home
animation

projects
 image manipulation
interactive whiteboards
interactive exercises
 presentations
multimedia tutorials
other tutorials
art links
gallery
about



 

 

 

 

Home - Animation - Video - Projects - Image Manipulation - IWBs - Interactive - Presentations - Multimedia Tutorials - Other Tutorials - Art Links - Gallery - About

 
Clapper board
How to edit digital video with Windows Movie Maker 2

 
Capture video from a DV camera
 Build a storyboard and edit clips
Add effects, transitions, titles, subtitles or credits
Add audio
Add narration
 Create and save the movie

Visit the Windows XP media centre for more help:
 http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/moviemaker/default.asp

 
Clapper board  
  Capture video from a DV camera
You will need a computer with a DV terminal that is IEEE 1394 compatible (or you can buy a FireWire card if your PC does not have one), and a cable to connect your camcorder to your computer. Set the camera mode to Play.

 
Start Movie Maker by selecting All Programs from the Start menu, then choosing Accessories and Windows Movie Maker. This is the interface with captured video clips displayed in the Collections area.

 

 
On the File menu, select Capture Video, or in the Task Pane choose Capture Video > Capture from video device. The Task Pane offers a menu of wizards that simplify every aspect of making the movie - from adding credits, transitions, titles or subtitles to inserting a soundtrack. From the Available Devices menu click on the DV camera.

 
Type a name for your project in the Enter a file name for your captured video box and browse to the folder where you want to save your video. 

 
Choose your preferred video setting, remembering that the highest quality will result in the largest file sizes.

 
If you click on Capture the entire tape automatically the tape in the DV camera will rewind, the capture will begin automatically and it will finish at the end of the tape. If you only want to transfer part of the recorded material on the tape, click Capture parts of the tape manually instead.

 
Separate the video into smaller clips by clicking in the Create clips when wizard finishes check box.

 
To close the wizard and import the captured video into a new 'collection' with the same name as the video file, click Finish.

 

Top

Clapper board

   Build a storyboard and edit clips


Create a storyboard
Your video footage has been automatically divided into clips or  segments to make editing easier:
  •  View a clip in the Preview window  by double clicking on it.
  • Build a storyboard by dragging and dropping the clips into a sequence on the Storyboard timeline.

This is Storyboard view.

This is Timeline view.
  • Clips can easily be rearranged by dragging and dropping them to a different position on the storyboard. 
  • Click on the + and - magnifying glasses to expand or contract your view. 
  • Use the Undo button to discard changes.
  • The project that you create is the movie master, which can be revised and edited at any time.

 

These are the Storyboard tools.

These are the Timeline tools.

         

This is the Preview Window and toolbar
 

Trim clips
When your clips are in order, you can edit them. For example, discard unwanted footage by trimming clips:
  • In Storyboard view click on the clip you want to trim
  • In the Preview window drag the scroll bar slowly and stop where to want to trim - use the Forward single frame button to find the exact frame
  • Select Set Start Trim Point from the Clip menu
  • Continue to drag the scroll bar until you reach the point where you want the clip to end - use the Back single frame button to find the exact frame
  • Choose Set End Trim Point from the Clip menu. 
  • The duration of the clip is displayed in a pop up if you roll your mouse over the clip.

 

If a clip is too long, or if you want to take only sections from the middle of it, you can use the Split into 2 clips button in the Preview window to divide the footage, then trim those separate sections.

Take stills or import images
You can also take stills from your footage by clicking on the Camera icon in the Preview window. The still will be stored in the Collection section.

Alternatively you can import still images that you have saved from other sources such as a digital camera or scanner and drag and drop those into your storyboard: Go to File > Import and browse to the image you want to use; select it and click Open - the image will be copied to the Collection area. It is even possible to insert animated gifs into your movie in this way, though several copies may need to be dragged onto the Storyboard for them to animate properly. 
 

Add effects, transitions, titles/credits/subtitles
Once you have sequenced and trimmed the clips, you are ready to add effects, transitions and titles or credits. In Storyboard mode, click on the Tasks tab and select View Video Effects. There is a wide choice of effects, including Blur, Brighten, Darken, Fade In, Fade Out, and Film Age - Old/Older/Oldest.  Drag your selected effect onto the clip you want it to appear on.
 
To add transitions, select the View Video Transitions link and drag the one you want between the two clips you want to affect. Transition effects include a Heart, Bars, Circles, Checkerboard, Dissolve, Fade, Flip, Mirror, Grayscale, Sepia, Slow Down (half speed), or Speed Up (double speed). 

To add titles, credits or subtitles click on Make Titles or Credits in the Movie Tasks pane and follow the simple instructions. You can add titles in various locations and add animation effects to them too - see below for some examples. If you want to use subtitles, select Add title on the selected clip in the timeline and choose Subtitle as the animation effect. 

Be careful with spelling as there's no SpellCheck, but mistakes can be rectified by clicking on the title thumbnail in the Title Overlay layer of the Timeline and pressing your Delete key, then re-doing it. If you make a title slide in an image editing program like Photoshop, the dimensions are 320 x 240 pixels.

Clapper board

Top
  Add Audio
In the Taskpane select Capture video again, then click on Import audio or music and navigate to a saved copyright-free music track or a sound effect that you want to use.
  
Click on Import and the track will appear in Collection view with your original video clips.
Audio can only be added in Timeline mode:
  • Toggle the Show Timeline button just above the storyboard
  • Drag the music track or other audio to the Audio/Music layer of the Timeline. 
  • Trim the track or sound effect if necessary by selecting the file and dragging the handles on the left or right to the desired frame. 
  • Fade the sound in and out by selecting Audio on the Clip menu - there is a choice of Mute, Fade In, Fade Out and Volume (see below).
  • Overlap sound by dragging the files over other sound files.
  • Ambient sound, called natural sound or sync' sound, that was recorded at the same time as the movie can be used at the same time as imported audio, or muted in places.
 
Wait until you have finished editing the movie to record a narration. 
  • With a microphone connected to your computer, select Record Narration from the File menu.
  • Check that Microphone is selected in the Record Narration window (if not, click on Change) and click on Mute Video Sound Track.
  • Adjust the Record level with the slider, hold the mic' about a foot from your mouth and click the Record button.
  • The movie is played back from start to finish. Click Stop when you want to end recording.
  • Name your narration and save it - it is saved as a WAV file in the My Documents /My Music folder by default, but it is also automatically placed in the Collection area and imported into the audio track of the Timeline. Other audio is displaced to the end of the narration. However, if the duration of your narration is shorter in real time than the movie, it is possible to have other audio follow it.  

Top

Clapper board
  Create and save the movie
When you have finished editing the collection of clips, click on Save Movie File on the File menu, or Finish Movie from the Movie Tasks pane - to reveal the options shown below. 
  • A simple wizard guides you through the process and allows you to select from a choice of Playback quality settings. 
  • Enter a file name and navigate to the folder where you want to save the movie - the default location is My Documents/My Videos.
 
The higher the quality of the finished movie, the larger the file size. Because of potentially long download times this is an important consideration if the video is destined for a website . Check the Display data and click Next.


You will then be asked if you wish to view the movie that you have just saved. To make revisions at any point in the future, however, re-open the project rather than the movie file, which is not editable.

Top
© RKM 2002 - 2007

Home - Animation - Video - Projects - Image Manipulation - IWBs - Interactive - Presentations - Multimedia Tutorials - Other Tutorials - Art Links - Gallery - About