I’m Cheryl White and I’m a Program Manager for Windows Live Movie Maker. I’m here to say again how much we appreciate getting your feedback – it helps us to build a better product. Also, I’d like to talk more specifically about how users helped us shape the latest release of Windows Live Movie Maker. We’ve heard many questions about why we didn’t go with a traditional timeline model in the new Movie Maker. In this post we’re going to provide some insight into the primary reasons we changed our design, as well as a comparison between the old and new design based on organizing and editing media.
When we started building Windows Live Movie Maker, we looked at the feedback we received from our users. One of the points that stood out to us was that the average Windows Movie Maker user was intimidated by the timeline interface. Specifically, they felt there was a fairly steep learning curve to the product, and that many tasks were made difficult by the amount of steps it took to complete them. With this in mind, we wanted to use a visual solution in the new Windows Live Movie Maker that allowed both video enthusiasts and novice users a way to organize and edit their media quickly and easily. We wanted to eliminate intimidating interfaces, while still being able to manage more complex tasks. Below you will find a side-by-side comparison of the two versions with regards to organizing and editing media.
Windows Movie Maker (old) vs. Windows Live Movie Maker (new)
Adding media to your project
A big focus in the new release was to make it easy to add content and immediately see how the movie was put together. Compared to Windows Movie Maker, you first had to import your media to your collection, then add your media to your project. Only after which you would be able to preview your movie. In the new release, we simplified the process: Import your media to your project, preview your movie. The whole task can be done in seconds, yet you don’t lose any functionality. Another process we simplified in the new release of Movie Maker was to ensure that the preview window showed only the media that you were focused on in the Storyboard at any given time. The old release of Movie Maker could show media that was in your library as well as media that was in your project. There were advantages to this (as you could see photos and videos before you add them to your project) but this increased the complexity and confused novice users. The new design greatly reduces confusion, if it’s in your preview window – it’s in your project.
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Based on a user study we performed in March, we made a late-breaking decision to add click on the Storyboard to add content. Since the Storyboard is the core of the application, we decided that we wanted to give you a range of options to choose from when it comes to adding media to your project: dragging and dropping files from your computer; clicking or right-clicking on the Storyboard; clicking “Add videos and photos” right in the Ribbon, from Photo Gallery clicking Make-> Make a Movie with media selected.
In the older Windows Movie Maker timeline view, users found it difficult to move items around easily and particularly difficult to adjust text. So we made adding text easier! Previously, there was a 4-step process to add title at the beginning of your movie. With Windows Live Movie Maker, one click adds the title and immediately puts you into editing mode right on the screen. It’s all WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) so you can adjust easily make adjustments by entering text and then grabbing the text box with the mouse to move it around.
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Viewing the project
When it comes to viewing your project, the Storyboard view has multiple benefits over the traditional Timeline view. Something to keep in mind, both are technically linear ‘timeline’ views. But instead of the timeline being one long ‘scroll right, and right, and right to view your content’ view, the Storyboard starts at the top left, scrolls right to the edge of your application window and then drops a line to start again on the left (Like a book!). Which is automatically resized as your adjust the size of Windows Live Movie Maker. This allows users to have a broader view of what’s happening in their project. Compared to the Windows Movie Maker, the task of organizing content is made exponentially easier in the storyboard.
Below is an example of ‘viewing your project’. I have nine pieces of content plus a title slide (just for example) and I want to zoom in far enough to see thumbnails of each piece of content. On the left hand side, I have Windows Movie Maker. Here I can only see four and a quarter items in my movie. Compared to Windows Live Movie Maker on the right and I can see all my content easily with plenty of room to spare.
Zoomed Out/Full Storyboard vs. Storyboard
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In making the move to the new Storyboard, we found that people who wanted to see a storyboard-like representation of their items were not getting enough information at that level. Conversely, people were getting too much information with the timeline representation, so we worked at hitting a happy medium between the two. We have a time scale zoom in the new Windows Live Movie Maker that allows you to adjust the ‘viewable’ length of your media. The scale goes from individual seconds (on the precise side – see right side Windows Live Movie Maker image below), to only showing each piece of media as a thumbnail regardless of length of time each piece plays for on the broader scale. This allows you to still use relative lengths with your clips, without it being an all or nothing approach.
Zoomed In/Timeline vs. Storyboard with Time Scale
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Moving items in the project
Once people add in their content, we wanted to make sure that it was easy to move items around. Showing the thumbnail of each item at any timescale means that you can step back and take a look at the big picture and make sure everything ended up just where you wanted it. In the image below, I am dragging the Chrysanthemum picture to appear after the lighthouse. Super easy with the thumbnails, but it was very difficult to get to it in the timeline version without zooming in on the timeline.
