"Windows Movie Maker"...Frustration Alert!

This is a video that I created, following the funeral of President Gordon B. Hinckley of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

As you may see, it is built from a slide-show of photos with transitions and effects and not any actual video. This production process was quite a frustrating one. In fact, this is the first video that I prepared on my "Windows Movie Maker" software with Windows Vista.

If you have used this software, attempting to utilize your digital video files from your camera phone or from your digital camera, you are aware of the source of my frustration.

Attending a function, carefully documenting each detail with photos and digital video, is plenty of work on its own. Now you get the photos and the video home, download them to your computer, and attempt to utilize this exciting "Windows Movie Maker" software. Your mind is beaming with all of the possibilities of your masterpiece.

Importing photos is extremely easy. So you get excited for the next step of importing your video. You attempt to import one clip, finding the error...

.MOV cannot be imported because the codec required to play the file is not installed on your computer. If you have already tried to download and install the codec, close and restart Windows Movie Maker, and then try to import the file again.

You think this particular clip is bad or is the cause of the error, so you attempt to import another. Again, you view the identical error.

Looking online for a fix is next to impossible, as I found that I was far from the only one with this issue. Since "Windows Movie Maker" takes pretty much any format besides the .MOV, you decide to look for a converter. Of course, there are a plethora of offers for free downloads for converting tools. Though they are free for a trial period, after you convert one of your video files, you realize why they are free. THE GIGANTIC LOGO OVER THE ENTIRE SCREEN OF THE VIDEO ADVERTISING THE SOFTWARE. Can you say...cheesy!?

www.cnet.com

My Windows Movie maker keeps freezing & its driving me insane! I noticed its also happening to a lot of other people. Is there any remedy to this problem??

I would like to know why it doesn’t let you open a previous saved project if it’s not in the same format. Does any1 know if this can be changed and how would you get it to burn on to a dvd disc.

Windows Movie Maker is the worst video editing software I have ever used. Its limitations are frustrating and it is prone to freezing up, resulting in lost work and time. The solution to the freeze-ups? Invest in a better program.

So, I decided to check out my YouTube account to see if there were any options there. After all, I had a lot of videos, a lot of photos, a lot of imagination, and not much I could do with it all.

I uploaded one of my video clips to their site and found there to be an option to use to YouTube Remixer (Engine by Adobe Premiere Express). I decide that I would upload all of my video and attempt to utilize this tool. Once I uploaded all of my video, I attempted to get into the "Remixer" which then posted a message that it was waiting for the server...for the next three hours.

Next, with my frustration at its height, I decided to improvise utilizing Microsoft Publisher with WordArt and my photos, along with "Windows Movie Maker" and some simple music. Thus, this video created for YouTube.

I am frustrated that "Windows Movie Maker" has no way to accept .MOV files and that there is not a fix by Vista without purchase (that I have been able to locate...anywhere).

Lessons learned regarding color and clarity…I put in a slide of a poem called "The Master Bridge Builder". The poem looked really clear (easy to read) on "Windows Movie Maker". However, on YouTube the poem is mostly a blur. The font for that length of a poem needs to be larger and needs to be white if there is that dark background ...definitely on multiple slides (or clips). Additionally, many of the photos that were clear on "Windows Movie Maker" were a blur on YouTube. These were taken of items from the event itself with a dark background. If they were done with a lighter background they would have, most likely, been clearer.

Going back to YouTube, I am having similar issues with my videos in the "Remixer" once I have been able to go back. The "Remixer" only shows the video I made through "Windows Movie Maker"...the slide-show. The others in the .MOV format will not show up in the "Remixer". At this point, I have stopped fumbling with them out of frustration.

Sources:
YouTube
Windows Movie Maker
Windows Vista
Microsoft Publisher
www.cnet.com