? Windows Movie Maker

[Roger The Mainer]

We will be going on the Grand Princess in less than two weeks. I wanted to create a slideshow of photos with music in the background.

 

I have a new PC with Windows Vista, and discovered that it has Windows Movie Maker. Is anybody familiar with this program? I have never used it, but that is what I'm planning on using as opposed to buying new software.

 

Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

Roger

[c-to-sea]

I have used it and just finished a quick video of the Women;s Ice Hockey Gold Medal

game at the Winter Olympics. It is a bit tricky at first but not too difficult once you get

going. I had to import one item at a time and move it to the timeline before importing the

next. You can see it here:

 

http://ctosea.shawwebspace.ca/videos/view/2010_olympics/

[Roger The Mainer]

Thanks for the feedback. What do you mean when you say "moving it to the timeline." I'm planning on making a slideshow of photos and putting it to music.

 

Roger

[c-to-sea]

To do this with WMM, my understanding is that you have to import each picture and put it on the timeline below, arranged in the sequence that you want. You would then import the music and place it on the audio timeline to match, then save the file as either an WMV or AVI. I am sure there are others here who might know the software better than I do that

can also help.

[oh2gocruisin]

I've worked with WMM a few times. Under the "Capture Video" heading, select whether you are importing pictures, music, video, etc. You can select more than one photo at a time by holding down the shift key and hitting the arrow key to advance through your photos. You can select just one photo at a time, but holding the shift key while hitting the arrow key will select a block of photos. Then click and drag them to the bottom "timeline" section in the sequence you want. Do the same steps for importing your music file. Then, if you want to add video effects to those photos and transitions in between them, go to the "edit movie" section and select those after you have the photos in place. You can also let the program make a movie for you if you'd rather do that. It will analyze your photos and music and arrange them for you. You can always go back and change anything you don't like. Then finish it by saving, emailing, posting online, etc. The program will walk you through most of it, and let you know if there's an error. Hope this helps.

 

Kathy

[Roger The Mainer]

Thank you oh2gocruisin, that info is very helpful. Now I just have to take the photos. We will be on the Grand for 2 weeks departing on 3/12/2010.

 

I will post the video when I return.

 

Thank you all for your feedback.

 

Roger

[cruisingbooboo]

I tried it but didnt have much luck, it wouldnt let me add music from Itunes... anyway I hope you have better lucjk than I did. I did find a program that was easy for me, It is called Nero, you can download a free 30 day trial.

Also if you have free time before your trip make a practice one then you'll have a little experience once you have all your trip pics.

Good luck. It is AWESOME when it works :)

[oh2gocruisin]

I didn't use music from iTunes, but that can be done. The music from iTunes has to be converted, but it's easy. Here's a link with instructions:

 

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1550

 

I used music from freeplaymusic:

 

http://freeplaymusic.com/

 

Thanks for the tip about Nero. I have that software but have never used it for creating videos.

 

Kathy

[cruisingbooboo]

Thanks for the music converter link!

[billet]

Roger

You might like to talk to the Computers@Sea instructor on the Grand they often do a course on Windows Movie Maker to get you kickstarted.

[taxmantoo]

If you are only using still photos and no movies, I would use Windows PhotoStory 3, a free download from the Windows site with a very small learning curve and very user-friendly. I have succesfully created 30 minute videos with 300 photos using this product.

[dot73]

Do you have a link to the Photostory 3 download? I could not find it. Is there one for Vista? Thank you.

[WINEMANVISALIA]

http://www.5min.com/Video/Create-a-Video-from-Still-Photos-Using-Windows-Movie-Maker-42468023