Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker?

Tutorials Win: Microsoft Windows Forum

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    - Im going crazy!!!!! My windows movie maker crashes everytime I try and trim a video or audio clip. I've turned off all the codecs on my computer and I've searched through Windows MovieMaker troubleshooting but nothing has worked. It still shuts down. What can I do? Thanks for the help. Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33953
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    - newest problem importing You guys are gonna get tired of seeing me here (grin) I tired using AVS convertor to covert files recorded fromDVD/VCR recorder into a file format that WMM will accept (seemed to be an eaier program to for a beginer). First tried it as AVI and the audio was way way out of sync with the video, and the video quality was very poor (distorted, broke up into pixels, etc). This was an hour long file that I tried. Then I went in with a 20 minute reording that I had taken from tv and converted to WMV. That appears to have gone well, looked good sounded good, synced up good. WHen I went back to WMV with the initial DVD, the results were the same as before though with the loss of quality. ANy thoughts on whats going wrong? Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33951
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    - Importing music every time i try to import music from my music or even windows media player it tells me my files compatible or something. it won't let me. i've been trying for 5 hours striaght to get around it and i can't figure it out. please help before i end up breaking my brand new computer. Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33939
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    - Problem with a WMV-File I have a problem with a WMV-file. I have recorded a TV program with the MAGIX music maker 2004 deLuxe . Now I want to put the file into the WMM. But when I import the File it says the file didnÂ´t indicated. What shall I do? Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33935
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    - video in preview, no video later I connected my computer to a VCR using a SVideo cable. When I try to capture video, I can watch the video in the preview screen. It's a little dark, but I can watch it. When I finish recording the clip and go to the main screen, either there's no video, or the video doesn't play properly. For instance, once it just showed a large green block. Another time, it just showed the same moment over and over. The audio plays just fine. I am using movie maker version 2.1. I'm not sure which video capture device I have. I'm totally new at this, so hopefully I'm just missing something obvious. Thanks. Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33933
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    - Capture Problems I have a new Panasonic Digital Video cam. When i play the recorded footage straight from the camera to the tele it has a really sharp image but when i capture it using movie maker the quality decreases dramatically. I have noticed if i burn the footage to a dvd it increases a little but is still nowhere near as sharp as on the camera. Can anyone help? Im using Firewire and my computers really good, i dont know what to do! -- Matt Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33930
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    - MM2 and Windows SP2 Has anyone had problems running MM2 after installing SP2. If so are there are fixes for MM2 so it will run correctly or do I have to re-install it. Thanks Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33917
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    - Movie Maker Version 1 Hello there Is anyone able to email me a copy of Moviemaker 1 exe or tell me where to go to get a copy? I have version 2 now (because I downloaded Service Pack 2), and because it won't upload from my Sony handycam I need to be able to run version 1 to do so. I am trying to set up version one in the same folder so that I can run both. I don't know anyone who hasn't loaded SP2 so far haven't found a copy of Version 1 which is about 780kbs approx). Many thanks if you can. Dave Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33912
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    - File size problem when saving movie to computer I have a MM project that is roughly 30 min captured in DV-AVI format. The file is over 6 GB and I'm getting an error when trying to save the movie. I have plenty of free disk space and the command prompt is already in NTFS format. The original clips and music are all still intact and the save file location is available. How can save a movie this size? Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33909
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    - Help !!! Just recently I tried to create another video using movie maker and noticed that there is no sound when I place the clip in the storyboard/timeline. At the same time I also noticed that all my transitions are gone and only have 2 effects. I have no idea how this happened. I made a video not long ago and had no problems. Now it seems these problems occured and I have not added or removed anything. I have service pack 2 and movie maker 2.1. any Ideas??? Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33904
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    - The Instant Expert strikes again LOL, Now why would the Instant Expert (Rehan to those who do not know what he is really like), why would he want to download the rename codec program....going to try and reverse engineer it are we??? Still acting in your usual style I see..... -- Best Wishes.....John Kelly Check out the free hosting for your pictures and video at... www.the-kellys.org www.the-kellys.co.uk Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33896
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    - Saving/Copying to CD I have just completed my first movie and everything looks fine. However, first of all I saved it to cd but whilst this plays ok on my computer it will not play on my dvd player, even though it supposedly plays HighMat format. So I tried saving to my computer and then copying to cd but with the same result - it plays fine on computer but not on dvd player. Can anyone please help?! -- swanny Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33886
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    - reversing a clip how can a reverse a movie clip? Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33885
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    - What to try if Movie Maker crashes ot hangs Movie Maker FAQ 1 Last updated 6th January 2005 Crashing and Hanging 1) What is a Codec? ============== A Codec is software that was first created to deal with the transposition of data from one form into another. One of the first important Codecs was a procedure still used today called Soundex. I believe the first proper use of Soundex was by the Mormons. Most of us use Soundex or its equivalent every time we use a spell checker. The Mormons use it in their vast database of all persons baptised by them. It enables very fast data searches on similar sounding words that are not necessarily spelled the same way. Soundex though is a one way procedure. Its a CODER The other part of the word Codec is derived from the word DECODER. Joining the two parts together we get the word CODEC...Codec. With regard to Codecs and any Video or Audio playing software. MP3 or WMA audio files have been compressed using CODER routines. When you play those files on your computer you are using the DECODER routines to produce a sound or video signal that can be seen/heard on your machine. With regard to Audio/Video editing software. A Codec is used to compress the data so that it occupies as small a space as possible usually on a hard drive. But in the case of editing a file the Codec must first expand the compressed data before the edit can occur and afterwards compress it again when the data is saved to a new file. The problems with Codecs arise from "Calls" A call is the expression used to define the way one software module talks to another so that information can be passed between the two. The problem occurs when the Call is not properly formatted, or the reply is not understood. This becomes a problem that the calling software must handle. When the calling software fails to handle the error it can do one of a number of things....the correct way is to contain the error and respond with an alternative approach and possibly inform the user that the error occurred, the other approach we are all to familiar with, either the software or the machine crashes and probably taking all of your hard work with it. 2) Movie Maker crashes, what can I do? ============================ From item one above there is a good chance that your problem arises from a problem with a Codec. Movie Maker version 2.1 was supposed to address this issue by giving you the user the ability to disable one or more of the Codecs on your machine. The problem however is not fully addressed and results in some Codecs not being exposed to the disable option. If its that particular Codec that is causing the problem you are stuck. You need to know which Codec it is, where it is, possibly what other software installed it and what other dependencies