Welcome to Gaia! ::

Note: If you read the first two posts, consider yourself a master of WMM already. If you need specific questions answered though, skip down and start at the third post. Also, a nice site that compliments this thread is http://windowsmoviemakers.net

ALSO NOTE: This guide uses both Windows Movie Maker 1 and Windows Movie Maker 2(differences described in the next post). While some images may look different from your computer, the basics are the same. So don't get too scared if it looks different.

The short url for this thread is http://xrl.us/wmm2

Table Of Contents

0. TOC. You're here.

1. About Windows Movie Maker
This is where to go if you're not sure what WMM is, if you have it, where to download it, and where to find it on your computer(if you have it).

2. Inside WMM
This is the longest post in the guide. It is basically showing you pictures of every single tool and telling you what it does. If you've never seen WMM before and you're not a quick learner, you should probably start here. If you're a quick learner, then skip this post.

3. Getting Footage
Tells you how to rip DVDs and import video from your computer and video camera.

4. Editing
Tells you the basics of a timeline and storyboard, and how to add a fade/dissolve. Mainly uses WMM1.

5. Video Effects, Titles, & Audio
Basically tells you everything you could ever need to know about video effects, titles, audio, how to add them, edit them, and all around fool with them. Includes how to change volume between clips and your music.

6. Exporting from WMM
Lets you know how to save your video file so everyone can see it, and you can put it on the internet. Youw ill get a .avi or .wmv file from this, not a .mswmm

7. Uploading your movie to a Website
Tells you how to upload your video to Youtube, Photobucket, Bolt, and TinyPic. More to come upon request.

8. General Problem Solving
Common problems that happen to a lot of people and how to fix them.

9. Advanced Guides
Links to guides for people who are more advanced than you.

10 - 15. Blank
Blank, but only for now... >_>

When you open up WMM2, it will look pretty much like this:


Here, I will explain everything you see. It's all pretty self explanatory, but some people don't know. So here we go.

The Toolbar


File
Obviously, this is all the stuff under the "file" option. You can get this menu by clicking "File" in the toolbar, or by hitting alt + F on your keyboard.

File -> New Project creates a new WMM Project(so, for every new movie you want to make, you should make a new project first). On the far right, you'll see Ctrl + N. This is the shortcut you type into your computer to automatically create a new project, instead of going through all that pesky mouse clicking. wink

File -> Open Project opens a WMM project you have already created and saved. Project files have the extension .mswmm. The shortcut to open is Ctrl + O on your keyboard.

File -> Save Project saves your current project as a .mswmm file. This is NOT a video file! It is your project file that you make the video with. The shortcut is Ctrl + S on your keyboard.

File -> Save Project As saves your project as a different file from the first. Meaning, you can make a different version of the project without saving over your past one. This is also saves with the extension .mswmm. The keyboard shortcut for this is the button F12(above your backspace key).

File -> Save Movie File will save an actual movie file. The extension for this will show up as either .wmv or .avi. This is the option you chose to save your video for others to see, instead of to save your project to work on later. You pick this option to save so you can upload your video to YouTube or some other place. The shortcut for this is Ctrl + P in WMM2, and Ctrl + M in WMM1.

File -> Capture Video Captures video from your camcorder that you hook into the computer. This is not the option you chose to get video that is already saved on your computer into WMM. The keyboard shortcut is Ctrl + R. In WMM1, this feature is called File -> Record.

File -> Import Into Collections will take a video and/or audio file you have on your computer and put it into WMM. In WMM1 this is simply called File -> Import. The keyboard shortcut is Ctrl + I on your keyboard.

File -> Properties. When you export your movie(save it as a video file with the extension of either .avi or .wmv), certain text will show up when you play it in Windows Media Player afterward. That information is the copyright, author, title, etc. When you play a song in WMP(Windows Media Player), you know how it will automatically change "01 - Mess.mp3" on your playlist into "Custom - Mess" and then maybe the date it was made or the album it came from? This is that information. To let everyone who downloads your video know that you made the video, put the information you want to be shown into here.

Recent Files under File -> options there are a few numbered files. These are simply files you've recently opened in WMM. Clicking on them opens them. You can use this instead of File -> Open to save time, or if you don't remember where you saved your project.

File -> Exit closes the program completely. Make sure you save first. The keyboard shortcut for this is alt + F4. In WMM1 this option may be called File -> Close.