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Editing items in your project
And the last main area in which we focused was to make sure that it was easy to edit items once they were added to the project. With the new Storyboard, batch edits are a snap. Using the Ribbon, we put the tools you use most often in the most logical places. Edit a video clip is under Video Tools. Changing transitions is under Animations.
But when it comes to true ‘differences’ between the old Windows Movie Maker and the new Windows Live Movie Maker, batch editing is right at the top. By allowing users to multi-select and perform edits on more than one item at a time, we’ve dramatically decreased the time it takes to polish and edit your movie. In the case below, I had to drag and drop a transition onto each and every item. In Windows Live Movie Maker, we’ve made that so easy, you just select the items you want (or CTRL+A to select all), choose a transition and you can apply it to all of the clips. To tell if your item has a transition on it, look for the slightly transparent triangle in the lower left corner of your content thumbnails.
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So there you have it. A little background into how your feedback helped us build Windows Live Movie Maker. Ultimately, we are creating the product for you to use, and if there are any areas in which you’re feeling pain, let us know. We want to change that! We’ve already gotten some really good feedback, and hope to continue receiving more. I love Windows Live Movie Maker and I hope you will too!
Cheryl White
Program Manager
Windows Live Movie Maker
First! Oh, sorry, I thought this was Gizmodo for a second. I really like the new Windows Live Movie Maker. I\’m very glad to see the timeline brought back to the storyboard following the inital beta release. It\’s powerful enough for average users, and intuitive enough even for beginners. Still not a huge fan of the ribbon as a UI construct, but if that\’s the direction that Microsoft is heading, then I\’m glad to see WLMM is making good use of it. I hope this product is a representation of things to come from Microsoft and Windows Live. Keep the updates coming. We hunger for wave 4. Cheers!
It\’s really handy… I edit movies professionally and use Vegas Pro to do so, but for personal videos (trips with friends, family stuff, etc) I use WL movie maker, as it\’s quick and easy and the results are surpisingly good… One thing I\’d like to see in future versions is true support for a dual monitor set-up (rather than just dragging the application wide). Otherwise, you did a great job and I even like the storyboard approach for casual movie making.
As a Microsoft MVP for several years (Movie Maker, Digital Media, Live Movie Maker), I\’ve seen lots of feedback on the new release of WLMM. I think it is a very good first step in simplifying the process of making a quick movie from video clips, photos and music. This should help the novice users of the world. The one thing I would really recommend is making Movie Maker as visible as it was in the menus of Vista. With the extra step of loading Windows Live Essentials, and then having to look under a Windows Live folder… well, it just isn\’t as visible and thus frequently used as before.Now to the "enthusiast" user. I really don\’t think the old timeline was a hindrance to this class of users. In fact most people in the community said they found it fairly intuitive. The hardest part you could miss things like the audio track or the title overlay track in the old UI. Having said that, I think people will gradually adjust to the new hybrid storyboard/timeline in WLMM.What you have created is essentially version 1.0 and a new direction for Movie Maker. In doing that, you\’ve had to make some compromises for the "enthusiast" user. I just hope that you\’ll see fit in future iterations to add more of the features enthusiasts are craving. The list is long but we still need:* ability to take a picture from the preview. Where did this feature go?* ability for enthusiasts and 3rd parties to create custom transitions, effects and titles. Please release an SDK for the new X3D stuff that is under the hood.* new "wow" features that will make viewers ask, "what high end package did you use to do that?". I think the new X3D engine will be a big help for doing that with video wrapped around spheres or other objects, morphing shapes, etc.Anyway, we wait with bated breath to see what happens in the next release of WLMM. Please keep them coming and consider both the novice and the enthusiast in each release. Don\’t just make this a dumb-down Movie Maker. Those that knew Movie Maker under Vista will be disappointed if they sense that WLMM under Windows 7 is a step backward. Prove to them it is a step forward and beyond!
A couple other features sprung to mind that are frequently asked for in the community forums:* Can we get a reverse video effect?* Is there an easy way to dynamically set the balance between the clip\’s audio and the added audio? Many users tried to use the balance control in Movie Maker to do this, not realizing it had a global effect. What people really want is a way to have the music track get softer when they get to a video clip with important audio the return to normal after the clip. In the old WMM, you would do this by splitting the audio, setting the volume of that lower, then setting the video clip volume higher. The only drawback was that the volume changed in a discrete step from loud to soft rather than fading down to the desired level.
Muy buenas mejoras!!!