exist. In other words you need to know a LOT of things. The proper way of dealing with the issue would be to remove the offending Codec but that's not very practical as you may really need the other software that depends on it. There is a temporary solution available in the form of a program called "Rename Codecs" It has been in use for perhaps a year now by many hundreds of people and with great success. There have been a total of 6 times that the program did not solve the users problem (At the time of writing this) You can obtain your FREE copy of the program from www.the-kellys.org It is strongly recommended that you check out the short interactive tutorial also on the website so that you can get a feel for how it performs. The basics of the program are that it will offer you the option of temporarily renaming Codecs that are known to be a problem for Movie Maker. You would do that before using Movie Maker. Once you are finished using the program you again run Movie Maker and use the RESTORE option to put those Codecs back into operation...its very easy to use. There is an additional option. You can use the options within XP to turn off the various levels of video acceleration that your graphics card has. Doing this is not a good idea but if you do you must understand that every program that relies on those abilities will either run badly or not at all. To turn the acceleration down right click your desktop and select PROPERTIES, then SETTINGS then ADVANCED and then TROUBLERSHOOT. You will then see a slider bar which should normally be positioned on the far right. You can move it one step at a time and then close the dialog down and re-try Movie Maker. You can repeat those steps until (and if) Movie Maker works properly. A lot of video programs give you the opportunity of taking a snap shot of the video displayed, Intervideo WinDVD 5 does a good job of this. Movie Maker also has this option. BUT, if you turn the acceleration down as above, you will no longer be able to take those snapshots. This is not a great problem of course as you can change the acceleration back. But it is rather tedious. 3) How do I make my system perform better and stop Movie Maker crashing ======================================================= This is by far the best way of doing things. Whilst the Rename Codec program is a MUST when you really do need to keep "other" software on your system, the following approach will ensure that your system runs at its best speed and will be less likely to crash at all from Video or Audio problems. You need to download the latest versions of DirectX and the Windows Codecs pack together with the latest version of Windows Media Player. You should NOT try to install these packages via the Internet, you should get the standalone versions. The reason is obvious once you know it. Suppose those updates you did some time back are not working properly...it may be that they were not installed properly or it may be that a file is either corrupt or simply missing. How would you know??? The more experienced may spot the problem but the average user will not. So why download the full package??? That's easy. When you unzip a package several checks are made to ensure the integrity of the files inside the zip. If there is a problem you will be told there and then...the file is corrupt or damaged in some other way....you do not need to trust an install over the Internet and the possibility of data being missed.... You can get the packages via these links... Codec Pack ----------------- http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/format/codecdownload.aspx DirectX ---------- http://go.microsoft.com/?LinkID=1081813 Windows Media Player --------------------------------- http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b446ae53-3759-40cf-80d5-cde4bbe07999&displaylang=en Movie Maker for XP --------------------------- http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/windowsxp/choose.aspx The link for Movie Maker is actually a link to SP2 (Service Pack 2). This a large download. Its not to bad if you have a reasonably fast broadband connection, but if the download fails its a long way back to the start!!! Personally I would recommend you obtain A CD version of SP2...its available on the Windows Magazine and from Microsoft directly Drivers for your graphics card ---------------------------------- I have discovered that most people are confused on the issue of drivers for their graphics card in that when advised to acquire the latest driver they go straight to the Microsoft website and get one from them. Their is a problem with that in that the drivers supplied by Microsoft are Generic. I made the mistake of going direct to Microsoft some time back and the result was that I could only run the machine in the basic "Safe Mode" the driver was the most up to date and was definitely more recent than the existing driver. It took some time to understand what was going on I must admit...... The graphics card was an NVidia GForce 4 etc and was manufactured by Gainward. After several attempts at getting the Microsoft driver to install I decided that the download MUST BE corrupted in some way, So I went to the NVidia website and downloaded their driver (Same version number as the one from Microsoft) I had the exact same problems!!! In the end I went to the Gainward website and downloaded the most up to date driver they had.....once installed the graphics card performed better than ever and with more configuration options than I would ever need. So why did an older driver work better than the most recent from NVidia ??? Its simple when you know why .... Gainward produce high capability cards and in order to achieve some of their aims they change the way the NVidia chipset works. This requires a modified driver....and they produce their own. The card is still based on the NVidia and conforms to the basic design....but it runs very much faster because of code optimisation, and that optimisation is missing from the Microsoft or NVidia drivers. The result of all this is that you should ALWAYS go to the website of the MANUFACTURER of the card and not the manufacturer of the chipset (in my case NVidia) The Method ----------------- Reboot your computer and install SP2. After the install has completed you should reboot your computer twice...yes boring but desirable After the reboot you should now install the DirectX pack and reboot again. After that reboot install the Codec Pack and reboot yet again. After that install Windows Media Player and reboot again Finally install the latest driver for your graphics card. Rebooting the machine does perform an important task. It completes installation process's and ensures that previously existing file locks are removed. Under certain conditions XP will not overwrite a file if it has been locked. Note that this is not the same as marking a file as Read Only. Windows XP Video Decoder Checkup Utility --------------------------------------------------------------- This utility can be obtained here... http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/portablemediacenter/decoder.mspx A very useful program but with a problem. It reports that I have the MGI MPEG-2 Video Decoder on one of my machines...I have NO MGI software on my system!! I would not let that put you off using it as it does have a useful purpose even though the same objective can be achieved via other already existing routes within XP. I am in favour of this program as it does give good advice on which Codec you should select as the preferred Codec 4) What files does Movie Maker NOT like? ============================== Any MPEG based file will cause Movie Maker problems even though they seldom cause problems for Media Player. There are a number of reasons...Media Player does not need the CODER part of the Codec and there are many methods/procedures/algothims used to Code an MPeg file and its that wide range of methods that Movie Maker can not address. Its not really a bug but the method of dealing with the issue, well there is no method...Movie Maker gives an error and crashes or it just crashes. The particular file extensions are Mpeg,MPG and MP3. JPeg still images can also be a problem and for similar reasons to MPeg files. There are a number of formats for a JPeg and it seems that the older formats are not properly dealt with. To work around the issue you can reduce the compression used in creating the JPeg and NOT use the progressive format method The best solution for these problems is to convert the file into a more acceptable format, and as it happens a format that is more easily worked on by Movie Maker...the conversion you should employ are MPeg, MPG convert to AVI, MP3 convert to WAV and JPeg, JPG convert to a standard bitmap BMP NOTES ====== There are several other approaches you can take to solving a Codec issue. I have seen several other methods of solving the problem, and basically they don't. Instead they treat the symptom and not the problem itself. Several other methods involve damaging the picture of your computers layout (that's a bad pun by the way) and simply doing that involves the risk of permanent damage to that picture. The program Rename Codecs also damages that picture of your system but it does at least provide a user friendly way of restoring your system and that method requires no prior knowledge on your part about where, which and how to make those changes. All efforts are made to ensure that the information is accurate. As no one is perfect I would be happy to hear of any errors found in this document. If you have any doubts at all over following the advice given here you should NOT attempt it. The contents of this FAQ are liable to change with out prior notification. -- Best Wishes.....John Kelly Check out the free hosting for your pictures and video at... www.the-kellys.org www.the-kellys.co.uk Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33884
