Detailed Instruction on How to Make a Slideshow with Windows Movie Maker

These instructions assume that you have Windows Movie Maker open in fron of you. They are based on Movie Maker 2.1.

The upper part of the screen is divided vertically into three sections: on the left you will find the tasks; in the center, you will find the bin with the resources, such as pictures, that you have at your disposal; on the right is a monitor window that shows you a preview of your video. The buttons in the monitor window are, from left to right: Play/Pause, Stop, Move to the Start of the Previous Clip, Move Back One Frame, Move Forward One Frame, Move to the Start of the Next Clip.

The tasks are listed under 4 numbered headings:

1. Capture Video

2. Edit Movie

3. Finish Movie

4. Movie Making Tips

The lower part of the screen is a long ribbon that displays the storyboard or timeline with a button that allows you to switch between the two. In storyboard mode, you will see a series of small windows on the ribbon, one for each visual component (video clip or in your case picture) of the final video you are creating. In timeline mode, the ribbon is divided horizontally into three sections: at the top you will see the images; in the middle you will see the audio; and at the bottom you will see the titles.

The first thing to do is to import resources into Movie Maker's bin. In your case, the resources are pictures, so you need to look under Capture Video and choose the third option, Import Pictures. Navigate through folders until you find the pictures you want and import them into the bin. You can import multiple pictures at the same time. If the pictures are one after the other, you can hold the Shift key and use the arrows to select them all. If they are scattered among other pictures you do not want, hold the CTRL key and click on each of the pictures you want to select them.

You can then drag the pictures from the bin to the storyboard or timeline area. You should put them in the order in which you want them to appear in your video. If you make a mistake or change your mind, it is easy to correct the timeline. This is because deleting something from the storyboard or timeline does not delete it from the bin. Therefore, you can get to a deleted resource again and drag it to a different position on your storyboard or timeline. Note that your still pictures become video clips when you drag them to the storyboard or timeline. By default, they last five seconds each. However, you can change the duration of each slide independently. In timeline view, put the cursor near the edge of a clip and you will see red arrows. Click on the left mouse button and drag the cursor to the right to make the slide longer, or to the left to make it shorter. If you need to see your timeline in more detail, use the + and = buttons. When you think you are ready, you can preview the movie in the monitor window.

However, your video has no sound. To correct that, you can do two things. You can import pre-recorded audio or you can record audio directly into Movie Maker. In both cases, you need to first switch to timeline view.

If you are importing audio, you should look under Capture Video and choose the fourth option, Import Audio or Music. That will put the pre-recorded audio in the bin. You can then drag it to the point on the timeline where you want it to begin.

If you are recording your voiceover on the fly, you should position the cursor where you want the audio to begin, click on the microphone icon, click on Start Narration, and start speaking. When you are finished, you should click on End Narration, name the audio clip, and save it to a location of your choice. You can record multiple audio clips. When you are finished recording, you should choose Finish. The clips you have recorded will now appear in the bin.

To add special effects look under Edit Movie and choose the second option, View Video Effects. Then drag the icon of the effect you want to the picture to which you want to apply it. One effect you cannot do without is 90 degree rotation for vertical pictures. The Ease In and Ease Out effects, which create the illusion of a camera zooming in and out of the picture, can also be useful. To remove an effect, right click on the relevant clip and choose Video Effects, select the unwanted effect, and click on Remove.

To add transitions, such as dissolves and fade-aways, look under Edit Movie and choose View Video Transitions. Then drag the icon of the transition you want to one of the small transition windows located between the pictures in the storyboard area.

To add titles, look under Edit Movie and choose the fourth option, Make Titles or Credits. This will take you to a screen with the following options: Add Title at the Beginning of the Movie, Add Title Before the Selected Clip, Add Title on the Selected Clip, Add Title After the Selected Clip, and Add Credits at the End of the Movie. After you choose the option you want, you will see a window where you can enter your text. Under this window, you will find commands to change the font and the way the title is animated.

If you need to stop working but you are not ready to export your finished video, you should save your work as a Movie Make Project. Choose File, Save As, give your file a name, and then navigate to the folder where you wish to save your project. Indeed, it is a good idea to do this at the very beginning and then periodically back up your project by clicking on the floppy icon.

When we you ready to export the finished video, you should look under Finish Movie and choose the first option, Save to My Computer, give the video a name, navigate to the folder where you wish to save the video, and click Next. Rendering may take some time. When it is done, click End, and the video will be played as a video outside of Movie Maker.

Here is an illustrated handout showing how to use MovieMaker (contributed by Mark Shrosbree). Note that, since the author works in Japan, the screenshots show the Japanese version of MovieMaker.

Note that there is only one sound track in Movie Maker. You cannot have both music and a voice-over. The professional way to obtain that would be to record and edit the audio separately with dedicated software. I would recommend Audacity, which you can download from the Internet for free at the following address: <http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/windows>.

There is also a rough workaround that requires no extra software. After recording you voice-over, finish your movie as described above. Then open a new Movie Maker project, look under Capture Video and choose the second option, Import Video, to import your finished movie as if it were a video clip into your new project. Put the clip on the timeline and you now have an empty space for the sound track. Add music to that track and finish this second movie in the usual way. You will now have a movie with both voice-over and sound track. You can adjust the relative levels of these by using Tools, Audio Levels, and sliding the cursor left or right.

Note that it is extremely difficult to find music of the exact length you require. You can shorten the piece you chose, but it may end abruptly. Therefore, you may want to set the length of the video from the beginning so as to reflect the length of the music.

Working with short slides

If you have a succession of slides that last a few seconds, you may find it difficult to use the mouse to adjust the length on the timeline in default view. In that case, look at the lower left part of your screen. You will see an the icon that represents a magnifying glass with a plus sign. Click on it and the scale of the timeline will change so that you will be able to work more comfortably. If you click repeatedly, you will be able to see up to fractions of a second. When you are done, click on the magnifying glass with the minus sign to return to the default view.