Moving texts when adding a title doesn\’t work properly for me in Windows Live Movie Maker. For example, I added a title and instead of having the line of text centred on the screen, I\’d like to move it to the top-right corner of the screen. I can\’t seem to properly drag the position of the textbox to where I want it.
I agree Blaine and some of the others : Don\’t throw all the focus on \’dumbing\’ down Windows Live Movie Maker so any average joe can make \’something\’. With the ribbon UI, there shouldn\’t be anything hard besides a slight learning curve, so please continue to add more features in future versions. WLMM is a very good product, and I hope to see WLMM become a better (and free!) movie editor than what Apple can offer in iMovie. Hope to see it improving more. Oh, and adding other video-sharing sites to share to (like Vimeo, DailyMotion, and others?) would be nice too.
There needs to be an option to bring back the timeline view for advanced users. The new one is definitely great for quick edits and beginners, but it\’s very unintuitive for more detailed editing, and it completely breaks down with larger videos. But the ribbon is awesome, and it\’s great to see a more consistent design for MS apps. More features combined with the great UI would definitely make this a killer app.
Cheryl, you and your team have done a beautiful job! When I first tested the release version I was very pleased – you may have seen my blog about that. There are two items I would like to see in a future version: The ability to exctract a single frame from video, and an easy way to clip audio – I guess I got used to the timeline for audio in the past and I miss the precision snipping ability.
Another feature that is missing from the new WLMM vs. the "old" WMM: The ability to add multiple effects to the same clip. In the "old" Movie Maker you could add up to 6 effects, but in the new WLMM you seem restricted to one Visual Effect. I\’ve tried using Ctrl-click, or anything to select more than one effect. Also, right-clicking on the clip doesn\’t give me a context menu with the ability to add/remove effects. If I\’m wrong, please correct me.Another nice-to-have feature (from the old PhotoStory 3 product) would be the ability to remove black borders from a picture or a clip; essentially zooming it until the black border doesn\’t appear. Alternatively, having a way to specify the background color or have it like the Slideshow feature in the gallery where it picks a dominant color from the picture and makes a halo around the picture.I know… dreaming for now, but I\’m sure you\’ve got even fancier ideas for version 2, or 3, or whatever.
The real big problem here is that the 480p output still doesn\’t work properly. Windows Live Movie Maker reduces the resolution of 480p (720 by 480 videos) by windowboxing them regardless of the aspect ratio option you choose. I have been told this is because Windows Live Movie Maker doesn\’t support 3:2. This is reflected in the aspect ratio options which show only 4:3 and 16:9. This is ridiculous since most camcorder before HD (as opposed to cameras that can record video) record in 720 by 480, and DVDs are in 720 by 480 format. Also, the fact that the aspect ratio options are located separately from the actual outputs makes Windows Live Movie Maker more complicated (not less) than its predecessor.Another less important aspect is that the initial image of a clip is given for every preview frame. This works with small clips, but for long clips, it keeps you from knowing what is going on in a given part of a clip. The preview frames should be different for each given period of time.The feature Blaine mentioned, "The ability to take a picture from the preview", is not a problem. Windows Movie Maker in XP had this feature, but it would capture in 320 by 240, almost always a lower resolution than the video. You are better off playing the video in Windows Media Player and using the snipping tool to get a snapshot.
why dont they just make it simple because they might get people confused
I just upgraded to Win7 and am looking forward to video editing (as I did with XP and Vista). I am trying to do something that was easy in XP/Vista, but I can\’t figure it out in Win7:* Start with AVI imported from camcorder (got this part done)* Automatically create clips with the time/date that each was taken* Trim each clip as needed* Add selected clips to my project* Save the edited movieHow would I do this in Win7? Thanks.
I know Im dreaming big, But I want the effects to be more interesting and complicated, Cmon pplz, we have to make it better then sony vegas so I can make better videos, lol
While I love the ribbon, the loss of the timeline is nuts. Fine editing is thrown out the window especially when you have to match up cuts to music and pictures etc. Also, the titles seem to have lost a big of their functionality. While we can now customize it a great deal, down to the size, shape, color, etc., now that it is no longer "tied" to the video part, technically, makes it more complicated than its worth. It makes titles had to resize, esp. for length, which, again, goes back to the first point of the loss of timeline. We can only set lengths practically by time code, which is a VERY cumbersome process compared to the simple "drag length" or "split" of the clip in timeline mode.