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    - Capture problem I have a Sony camera DCR-TRV 33E and a firewire card. If i use windows moviemaker 2.0 to capture through DV port, the software detects the capture device correctly but is unable to capture. I get an error message saying that an error has occured How do i capture the video to my computer Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33883
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    - importing asf files Hi, Trying to import an asf file to movie maker which was saved from my video camera but it says it isn't indexed and cannot be imported. Any advice on how to fix this would be greatly appreciated, also an asf file that is saved from a memory card of my video camera, imports easily, why is this? Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33882
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    - Copy movie maker video to DVD-R I keep receiving an error when I try to copy a movie to a DVD-R. It says "windows encountered a problem when trying to copy this file". It doesn't give me any direction. This is a DVD burner I just installed, DVD+/-RW 16x/NEC ND-3520A. I am running windows XP. I am trying to copy to a memorex DVD-R 8x. I don't have any problems playing games from the drive. Any ideas on what I am doing wrong? Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33881
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    - movie doesnt finish when movie is downloaded it only copies pictures to 1 song then the rest of the audio plays without any pictures. it doesnt finish the pictures but the audio keeps playing Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33869
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    - Importing a file into Winows Movie Maker I cannot import an AVI file into Movie Maker. An error message appears and informs me that my computer does not have the correct codec. However, I can open the file with Winows Media Player which runs the file perfectly. I have endured that the "Download Codecs automatically" box is enabled. Can anyone help. Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33867
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    - Audio and Menu question With Windows Movie Maker 2.1 - Will it allow you to capture 20 minutes of continuous audio and export as a WAV file and is it capable of playing back a DVD movie in full screen view with DVD menu navigation controls? If not what do I need in order to fullfil these requirements. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33858
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    - pixels I have a question concerning the quality of the video I burned to dvd. I use a Panasonic mini DV camcorder to capture video on short play on the tape, a firewire to transfer video to hard drive using the DV-AVI setting. I edited some of the movie on Windows movie maker 2.1. I burned the movie using sonic my dvd version 4.5 onto a dvd+r with the highest quality/ most disk space used on the dvd. I view the dvd on my Playstation 2 which is hooked up to my television with component video cables. When I play the movie back on my 52" Toshiba DLP television the picture looks a little blurry, but when the camera pans or moves fast from when the video was caught, the screen gets real pixelated. Little square blocks appear in the video. They are transparent, but still irritating. I was told a video card in my computer would help. Oh yeah, my computer is a Dell, it is a 2.2 mhz. with 768 megabites of RAM. it is more than minimum requirements for the software. If anybody has a clue what I can do to get rid of this I would love to hear some input. Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33852
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    - DVD Menu Can u Create a DVD Menu with Movie maker. or what do you recomend i used for creating DVD's with Menus thanks Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33846
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    - MPEG import into MM2 Hey guys I have a problem that hopefully someone can answer quickly. I just ripped a 30 second clip from a DVD using DVD Shrink. DVD Shrink creates the .VOB file and then I can rename the extention to .mpg or .MPEG and play it in WMP. Works fine! If I try to import that same clip into MM2 it crashes the program. Any ideas why and how I can resolve this to get MM2 to take it so I can do my editing and other things to it? Thanks! Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33833
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    - File to large for DVD I have a 90 minute movie that I want to save to DVD, but the file is 19GB in size; far larger than my 4.7GB DVD. Is there any way to compress this? Why can't I save a 90 minute file to DVD when most movies on DVD are 90 minutes or even longer? Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33831
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    - Transferring to CD I opened a new project in MM2, imported clips from two CDs, edited them, made that into one movie on the hard disk. One WMV file was created with a file size of 680 mb. It took almost two hours for the system to make that movie. I wanted to transfer this onto a CD, selected Nero as the application, went in for making Video CD option. Nero firstly encoded the whole file (into what format, I don't know..), made a file of 380 mb. This took nearly an hour. Then the CD burning started, it didn't take much time. After the burn was completed, the total size of the files on CD was 440 mb. Finally, when I view the CD in a stand alone DVD player, the lip sync is gone (it's a music programme on stage.) Three issues I would like to get wisdom on: 1. How to find out how big a file would be created on the CD? (I restricted the file size of the WMV file with editing/reediting to 680 mb, thinking that anything more than that wouldn't work, considering the CD size of 700 mb) 2. What causes bad lip sync? 3. Do the above processes really take such a long time? Or should I tweak the system in a particular way? Regards, Murthy Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33823
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    - What method to copy part of a song What is your method to copy part of a song to insert the shortened clip into Movie Maker or a Web Site? I use MP v.10 for XP and also vs. 7 for Win ME. The songs are 3 minutes long and I only need short clips of them. Is it possible? For some reason Media Player 9.x makes the 'Music Clip' hard to find? And I have Nero Suite and MusicMatch ======================================= Regards, Gary 'Doc' Adams in Louisiana @ 314.479.8201 LsuEdu@msn.comREMOVE http://computerteachers.digital-mall-online.com/ ~ Read to Learn - Write to Think ~ ======================================= Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33821
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    - Problems opening video movie files I am doing a lot of video editing of home movies on my PC. These files sizes range from about a gig to up to 8 gig. I am using Windows Movie Maker v5.1 (service pack 2) to take this from my camcorder to the PC and using Windows Media Player v10 to play them once edited and saved. My process using Windows Movie Maker is to take my tapes from the camcorder and save them as a raw DV-AVI file, then edit them and re-save with the content I want to keep (also as a DV-AVI file). I am running a DELL PC, windows XP, a gig of memory, Pentium 4 2.8 ghz and a video card with 128 meg of ram. Here's my problem - my PC is having problems sometimes opening the video files I have created. When I boot up, I can open a file without issue. After one or more files has been opened/viewed, sometimes I have a problem when I double click to open another video file. The window that I am using to view all my files freezes and I get a message that the window is no longer responding. I am then unable to open any more of these files until I re- boot. I am still able to open other windows and launch other applications. This seems to be a problem realated to either WMP or WMM or both? This is causing me a lot of problems. Please Advise!!! Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33820
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    - making vcd So the olny format I can save my video to is WMP, and that won't play on most DVD players. I don't have a dvd burner but maybe I could make a VCD, but I can't find any programs that don't cost $40.00. Is there any free software or a way to do this with WMM? Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33818
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    - sound and missing effects/transitions Just recently I tried to create another video using movie maker and noticed that there is no sound when I place the clip in the storyboard/timeline. At the same time I also noticed that all my transitions are gone and only have 2 effects. I have no idea how this happened. I made a video not long ago and had no problems. Now it seems these problems occured and I have not added or removed anything. I have service pack 2 and movie maker 2.1. any Ideas??? Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33817
