Tutorial for making a movie using Microsoft Moviemaker by Ryan S

It should be noted from the begging that Window's MovieMaker is not a particularly hard program to use. Microsoft has done a very good job in making it very user friendly. The problems arise when you try and get into the more advanced features. I could honestly write a small book on this but will avoid doing so and rather focus on the basic's. So let us begin....

Above is a picture of the basic layout of Windows Moviemaker. As you can see there are (5) basic panels or sections. Moviemaker allows you to add video clips and music to form a "Movie". Which can be used to upload home movies or clips that you might want to send to friends and family. Or by a business to promote a product or upload, say, a commercial.

Here are the basic step's to making a movie using "Windows MovieMaker".

1. Open your file or movie. Then click “Import video”; it will take a few moments to import, depending on the file size and how long that clip is.

2. Click and drag the different sets of clips you've shot down to the Storyboard, which is located at the bottom of the window.

3. Add video effects. Click “Video Effects” on the left side of the window. Drag what effect you want and put it the star in the corner of the Clip.

4. Add transitions. Select the “View Video Transitions” from the left panel. Drag them down to the “Storyboard”, but put them in the middle box. You can view the transitions by clicking on them and watching them on the screen to the left.

5. Add music or cut short the clips by clicking the “Timeline” also at the bottom of the screen.

6. When you want to cut some time from the Clip, click the half triangle at the side of the clip, and then you can move how long you want the scene.

7. Mute the camera if you're going to make a music video; you don’t want anyone to hear that part, just the music. Then, go to “Import Audio or Music” select a song. Then drag it down to the “TimeLine” You can also cut time or make a short sound from clicking the triangle and dragging to make it as long as you want, you can have just one word, chorus or just the whole song.

8. Add title or credits by clicking on the appropriate link on the left panel. To add credits, there is a big empty bar on the form; you should put either the title of the movie, or credits. The left side of the form should go positions, like Director, or Producer, or the character. Then, the right side, will be the names of the people that play or direct in their position.

9. Click the view “timeline” and you should see the time line with the song, the title, the clips, and the effects and transitions. Then, you can view the movie that you have created by pressing play on the left panel with the screen.

10. If you are satisfied, click “Save to my computer” or if you have a CD/DVD you could also save it to that, and it should again, take a few moments to save, then you are done with your movie.



I hope that this tutorial helped you. As you can see using Windows Moviemaker is not as daunting of a task as one might seem, but yet a rather enjoyable one. The uses of Moviemaker are endless and with just a few simple actions, anyone can be a "Movie Maker"!

References:
http://www.wikihow.com/Use-Windows-Movie-Maker
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/getstarted/default.mspx
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZXK68NS7gU
IMG: http://res1.windows.microsoft.com/resbox/en/Windows%20Vista/Main/7/e/7e489880-f28c-44a4-9e36-35cc2d870427/7e489880-f28c-44a4-9e36-35cc2d870427.png