If you want to turn Movie Maker into a respectable program rather than a pathetic, clumsy mess then have a look at Sony Vegas and take a few pointers from there. Vegas 7 is the version I\’ve got, it completely blows movie maker out of the water! I\’ve used it for a few years and of course it has a few snags, but is far superior to Movie Maker and also in my opinion it is so much better than Final Cut Pro. It\’s a video editing program, audio editing program, animation program, the effects are so flexible and over all you can do everything you need to make a video in Vegas whereas with Final Cut you\’d need Adobe AfterEffects and Logic Pro along with it.Movie Maker is so limited, that\’s the main problem. You can\’t perform close edits, the effects are dyer and it\’s so easy to tell when someone\’s used movie maker because of how bad it looks. Just search \’Youtube Poops\’ on youtube and you\’ll get a few million examples.
where can i download this window live movie maker, i like it.
Microsoft has turned a great little program into a useless mess. Windows Live Movie Maker simply isn\’t usable as all of most important functions have now been removed. No timeline? No ability to combine clips? No way to remove and edit existing audio? It\’s nice that Microsoft\’s Program Manager Cheryl White likes Windows Live Movie Maker, I hate it.
Jeff is right. I have been making films for over 40 years, on film and now digitally, and I love using Windows Movie Maker 6. However, trying out Windows LIVE Movie Maker a number of times and several attempts, it is nearly worthless. It is also keeping me from upgrading my OS to Windows 7 on my 4 PCs, as I need WMM 6 on my machines. MS needs to reboot this project, ASAP!
Bring back the features from XP and Vista Movie Maker, specifically:* Multilayered TIMELINE (i.e. multiple layers of text)* Improve the sorry-excuse-for-a-timeline you have with markers, actual time-lapsed thumbnails, etc. TIMELINE TIMELINE TIMELINE!* Bring back video capture from DV cam (it may be in there, I\’m not sure…) and TV Tuner cards (like XP MCE 2K5)* Frame-by-frame navigator thingy* Automatic scene-splitting when importing* Bring back the dialog box that let me specify the resolution, video format, etc. for my final movieOh, and tell your friends over at the DVD Maker team that they need to get their act together and overhaul THEIR app as well. If there\’s any app that should be ribbonized it should be DVD Maker. Also, it wouldn\’t hurt them to throw in some Blu-Ray support.
A few more things…! Maybe I\’ve missed it, but there doesn\’t appear to be a control button in WLMM that brings you right back to the beginning of the movie (which I can do in WMM6). I have to use the slider to go all the way back. All you can do is go to the beginning of the frame. How is this faster?Two: Why is it so hard to move the music timeline around? Try as I might, the music file never flows properly from one level to another. Finally, where is the narration feature? I assumed this would be in WLMM, as well as improved options for multiple music tracks. Many people wanted this in the WLMM Beta blogs, but I don\’t see them.
Hi Cheryl,I admire your attempt to defend WLMM in the face of hundreds of MM enthusiasts who absolutely detest the lack of a proper timeline. Unfortunately, your defense of WLMM does not make up for the limits of this program, limits that the WLMM developers seem well aware of but are stubbornly ignoring.Why can\’t we have a timeline tab in WLMM? Why can\’t we bring in old WMM6 projects into WLMM? These and other questions are repeatedly asked – in the 100\’s – on these blogs and on Microsoft Answers, but all we get is a rather condescending sales pitch about the supposed wonders of WLMM.What I find most annoying is the claim that both WMM and WLMM are "technically linear ‘timeline’ views". That\’s only true with an emphasis on "technically". A real timeline represents each component according to its actual length. With one quick look, you can compare the relative length of each component compared to the other components. The play bar then moves across these components at a constant rate. This is because the components vary in time, but we watch at a constant rate. Anything that doesn\’t reflect this isn\’t natural or productive.In WLMM, the component remains constant in length, while the play bar moves at different rates. So, if my main objective is to vary component length, I can no longer quickly glance up for a relative comparison. I\’ve tried that Zoom Time Scale, and it\’s really annoying. It DOESN\’T give you the actual time of a component – you only get an approximation. If you slide it out to get the most accurate approximation, then you can\’t see much on the much-vaunted storyboard. And, because I\’m playing around with the zoom tool so much, it\’s much more annoying than zooming in on a timeline. A quick glance is always faster than playing with your zoom tool, so it\’s NOT easier. WLMM\’s "technical" timeline is simply more annoying and less intuitive.I also miss easy overlapping of frames and being able to add multiple effects, like I could in WMM6. And where are the right click commands of Fade in and Fade out?In terms of the real improvements in WLMM, like batch editing and better AutoMovie features, I don\’t see how these couldn\’t be incorporated into a proper timeline model (and thus improve WMM6 rather than forsake it). Oh, and hiding the split tool behind the edit tab – when it used to be up front in WMM6 – is by definition less productive. I know MS is convinced that tabs – er, ribbons – are faster, but adding two clicks compared to one click is by definition slower. [I do like that there are more right click options for the mouse, including for splitting, but it should have been in WMM6 years ago.]Not sure why I continue to provide comments. I\’m sure they will go nowhere. Just be aware, Cheryl, that refusal to provide a real timeline, and not the fake timeline that WLMM has now, means that a lot of people will continue to stay with Vista, or force us (like I have done) to find a ported version of WMM6 for Windows 7 that allows us to ignore WLMM.
