Windows Movie Maker 2012 Notes

Transcription

1 Windows Movie Maker 2012 Notes CONTENTS Introduction... 2 Acquiring photos, videos, and audio... 2 Downloading and Installing Windows Movie Maker... 3 Movie Maker Window Layout... 3 Creating a New Movie... 3 Gathering the Pieces... 3 Adding Videos and Photos... 3 Adding Audio... 3 Tips... 4 Splitting Video and Audio clips... 4 Adding a Title and Credits... 4 Title... 4 Credits... 5 Organizing Clips... 5 Editing Clips... 5 Trimming Video Clips... 5 Managing Audio on Video Clips... 5 Trimming Photos... 6 Trimming Audio Clips... 6 Fading Audio In and Out... 6 Adjusting Audio Volume... 6 Deleting Clips... 6 Adding Animations... 6 Previewing the Movie... 7 Saving the Movie... 7 Advanced Tools... 7 Please send comments to DWhipp@Access.K12.WV.US. 1

2 INTRODUCTION [These notes are for Movie Maker Other versions may be on the computers you use. Most of the functions are available on older versions but may be in different locations.] Windows Live Movie Maker is a free video editing program which allows you to assemble video clips, still photos, art, and audio into movies which can be saved as computer files, Internet movies, and DVDs. It is simple and easily usable by young filmmakers. Creating a movie includes: gathering the individual visual and audio files into Movie Maker, putting them in the correct order, editing them for length, creating transitions between the segments, and saving the final product. You don t have to create your movie in exactly this order; you can skip ahead and you can go back to any part of the process and make changes at most points in the editing. This document will help you create a basic movie in Windows Movie Maker. It will not cover every feature of the system but will provide a base from which you can explore advanced features and controls. ACQUIRING PHOTOS, VIDEOS, AND AUDIO You can use photos, video, and audio from cameras and other recording devices; downloaded from the Internet, or recorded directly on the computer. It will speed up the creation of your video if you put these in the same folder or on a set of folders that are quickly accessed. Most still and video cameras connect to a computer using a USB connection. When you plug the camera into a computer, the computer usually recognizes the camera and gives you a list of options. It may need a few seconds to load the correct drivers for the camera. Select Open Folder to View Files to see the list of photos and videos on the camera. If the list of options does not appear, start Windows Explorer or My Computer and open the files on the camera. The camera will usually appear at the bottom of the list of folders on the left of the window. Open the DCIM folder then the folder that has the camera name to get the list. Right-click on a file that you want to use, select Cut to remove the file from the camera or Copy to leave it on the camera, navigate to the folder in which you want to save the file, right-click inside the folder, and select Paste. To save photos from the Internet, right-click on the photo, select Save as, and save in the appropriate folder. Remember, it is not OK to use any photo on the Internet so check the site information. Many computers have a system for taking photos or videos using the built-in camera. This will vary depending on the manufacturer so check the Help system on the computer. Movie Maker allows you to record both video and audio. This will be discussed later in this document. 2

3 DOWNLOADING AND INSTALLING WINDOWS MOVIE MAKER Go to: and click Download now. Install according to the methods allowed by your Web browser. It s a good idea to select Choose the programs you want to install and uncheck everything but the Movie Maker option to keep from installing unnecessary software. MOVIE MAKER WINDOW LAYOUT The layout of the Movie Maker window is like most software: there are toolbars and tabs at the top with two work areas below. The Video Player work area to the left allows you to preview your movie. The Clip Window work area on the right allows you to assemble the pieces of your movie into the correct order and to adjust the length or other attributes. CREATING A NEW MOVIE When you start Windows Movie Maker, it creates a new movie project; you simply need to gather the needed pieces and assemble them into a movie. After you have saved a project, you can open it by clicking the blue tab with the down arrow in the upper left of the Movie Maker window. GATHERING THE PIECES Your movie can include video files from cameras, video from your Webcam (if your computer has one), photos and other graphics, and audio. Put these onto the hard drive of your computer or onto a flash drive so that you can access them from Movie Maker. Adding Videos and Photos To add video clips or photos from files saved on your hard drive or flash drive, click the Add videos and photos icon on the Home tab of Movie Maker to open a standard File Import window. Select the files to be included in your movie. You can select multiple files by holding down the CTRL key while clicking the file name or icon with the mouse. The files will show in the Clip Window. If a video file includes audio, that will be included. To add video from your computer s Webcam, click the Webcam video icon in the Home tab toolbar. This will allow you to save the video clip as a file and adds it to the project. If audio does not record, your computer may not be set to the correct microphone: Click the down arrow on the left of the Home tab. Click Options, then Audio and Video. Select the microphone you want to use in the Available audio devices drop-down box. Adding Audio After you have added one or more visual files to your movie, you can add audio: Click the Add music icon on the Home tab to open a standard File Import window. If you get a Music starts after the last item message, click the down arrow on the Add Music icon and select Add music at the current point. 3