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    - Importing video I'm wanting to import scenes from DVD into Moviemaker and then on to Powerpoint for lectures. I can't seem to find a way to import these from my internal DVD player. Is it possible? Thanks, Rod Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33816
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    - Static on Audio during playback I never had this problem before but during part of the song on my video I can hearing faint crackling here and there. Would that be something I can correct in moviemaker or does it have to do with the song itself? thanks Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33807
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    - Video and sound slow down When I add video to the Timeline and play, I get a resulting distortion. The sound and video play very, VERY slowly. However, if I play the video from the "Collection" boxes, it plays fine! The system I am using is: WIN XP, 120GB HD Space, 1GB RAM (Speed 200MHZ) and the graphics card is "GE FORCE FX5700 8xGP with 256MB of onboard RAM. Does anyone have any ideas of how I can play back the sound and video at normal speed. Any help greatly appreciated. TIA, Derek -- 123 Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33806
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    - Where to download MM2? Hello, Have been all over the MS downloads trying to locate the download for MovieMaker 2 and can't find it in spite of the many hot links. Can anyone straighten me out? Thank you! Kit Leithiser CIM Software support@leithiser.com Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33798
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    - If Movie Maker Crashes / Hangs Movie Maker FAQ 1 Last updated 6th January 2005 Crashing and Hanging 1) What is a Codec? ============== A Codec is software that was first created to deal with the transposition of data from one form into another. One of the first important Codecs was a procedure still used today called Soundex. I believe the first proper use of Soundex was by the Mormons. Most of us use Soundex or its equivalent every time we use a spell checker. The Mormons use it in their vast database of all persons baptised by them. It enables very fast data searches on similar sounding words that are not necessarily spelled the same way. Soundex though is a one way procedure. Its a CODER The other part of the word Codec is derived from the word DECODER. Joining the two parts together we get the word CODEC...Codec. With regard to Codecs and any Video or Audio playing software. MP3 or WMA audio files have been compressed using CODER routines. When you play those files on your computer you are using the DECODER routines to produce a sound or video signal that can be seen/heard on your machine. With regard to Audio/Video editing software. A Codec is used to compress the data so that it occupies as small a space as possible usually on a hard drive. But in the case of editing a file the Codec must first expand the compressed data before the edit can occur and afterwards compress it again when the data is saved to a new file. The problems with Codecs arise from "Calls" A call is the expression used to define the way one software module talks to another so that information can be passed between the two. The problem occurs when the Call is not properly formatted, or the reply is not understood. This becomes a problem that the calling software must handle. When the calling software fails to handle the error it can do one of a number of things....the correct way is to contain the error and respond with an alternative approach and possibly inform the user that the error occurred, the other approach we are all to familiar with, either the software or the machine crashes and probably taking all of your hard work with it. 2) Movie Maker crashes, what can I do? ============================ From item one above there is a good chance that your problem arises from a problem with a Codec. Movie Maker version 2.1 was supposed to address this issue by giving you the user the ability to disable one or more of the Codecs on your machine. The problem however is not fully addressed and results in some Codecs not being exposed to the disable option. If its that particular Codec that is causing the problem you are stuck. You need to know which Codec it is, where it is, possibly what other software installed it and what other dependencies exist. In other words you need to know a LOT of things. The proper way of dealing with the issue would be to remove the offending Codec but that's not very practical as you may really need the other software that depends on it. There is a temporary solution available in the form of a program called "Rename Codecs" It has been in use for perhaps a year now by many hundreds of people and with great success. There have been a total of 6 times that the program did not solve the users problem (At the time of writing this) You can obtain your FREE copy of the program from www.the-kellys.org It is strongly recommended that you check out the short interactive tutorial also on the website so that you can get a feel for how it performs. The basics of the program are that it will offer you the option of temporarily renaming Codecs that are known to be a problem for Movie Maker. You would do that before using Movie Maker. Once you are finished using the program you again run Movie Maker and use the RESTORE option to put those Codecs back into operation...its very easy to use. There is an additional option. You can use the options within XP to turn off the various levels of video acceleration that your graphics card has. Doing this is not a good idea but if you do you must understand that every program that relies on those abilities will either run badly or not at all. To turn the acceleration down right click your desktop and select PROPERTIES, then SETTINGS then ADVANCED and then TROUBLERSHOOT. You will then see a slider bar which should normally be positioned on the far right. You can move it one step at a time and then close the dialog down and re-try Movie Maker. You can repeat those steps until (and if) Movie Maker works properly. A lot of video programs give you the opportunity of taking a snap shot of the video displayed, Intervideo WinDVD 5 does a good job of this. Movie Maker also has this option. BUT, if you turn the acceleration down as above, you will no longer be able to take those snapshots. This is not a great problem of course as you can change the acceleration back. But it is rather tedious. 3) How do I make my system perform better and stop Movie Maker crashing ======================================================= This is by far the best way of doing things. Whilst the Rename Codec program is a MUST when you really do need to keep "other" software on your system, the following approach will ensure that your system runs at its best speed and will be less likely to crash at all from Video or Audio problems. You need to download the latest versions of DirectX and the Windows Codecs pack together with the latest version of Windows Media Player. You should NOT try to install these packages via the Internet, you should get the standalone versions. The reason is obvious once you know it. Suppose those updates you did some time back are not working properly...it may be that they were not installed properly or it may be that a file is either corrupt or simply missing. How would you know??? The more experienced may spot the problem but the average user will not. So why download the full package??? That's easy. When you unzip a package several checks are made to ensure the integrity of the files inside the zip. If there is a problem you will be told there and then...the file is corrupt or damaged in some other way....you do not need to trust an install over the Internet and the possibility of data being missed.... You can get the packages via these links... Codec Pack ----------------- http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/format/codecdownload.aspx DirectX ---------- http://go.microsoft.com/?LinkID=1081813 Windows Media Player --------------------------------- http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b446ae53-3759-40cf-80d5-cde4bbe07999&displaylang=en Movie Maker for XP --------------------------- http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/windowsxp/choose.aspx The link for Movie Maker is actually a link to SP2 (Service Pack 2). This a large download. Its not to bad if you have a reasonably fast broadband connection, but if the download fails its a long way back to the start!!! Personally I would recommend you obtain A CD version of SP2...its available on the Windows Magazine and from Microsoft directly Drivers for your graphics card ---------------------------------- I have discovered that most people are confused on the issue of drivers for their graphics card in that when advised to acquire the latest driver they go straight to the Microsoft website and get one from them. Their is a problem with that in that the drivers supplied by Microsoft are Generic. I made the mistake of going direct to Microsoft some time back and the result was that I could only run