Cheryl Right now I am wondering why I cannot enter enter into my email. The message I got was We\’re doing some maintenance to improve the service. We apologize for getting in your way.Please try again in a few minutes. Well It has already been almost an hour and I have work to do with all my addresses in my emails. Any ideas how long they are planning to work on the problems, and why tonight? Why not during the night wheneverybody is asleep, it seems more logical than at 8pm at night don\’t you think? This happened all of a sudden, I was in the middle of sending an email and got cut off. Bang it went off. I sure would like to have an answer from someone there.My name is Trudy my email address is trudygo@hotmail.com and my phone number is (802) 442-6148 Thank you.
Hi, I like how you guys are focusing on the new movie editors out there, but that doesn\’t mean that it has to be dumbed down so much as to where the experienced users can\’t use it at all. There should be an option that allows you to change back to classic view. I\’m sorry, but Live Movie Maker is just a big mess that really needs to be fixed. I installed Windows 7 and transferred over my MM6 from Vista because it was just that great. Why can\’t you make one that could actually out do MM6? Honestly, the timeline is not that hard to learn at all, and it is quite fun to use. It\’s very precise and everything. What you guys should do is release an updated version that is even better than MM6, but make it optional so those who don\’t want it, don\’t have to have it. This Movie Maker is an epic fail and is rendered useless due to lack of features and such. Please guys, fix this mess, or I plan to stick with MM6. Fix this mess PLEASE.
Hey all, my name is Brad Weed and I’m the group manager for the team Cheryl is on. It’s great to read all this fantastic feedback. I’m seeing a few folks focused on the timeline…or lack thereof. There’s no question a more traditional timeline can come in handy. I’ve used them myself over the years and feel a similar urge for their practicality. To this day, I’m still surprised by how much people unfamiliar with these tools can be stupefied by timelines. In fact, I was in denial it was a real issue until I sat there and watched real people struggle. Because we wanted to get more people making more movies than they normally would otherwise, we decided to invest our engineering resources on something that we knew a wider range of people could use. And this is the cool thing about software…beginner users are only beginner for so long. So it very well could be that the more people use the timeline we have, the more they’ll come to need, desire and appreciate the kind of timeline you want. Which is why it’s so great to have more expert video folks like yourselves chiming in. There’s a lot we can (and will) learn from your use of the product. Thanks for sharing.
POR QUE CARAJOS CADA QUE ENVIO UN MENSAJE ME PIDE COMPROBAR MI CUENTA???? Y C UANDO QUIERO ENVIAR UN MENSAJE A VARIAS PERSONAS ME PIDE QUE NO PUEDO MANDAR A MAS DE 10… DE TODOS MODOS PUEDO ENVIAR 10 Y DESPUES OTROS 10 Y DESPUES OTROS 10, QUE TONTERIA ES ESA???? QUE PIDA COMPROBAR MI CUENTA DE VES EN CUANDO ESTOY DE ACUERDO,, PERO… SIEMPRE?????? ES ABSURDO Y PATETICO Y ME APARECE QUE EN ESTE LINCK PARA CONTACTARLOS Y ME MANDA AQUI!!!! WINDOS LIVE MOVIE MARKER BRRRR
hi evrey body can any one help me i can not put music over the movies i make it keeps saying add more pics or use longer song i dont get it please help
First, could someone please monitor these comments and get rid of the SPAM and the requests for help with Messenger, etc.?I wanted to comment on something that Jorge mentioned about the "Take a Picture" feature. Yes, in XP it is limited to the preview screen resolution. However in the Vista version (WMM 6.0) the picture was at the resolution of the source clip. That\’s obviously the desired way the feature should work. It allows one to easily create a freeze frame or to edit a frame of the video and add arrows, highlights, etc.
