There is no denying it.
The Windows Movie Maker has been one of the most popular video editing solutions since its introduction.
It plays well with the Windows OS, is absolutely free to use, and is quite satisfactory in terms of a good balance between features and UI simplicity.
But, the Windows Movie Maker is no longer supported by the Microsoft community.
By taking the decision to cease extending assistance, Microsoft has declared that it believes that it is time to phase out the trusty Movie Maker.
But I am Addicted to the Movie Maker. What Should I Do?
We understand why letting go of the Movie Maker might be difficult.
It is intuitive; there are lots of great support and tip articles and the end result may be nothing to write home about, but it passes as a decent home movie.
While Microsoft works on a true successor of the Movie Maker, you can embrace the power of the light-weight yet effective Movavi Video Editor!
Why is Movavi a great fit for people who are unwillingly leaving the Movie Maker behind?
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- Movavi has an interface that is very similar to the Movie Maker in terms of where to find what. Other apps, especially those for Mac machines, are often quite confusing.
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- Movavi is especially created for on-the-go laptop videographers.
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- Movavi has some of the best VFX abilities ever – in an easy to master package.
4 Steps to Creating a Home Movie in the Movavi Video Editor:
1. Install the Movavi Video Editor and launch the application by clicking the icon on the desktop screen. The modal that greets you offers two options – the Full Feature movie and the quick Montage. For the purpose of this article, we’ll go through all the steps and create a full feature home movie.
The workspace is divided into the vertical stack of icons to the left – resembling the Task Pane in the Movie Maker. The Preview window is located to the right and has the same set of controls as the Windows editor. The Timeline is laid out below.
2. Click on the first icon to the left. It bears the symbol of the YouTube Play. It allows you to import files from the Hard Disk of your machine through the My Files category. You can also import sound bites or explore the stock backgrounds and video clips that are already present in the Movavi library.
Most importantly, you can record a video or a screencast– directly from the Movavi dashboard.
The imported clips show up on the Timeline.
3. Next, it is turn to edit and enhance.
You can use the panel of tools directly above the Timeline to crop stills from the video content, clip a file into multiple sections with the help of the orange vertical position lines, adjust colour saturation, directly record a voice-over for video segments, and speed up or slow down the content.
Once the basics are out of the way, click the icon to the left that resembles a magic wand and choose a filter from any of the twelve categories provided.
Simply select the clip that you wish to modify on the Timeline, then right click on the desired effect and choose “Apply to Selected Clips”.
Now let’s introduce transitions. Again, there are twelve categories that can be accessed in the menu after you click the icon that resembles a puzzle piece. Transitions are laid at the end of one file and the beginning of the next. They add drama and continuity to the story-line.
4. We’re almost there. The final step involves adding Opening Credits to the home movie. Just choose the big T icon and right click on the style that takes your fancy. Select “Add Opening Credits”.
You can experiment with fonts, the size of the fonts, alignment and colour.
Don’t forget to save the movie by clicking the Export tab in the top navigation.
You can render your content in dozens of formats and this is a definite improvement over the options available in the Movie Maker.
Sold yet?
Let us know in the comments.