the machine in the basic "Safe Mode" the driver was the most up to date and was definitely more recent than the existing driver. It took some time to understand what was going on I must admit...... The graphics card was an NVidia GForce 4 etc and was manufactured by Gainward. After several attempts at getting the Microsoft driver to install I decided that the download MUST BE corrupted in some way, So I went to the NVidia website and downloaded their driver (Same version number as the one from Microsoft) I had the exact same problems!!! In the end I went to the Gainward website and downloaded the most up to date driver they had.....once installed the graphics card performed better than ever and with more configuration options than I would ever need. So why did an older driver work better than the most recent from NVidia ??? Its simple when you know why .... Gainward produce high capability cards and in order to achieve some of their aims they change the way the NVidia chipset works. This requires a modified driver....and they produce their own. The card is still based on the NVidia and conforms to the basic design....but it runs very much faster because of code optimisation, and that optimisation is missing from the Microsoft or NVidia drivers. The result of all this is that you should ALWAYS go to the website of the MANUFACTURER of the card and not the manufacturer of the chipset (in my case NVidia) The Method ----------------- Reboot your computer and install SP2. After the install has completed you should reboot your computer twice...yes boring but desirable After the reboot you should now install the DirectX pack and reboot again. After that reboot install the Codec Pack and reboot yet again. After that install Windows Media Player and reboot again Finally install the latest driver for your graphics card. Rebooting the machine does perform an important task. It completes installation process's and ensures that previously existing file locks are removed. Under certain conditions XP will not overwrite a file if it has been locked. Note that this is not the same as marking a file as Read Only. Windows XP Video Decoder Checkup Utility --------------------------------------------------------------- This utility can be obtained here... http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/portablemediacenter/decoder.mspx A very useful program but with a problem. It reports that I have the MGI MPEG-2 Video Decoder on one of my machines...I have NO MGI software on my system!! I would not let that put you off using it as it does have a useful purpose even though the same objective can be achieved via other already existing routes within XP. I am in favour of this program as it does give good advice on which Codec you should select as the preferred Codec 4) What files does Movie Maker NOT like? ============================== Any MPEG based file will cause Movie Maker problems even though they seldom cause problems for Media Player. There are a number of reasons...Media Player does not need the CODER part of the Codec and there are many methods/procedures/algothims used to Code an MPeg file and its that wide range of methods that Movie Maker can not address. Its not really a bug but the method of dealing with the issue, well there is no method...Movie Maker gives an error and crashes or it just crashes. The particular file extensions are Mpeg,MPG and MP3. JPeg still images can also be a problem and for similar reasons to MPeg files. There are a number of formats for a JPeg and it seems that the older formats are not properly dealt with. To work around the issue you can reduce the compression used in creating the JPeg and NOT use the progressive format method The best solution for these problems is to convert the file into a more acceptable format, and as it happens a format that is more easily worked on by Movie Maker...the conversion you should employ are MPeg, MPG convert to AVI, MP3 convert to WAV and JPeg, JPG convert to a standard bitmap BMP NOTES ====== There are several other approaches you can take to solving a Codec issue. I have seen several other methods of solving the problem, and basically they don't. Instead they treat the symptom and not the problem itself. Several other methods involve damaging the picture of your computers layout (that's a bad pun by the way) and simply doing that involves the risk of permanent damage to that picture. The program Rename Codecs also damages that picture of your system but it does at least provide a user friendly way of restoring your system and that method requires no prior knowledge on your part about where, which and how to make those changes. All efforts are made to ensure that the information is accurate. As no one is perfect I would be happy to hear of any errors found in this document. If you have any doubts at all over following the advice given here you should NOT attempt it. The contents of this FAQ are liable to change with out prior notification. -- --Will Grant-- www.the-kellys.org Free Video Hosting @ The Kellys Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33795
  - 10
    - Clip preview problem in MM 2.1 I've used MM2 quite a few times and produced a number of videos with it. However, it appears to have stopped working properly. I can import a video file fine and it brings up the thumbnail, but when I click on the thumbnail to preview it, it wont bring the file up in the preview window. What will happen is that it will put the file name above the preview window, then that file name will flicker. The program doesn't completely seize, but I cannot try other clips without closing the program. It only appears to be the preview window that seizes. I have tried closing the program, rebooting my computer, fiddling with the codecs. I also tried a system restore which worked for about an hour, then it stopped working again. In that time the only thing I did was import lots of clips into MM and update Windows and virus programs. I've (hopefully) got rid of all the codecs I have put on in the past month, but still it isn't playing fair. Anybody got any ideas? Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33783
  - 11
    - Publishing Movies on MSN Groups? I have an obvious question (perhaps a FAQ) with several obvious answers, but Iâ??m really looking for the reason and long term business vision. If I currently have an MSN Group setup for my family where I share photos, links, discussions, documents, etc. Why must I publish my videos to a 3rd party site, instead of Microsoftâ??s own site? Moreover one that also allows the storage of Pictures? When will MSN Groups offer this ability? -John Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33781
  - 12
    - ever worked with 16mm film? I have 16mm reels that I want to put on digital movies. Got any suggestions? -- Luvairplanenoise Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33779
  - 13
    - Dazzle 80 - - Questions! I am fairly new to MovieMaker2. I would like to get a capture device for my analog Hi8 camcorder. Will this work the same using the VCR as it does with the camcorder? Are the files that have been transferred to the computer compatible for use in MM2? Also, can you save an individual frame as an image, such as a jpg, for instance? Will Dazzle 80 accomplish these things and make me happy? Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33771
  - 14
    - Copy part of a song to insert into Movie Maker What is your method to copy part of a song to insert the shortened clip into Movie Maker or a Web Site? I use MP v.10 for XP and also vs. 7 for Win ME. The songs are 3 minutes long and I only need short clips of them. Is it possible? And I have Nero Suite and MusicMatch ======================================= Regards, Gary 'Doc' Adams in Louisiana http://computerteachers.digital-mall-online.com/ ~ Read to Learn - Write to Think ~ ======================================= Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33766
  - 15
    - unspecified error for some reason,every time i now try to import a file(picture or avi video clip) into movie maker for editing etc,a message tells me it can not import file -'unspecified error'. is no help;have not changed anything,have done regularly before. any comments? Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33763
  - 16