Blaine – Thanks for the points about the spam; it really wrecks the usefulness of this blog.Brad – I don\’t wish to be too sarcastic, but you and others appear to have graduated from the same communications seminar: be positive, thank people for their input, empathize with their perspective, and then…. nothing. I\’ve been to the same seminar, and I don\’t think it works.What about our specific points? For example, is there some prospect, ANY prospect, of a real timeline returning? If so, great, and I\’ll keep contributing suggestions to make a better MM. If not, then I\’ll just give up and keep using my ported version of WMM6 along with so many other Vista MM users who\’ve been overlooked by MS.What about the numerous other suggestions (eg. picture resolution, overlapping of frames, multiple audio tracks) that have been offered? Are there rationales for why these features are not in (or are no longer in) WLMM? Again, is there any prospect of them returning? If so, when?As one of the few people in my office who uses Windows 7, I would really like to use OS-based software (especially movie making) that rivals what most people in my office use (OSX Leopard/iMovie). It\’s frustrating that MM has taken a clear step backwards, so specific responses and explanations would be greatly appreciated.
I hate the new look and style. It ruins WMM. It was way easier when it was more complex. This should be like the Movie Maker Lite. So they should make a more advanced one for people who are good with computors.
Here are a few other things I would like to see added to an improved WLMM:1. Video stabilization – this is a killer feature in the new iMovie.2. Basic photo editing within MM, esp. cropping – this is a killer feature in Photostory 3.3. An ability to export (with options) into .flv – a lot of people who blog want to build their own videos, and .flv is the gold standard of blog video.4. The export of slides from PowerPoint (a program that has yet to reach its multimedia potential) directly into MM.Of course, without the return of a real timeline, then these other features wouldn\’t matter.[BTW, thanks for the spam cleaning!]
Hi, Apologies in advance…..I need help1). My emails are blocked from sending ….saying terms of use….2). I could not even successful in "Ask a question"Can you please guide me through : Jamadagni@live.com
We did a spam pass through the comments. Unfortunately it\’s manual and it takes some time, so we can\’t always keep up with it.I realize that change can be frustrating, particularly if you don\’t have complete visibility into it. Our hope is that with this blog we can continue to explain some of the logic behind our decisions, and also continue to receive feedback to make the product better. Unfortunately, Brad, Cheryl, and I can\’t comment officially on the plans for Movie Maker, but we can promise you that we\’re both listening and hard at work on the next version. As we\’ve talked about on this blog before, we\’re just at the beginning – Windows Live Movie Maker is really a v1.0 – and we fully expect to expand its capabilities over time. So again, sorry for not being able to give you specifics except to say that we\’re aware that people want features like multiple audio tracks, snapshot of video->photo, more timeline capabilities, and the other things mentioned here and elsewhere. We\’re reading every comment, tweet, and post.To the point about having specific enthusiast features, one of our goals now and moving forward is to "allow experienced people to go deeper when needed (without sacrificing usability for everyone)" and we fully expect to expand on this in future versions.(BTW Blane, there\’s a way to do multiple effects in the Effects gallery!)
Thanks for your response, Mike. I appreciate your directness. Sadly, "more timeline capabilities" sounds like you\’re sticking with your current storyboard, and in my opinion that\’s a real shame.The odd thing is that I think the storyboard option in WMM6 is easier than the storyboard in WLMM. Other than having to bring in items into a holding place and then moving them into the storyboard tiles down below, I don\’t see how much simpler the WMM6 storyboard can be. If a person can\’t operate that, then, quite honestly, they really shouldn\’t bother with movies at all. (Also, it is a great training level for those who want to move to the real timeline.)By contrast, the new WLMM storyboard has many more features and, therefore, seems more complicated. I am deeply perplexed by your claim that it\’s easier. Amongst other things, it\’s far easier to see transitions in the WMM6 basic storyboard compared to the WLMM storyboard.By separating the two styles of movie making, like you do in WMM6, you are able to concentrate on their respective strengths (ease vs. features/precision). By trying to do all of it in one level, you confuse the beginner and aggravate the committed MM user (who are the people who really promote the program to others).In other words, I think your basic WLMM philosophy was flawed from the beginning, and WMM6 remains the better basic approach – for newbie and enthusiast alike.[Sorry for being a contrarian, but I would like WLMM to surpass WMM6 rather than be a pale shadow of it. By definition, WLMM v 1.0 should have been at least as good as WMM6, rather than much less.]
