Oldglory The Movie » movie maker

File Conversion – The Rosetta Stone For Movie Maker

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:07:31 +0000

In the beginning…

As I have said on countless other occasions, FlipShare has been a boon to home movie makers because it got them to start editing their videos, cutting a break to everyone asked to watch them. At last, home movies were trimmed of at least some of the useless, pointless, and boring material that tried the patience of anyone asked to watch them. Easily arranging clips, titles, and smooth transitions encouraged FlipShare users to focus on a subject and story – an advance of historic proportions. (Okay… please forgive the hyperbole of someone who has so single-mindedly pursued these problems.)

A Painful Journey Forward

YouTube has encouraged many people to become even more creative, and to find better tools to enhance their creativity. But the Flip culture is a thrifty culture, and for Flip users, free tools are infinitely better than something that costs money. Windows Movie Maker and iMovie are either supplied with or available to users of all Flip-supported computers – i.e., Macs and PCs, so that is where the action is.

The problem is one of moving targets:

Flips changed from VGA (640×480 pixels) to HD (1280×720 pixels) overnight. YouTube accommodated quickly by permitting (enforcing, actually) this new, widescreen format. Windows XP users became Windows Vista users, and are now moving on to Windows 7. FlipShare 4.5 could be coaxed into exporting HD files Windows Movie Maker could handle; FlipShare 5.0 took away that capability. Every version of Windows has had at least one new and different version of Windows Movie Maker, so solving the problems for one did not necessarily solve the problems for another.

Mac users have had a relatively easy time. From the outset, the problems of editing Flip video with iMovie have been easier to solve than the problems of editing with Windows Movie Maker. As a result, I have spent countless hours, and written many articles, trying to make Flip play nice with Windows Movie Maker. Most recently, I have moved on to Windows 7, and to WindowsLive Movie Maker, which is available to Vista users and pretty much forced onto Windows 7 users.

Are we there yet?

Windows Live Movie Maker appeared, at first, to have a huge advantage: It claims to be able to edit.MP4 files, and Flip HD camcorders produce.MP4 files. Great news, right? The problem is,.MP4 (like.AVI) is not a well-defined video file format. Like.AVI,.MP4 is a container, and all kinds of unpredictable surprises can lurk inside containers. Not all.MP4 files are alike. Different video editors and players are looking for different contents in.MP4 files. A particular application’s interpretation of what it expects to find is wrapped up in a special interpreter, called a codec. (The word derives from “compress-decompress,” or “coder/decoder,” depending on whom you talk to.) Whether or not you can successfully edit an.MP4 file with Windows Live Movie Maker depends on what else you have been doing with your computer recently, and what codec is loaded to interpret.MP4 files. A solution that works one day does not work the next day.

No, we’re not there yet. The fact that we are even talking about things like.MP4, containers, and codecs means that we are stumbling around in territory that 99% of Flip users are unfamiliar with. They don’t want to go there, and they shouldn’t have to.

The Low Ramp Solution

The whole point of the Flip is its accessibility. The ramp from never-shot-a-video-in-my-life tohey-this-is-easy-fun has never been shorter or shallower. Flips are cheap, they have one big red button, and they shoot very nice video that’s easy to share with friends and family. That’s why 36% of all camcorders sold over the holiday season were Flips. Now we need a low-ramp solution to moving forward to heightened creativity, and to even more fun – like scrolling titles and credits, better transitions, and creative effects that you’re used to seeing on TV. This solution should also be low-cost and simple. It should work every time, and it should keep working when you change from XP to Vista to Windows 7, and from one version of Movie Maker to another.

What all Windows editing applications have in common is that they love.WMV files. If we can change.MP4 files (and even files from other camcorders) into.WMV files, simply and cheaply, and preserve the fidelity, we’re in the sweet spot of easy editing. There is a free program available for all Windows users that does this. It’s called “Any Video Converter.” I have already written a couple of articles about this program, but I now propose it as a general solution – the Rosetta Stone for Windows Movie Maker of all flavors, on all Windows versions. I’m creating, and will soon post, a video about how to use this delightful little program that should have Flip users singing a new tune, and making new and better movies.

Download link for Any Video Converter.

How to import FLV to Windows Movie Maker supported AVI, WMV, MPG, ASF, MP3 files?

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 07:57:13 +0000

Windows Movie Maker is a basic video creating/editing software included in Microsoft Windows. It contains features such as effects, transitions, titles/credits, audio track, timeline narration, and Auto Movie. The accepted formats for import by Windows Movie Maker are WMV, .AVI, MPG, .ASF, .WMA, .WAV, and MP3. Windows Movie Maker in Windows Vista includes new effects and transitions, and support for the DVR-MS file format that Windows Media Center records television in. The HD version in Premium and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista adds support for capturing from HDV camcorders.

Owning a bundle of .FLV files and want to import them to Microsoft Windows Movie Maker for further editing? Movavi Video Converter is a useful application changing .FLV files to Windows Movie Maker accepted formats including .AVI, .WMV, .ASF, .MPG (MPEG-1, MPEG-2), WMA, .WAV, and .MP3.