    - Does Your Movie Maker Crash ? Movie Maker FAQ 1 Last updated 6th January 2005 Crashing and Hanging 1) What is a Codec? ============== A Codec is software that was first created to deal with the transposition of data from one form into another. One of the first important Codecs was a procedure still used today called Soundex. I believe the first proper use of Soundex was by the Mormons. Most of us use Soundex or its equivalent every time we use a spell checker. The Mormons use it in their vast database of all persons baptised by them. It enables very fast data searches on similar sounding words that are not necessarily spelled the same way. Soundex though is a one way procedure. Its a CODER The other part of the word Codec is derived from the word DECODER. Joining the two parts together we get the word CODEC...Codec. With regard to Codecs and any Video or Audio playing software. MP3 or WMA audio files have been compressed using CODER routines. When you play those files on your computer you are using the DECODER routines to produce a sound or video signal that can be seen/heard on your machine. With regard to Audio/Video editing software. A Codec is used to compress the data so that it occupies as small a space as possible usually on a hard drive. But in the case of editing a file the Codec must first expand the compressed data before the edit can occur and afterwards compress it again when the data is saved to a new file. The problems with Codecs arise from "Calls" A call is the expression used to define the way one software module talks to another so that information can be passed between the two. The problem occurs when the Call is not properly formatted, or the reply is not understood. This becomes a problem that the calling software must handle. When the calling software fails to handle the error it can do one of a number of things....the correct way is to contain the error and respond with an alternative approach and possibly inform the user that the error occurred, the other approach we are all to familiar with, either the software or the machine crashes and probably taking all of your hard work with it. 2) Movie Maker crashes, what can I do? ============================ From item one above there is a good chance that your problem arises from a problem with a Codec. Movie Maker version 2.1 was supposed to address this issue by giving you the user the ability to disable one or more of the Codecs on your machine. The problem however is not fully addressed and results in some Codecs not being exposed to the disable option. If its that particular Codec that is causing the problem you are stuck. You need to know which Codec it is, where it is, possibly what other software installed it and what other dependencies exist. In other words you need to know a LOT of things. The proper way of dealing with the issue would be to remove the offending Codec but that's not very practical as you may really need the other software that depends on it. There is a temporary solution available in the form of a program called "Rename Codecs" It has been in use for perhaps a year now by many hundreds of people and with great success. There have been a total of 6 times that the program did not solve the users problem (At the time of writing this) You can obtain your FREE copy of the program from www.the-kellys.org It is strongly recommended that you check out the short interactive tutorial also on the website so that you can get a feel for how it performs. The basics of the program are that it will offer you the option of temporarily renaming Codecs that are known to be a problem for Movie Maker. You would do that before using Movie Maker. Once you are finished using the program you again run Movie Maker and use the RESTORE option to put those Codecs back into operation...its very easy to use. There is an additional option. You can use the options within XP to turn off the various levels of video acceleration that your graphics card has. Doing this is not a good idea but if you do you must understand that every program that relies on those abilities will either run badly or not at all. To turn the acceleration down right click your desktop and select PROPERTIES, then SETTINGS then ADVANCED and then TROUBLERSHOOT. You will then see a slider bar which should normally be positioned on the far right. You can move it one step at a time and then close the dialog down and re-try Movie Maker. You can repeat those steps until (and if) Movie Maker works properly. A lot of video programs give you the opportunity of taking a snap shot of the video displayed, Intervideo WinDVD 5 does a good job of this. Movie Maker also has this option. BUT, if you turn the acceleration down as above, you will no longer be able to take those snapshots. This is not a great problem of course as you can change the acceleration back. But it is rather tedious. 3) How do I make my system perform better and stop Movie Maker crashing ======================================================= This is by far the best way of doing things. Whilst the Rename Codec program is a MUST when you really do need to keep "other" software on your system, the following approach will ensure that your system runs at its best speed and will be less likely to crash at all from Video or Audio problems. You need to download the latest versions of DirectX and the Windows Codecs pack together with the latest version of Windows Media Player. You should NOT try to install these packages via the Internet, you should get the standalone versions. The reason is obvious once you know it. Suppose those updates you did some time back are not working properly...it may be that they were not installed properly or it may be that a file is either corrupt or simply missing. How would you know??? The more experienced may spot the problem but the average user will not. So why download the full package??? That's easy. When you unzip a package several checks are made to ensure the integrity of the files inside the zip. If there is a problem you will be told there and then...the file is corrupt or damaged in some other way....you do not need to trust an install over the Internet and the possibility of data being missed.... You can get the packages via these links... Codec Pack ----------------- http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/format/codecdownload.aspx DirectX ---------- http://go.microsoft.com/?LinkID=1081813 Windows Media Player --------------------------------- http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b446ae53-3759-40cf-80d5-cde4bbe07999&displaylang=en Movie Maker for XP --------------------------- http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/windowsxp/choose.aspx The link for Movie Maker is actually a link to SP2 (Service Pack 2). This a large download. Its not to bad if you have a reasonably fast broadband connection, but if the download fails its a long way back to the start!!! Personally I would recommend you obtain A CD version of SP2...its available on the Windows Magazine and from Microsoft directly Drivers for your graphics card ---------------------------------- I have discovered that most people are confused on the issue of drivers for their graphics card in that when advised to acquire the latest driver they go straight to the Microsoft website and get one from them. Their is a problem with that in that the drivers supplied by Microsoft are Generic. I made the mistake of going direct to Microsoft some time back and the result was that I could only run the machine in the basic "Safe Mode" the driver was the most up to date and was definitely more recent than the existing driver. It took some time to understand what was going on I must admit...... The graphics card was an NVidia GForce 4 etc and was manufactured by Gainward. After several attempts at getting the Microsoft driver to install I decided that the download MUST BE corrupted in some way, So I went to the NVidia website and downloaded their driver (Same version number as the one from Microsoft) I had the exact same problems!!! In the end I went to the Gainward website and downloaded the most up to date driver they had.....once installed the graphics card performed better than ever and with more configuration options than I would ever need. So why did an older driver work better than the most recent from NVidia ??? Its simple when you know why .... Gainward produce high capability cards and in order to achieve some of their aims they change the way the NVidia chipset works. This requires a modified driver....and they produce their own. The card is still based on the NVidia and conforms to the basic design....but it runs very much faster because of code optimisation, and that optimisation is missing from the Microsoft or NVidia drivers. The result of all this is that you should ALWAYS go to the website of the MANUFACTURER of the card and not the manufacturer of the chipset (in my case NVidia) The Method ----------------- Reboot your computer and install SP2. After the install has completed you should reboot your computer twice...yes boring but desirable After the reboot you should now install the DirectX pack and reboot again. After that reboot install the Codec Pack and reboot yet again. After that install Windows Media Player and reboot again Finally install the latest driver for your graphics card. Rebooting the machine does perform an important task. It completes installation process's and ensures that previously existing file locks are removed. Under certain conditions XP will not overwrite a file if it has been locked. Note that this is not the same as marking a file as Read Only. Windows XP Video Decoder Checkup Utility --------------------------------------------------------------- This utility can be obtained here... http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/portablemediacenter/decoder.mspx A very useful program but with a problem. It reports that I have the MGI MPEG-2 Video Decoder on one of my machines...I have NO MGI software on my system!! I would not let that put you off using it as it does have a useful purpose even though the same objective can be achieved via other already existing routes within XP. I am in favour of this program as it does give good advice on which Codec you should select as the preferred Codec 4) What files does Movie Maker NOT like? ============================== Any MPEG based file will cause Movie Maker problems even though they seldom cause problems for Media Player. There are a number of reasons...Media Player does not need the CODER part of the Codec and there are many methods/procedures/algothims used to Code an MPeg file and