Windows Movie Maker

[Brian Rupnow]

I need a little help here. My older 32 bit computer which ran on a Windows XP platform died on me about 6 weeks ago, and I bought a new quad pentium 64 bit computer with Windows XP on it. My old computer had a version of "Windows Movie Maker" on it. This was great, because my digital camera saves everything as .avi files, which can not be uploaded to Photobucket. Using "Windows Movie Maker" it was very easy to open my .avi movies and save them as .wmv files which Photobucket can easily upload. And it seemed that when it saved them the .wmv files were not overly large. My new computer has something on it called "Windows Live Movie Maker". It too will open .avi files and save them as .wmv movies, however the .wmv files seem insanely large.---and consequently take forever to upload to photobucket. I am truly a "Babe in the Woods" about this stuff, and if anyone can offer some words of wisdom, I will gratefully listen. I am NOT going to run out and buy a different operating system, or switch to Linux, etc.---I just want to know if there is perhaps a better way of utilizing what I have.---Thank You----Brian

 

[Rayanth]

I am not familiar with WMM or WLMM, however there is most likely an option that is different by default between the two. your 'bit rate' is usually what affects the size of the file the most. Higher bit rates give better quality videos, however they lead to much larger files.

Try looking for a 'bit rate' option (usually measured in MBps or KBps) and reducing it.

- Ryan

 

[doc1955]

Check this url for setting up Movie maker
Movie Maker Help

 

[n4zou]

Why restrict your options so severely? Openshot video editor is one of the very best simple to use video editors available, and it's FREE. It's only available for Linux Operating systems. It works great on Ubuntu 10.04. Both the OS and Openshot are free. Installing Ubuntu 10.04 is easy and it lets you select your Windows OS at boot. Don't use the latest Ubuntu version 11.04, it has issues for Linux newbies. It's too advanced incorporating 3D graphics which are a ***** to get working right. It's great for CAD and 3D video but it sucks for nearly everything else.

OpenShot Video Editor Page
http://www.openshotvideo.com/

Video Editing on Linux Part 1 - Obtaining, Installing and Using OpenShot Video Editor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RLvn7jRPvVA

 

[Troutsqueezer]

I think Brian stated that Linux wasn't an option.

Anyway, I would check to see what screen size you've selected to export. Full screen takes much more memory than something geared for YouTube or similar. I forget the exact size and too lazy to look it up but it's something like 320 x 280 pixels for Internet use.

It's hard to avoid having to jump into learning all the terminology, file types, protocols, what-have-you when it comes to producing exactly the right size and quality of video for your needs so you're going to have to climb that learning curve, even if you only want to go up a little ways.

 

[Jon]

If all you are concerned about is file size, then convert them to MPEG's. The files are much smaller and upload a lot faster. I use this converter. It's free so I can't complain about the price.

http://www.avitompeg.net/

Jon

 

[shred]

Lose Windows Live Movie Maker. It, IMO, blows chunks (and I use WMM a lot). You should be able to find a download of WMM 2.1 somewhere if you look hard, although Microsoft is doing their level best to push everybody to "Live".

 

[Brian Rupnow]

I admit it---I am "movie challenged"!!! I don't edit the videos that I make. I just take them with my video camera, load them onto the computer, open them with "windows movie maker live", and save them as .wmv files , then upload them to Photobucket. Based on my limited experience with this new computer (two videos), I think that probably "Windows Movie Maker Live" will suit my purpose, as long as I can solve the issue of how to save them to a smaller .wmv file size. I think Troutsqueezer has the correct approach. I REALLY wish that I remembered the settings that I used on my old computer.

 

[n4zou]

I think Brian stated that Linux wasn't an option.
That's why I asked why he wanted to severely restrict his options.
Ubuntu is about 3 years advanced in WEB technology over WIN-7.
Then taking into consideration he's using XP with his new computer I simply
can't understand why he would want to live in the distant past.
Ubuntu is really easy to install and use. It's actually much easier than any version of Windows.
99% of Ubuntu users do not need to hunt down drivers after installation or download and use add on software like
Anti-virus programs. You also don't need to worry about defragging the hard drive and other
such maintenance chores that Windows requires.

