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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

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Setting advanced options

The Advanced tab lets you set the default options for advanced 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.

Picture duration

Specifies the default amount of time you want pictures to display in your project when added to the Video track of the timeline or to the storyboard. The default duration is determined by the current setting when the clip is added to the storyboard/timeline. For example, if you imported several pictures and then added them to the storyboard/timeline with the Picture duration option set to five seconds, the pictures added to the Video track would display for five seconds. However, if you changed the default duration to 10 seconds and then added pictures to the storyboard/timeline, the newly added pictures would display for 10 seconds.

Transition duration

Specifies the default amount of time you want video transitions to display in your project and final saved movie when added to the Transition track of the timeline or to a video transition cell on the storyboard. The default duration for video transitions is also determined by the current setting when the clip is added to the storyboard/timeline. For more information about working with video transitions, see Working with video transitions.

Video format

Specifies the video format that is used when recording a movie back to tape. The format you choose determines the video format used by your DV camera, which varies by country or region. The selected video format is used when the movie is sent to tape in your DV camera if Windows Movie Maker cannot automatically detect the video format for your DV camera. This setting is automatically set based on the Regional and Language Option settings in Control Panel.

The current video format also determines whether either the NTSC or PAL settings are displayed when capturing video or saving movies after selecting the Other settings option for either task. For more information about the video format used by your DV camera, consult the documentation provided with your DV camera.

Aspect ratio

Specifies the aspect ratio for your saved movies. The setting you choose determines the aspect ratio, which is the relation of the width to the height, of the video display for your final saved movie.

If you select 16:9, the settings you can choose from when saving a movie include settings that have a width to height ratio of 16:9. If you select 4:3 as the aspect ratio, the settings you can choose from include profiles that have a width to height ratio of 4:3. Video converted between the two aspect ratios may cause the final saved movie to appear distorted during playback.

Maximum file size for sending a movie as an attachment in an e-mail message

Specifies the maximum file size for sending a movie as an attachment in an e-mail message. You can set this option according to any attachment file size limits that may be set by your e-mail provider. Windows Movie Maker then automatically selects the best movie setting based on the duration and content on the storyboard/timeline and the file size limit you enter.

Because many e-mail providers have attachment file size limits, you can set this value to the file size limit of your e-mail provider. Windows Movie Maker displays a warning if the movie you are saving exceeds the file size limit that is set when you choose the E-mail saving option in the Save Movie Wizard.

Restore All Defaults

Click this button to return Windows Movie Maker to the default settings for options and settings displayed on the Advanced tab. For example, if you selected a new default duration for pictures and video transitions, and later decided that you wanted to change these setting back to the defaults, along with other options displayed on the Advanced tab, you can click this button to return to the default settings for this tab.

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