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Windows Movie Maker Manual
Windows Movie Maker
Getting started
Key concepts
Understanding collections, projects, and movies
Understanding source files
Understanding capture devices
About video capture devices
About audio capture devices
Connecting capture devices
About the capture buffer
About saving a movie
About Windows Media
Understanding video settings
Understanding connection speeds
Preparing to create your video
Creating and improving video
Compensating for flaws in video
Creating and improving audio
System requirements
Supported file types
Keyboard shortcuts
Understanding the Windows Movie Maker interface
About the menu bar and toolbar
About the panes
About the Movie Tasks pane
About the Collections pane
About the Contents pane
About the monitor
About the storyboard and timeline
About the storyboard
About the timeline
Using Windows Movie Maker
Capturing video
To capture the entire video from a tape in a DV camera
To capture parts of video from a tape in a DV camera
To capture video from tape in an analog camera or VCR
To capture live video
Choosing a video and audio capture device
To change the capturing device
Understanding the Configure Video Capture Device dialog box
To change camera settings
To change video settings
To change the settings for a TV tuner
Choosing a saving destination
Choosing a video setting
Choosing how to capture from a DV device
Capturing automatically from a DV device
Capturing video and audio
Using the DV controls
Troubleshooting capturing video
Previewed and captured video is distorted
Captured video file exceeds the FAT32 4-gigabyte file size limit
DV device is not responding
Taking pictures
To take a picture from video in the monitor
Importing existing digital media files
To import existing digital media files
To import a Windows Movie Maker collections file
Importing video files and clip detection
Saving a project
To save a project
To save a project with a new name
Previewing projects and clips
To preview a project
To preview a clip
To pause or stop previewing a project
To play video in full-screen mode
To change the preview monitor size
To jump to a frame
To jump to a clip in a project
Displaying clip properties
To display clip properties
Displaying project properties
To edit project properties
To display project properties in Windows Explorer
Editing projects
To switch the view of a project
To add a clip to a project
To remove a clip from a project
To clear the storyboard/timeline
To create a new project
To open a project
Zooming in and out
To zoom in or out on the timeline
To fit the timeline on the screen
To increase or decrease the size of the storyboard
Moving and copying clips
To copy a clip on the storyboard/timeline
To move a clip on the storyboard/timeline
To nudge a clip on the timeline
Undoing actions
To undo the last action
To redo the last undone action
To undo or redo multiple actions at one time
Using AutoMovie
To create an AutoMovie
Selecting an AutoMovie editing style
Entering title text
Selecting background music
Editing clips
Splitting and combining clips
To split a video or audio clip
To combine a split audio or video clip
Trimming clips
To trim a clip
To clear trim points
Creating clips
To create clips for an existing video clip
Using video transitions, video effects, and titles
Working with video transitions
To add a video transition
To change the video transition duration
To remove a video transition
Using video effects
To add a video effect
To remove a video effect
Changing video effects
To add or remove video effects
Adding titles and credits
To add a title or credit
To edit an existing title
To change the title duration
To remove a title
Choosing the title location
Entering title text
Choosing the title animation
Selecting the title font and colors
Working with audio
Narrating the timeline
To narrate the timeline
Adjusting the audio levels
To adjust audio levels
Adding audio effects
To add an audio effect
To remove an audio effect
To mute audio
Adjusting audio clip volume
To adjust the volume of an audio clip
Organizing collections and clips
To change the clip view
To arrange clips in the Contents pane
To create a collection
To delete a collection
To rename a collection
To delete a clip from a collection
To copy a clip in a collection
Working with the collections file
To back up the collections file
To restore the collections file
Saving and sending movies
Saving a movie to My computer
To save a movie on your computer
To save a movie to a Pocket PC device
To open and watch a movie in the My Videos folder
Saving your movie for local playback
Completing the Save Movie Wizard when saving to My computer
Troubleshooting saving a movie to My computer
Movie file exceeds the FAT32 4-gigabyte size limit
Not enough disk available free disk space
Movie file saving destination does not exist
Source files for movie not found
Saving a movie to a recordable CD
To save a movie to a CD-R or CD-RW
Saving a movie for playback on a recordable CD
Completing the Save Movie Wizard when saving a movie to a recordable CD
Troubleshooting saving a movie to a recordable CD
Recordable CD drive not detected
Recordable CD drive not enabled for recording CDs
Permission denied for recording CDs
No recordable CD
CD is not recordable or rewriteable
Sending a movie in e-mail
To send a movie as an attachment in an e-mail message
Saving a movie for sending in an e-mail message
Completing the Save Movie Wizard when sending a movie in an e-mail message
Troubleshooting sending a movie by e-mail
File size is too large to send in e-mail
E-mail program does not support automatic attachments
Determining and changing your default e-mail program
Sending a movie to the Web
To send a movie to a video hosting provider on the Web
Choosing a movie setting for the Web
Saving a movie for sending to the Web
Getting video hosting provider information from the Internet
Choosing and signing in to a video hosting provider
Signing in progress
Sending a movie to the Web progress
Completing the Save Movie Wizard when sending a movie to the Web
Troubleshooting sending a movie to the Web
Movie not accepted by video hosting provider
Cannot download latest video hosting provider from the Web
No video hosting providers available in your country or region
Recording a movie to a DV camera
To record a movie back to tape
To copy a movie on DV tape to an analog tape
Choosing a DV device
Cuing your tape
Recording to tape
Completing the Save Movie Wizard when recording to tape
Troubleshooting recording a movie to DV tape
No DV device found
DV camera does not support DV In
Switch DV camera to VCR mode
No tape in DV camera
DV tape is write-protected
First seconds of movie recorded to tape are missing
Entire movie may not fit on tape if recording in SP mode
Temporary movie file exceeds the FAT32 4-gigabyte size limit
Naming the saved movie file
Choosing a movie setting
Configuring options
Setting general options
To specify the default author
To specify the temporary storage location
To automatically open the last project when Windows Movie Maker starts
To change the save interval time for automatic file recovery
To automatically download uninstalled codecs
To reset warning dialog boxes
To clear all passwords and user names
To restore default general settings
Setting advanced options
To specify default durations
To set the video format
To set the aspect ratio
To set the maximum movie file size for sending movies by e-mail
To restore default advanced settings
Accessibility for people with disabilities
Accessibility features in Windows Movie Maker
Accessibility features in Windows Movie Maker Help
Keyboard shortcuts for using the Help window
To change the appearance of a Help topic
To change the color of the background or text in Help
To change the font in Help
Accessible products and services from Microsoft
Accessibility in Microsoft Windows
Adjusting Microsoft products for people with accessibility needs
Free step-by-step tutorials
Microsoft documentation in alternative formats
Assistive technology for Windows
Customer service for people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing
Getting more accessibility information
Glossary