 

[Brian Rupnow]

N4ZOU---I am a design engineer and I use 3D Solidworks design software, which runs on the Windows XP platform. There are about eight million things that I do with this software to earn my living, that took a long and painfull time to learn. I do not want to even consider changing ANYTHING that would mean having to learn any of it over again. That is why I specifically asked that no one suggest running a different operating system or platform.----Brian

 

[n4zou]

There is nothing to learn in Ubuntu, it just works. You also do not lock your computer into Ubuntu nor does it take over the computer. It loads in a separate section of the hard drive or you can put it on an external USB hard drive as long as you have a choice in the BIOS to boot from an external USB hard drive. You don't need to work for hours setting it up or loading drivers for hardware. In almost all cases the Ubuntu OS setup takes care of all that for you. It's easier to teach the Ubuntu OS to someone with no computer experience than it is to teach a Windows user because they try to make it harder than it really is. They really can't believe how easy it is. They call Ubuntu "Linux for Humans" and it really is. There is no registry to worry about, viruses or spy ware or the software for dealing with that sort of thing. It's completely immune from all that crap. You can continue to use your Windows system and it's software as Ubuntu will not interfere with it at all. It's just another option and because it will not cost you anything, you've lost nothing if you don't like it. One word of warning, if you do start to use Ubuntu even a little you'll get mad as hell for all the time you spent with Windows.

 

[Blue_Rock]

Getting back on track here guys (and gals) ;D

The two most important things that impact on the file size of video content are the video's frame rate (frames per second (FPS) - the number of frames that make up one second of video) and the dimensions of the video. Bitrate refers to the audio encoding (typically MP3 or WMA) and typically has a much smaller impact on file size.

Using Windows Live Movie Maker, once you are done editing your movie, save the project via the "Save project as" dialogue - do this to ensure you have backed up all that editing.

To change the size of the video you must first create a custom setting that will reduce the size of the video.

If your video has an 4:3 aspect ratio (squarish) then you need to set up a 320x240 custom setting (or another 4:3 setting)

If your video has an 16:9 aspect ratio (widescreen) then you need to set up a 854x480 custom setting (or another 16:9 setting)

1. Choose "Save Movie" option and select "custom settings> Create custom setting" at the bottom of the menu

2. Enter a name for your custom setting e.g. 320x240 30 FPS

3. Enter a width and height setting e.g 320 and 240

4. Click the Save button

Now you can save your movie to the new size you have setup

1. Choose "Save Movie" option and select "custom settings> 320x240 30 FPS" at the bottom of the menu - this is the setting you have just created

2. Give the movie a name e.g. MyMachine.wmv

3. Click the Save button and the movie will get saved into the "My videos" directory of the "My Documents" folder

If it's still too big using the reduced video size then half the frame rate (probably to 15 FPS)

Experiment with different video size settings and frame rates until you get a file size that works for you

For more info on video resolution see here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Display_resolution

BTW, I agree Windows video editing software sucks, but it works ;D

 

[Brian Rupnow]

Thanks blue Rock---I have been doing some "comparison studies" this morning. the .AVI I started with was 103MB. I saved it as a .wmv file using Windows Movie Maker Live, and the last selection that you have to make after you click the "save movie" button is the "recommended setting". I saved it using "Zune hd for 720P display" and the .wmv file it saved was 86.7Megs. Then I did the same operation again using a "recomended setting" for "Windows Phone Large" and it saved the wmv. file at 38.7 Megs. Then I repeated selecting "Windows Phone Small" as my "recomended setting" and it saved the .wmv file at 12 Megs. The attached video was the 86.7 Meg movie

 

[Brian Rupnow]

This is the same movie, only at 12MB size uploaded to Photobucket. The quality of the video seems little different, but the ausio track is screwed up.

 

[Blue_Rock]

Hi Brian, the audio is fine when I play the video.

 

[Brian Rupnow]

Hi Brian, the audio is fine when I play the video.

Thats strange!!! Now its okay on my computer as well.

 

[nh_eng]

Same here - no audio problems when I play it.

Paul