over during playback of the video and ignored when the final movie is saved. This effectively eliminates them from the movie, but also makes it easy to readjust trim points later without needing to re-add the full clip to the Timeline.

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5 Click and drag the play marker to the point where the clip should end.

6 Choose Set End Turn Point from the Qip menu.

TIP

More Precision Trimming

When it seems impossible to find the exact spot to trim a video clip, zoom in further on the timeline. This makes incremental shifts of the play marker more subtle, allowing for very precise marking of trim points.

TIP

Precision Trimming

When dragging the edge of a clip doesn’t result in finding the exact trim point needed, try using the Monitor pane instead. Scroll the play marker under the Monitor pane to the point in the video where a trim should be inserted. Select Clip, Set Start Trim Point or Set End Trim Point depending on which side of the clip you are trimming.

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