Windows Movie Maker banner art

Setting general options

The General tab lets you set the default options for general settings and options in Windows Movie Maker. By using this dialog box, you can customize and configure some settings in Windows Movie Maker to fit your own needs.

In this tab of the Options dialog box, the following options appear.

Default author

Specifies the default name of the person who created the movie. The name is displayed by default when you save a project as a movie; the author’s name appears when the movie is played in some media players, such as Windows Media Player. Therefore, do not enter any personal information that you do not want others to see. For more information about privacy, see the Windows Movie Maker privacy statement at the Microsoft Web site.

Temporary storage

Specifies the temporary storage location for captured audio, as well as saved movies. When you are capturing an audio narration, the temporary buffer file is stored in this location, and then removed when the final captured audio file is saved.

When saving a movie that you are going to send in an e-mail message or to a video hosting provider on the Web, a copy of the movie file is stored in this location until the movie is sent successfully. When sending a movie to a tape in a DV camera, the temporary movie file that is created is stored in this location until the movie is recorded to the tape.

Click Browse to find the location you want to specify as your temporary storage location on your computer. You may want to change your temporary storage location to specify a location that has more available disk space. For example, if your hard disk has two partitions, you may want to choose the drive that has more available disk space when capturing video or saving a movie that you want to record to a tape in a DV camera.

Open last project on startup

Specifies whether the last saved project is opened automatically when Windows Movie Maker is started. If this check box is cleared, a new blank project is started when Windows Movie Maker is started.

Save AutoRecover info every

Specifies that you want a project and your collections file to be saved automatically after the specified amount of time, in minutes. When this check box is selected, the project and collections file is automatically saved, along with any changes in your project and collections during the specified amount of time. This lets you recover your work if a power failure or similar problem should occur.

Download codecs automatically

Specifies that Windows Movie Maker attempts to download codecs automatically when you choose to import a video or audio file that uses a codec that is not installed on your computer. You must be connected to the Internet for this option to work. If the appropriate codec is found on a Microsoft Web site, the codec is then downloaded and installed silently without any user intervention.

If you do not want codecs to be installed automatically on your computer, clear this check box. To install codecs, you must have the appropriate Administrator permissions.

Reset Warning Dialogs

Click this button to reset the different warning dialog boxes that appear in Windows Movie Maker. If you selected the Do not show this dialog again in one of the different warning dialog boxes, these warning dialog boxes will appear again after you click this button.

Clear All Passwords and User Names

Click this button to reset all user names and passwords that have been entered and stored in Windows Movie Maker. In Windows Movie Maker, user names and passwords are stored on a per-user basis. You could click this button to clear the user name and password so that the appropriate user name and password must be re-entered when you send a movie to the Web if you selected the Save my password check box when saving a movie to a video hosting provider on the Web. This helps to add another layer of security, so that others cannot send a movie to a video hosting provider using your account information.

Restore All Defaults

Click this button to return Windows Movie Maker to the default settings for options and settings displayed on the General tab. For example, if you selected a new temporary storage location and changed the default author name, and later decided that you wanted to change these setting back to the default, along with other options displayed on the General tab, you can click this button to return to the default settings.

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