Understanding Microsoft Movie Maker
The Understanding Microsoft Movie Maker course was held in March of 2010 for select Grade Eight English students at St. Andrew’s Junior High School in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. The below information is designed to act as reference material while those students work on their projects.
As Microsoft Movie Maker is an exclusively Windows based product (and has been bundled with most Windows operating systems from 2000 – 2009), it is unavailable to Mac users. Although many of the concepts are the same, Mac users will find that iMovie (which comes bundled with most Macs) is a more robust application and differs greatly in appearance and function.
Download Microsoft Movie Maker
You can download Microsoft Movie Maker 2.6 for free at the below link. Please note that this the version we have been using in school. You can also try Windows Live Movie Maker which uses a slightly different interface (and does not have all of the same features).
Microsoft Movie Maker 2.6 – For Vista & Windows 7
Windows Live Movie Maker – For Vista & Windows 7
Microsoft Movie Maker can generally be found on your Windows PC at the below location:
Start » Programs » Accessories » Entertainment » Windows Movie Maker
Download Creative Commons Licensed Music for Your Soundtrack
Creative Commons is a system built upon current copyright law that allows you to legally use “some rights reserved” music, movies, images, and other content — all for free. Some musicians have used a Creative Commons license to allow you to legally use their songs in videos or other compositions. For more information, visit Creative Commons.
Jamendo – Over 31,000 albums available for free and legal download
audiofarm – well organized and easy to navigate site
You need to make sure that what you want to do with the music is OK under the terms of the particular Creative Commons license it’s under. CC-licensed music isn’t free for all uses, only some — so make sure to check out the terms (you can find these by clicking on each song’s license icon).
Most importantly, you need to use music that is not licensed under a No Derivative Works license. This means that the musician doesn’t want you to change, transform, or make a derivative work using their music. Under CC licenses, synching the music to images amounts to transforming the music, so you can’t legally use a song under a CC No Derivative Works license in your video.
Also, make sure to properly credit the musician and the track in the credits for your video.
Some Important Concepts
I have included several important concepts below that may cause some confusion with students. Click on the thumbnail for a larger version.
Trimming A Clip
Click for larger version
Click for larger version
Remember that when you select Set Start Trim Point you are telling Microsoft Movie Maker that you want you selected point to become the new start of the clip and that it should throw out everything before that point.
When you select Set End Trim Point you are telling Microsoft Movie Maker that you want you selected point to become the new end of the clip and that it should throw out everything after that point.
Undo
Undo is your best friend if you should make a mistake. By using Undo you are ‘un-doing’ the last command you gave Microsoft Movie Maker. Undo (and your other best friend, Redo) can be accessed at the top of the task bar as large, friendly blue arrows.
Like most Microsoft programs, Undo can also be used by holding down the CTRL key and hitting Z (Ctrl+Z). Redo can be used by holding down CTRL and hitting Y (Ctrl+Y).
Editing Audio
If you take your time and save often, you can easily edit audio using Microsoft Movie Maker. The most common task you will be attempting is to trim your soundtrack in order have different voice overs or music clips playing during the appropriate parts of your movie.
Remember that in order to use all of the trim functions that we practiced on the video portion of our timeline you must first left-click on the soundtrack clip you want to trim. By selecting the specific audio track that you want to trim you are telling Microsoft Movie Maker “Everything I tell you to do I want you to do to this clip “. If you do not select the audio clip first you are likely to start trimming your video clips instead!
Storyboard versus Timeline
In class we spent most of our time working with the Timeline. The Timeline is ideal for dealing with issues relating to the length of clips, how Transitions overlap, and the layering of audio (such as soundtracks). What the Timeline isn’t great about is letting you clearly see which Transitions you have used.
If you click on Show Storyboard at the top of your Timeline you will see a series of boxes. As we discussed in class, these boxes are a great way to organize your Transitions, Titles, and Credits. Please remember that all Transitions take a few seconds (some more, some less) to complete so you may not be able to place Transitions around some clips that are less then four seconds long!
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