If there are no high-level professional needs, to edit a video on Windows PC a program is enough, that Windows Movie Maker, rather forgotten by Microsoft, which still works fine and makes it easy not only to import videos from your camera or smartphone, but also to edit and edit them.Windows Movie Maker is still one of the simplest programs to use today, 100% free.
Among the main options Windows Live Movie Maker allows you to split and trim videos, change the speed, add background music and edit videos by adding visual and transition effects.
Before you start, you need to make sure you have the latest updated version of Windows Live Movie Maker.
The program is still part of Windows Live Essentials so, when selecting programs to download, install or update, you must deselect all the others.
It is very easy to import videos or photos into Windows Movie Maker in a project for mount them in a single movie.
They are automatically inserted into a sequential timeline, one after the other and can be dragged with the mouse to the desired position.
This way you can easily change the order of the videos by moving them on the timeline.
Windows Movie Maker does not allow you to create any "empty space" on the timeline, so every second of the new movie must be filled with a photo, video, or image with lettering or a transition effect.
Similarly, when you remove a clip from the timeline, the other videos move to fill the gap left, shortening the overall length of the new movie.
To remove a video from the timeline, just right-click on it and click on Delete.
It is also possible to cut, copy and paste the various clips inserted in the timeline using the relative commands or even using, respectively, the various key combinations CTRL + X, CTRL + C or CTRL + V.
Two or more clips that make up the timeline can be duplicated by selecting them while holding down the CTRL key.
Clips added to Movie Maker to be assembled together into a single movie they cannot be overlapped, but their duration can be chosen.
For example, if you add still images or photos, you can choose how long they should be visible before moving on to the next item.
To do this, you need to move from the top menu to Edit, select the clip and write the duration in seconds or see the preview and press the set end point button.
Also in the edit menu there are buttons for cut or split a video into separate clips.
It is therefore necessary to position the playback cursor in the point where you want to make the division.
The video then splits into two independent clips which can be moved on the timeline or edited with different effects.
The crop tool instead, it allows you to select the start and end points of a clip (using the cursors on the preview), thus extracting the piece and deleting the rest.
Finally, save the cutout to confirm deletion.
The trick of video editing with Movie Maker it all lies in the combined use of these two tools: by dividing a video and then using the cropping tool, it is possible to reassemble a recorded video by deleting the boring or uninteresting parts and making a more pressing movie as if it were the news service or the movie trailer.
Different visual effects can be applied to each cropped piece of video, while a different type of animation can be selected when switching from one piece to another.
From the preview pane it is always possible to see the result of the changes.
If you make a mistake instead, you can press the CTRL + Z keys to undo the last action or to delete the new clip generated after trimming or after splitting and re-import the original video to start over.
Unfortunately, there is no way to merge or combine clips into one video with Windows Movie Maker.
The only option is to create a project with the clips to be combined, save the movie as a WMV and then import it back into the main project.
The playback speed of a clip can also be changed for a video with the option found in the Edit menu.
Then select the video you want to be faster or slower and change the speed value.
When you change the speed of a video clip, Windows Movie Maker removes the audio from it.
If you want to keep it, you will first need to extract the audio from the video with a different program like Audacity or AoA Audio Extractor and add it as a music track, which will still be out of sync.
You can easily add one to the video background music with the relevant button.
The volume of the music and that of the video they are independent and can be changed from their respective menus.
To change the volume of a single video clip, select it and then, in the edit section, click the volume button and move the cursor.
The same thing can also be done for music, by clicking on the Music Tools menu at the top.
In the Project menu there is also the Audio Mixer button, to balance the audio of a video and the background music so as not to create confusion.
For video and music you can also have an audio fade in or out at three different speeds: slow, medium and fast.
Finally, the video is possible add, from the main menu, a title, a finale acronym with i awards, a caption superimposed on the clip, a video recorded live with the webcam or an audio comment made using the microphone.
With Windows Movie Maker it is also easy to rotate a video using the buttons in the Home menu, to rotate a selected clip left or right.
Video editing in Windows Movie Maker couldn't be simpler and it's a shame Microsoft doesn't update this gorgeous program by adding more advanced features.
It should be noted that, in addition to the visual and sound effects, it is also very easy to upload a movie on Youtube directly from the main interface of the program or even share it on Facebook.
In other articles, for those who want something more, I remember:
- Best free video editor programs to edit videos on PC
- Online video montage to edit videos with remixes and special effects