Input Video Formats:

AVI (including DivX, XviD, MJPEG, and other codecs), DV AVI, MPEG 1,2, MP4 (including H.263, H.264, and other codecs), Windows Media Video (WMV, ASF), 3GP (3GPP, 3GPP2), QuickTime (MOV, QT), DVD (VOB, IFO), MOD, DAT (VCD, SVCD), M2T, MTS, MKV, VRO, Flash (FLV).

Output Video Formats:

AVI (including DivX, XviD, MJPEG, and other codecs), DVD, MPEG 1,2, MP4 (including H.263, H.264, and other codecs), Windows Media Video (WMV), 3GP (3GPP, 3GPP2), QuickTime (MOV, QT) Real Media (RM, RMVB), Flash (FLV).

New: M2T.

Output Video for Mobile Devices:

iPod, iPhone, Apple TV, PSP, Zune, PDA/Pocket PC (including BlackBerry), Creative Zen, Archos, Epson media players, cell phones, smartphones.

Input/Output Audio Formats:

MP3, WAV, WMA, OGG, AAC, FLAC, Monkey’s Audio.

Output Image Formats:

JPEG, PNG, BMP, GIF.

Step by step: How to import FLV to Windows Movie Maker supported AVI, WMV, MPG, ASF, MP3 files?

Step 1: Free download the FLV Converter and launch it.

Tutorial: How to Import .FLV files to Windows Movie Maker for Editing?

Step 1: Import one or several .FLV files to Video Converter. You can even load your whole file folder saving .FLV files.

Step 2: Launch the FLV to WMM and the interface is as follows:

Step 3: Click the button to add the video file that you want to convert.

And the selected flv files will be displayed.

Step 4: Choose the desired video format acceptable by MSWMM, and specify the output directory.

Step 5: Click “Convert to” combo-box to choose AVI, .WMV, .ASF, .MPG for Microsoft Windows Movie Maker.

Video Marketing – How to Create a Simple Online Video Using Windows Movie Maker

Sat, 28 Aug 2010 22:57:58 +0000

Creating a simple online video using Windows Movie Maker is a highly effective way to market your website and you don’t even need a video camera. A video will engage the audience much better than written content. This is because visitors can watch, listen and read instead of just reading the text version of your content. One of the greatest fears of video marketing is actually creating the video. Put those fears to rest by reading the steps outlined below to quickly and easily create a simple video.

7 steps for creating a simple online video with Windows Movie Maker

1. Open Windows Movie Maker

Every PC already has Windows Movie Maker software installed. You should now see a list of movie tasks on the left side of the window. These include capture video, edit movie, fish movie and movie making tips. At the bottom of your screen. You should see a timeline displayed. You will be adding video, audio and text to this time line.

2. Import a picture

Click on the import pictures link to find a beautiful photo that will serve as the background to your video clip. Make sure the photo is not too dark because you will be placing text on top of it. You can use as many photos as you wish for your video however I’ve found that one beautiful photo works fine. It saves time and prevents viewers from being distracted by displaying multiple photos.

If you have 7 points you wish to make in your video, copy and paste the same photo 7 times into your timeline. Add the photo 2 more times for the introduction and end of your video. You should now have a total of 9 photos on the timeline.

3. Add titles to the photos on your timeline

The first photo should contain the main title of your video clip plus your contact information which should include your website address. Add the titles for the main points in the next 7 photos. The last photo should thank your visitors for watching and include your website address or a link to your products and services.

4. Import audio

Music will greatly enhance your video by appealing to your visitors auditory senses. Choose your music wisely. For example, you don’t want to have a person singing or rapping loudly in the background while your visitor is watching the video. It may appeal to a small number of people but will probably turn off most of them.

How to find your music for your video

Rip music from a CD
If you already have a music CD simply pop it into the CD player on your computer. The Windows Media Player will start automatically because it is already installed on your computer. At the top of your screen click on the “Rip” tab. This will give you a drop-down box. Click on format – MP3. The MP3 format provides the best quality music. Also select “bitrate-320Kbps for best quality.

Alternatively, you can also select your own choice of music from iTunes or other music sharing websites.

Import your audio file into Windows Movie Maker by clicking on the capture video — import audio or music link. Browse to the audio file on your computer, click import and it will appear on your screen. Drag the audio file onto your timeline, where it says audio/music.

5. Adjust your timeline

Adjust the video, audio and text on your timeline so that all plays together harmoniously. Play your video several times for optimum performance and to inform and entertain your visitors.

6. Upload your video to YouTube

Save the video first on your computer in case you wish to edit it later. Save your video clip as a.AVI file. This preserves the quality of your video. Open your YouTube account and click the upload button. While the video is uploading fill in the title and description of your video clip. Make sure you include your full website address and an attention getting headline in the title description. In the description box clearly describe what your video is about. In the tag box insert all the main keywords people would use to find your video on YouTube and in the search engines. Be sure to include these keywords in the title and description boxes as well.

7. Promote your video

YouTube provides both the website address to your video plus the embed code for inserting your video within a web page. Share your video within a post or article on your blog or website, social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook and/or include a link to it in the resource box at the end of your articles. Submit these articles to the top article directories. This will result in attracting visitors to your website plus build back links and increase search engine traffic.