using windows movie maker to create

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Windows Movie Maker lets you assemble a range of video, pictures, and sound elements to create a story. It is an application that comes with most PC computers. This tip sheet was created using Windows Movie Maker Version 5.1. You may find some of the tools and settings are different if you are using a different version of Windows Movie Maker.

2. When you launch the program, you will see four panes:

• The Movie Task Pane, which contains quick access links to a range of tasks.

• The Collections Pane, which acts as a folder to keep the sound and image files you’ll use to create your story.

• The Timeline/Storyboard where you can add, move and edit your sound and images.

• The Preview Pane, where you can view your story.

WHAT'S YOUR STORY?

USING WINDOWS MOVIE MAKER TO CREATE THE MOMENT BEHIND THE PHOTO STORYPART 1

1. Go to the Start Menu, click on All Programs, and look for Windows Movie Maker.

3. The Tasks and Collections buttons control how the panes display. Make sure Tasks is selected.

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USING WINDOWS MOVIE MAKER TO CREATE THE MOMENT BEHIND THE PHOTO STORY

WHAT'S YOUR STORY?

4. The Timeline/Storyboard lets you choose between two different views. If it is showing a Storyboard, click on the Show Timeline button to show the Timeline instead.

5. Before you get started, go to Tools in the Main Menu, and select Options.

Under the Advanced tab, change the Video properties to PAL 16:9 and click OK.

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WHAT'S YOUR STORY?

6. Now, save your project. Go to the Main Menu, and select File > Save Project.

Create a new folder, and call it The Moment Behind The Photo. Give your project a name that is meaningful for your story.

7. Under the Windows Movie Maker Main Menu, select Tools > Narrate Timeline

Remember to save your project regularly, using the Save icon or Ctrl+S.

If you are using Windows Movie Maker to record your audio, follow the steps below. If you have already recorded your audio using a phone or recorder, skip to Import your audio.

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WHAT'S YOUR STORY?

8. Select the Audio input source.

If you have an external microphone plugged into the Line input, select Line In.

9. If you have an external microphone plugged into the USB port, the device should appear in the Audio device list, and Microphone should be selected under Audio input source.

10. If you are using your computer’s internal microphone, select Digital Mic under Audio input source.

11. When you are ready, click on the Start Narration button. As you record, the counter next to Narration captured will show you the duration of your recording. When you are finished, select Stop Narration.

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WHAT'S YOUR STORY?

12. You will then be prompted to save the recording, and give it a name. The narration will be saved in My Documents/ Movies/ Narration. Click Save.

14. If you’re not happy with the recording, you can delete it. Click on the recording in the Timeline to select it, go to Edit on the Main Menu and select Delete.

13. The recording will now appear in the timeline.

Use this button to go back to the start, and the Play button to listen to your recording.

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WHAT'S YOUR STORY?

16. When you have finished recording, click Done under the Stop narration button.

Now that you have recorded your audio, skip to Edit your audio.

If you recorded your audio using a phone or recorder, it’s time to Import your audio.

17. In the Movie Tasks Pane, click on Import audio or music, and then browse to find your audio files.

Select all of the audio files you have recorded, using the shift key if you have more than one file. Click Import.

15. You can make more than one recording, but you need to make sure that the Playback indicator on the Timeline is at a position where the Audio/Music track is empty. To move the Playback indicator, click in the Timecode bar at the top of the track.

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WHAT'S YOUR STORY?

18. You will now see the audio files appear in the Collections Pane.

19. Drag your sound files onto the Audio/Music layer in the Timeline. If you have more than one file, they will be laid end-to-end on the Timeline.

Use this button to go back to the start, and the Play button to listen to your recording.

20. To adjust the volume of each audio file, click on the clip to select it, then go to the Main Menu and select Clip > Audio > Volume.

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WHAT'S YOUR STORY?

21. The Audio Clip Volume window will then open. Move the slider to adjust the volume.

You need to adjust each clip separately.

22. To move around the Timeline, click in the Timecode bar at the top of the Timeline. To go back to the start, use this button.

23. Use the zoom tools to zoom in or out.

24. Use the Play button to listen to the audio, and the Pause button to stop. Stop at a place that you want to make an edit, and use the Split button on the right to make a split in the clip.

You might want to make a list of the content of the clips as you go.

Now it’s time to Edit your audio.

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WHAT'S YOUR STORY?

25. To delete sections that you don’t want, make a Split at the start and the end of the section, click on the section to select it, go to Edit on the Main Menu and and select Delete.

Start by only deleting sections you are sure you won’t need. You can remove more later.

26. If you change your mind, you can use the Undo/Redo arrows on the Main Toolbar at the top.

27. Once you have divided your clips into segments, you can click and drag to move them around on the timeline.

You can drag your clips together to remove the gaps, and change the order if you want to.

It’s a good idea to leave a second or two empty space at the beginning of the story, to give people time to settle in.

As you play through your edit, you may find smaller sections that you’d like to delete. Use the Split button to make a split at the start and end of the section, then Right Click and Delete. As these sections get smaller, you will need to zoom in more.