its that wide range of methods that Movie Maker can not address. Its not really a bug but the method of dealing with the issue, well there is no method...Movie Maker gives an error and crashes or it just crashes. The particular file extensions are Mpeg,MPG and MP3. JPeg still images can also be a problem and for similar reasons to MPeg files. There are a number of formats for a JPeg and it seems that the older formats are not properly dealt with. To work around the issue you can reduce the compression used in creating the JPeg and NOT use the progressive format method The best solution for these problems is to convert the file into a more acceptable format, and as it happens a format that is more easily worked on by Movie Maker...the conversion you should employ are MPeg, MPG convert to AVI, MP3 convert to WAV and JPeg, JPG convert to a standard bitmap BMP NOTES ====== There are several other approaches you can take to solving a Codec issue. I have seen several other methods of solving the problem, and basically they don't. Instead they treat the symptom and not the problem itself. Several other methods involve damaging the picture of your computers layout (that's a bad pun by the way) and simply doing that involves the risk of permanent damage to that picture. The program Rename Codecs also damages that picture of your system but it does at least provide a user friendly way of restoring your system and that method requires no prior knowledge on your part about where, which and how to make those changes. All efforts are made to ensure that the information is accurate. As no one is perfect I would be happy to hear of any errors found in this document. If you have any doubts at all over following the advice given here you should NOT attempt it. The contents of this FAQ are liable to change with out prior notification. --Will Grant-- www.the-kellys.org Free Video Hosting @ The Kellys Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33761
  - 17
    - aiuto windows movie maker Ciao Ragazzi ho una domanda da farvi, Dove posso scaricare il programma windows movie maker per Windows Me o per windows 98? grazie Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33754
  - 18
    - How to know if lost frames during capture? Is there any way to know if capture wizard has lost frames? And if any, how much and where? (mm:ss) I usually disable preview, etc, but I always wonder if all frames got = in.... <grin> regards Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33753
  - 19
    - video setting What kind of setting I have to use when I decide to export my video if I want to see it in my home DVD player? Thanks Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33749
  - 20
    - Editing a clip Once the video is imported, WMM splits that into several clips. Let's say, a particular clip is like this: Duration: 0:00:55.20 Start Time: 0:01:32.33 Stop Time: 0:02:27.53 I understand that if the clip needs to be trimmed, I need to go to Timeline mode and trim the edge with the mouse. 1. Is there a way to do the trimming with the key board? Because, doing it with the keyboard would be more precise. 2. Can I change the properties of the clip like start time/stop time etc., so that I can trim the clip? 3. If I want the clip's duration to be 0:00:36:14 (for example), what's the easier way to do that? 4. Is there a way we can create clips manually through WMM, by spcifying the start time and end time? Regards, Ramana Murthy Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33747
  - 21
    - Importing Audio I have many songs I have downloaded from Music Match but when I attempt to import them they say they are digitally protected. How do I get around this? They aren't illegal songs--I have paid for them. Thanks! Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33743
  - 22
    - Video Records Too Fast...Why?? When I capture video from my Sony Digital cam, 1394 connection, the video records too fast. Playback is choppy and has to be slowed down to real speed. Why??? Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33729
  - 23
    - How do I export to Quicktime? I am having trouble exporting my video into quicktime format. can anyone direct me to a "how to " document for this? Thanks! Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33710
  - 24
    - Does it hang or crash Movie Maker FAQ 1 Last updated 6th January 2005 Crashing and Hanging 1) What is a Codec? ============== A Codec is software that was first created to deal with the transposition of data from one form into another. One of the first important Codecs was a procedure still used today called Soundex. I believe the first proper use of Soundex was by the Mormons. Most of us use Soundex or its equivalent every time we use a spell checker. The Mormons use it in their vast database of all persons baptised by them. It enables very fast data searches on similar sounding words that are not necessarily spelled the same way. Soundex though is a one way procedure. Its a CODER The other part of the word Codec is derived from the word DECODER. Joining the two parts together we get the word CODEC...Codec. With regard to Codecs and any Video or Audio playing software. MP3 or WMA audio files have been compressed using CODER routines. When you play those files on your computer you are using the DECODER routines to produce a sound or video signal that can be seen/heard on your machine. With regard to Audio/Video editing software. A Codec is used to compress the data so that it occupies as small a space as possible usually on a hard drive. But in the case of editing a file the Codec must first expand the compressed data before the edit can occur and afterwards compress it again when the data is saved to a new file. The problems with Codecs arise from "Calls" A call is the expression used to define the way one software module talks to another so that information can be passed between the two. The problem occurs when the Call is not properly formatted, or the reply is not understood. This becomes a problem that the calling software must handle. When the calling software fails to handle the error it can do one of a number of things....the correct way is to contain the error and respond with an alternative approach and possibly inform the user that the error occurred, the other approach we are all to familiar with, either the software or the machine crashes and probably taking all of your hard work with it. 2) Movie Maker crashes, what can I do? ============================ From item one above there is a good chance that your problem arises from a problem with a Codec. Movie Maker version 2.1 was supposed to address this issue by giving you the user the ability to disable one or more of the Codecs on your machine. The problem however is not fully addressed and results in some Codecs not being exposed to the disable option. If its that particular Codec that is causing the problem you are stuck. You need to know which Codec it is, where it is, possibly what other software installed it and what other dependencies exist. In other words you need to know a LOT of things. The proper way of dealing with the issue would be to remove the offending Codec but that's not very practical as you may really need the other software that depends on it. There is a temporary solution available in the form of a program called "Rename Codecs" It has been in use for perhaps a year now by many hundreds of people and with great success. There have been a total of 6 times that the program did not solve the users problem (At the time of writing this) You can obtain your FREE copy of the program from www.the-kellys.org It is strongly recommended that you check out the short interactive tutorial also on the website so that you can get a feel for how it performs. The basics of the program are that it will offer you the option of temporarily renaming Codecs that are known to be a problem for Movie Maker. You would do that before using Movie Maker. Once you are finished using the program you again run Movie Maker and use the RESTORE option to put those Codecs back into operation...its very easy to use. There is an additional option. You can use the options within XP to turn off the various levels of video acceleration that your graphics card has. Doing this is not a good idea but if you do you must understand that every program that relies on those abilities will either run badly or not at all. To turn the acceleration down right click your desktop and select PROPERTIES, then SETTINGS then ADVANCED and then TROUBLERSHOOT. You will then see a slider bar which should normally be positioned on the far right. You can move it one step at a time and then close the dialog down and re-try Movie Maker. You can repeat those steps until (and if) Movie Maker works properly. A lot of video programs give you the opportunity of taking a snap shot of the video displayed, Intervideo WinDVD 5 does a good job of this. Movie Maker also has this option. BUT, if you turn the acceleration down as above, you will no longer be able to take those snapshots. This is not a great problem of course as you can change the acceleration back. But it is rather tedious. 