Edit
All the stuff under the "edit" option. Keyboard shortcut for this is Alt + E.

Edit -> Undo Undoes your last action. Shortcut for this is Ctrl + Z. My last action happened to be adding a clip. But it will display whatever was your last action here.

Edit -> Redo Redoes the last action you undid. Keyboard shortcut for this is Ctrl + Y. I haven't undone anything, so this option is greyed out.

Edit -> Cut takes whatever you have selected, and copies it to your clipboard(holds it in memory, basically), but erases it from where it was... (Shortcut is Ctrl + X)

Edit -> Copy does basically the same thing as Cut, but does not erase what you selected from where it was previously (shortcut for this is Ctrl + C)

Edit -> Paste takes whatever you have Cut or Copied and either(depending on whether you copied or cut) pastes what you removed into the new place, or makes a duplicate, and pastes that in the new place you've selected. Shortcut for this is Ctrl + V. I don't have anything on my clipboard(I have not copied or cut anything) so this option is greyed out.

Edit -> Delete deleted whatever you have selected. Keyboard shortcut for this is the "del" button(sometimes called "delete" wink . It is above your arrow keys.

Edit -> Edit Title edits a title you have selected on the timeline. A title is something you make inside WMM2, it is basically text that goes into your video. I have not made any titles, so this option is greyed out. There's no keyboard shortcut for this, but you could right click a title on your timeline and get the same option. ;p

Edit -> Select All Selects everything in either your collections or your timeline/storyboard. Shortcut for this is Ctrl + A.

Edit -> Rename renames a clip you have selected. Shortcut for this is F2, but you can always right click on a clip and simply hit "rename" instead and get the same thing. wink

Edit -> Clear Storyboard/Timeline clears your storyboard or timeline completely(taking all the clips and audio out of it). The keyboard shortcut for this is Ctrl + Del.

Edit -> Browse for Missing File. Every so often, a clip in your timeline/storyboard will appear as a white background with a red "X" in it. This either means that you moved the file from where it used to be when you started the project, or WMM2 is being retarded. When this happens, you can browse for the missing file and thus restore your clip in your timeline/storyboard by clicking this(after selecting the affected clip). There is no keyboard shortcut for this, but you can get the same option by right clicking the offended file.

View
Everything under the 'view' option. Keyboard shortcut for this is Alt + V.

View -> Storyboard/Timeline. Depending on what you're currently viewing, this will either read storyboard or timeline. Clicking this will switch what you view. The keyboard shortcut for this is Ctrl + T.

View -> Zoom In Zooms in on the timeline. Keyboard shortcut is the Page Down button, which sometimes appears as "pgdwn". It is above the arrow keys.

View -> Zoom Out Zooms out on the timeline. Keyboard shortcut is Page up button. Sometimes this appears as "Pgup", this button is above the arrow keys.

View -> Zoom to Fit Zooms out or in so all of your clips are visable on the timeline at one time(and you don't have to scroll). The keyboard shortcut for this is the F9 button. It is above your number keys at the top of your keyboard.

View -> Preview Monitor Size This gives you different aspect ratios to chose from. It will change the size of your preview monitor(the thing that plays the video you make on the right side of the screen) based on what you chose. You can accomplish the same thing by simply dragging the monitor and stretching it with your mouse, however. But if you do that, it may not look the same as when you export(save your movie file to your computer).

View -> Full Screen Makes your preview monitor take up your entire screen. The keyboard shortcut for this is Alt + Enter.

View -> Toolbar toggles the visibility of the toolbars at the top of WMM(you can make them disappear or reappear by clicking this).

View -> Status Bar toggles the visibility of the status bar at the very bottom of WMM(you can make it disappear or reappear by clicking this).

View -> Tasks Pane toggles the visibility of Tasks Pane(the thing that lists what sort of special effects and things you can do) to the left of WMM(you can make it disappear or reappear by clicking this).

View -> Collections Same as above, but with Collections(the thing that lists all the folders and their clips).

View -> Thumbnails Lists all your clips in your collections as little pictures(thumbnails) with their name under them.

View -> Details Lists all your clips in your collections as text, with their file information viewable(length, size, where it's saved, name, etc.) and no pictures.

View -> Arrange Icons By opens a new menu where you can choose how to arrange the clips in your collections(by when they were made, alphabetical order, etc.).

View -> My Videos Folder opens up the "My Videos" folder in the "My Documents" folder.

Tools
Keyboard shortcut is Alt + T.