…very good .. however it would be a valuable bit of information to know where we can get it …..vk2au@h.m
forget this.. what about fizing it so people CAN upgrade their live messenger. i just get error messages and installer wont work . what a waste of space you are
Can anyone tell me if I can add "thought bubbles"? I don\’t know if they\’re called that but I want to add that to a movie to make it seem (to the viewer) that in parts of my movie, the person is dreaming or daydreaming about something. I hope this makes sense. I can\’t find an effect that fits what I\’m looking to achieve. I am VERY new to this as I just discovered I could do this 2 days ago! lol
http://download.live.com is the download site – sorry.CW: I hear you. I can elaborate a little more on why we went with the single mode we have instead of the "mode switch" option like we had in the WMM of old. We found in our user research that one of the primary uses of Movie Maker was to create a basic story, usually with photos and short video clips and almost always with music. To do this with Windows Movie Maker you couldn’t escape using the timeline mode unfortunately – even just adding music to the movie would cause you to switch into timeline mode (ack!) and require lots of micro-adjustment to get it right (i.e. to fit to the length of the song). Most people gave up at that point. With Windows Live Movie Maker, we really wanted to improve on this by minimizing “mode switches” between the storyboard and a timeline mode with a single mode that would serve both purposes.In fact, one of our core design tenets early on was "A single mode that scales is better than multiple modes that force a mode choice." We expect the model we have now to be able to scale well from first-time users to experienced users. Having said that, we still have work to do as it\’s obviously not quite there yet. While some things are easier with the model we chose, some things are harder – and that\’s something we\’d definitely like to solve. For instance, there are things we could add to the Storyboard pane over time (show time markers, show more complete thumbnails, include drag-to-trim capabilities, and so on) that would make it just as powerful as a timeline, but still approachable for people right off the bat. Think about it as less of an abrupt mode switch, and more as a continuum. Again, we\’re not saying we\’ll have those things in the next release, just that these are the types of things we\’ve seen and heard people use the timeline for. We\’d love to hear more specifics about what actions you\’d like to perform (i.e. set of tasks) with the application that the Storyboard doesn\’t provide at this time. Feel free to email mtorres at microsoft com although apologies in advance for not being able to talk specific plans.[On your last point, again I hear you - the truth is we rebuilt every aspect of the app from the ground-up, and doing that takes some time. So while it would have been great to build on top of the old foundation, we just simply couldn\'t do that. We expect that decision to continue to pay dividends - the new file format/codec support + performance/reliability improvements are a start]
Kelly: thought bubbles aren\’t built-in at this time. You would have to edit the photo in Paint first to add thought bubble art and then add it to your Movie Maker project.
Thanks for your thoughtful reply, Mike. I wish you luck with your development, but I remain skeptical that your team will succeed with your "all things for all people" approach. Such an approach seems destined to fail some group of MM users. Indeed, those features you\’re thinking about packing into the WLMM storyboard seem to take things well beyond an intuitive newbie program. I still think you\’d be much better to split the approaches, like in WMM6, and improve both. The WMM6 storyboard can certainly use some improvements, but it wouldn\’t take much to make it fit the needs of simple story makers. [For example, a basic automovie feature that evenly lengthens one\'s pictures to fit a given piece of music would probably be enough for a lot of these sorts of projects.] In the meantime, the timeline could be improved, rather than eliminated.And this leads me to another key point that I\’m hearing from virtually every long-time MM commentator (esp. those using the Vista version): your current storyboard focuses on the needs of newbies, but ignores loyal MM enthusiasts. And for some inexplicable reason, WMM6 is not even (officially) compatible with Windows 7, nor are its projects. Moreover, WMM2x is a clear step-down, and I don\’t think my WMM6 projects would work in WMM2. Thus, Vista MM users have been left in the cold, and all we hear is… silence. Why was this allowed to happen? It seems like a bizarre oversight. No amount of "ground-up" development forced us to be forsaken. [You could have at least offered us a properly ported version of WMM6 for Windows 7, just like Apple did with iMovie HD.]So… what am I supposed to do? Admit to my Mac fanboy friends that they were right and that I should get a Mac? I\’d rather slit my wrists. Yet here I am: I\’m a serious user of Movie Maker (6.0), and you\’ve got nothing for me.So I continue on with my jury-rigged WMM6 inside Windows 7. I\’m not impressed. And I\’m not alone.
I would appreciate knowing where my comments re MSN have gone please because I know they have gone somewhere. There were compliments as well as complaints in it as you will see. I saw it saved somewhere where you reading it and couldnt take the flack for the issues it raised. Well I had better go over to the opposition then if I dont receive a reply to at least one of my observations as I have not received any replies to my feedback. I have kept a copy luckily so I can repeat the exercise if necessary and will thank you. Dolphin Tenor.
Reference Comment 40 : Oh yes forgot to say I have copyrighted the information contained in the original Comment 40 which mysteriously disappeared as I was finishing it. So if you wish to use any of the material contained in it you will have to contact me – you do know how. I do know how to copyright, I have not got a Higher Diploma in Law or BA in Education degree for nothing!! All submitted feedback has been copyrighted as well. I wish to have a peaceful existence on this earth but that seems impossible in this country and world as it is in such turmoil and disarray. Its about time likeminded people like myself got together and helped to change it before we lose our planet altogether. Peace and my Reiki blessings to all those who read this Dolphin Tenor
PLEASEEEEEE let us capture directly from webcam? ;-;Oh and I think if there\’s a good SDK that developers can use to create addons it\’d be sweet!