3) How do I make my system perform better and stop Movie Maker crashing ======================================================= This is by far the best way of doing things. Whilst the Rename Codec program is a MUST when you really do need to keep "other" software on your system, the following approach will ensure that your system runs at its best speed and will be less likely to crash at all from Video or Audio problems. You need to download the latest versions of DirectX and the Windows Codecs pack together with the latest version of Windows Media Player. You should NOT try to install these packages via the Internet, you should get the standalone versions. The reason is obvious once you know it. Suppose those updates you did some time back are not working properly...it may be that they were not installed properly or it may be that a file is either corrupt or simply missing. How would you know??? The more experienced may spot the problem but the average user will not. So why download the full package??? That's easy. When you unzip a package several checks are made to ensure the integrity of the files inside the zip. If there is a problem you will be told there and then...the file is corrupt or damaged in some other way....you do not need to trust an install over the Internet and the possibility of data being missed.... You can get the packages via these links... Codec Pack ----------------- http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/format/codecdownload.aspx DirectX ---------- http://go.microsoft.com/?LinkID=1081813 Windows Media Player --------------------------------- http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b446ae53-3759-40cf-80d5-cde4bbe07999&displaylang=en Movie Maker for XP --------------------------- http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/windowsxp/choose.aspx The link for Movie Maker is actually a link to SP2 (Service Pack 2). This a large download. Its not to bad if you have a reasonably fast broadband connection, but if the download fails its a long way back to the start!!! Personally I would recommend you obtain A CD version of SP2...its available on the Windows Magazine and from Microsoft directly Drivers for your graphics card ---------------------------------- I have discovered that most people are confused on the issue of drivers for their graphics card in that when advised to acquire the latest driver they go straight to the Microsoft website and get one from them. Their is a problem with that in that the drivers supplied by Microsoft are Generic. I made the mistake of going direct to Microsoft some time back and the result was that I could only run the machine in the basic "Safe Mode" the driver was the most up to date and was definitely more recent than the existing driver. It took some time to understand what was going on I must admit...... The graphics card was an NVidia GForce 4 etc and was manufactured by Gainward. After several attempts at getting the Microsoft driver to install I decided that the download MUST BE corrupted in some way, So I went to the NVidia website and downloaded their driver (Same version number as the one from Microsoft) I had the exact same problems!!! In the end I went to the Gainward website and downloaded the most up to date driver they had.....once installed the graphics card performed better than ever and with more configuration options than I would ever need. So why did an older driver work better than the most recent from NVidia ??? Its simple when you know why .... Gainward produce high capability cards and in order to achieve some of their aims they change the way the NVidia chipset works. This requires a modified driver....and they produce their own. The card is still based on the NVidia and conforms to the basic design....but it runs very much faster because of code optimisation, and that optimisation is missing from the Microsoft or NVidia drivers. The result of all this is that you should ALWAYS go to the website of the MANUFACTURER of the card and not the manufacturer of the chipset (in my case NVidia) The Method ----------------- Reboot your computer and install SP2. After the install has completed you should reboot your computer twice...yes boring but desirable After the reboot you should now install the DirectX pack and reboot again. After that reboot install the Codec Pack and reboot yet again. After that install Windows Media Player and reboot again Finally install the latest driver for your graphics card. Rebooting the machine does perform an important task. It completes installation process's and ensures that previously existing file locks are removed. Under certain conditions XP will not overwrite a file if it has been locked. Note that this is not the same as marking a file as Read Only. Windows XP Video Decoder Checkup Utility --------------------------------------------------------------- This utility can be obtained here... http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/portablemediacenter/decoder.mspx A very useful program but with a problem. It reports that I have the MGI MPEG-2 Video Decoder on one of my machines...I have NO MGI software on my system!! I would not let that put you off using it as it does have a useful purpose even though the same objective can be achieved via other already existing routes within XP. I am in favour of this program as it does give good advice on which Codec you should select as the preferred Codec 4) What files does Movie Maker NOT like? ============================== Any MPEG based file will cause Movie Maker problems even though they seldom cause problems for Media Player. There are a number of reasons...Media Player does not need the CODER part of the Codec and there are many methods/procedures/algothims used to Code an MPeg file and its that wide range of methods that Movie Maker can not address. Its not really a bug but the method of dealing with the issue, well there is no method...Movie Maker gives an error and crashes or it just crashes. The particular file extensions are Mpeg,MPG and MP3. JPeg still images can also be a problem and for similar reasons to MPeg files. There are a number of formats for a JPeg and it seems that the older formats are not properly dealt with. To work around the issue you can reduce the compression used in creating the JPeg and NOT use the progressive format method The best solution for these problems is to convert the file into a more acceptable format, and as it happens a format that is more easily worked on by Movie Maker...the conversion you should employ are MPeg, MPG convert to AVI, MP3 convert to WAV and JPeg, JPG convert to a standard bitmap BMP NOTES ====== There are several other approaches you can take to solving a Codec issue. I have seen several other methods of solving the problem, and basically they don't. Instead they treat the symptom and not the problem itself. Several other methods involve damaging the picture of your computers layout (that's a bad pun by the way) and simply doing that involves the risk of permanent damage to that picture. The program Rename Codecs also damages that picture of your system but it does at least provide a user friendly way of restoring your system and that method requires no prior knowledge on your part about where, which and how to make those changes. All efforts are made to ensure that the information is accurate. As no one is perfect I would be happy to hear of any errors found in this document. If you have any doubts at all over following the advice given here you should NOT attempt it. The contents of this FAQ are liable to change with out prior notification. -- Best Wishes.....John Kelly Check out the free hosting for your pictures and video at... www.the-kellys.org www.the-kellys.co.uk Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33702
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    - Problem when importing videos When I try importing video files into MM2, the import box comes up with the top bar full (I think it's something like 'Importing Files') but the second bar ('Creating Clips' or such) just sits there and doesn't do anything. If I let it, MM2 will just sit there forever in that same state. To close it, I have to press 'Cancel' on the import box and then open up Task Manager and close the program that way. I'm not very technically minded, but I've tried playing around with filters, changed the acceleration of the computer, tried converting the file to another type (like .avi or .wmv), but NOTHING works! I also know it's not a problem with my Collection, because I started over with a new one in case the old one was corrupted (it didn't have anything I needed anyway). Can ANYONE help me?! Tag: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? Tag: 33692

Re: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? by PapaJohn

PapaJohn
Sun Mar 27 10:07:06 CST 2005

Yes, there are dozens of video editing software apps... and Movie Maker
being a starter or entry-level one, others have more features.

Pinnacle Studio 9, Adobe Premiere Elements are a couple.
--
PapaJohn

Movie Maker 2 and Photo Story 3 - www.papajohn.org
Photo Story 2 - www.photostory.papajohn.org
.
"David Mongillo" <DavidMongillo@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
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Re: Are there any other programs like Windows Movie Maker? by George

George
Sun Mar 27 11:34:50 CST 2005

Do you mean 'free'? A list of free and commercial editors are in the tools
section of www.videohelp.com and look for the Basic and Advanced Video
Editors sections

Basic
http://www.videohelp.com/tools?s=8#8

Advanced
http://www.videohelp.com/tools?s=17#17

"David Mongillo" <DavidMongillo@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
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