4 Navigate to the folder where you have stored your files. Click on a file name, then click the Open button and select a file. The audio will appear as a green stripe below the video. The height of the dark green indicates the volume. You can also record narration using the computer: Click at the point on a video clip where you want the narration to start. Click Record narration on the Home tab. Click the Record button to start and the Stop button to end the recording. Save the file in an appropriate folder. The narration will appear as a stripe below the narration. If the audio does not record, check the microphone setup information at the end of the Adding Video and Photos section above. Tips You may want to wait until you have organized the visual parts of your movie in the next step of this document before adding audio to reduce the amount of arranging needed. If you click the down arrow under the Add music icon, you can select to add the music at the point in the movie where you have placed the cursor in the Clip Window. Splitting Video and Audio clips You can split a video or audio clip into two sections. This is useful if you want to put another visual or audio segment into a clip. In the display of the clip in the Clip Window, position the cursor where you want to split the clip. Click the Video Tools or Audio Tools tab, Edit, then click Split. Adding a Title and Credits You can add a title to the beginning of your movie and credits at the end. Title To add a title clip, position the mouse cursor at the beginning of your movie in the Clip Window. On the Home tab, click Title to bring up a black background with a text box and editing tools. You can put text only in the text box and it must all be the same font and size. The title is automatically set up to fade in and the text will disappear when you finish editing. Just click in the middle of the Title clip in the Clip Window on the right and the text will be visible. Move the text box by positioning the mouse cursor over an edge of the box, then dragging it. Click inside the text box to select it, then set these controls in the toolbar. Start time which delays the appearance of the text when the movie starts. 4

5 Text duration which sets the length of time that the text is visible. Note that this does not change the length of time that the title slide shows. That will be adjusted in the next section. The effects on the right of the toolbar. Just hover the mouse cursor over the effects and watch the Video Player to see how they work. Click the effect you want to use for your title. Click on the title slide outside of the text box to set additional controls. Background color. Duration sets how long the title slide is shown. Use the Text duration setting (above) to set how long the text shows. Credits Position the mouse cursor at the point where you want the credits to appear in the clip window. The controls for Credits are the same as for Title (above). ORGANIZING CLIPS The components you have added are displayed in the Clip Window. If they are not in the order in which you want them to appear in your movie, just drag them to the correct positions. Use the Video Player to check your arrangement. EDITING CLIPS You can edit the video, still photos, and audio that you have added to your movie. Trimming Video Clips Trimming shortens clips by taking away from the beginning or end of them. In the Clip Window, click the point within the clip where you want the clip to start playing. You can use the Video Player to make sure this is the correct point but you will have to click back to the point after using the Player. Click the Video Tools tab in the toolbar. Click Set start point. Click the point where you want the clip to end and click Set end point. To remove a start point on a selected video clip, Click the Video Tools tab and Trim tool, then set the start point to 0. To remove an end point on a selected video clip, Click the Video Tools tab and Trim tool, then set the end point to a number greater than the length of the clip. The end point will adjust to the length of the clip. Managing Audio on Video Clips A video clip may have audio included with it. You may want to fade this in or out, adjust the volume, or remove the audio so that you can put music or narration over it. To manage this audio: Click the Video Tools tab, then Edit and note the Audio section to the left of the toolbar. 5

6 Set Fade in and Fade out with the drop-down boxes. Click the Video Volume icon to adjust the volume of the audio or to remove it entirely by lowering it all the way. Trimming Photos To set the length of time for a photo to show: Click on the photo. Click the Video Tools tab. Set the time in the Duration box. Trimming Audio Clips You can remove unwanted audio from the beginning and end of music and narration clips. Click in the video at a point that includes the audio. Click the Narration Tools or Music Tools tab. Listen to the audio and find the point where you want the audio to start, then click Set start point. Listen to the audio and find the point where you want the audio to end, then click Set end point. Fading Audio In and Out Click the audio clip that you want to adjust. Click Music Tools in the toolbar. Click the dropdown box after Fade in and make a selection. Click the dropdown box after Fade out and make a selection. Use the Video Player to check the effect. Adjusting Audio Volume You can adjust the volume the audio on video clips as well as music and narration tracks. Click on the clip to be adjusted. Click the Video Tools, Music Tools, or Narration Tools tab. Click the Video volume, Music volume, or Narration volume icon on the left of the toolbar. Move the slider to adjust. You can play the clip to check the volume level and readjust as needed. Deleting Clips Click on the clip to be deleted, then click Remove on the Home tab. ADDING ANIMATIONS Animations add movement as your movie moves from one clip to another. Click at the beginning of a clip where you want an animation to occur. This should not be the first clip in the movie. Click the Animations tab in the toolbar. 6

7 Hover the mouse cursor over the icons in the Transitions section and watch the Video Player to see how these look. Click an icon to select it. Note that all transitions don t show and that there are scroll arrows to the right of the section. To remove an animation from the beginning of the selected clip, click the Animations tab, make sure the list of animations icons is scrolled all the way to the top, and select the blank one on the left. You don t have to remove an animation if you are simply changing to a different one. PREVIEWING THE MOVIE Preview the movie using the Video Player. You can adjust clips repeatedly until you have the movie you want. SAVING THE MOVIE You can save your movie in a variety of formats. On the Home tab, click Save movie to the right of the toolbar and follow the instructions. If you are burning a DVD, the video will first be saved to your computer, then the DVD burning system will start. ADVANCED TOOLS There are many tools that are not covered in this brief introduction to Movie Maker. The techniques for using these controls are similar to the ones you have already used, so you can try them on your own. Visual Effects. These change the appearance of the video in the selected clip. Click the Visual Effects tab in the toolbar. Pan and Zoom. These close in on a section of the video and move around. Click the Animations tab and use the icons on the right. Fast and Slow Motion. These speed up and slow down the selected clip. On the Video Tools tab, set the Speed dropdown box. Snapshot. This makes a still photo from your movie at the point that is currently selected. Click Snapshot on the Home tab. Themes. These add effects to the Title clip or to the selected clip depending on the theme selected. Click the Home tab, then hover the mouse cursor over icons in AutoMovie themes. Captions. These put text on top of the video starting at the currently selected point in the clip. 7