Editing videos has become the need of the hour these days, looking at the increasing popularity of video content. Content creators, business owners, and marketers are looking for the best ways to fine-tune and prepare their videos for sharing.
While there are several video editing tools available in the market, online movie makers are the most in-demand due to their either free nature or extra functionalities.
The built-in video editor for Windows is a free yet professional program that makes making videos effortless, allowing you to create stunning video projects quickly for easy sharing on different platforms. In this post, let us try to understand how you can edit videos easily using Movie Maker.
Part 1: Importing Files to Movie Maker
Before you can start editing your video in Windows Movie Maker, you need to add your files to the program.
To do this, you can use the ‘Import Video’ option on the main interface and browse the file you want to insert.
You can select one or multiple videos as the project requires. You can also find options for importing pictures, music, and audio.
Part 2: Editing Clips in Movie Maker
Once you have added your videos and pictures to Movie Maker, you can edit the clips and make necessary changes to make your video perfect.
Cut/Split/Trim Video
After adding your clips and images to the program, you can keep useful sections and remove unwanted portions.
To trim your video, move to the frame you want to make the initial point of the video. Once you reach the right frame, right-click and select ‘Set Start Point. Next, you can navigate to the ending point and click on ‘Set End Point’.
Split Video
With Movie Maker, it is also possible to cut a clip into smaller parts without losing any frames. To do this, select the point on the Storyboard Pane you want to split.
Click on the ‘Edit’ option under ‘Video Tools’ and click on the ‘Split’ button and your video gets divided into two small clips.
Add Audio
Windows Movie Maker allows adding background music to your footage. To add audio, you can click on the ‘Add Music’ option and choose from online music libraries like Vimeo, AudioMicro, and others or select the audio file from your computer.
Change Video Speed
The Edit tab in Movie Maker allows adjusting the video’s volume, changing the speed the video plays at, and adding fade in/out effects. These options let you control the way your video plays on the platform you upload it to.
Part 3: Adding Narration to the Video
You can record a narration to tell a story in the video. To do this, select the ‘Record Narration’ option under the ‘Add’ menu, hit the Record button, and start speaking into the microphone. Once done, you can fine-tune the audio to your liking and preview it.
Part 4: Adding Transitions and Effects with Movie Maker
Transition is one of the most significant aspects of video editing. Adding a transition is quite simple with Movie Maker.
You simply need to open your video and choose the clip where you want to add a transition. A highlighted boundary in blue appears on the clip.
Transitions: Movie Maker online offers a variety of transition styles like Dissolves, Diagonals, Reveals, Patterns and Shapes, Shatters, etc. to choose from.
To view the options, you can click on the ‘Animations’ tab on the ribbon toolbar and choose the desired effect.
You can also hover the mouse over the styles to see how they look in the Preview pane before selecting one.
The program automatically adds the chosen transition between the beginning of the selected clip and the end of the previous clip. You can adjust the transition duration from a quarter-second to up to two seconds.
Pan and Zoom Effects: Under the ‘Animations’ tab, you can find the ‘Pan and Zoom’ gallery in Movie Maker. These effects refer to viewing static images in the form of a motion picture. Zooming and panning give an illusion of motion.
You can quickly choose your desired effect from the options available. If you are not sure, you can go with the ‘Automatic Effect’ that applies a random effect.
Use the ‘Apply to all’ button in the ribbon area to apply the same effect to all the pictures. This will place a small icon in the upper left corner of the image in the frame.
Visual Effects: Movie Maker offers you a variety of visual effects like Blur, Black and White, 3D Ripple, Mirrors, Pixelate, Fade, and Motions to let you add a visual flair to your project.
To add visual effects, select the clip you want to add them to and click on the ‘Visual Effects’ tab on the ribbon bar to see the options. You can hover your mouse over the effects to preview them before selecting one.
Removing transitions and visual effects is simple as well. To remove transition, you can select the clip, click on the ‘Animations’ tab and select the ‘No Transition’ button at the left. Similarly, clicking on the ‘Visual Effects’ and ‘No Effect’ under it would remove any effects applied to the selected clip.
Part 5: Inserting Text to Video
With Movie Maker, it is possible to add captions, titles, and credits to your videos to give them a more authentic appearance and recognize the people working on the project.
To add a caption to a video, you can choose the clip you want to add the text to, select ‘Caption’ from the Home tab and write the text of the caption in the text box that appears.
You can also adjust the styles and fonts for the text from the ‘Text Tools Format’ tab and even apply text effects to the words. You can easily add a title to the front of the clip selected or add credits to the end of the sequence.
Part 6: Exporting and Sharing Videos
Movie Maker lets you save edited videos on your phone, computer, and other devices, burn them to DVD in high quality and upload them directly to Facebook, YouTube, OneDrive, Flickr, Vimeo, and other platforms from the software.
To save your video in MP4, you can use the ‘Save Movie’ button on the Home menu and type the name of the file before clicking on ‘Save’. The options for sharing your completed project on different platforms are easily accessible on the main menu itself.
Final Thoughts
A professional content creation program like Movie Maker can be a true blessing when you are trying your hands at video editing.
We hope this guide helps you understand how you can create stunning, eye-catching videos with this program and make the most of its functionality and features.