Tools -> AutoMovie makes a movie automatically with the clips you have selected.

Tools -> Titles and Credits Creates Titles or credits on a black background, unless you've selected a clip before using this option, in which case the titles/credits will go ontop of the clip.

Tools -> Video Effects Lists all the video effects you can add to a selected clip.

Tools -> Video transitions Lists all the transitions you can put between clips.

Tools -> Create Clips Creates smaller clips of the selected clip based on changes in color or scene.

Tools -> Take picture from preview Takes a screenshot of what is currently on your preview monitor and allows you to save it on your computer without the use of an image editing program.

Tools -> Narrate Timeline opens a window that allows you to talk into your microphone and therefore create audio for your project.

Tools -> Audio Levels allows you to adjust the volume of your clips and/or music in your timeline.

Tools -> New Collection folder makes a new folder in your collections that you can drag clips into.

Tools -> Options Opens a window that allows you to pick the default author of the project, where temporary files are stored, among other things. This will be explained in the "advanced tips" post later.

Clip
Everything in here is pretty much useless, since you can do all these actions quicker and easier in the timeline or with the clip itself. But here's what they do anyway. Alt + C is the shortcut.

Clip -> Add to timeline adds selected clip to the end of the timeline. Keyboard shortcut is Ctrl + D.

Clip -> Audio adjusts the audio options for the selected clip on the timeline.

Clip -> Video Adjusts video options for the selected clip on the timeline.

Clip -> Set Start Trim point set where you want the selected clip to start, if you do not want the clip to start at the beginning (in the timeline). This is a much more complicated way of just dragging it shorter from the beginning. Keyboard shortcut is Ctrl + Shift + I.

Clip -> Set End trim point sets where you want your selected clip to end on the timeline, if you don't want the end of the clip to be the end. This is just a much more complicated way of making the clip shorter with the mouse. Keyboard shortcut is Ctrl + Shift + O.

Clip -> Clear Trim Points restores the selected clip to its true length on the timeline. Keyboard shortcut is Ctrl + Shift + Del.

Clip -> Split splits the selected clip in two where your cursor is on the timeline. Keyboard shortcut is Ctrl + L.

Clip -> Combine. When two contiguous clips are selected(ex. Clip 1 and Clip 2, but NOT clip 1 and clip 3) this will combine the clips together into a larger clip. Keyboard shortcut is Ctrl + M.

Clip -> Nudge Left Moves the selected clip on the timeline ~2 frames to the left. Keyboard shortcut is Ctrl + Shift + B.

Clip -> Nudge Right moves the selected clip on the timeline ~2 frames to the right. Keyboard shortcut is Ctrl + Shift + N.

Clip -> Properties shows you all the details of the selected clip(format, extension, duration, location, aspect ratio, etc.)

Play
Everything in here is self explanatory, and also pretty useless, since all the options are on the preview monitor, as well.

Play -> Back goes the the beginning to a selected clip, or if no clip is selected, but the timeline is, it goes back to the beginning of the previous clip.

Play -> Forward goes to the beginning of the next clip on the timeline.








Help
Alt + H is the shortcut for this.

Help -> Help Topics use this to search for how to use something. Keyboard shortcut is the F1 button.

Help -> Windows Movie Maker on the Web is basically an online, official Windows Movie Maker guide. Does the same things as Help Topics, but in a more image-based, easier to understand way.

Help -> Privacy Statement launches the privacy statement about how WMM collects information from your computer in a browser window.

Help -> About Windows Movie Maker tells you what version of WMM you have, and who licensed it, etc.

AutoMovie?
AutoMovie is a feature that pretty much makes a music video for you.
Import all your clips, and make sure they are in the same collections folder.
Drag your music from your collections to the timeline/storyboard, then make sure the folder with all the clips you want to use is selected(ALL clips must be in the same folder for this to work).
If you're having trouble with everything being in a different folder, just select the folder at the top labelled "collections".

Then go to Tools -> AutoMovie.


You'll then be prompted as to what kind of video you want. Pick whatever, based on what kind of transitions you like. Then hit "Done, edit movie".

You'll get an "analyzing audio and video" dialog box, and a progress bar. After this, your video will be made. Play it to make sure it's satisfactory. If it is, you're done!

Timeline/Storyboard
Wmm is pretty simple. Just drag the files you want into the timeline/storyboard. Here's the difference and how to switch between the two(inWMM1). WMM2 is explained in the 3rd post, noob's guide.