You can put clips that you’re not sure about to one side by dragging them to the end of the timeline. Delete them once you are sure that you won't use them.

10WHAT'S YOUR STORY?

USING WINDOWS MOVIE MAKER TO CREATE THE MOMENT BEHIND THE PHOTO STORYPART 2

WHAT'S YOUR STORY?

Play through your edit a few times, thinking about how you could improve the story by trimming it down, or changing the order. If there are any sections where your attention drifts, think about trimming these sections.

Look at the photo as you listen to the story.

Play it to other people to see how they respond to it.

Edit the story down, until it is under 1 minute 20 seconds.

Before you bring the photo into Windows Movie Maker, you need to crop the photo so that it fills the frame, and make it the correct proportions for Windows Movie Maker.

To do this, you may have photo editing software that you already use, or you can visit a site like www.picnik.com, which has simple tools for cropping your photo.

28. If you need to retrieve a comment that you’ve deleted, go back to the original clip in the Collections Panel, and drag it into the Timeline again. It’s best to drag it to the end of the Timeline.

Then find the section you’re looking for, make a Split at the start and the end of the section using the Split button then drag the selection to where you’d like it to go.

29. In Picnik, click on Get Started Now and then click Upload a Photo. Browse to find your photo on the computer, and click Open. The photo will open in the Edit tab.

Now it’s time to Add your photo.

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WHAT'S YOUR STORY?

30. Click on the Crop button.

Select No constraints in the drop-down menu at the top.

Next to Actual size, type in 1920 x 1080 and tick the Scale photo box.

It is important to crop the photo in this exact ratio, or Windows Movie Maker will distort the photo.

If it won’t let you type in 1920 x 1080, you need to load a higher quality photo.

A grid will appear over the photo to show where you are cropping it. Drag the edges of the box so that only the photo is showing inside.

If your photo is square, or is in portrait orientation, it is ok to leave some empty space around it, but crop it as close as you can, without losing too much of the image.

When you are happy with the crop, click OK.

31. You may want to use the other tools to adjust the exposure of your photos.

When you are done, click on the Save & Share tab.

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WHAT'S YOUR STORY?

32. Give your photo a name, and check the dimensions are 1920 x 1080. Under Format, choose TIFF to save a high quality photo.

Click Save Photo, and choose a location to save the photo.

33. In the Movie Tasks Pane in Windows Movie Maker, click on Import pictures and then browse to find your photo. Select the photo, and then click Import.

34. You will now see the photo appear in the Collections Pane.

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WHAT'S YOUR STORY?

35. Click and drag the photo from the Collection Pane down onto the Video layer on the Timeline.

The default duration of the photo will be 5 seconds.

Hold the mouse near the end of the clip, and the red Trim Tool will appear. Click and drag the photo so that it slightly longer than your edited audio.

36. To add a subtle move to the photo, go to 2. Edit Movie in the Movie Tasks pane, and click on View video effects.

You will then see thumbnail images for all the effects you can use.

The Ease In effect will gradually zoom in on your photo, or Ease Out will zoom out.

37. Choose which effect you want to use, and drag it onto the photo in the Timeline.

The photo will now have a star, to show that a video effect has been applied.

Play your story to make sure you are happy with the movement.

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WHAT'S YOUR STORY?

38. Go to Finish Movie in the Movie Tasks pane. Choose Save to my computer to create your movie.

39. You will be asked to Enter a file name for your saved movie as well as Choose a place to save your movie.

You can save the movie to The Moment Behind The Photo folder you created in Step 6.

Click Next to move to the next screen.

Optional:

At the end of the story, you may want to include a photo of the person whose story you have recorded, holding their photo.

Import the photo, and drag it onto the end of the Video layer in the Timeline. It should only cover the last few seconds of the story.

Once you have played through a few times and are happy with your movie, it’s time to Export your movie.

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WHAT'S YOUR STORY?

40. The next step will enable you to choose the Movie Setting.

Click on the Show more choices link.

41. In the Other settings drop-down menu, choose High quality video (large)

You will see that the Setting details and the Movie file size are shown at the bottom of this window.

The display size should be 856x480 pixels.

Aspect ratio should be 16:9.

Frames per second should be 25.

Click Next.

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WHAT'S YOUR STORY?

42. If you are using Windows Live Movie Maker, go to Save movie and select Create custom setting.

43. Under Video settings, choose

Width 1920 pixels

Height 1080 pixels

Bit rate 2500 kbps

Frame rate 25 fps

Under Audio settings, choose

128 kbps, 48kHz, stereo

The estimated file size should be under 20MB.

You may want to give this custom setting a name, so that you can use it again.

Click Save.

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WHAT'S YOUR STORY?

44. Once the movie has been saved you will be asked if you wish to Play the movie when you click Finish. Check this box and click Finish.

45. Windows Media Player will open and display your movie.

Watch the movie to make sure that you are happy with it. Now, find your movie in the folder you saved it to on your computer, and follow the instructions to upload it to The Moment Behind The Photo vimeo group.