Adding Transitions
In WMM1, go to your timeline. Click the clip you want to fade out, and drag the arrow over the next clip. If the arrow won't move, just drag the whole clip over the next one. Like so:

End result looks like this:

This produces a fade(AKA Dissolve or cross-fade).

In WMM2, click "Transitions" in the "Tasks" panel(Where collections is), select a transition, and drag it into the little square in between each scene in the storyboard. You can also drag it in between two clips in the timeline.

For more information and tips on transitions, read this

If you don't trust my opinion for some reason, use this guy's instead.

First, What are you trying to do?
This is important, because WMM offers a variety of different options.

If you want a pretty fast export(making of a video file), you should probably use 768kbps. But if you want a high quality thing and don't worry too much about file size, you'd want 2 or 2.1mbps. Likewise, if you're encoding for high quality distribution for download(and not streaming), you'd want to export as DV AVI.

But if you're a beginner, you probably don't understand what any of that means.

Go to File -> Save Movie
chose "to my computer" as the save destination.
Complete the instructions(name, where you want to save)...

From here, the windows vary if you're in WMM1 or 2, but you can get the gist either way. I'll be specifically writing this for WMM2, but I've made a WMM1 version(image file) and it can be viewed here for 768kbps(good for streaming video, like YouTube and photobucket, or just a small filesize with decent quality to pass to your friends) and this for the highest quality possible using WMM. If you're looking for a quick fix, these guides are it, but they are image files, so beware!

If you want to:
- have the best file size to quality ratio
- have the video downloadable and just pass it along to your friends
- stream the video in a player that is NOT flash-based in someone's browser
- stream the video on a site where the maximum file size limit is less than 50mb
- or not have a large file on your computer
then chose 768kbps.

If you want to:
- hit a certain file size
- stream your video

chose "Best fit to filesize" and make sure you mark 20 - 30mb UNDER what you actually want.

If you want to:
- have the best quality version wmv straight from WMM
- not worry about messing with some other program to get a good distro copy(for downloading)
- stream the video on Youtube or Photobucket(some place where max filesize is 50mb or larger)
- you don't care about filesize

then chose 2mbps or 2.1mbps

If you want the best quality you can get period, chose DV AVI(this will be several GIGABYTES large).

To choose any of these, When you get to this screen:

Chose "show more choices". You'll end up with this:


From there, just put in whatever option you want.


Generally speaking, a 3 - 4minute video will be:

- 15 to 20 megabytes with 768kbps
- 50 to 60 megabytes with 2(.1)mbps
- 2 -3 gigabytes with DV AVI.

From there, click Next, and it will begin to save your video. Note that this is the ONLY way to save your video if you want to show it to others. File -> Save As produces a .mswmm file, which WILL NOT WORK for other people!

Make sure you're running no other processes while WMM is exporting. Now would be a good time to walk away from the computer and watch some TV or something, because WMM takes a lot of resources and if you try to do something else while Exporting your computer WILL probably FREEZE.

Stuff will be added here when I feel like it/get a 'normal' problem.

(edit 6/1/07: I'm just lazy, apparently)

IF WMM TELLS YOU IT DOESN'T HAVE THE RIGHT CODEC, BUT THE FILE PLAYS FINE IN A VIDEO PLAYER, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DOWNLOAD ANYTHING

It's a common misconception. You already have the codec on your computer if your file will play fine in a normal video player. If you post in C&T and some idiot says you need to download a codec, CALL BULLSHIT.

There's two ways you can fix this common error:
1.) Convert the file to mpeg1 or a lossless file type/codec
2.) See which codec is causing the source of conflict within WMM, and turn this codec off. This only sometimes works, and unless you know what you're doing, is a guess and check process.

Tools -> Options -> Compatibility Tab.

If you have two codecs trying to decode the same thing (usually XviD vs. Divx) then you should uncheck everything except the one you actually want to Decode. If you have installed CCCP, uncheck FFDShow.
If you have an "DivX Decoder Filter" and/or a "XviD Decoder Filter" uncheck one or the other.

But as I said, this only SOMETIMES works, and is a guesing game for the most part. You could also probably screw up the rest of your project if you've already started (pressing the "reset to defaults" button fixes things).

So I would recommend simply converting.

maybe an faq later.

PMing me your problems is fine but posting them here or in the Computers & Technology Forum would be better!