Oh yeah, and the storyboard esque idea is nice for people new to making movies…. but I would love to see timelines back so I can manage videoclips with soundclips much easier…
I downloaded and installed Windows Live Movie Maker (and just WLMM) under Windows 7. The help documentation suggests that I can import all kinds of video files such as AVCHD and QuickTime. However, I tried to drag-and-drop a QuickTime file into WLMM but it won\’t let me. So my question is, why is the help documentation lying to me?Or what else must I do to get support for other video formats working?Or am I to understand that the Windows Live team hasn\’t finished this feature yet?
We are really disappointed that video files cannot be added directly from a network location in WLMM. This seems to be a backward step from previous versions. Can you please explain why this useful feature was eliminated?
I agree with everyone saying that when there were more options it was easier to use, I really can\’t get my head around this new \’improved\’ interface…Oh, and bring back the old timeline PLEASE.
Something weird — it\’s working now. I can import a QuickTime movie. Don\’t understand why it didn\’t work before. Perhaps a subtle Windows 7 bug? I can tell you, you wouldn\’t encounter this kind of weirdness with a Mac (and iMovie)…
I tried using WLMM for the first time today, granted it was an odd use, and I had serious issues. I wrote about the details as well as posted my PSR session. http://jessejohnson.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!230CE588E4A8FDF1!584.entryI do love what the Live Team is doing though!
CW: Any answer I give you about why we\’re investing in WLMM and not WMM likely won\’t satisfy you given your level of frustration. I do, of course, hope we can turn that around in our favor soon.Richard: not sure why you\’re running into issues, would love to hear specifics about the file you were using. Please contact me at mtorres at microsoft com.Hella: you can add network files using a registry key change for now (it\’s been blogged about). It\’s a feature we\’d like to officially support in the future but in the first version we weren\’t able to.
hi
Yeah: I\’m having trouble with this Windows movie maker live. I like the storyboard in that it allows me to have big picture of what I want, but then I don\’t know how to put it all together. In vista movie maker, the timeline was intutive and allowed me to put it all together, especially with fine tuning. This version is anything but intuitive and looks like there will be a long learning curve to make things go the way I want, if I ever can. In Vista movie maker, I was able to see what I could do in minutes. This one I"m having trouble getting the hang of and I can\’t find any instructions on the net on how to use this one. I also liked the extra features that the vista movie maker had. I haven\’t figured this one out too well, but I haven\’t discovered too many nice features. For a Newbie like me who is new to movie editing, the vista movie maker was easy to use and I made up a movie in no time. My friends thought I had my movies done by somebody else. This live movie maker live looks kinda scarry and it won\’t let me put things together the way I was doing before.
Ridiculous that you can\’t use your webcam with it now…what on earth were they thinking
While I like the streamlined interface, the loss of functionality is too much for me to switch. I need to have a timeline with the ability to make audio edits at the very least. Maybe add an advanced mode so more advanced users would be happy too?
Oh, *there\’s* the Multiple Effects. It\’s not readily apparent, but it is there. For others, you open up the Effects "Gallery" and then at the bottom there is clickable bar that says "Multiple Effects". It\’s not exactly the same as being able to click on multiple effects in the gallery (perhaps with a Ctrl-click) and then seeing a preview, but it does let you choose the effects by name. And it seems to let you pick more than just 6 (Anyone want to be crazy and select every effect? Now you can…)I would highly recommend adding it back to the right-click on the clip like in the "old" Movie Maker. I\’d also add Fade In/Fade Out to that right-click menu. Or perhaps make that little 4 square icon in the upper right of each clip clickable to bring all these options up.
… This version is anything but intuitive and looks like there will be a long learning curve to make things go the way I want, if I ever can….For a Newbie like me who is new to movie editing, the vista movie maker was easy to use and I made up a movie in no time….————————-Good points, Pat. I couldn\’t agree more. But you might as well be speaking Martian to the Microsoft crowd. I recently tried recreating a simple project in WLMM that I commonly build in WMM6 – syncing up variable length pictures and video clips to a soundtrack – and WLMM was absolutely brutal. The number of extra clicks and the amount of guessing I had to make (esp. for the photos) was unbelievable. So to me the belief that the WLMM storyboard is easy and intuitive is absurd. Whichever research company told that to Microsoft should not have its contract renewed.
Mike,Any word on an SDK for custom title, transitions and effects? Anything on MSDN? Is there a whitepaper on how to modify one of these? I\’d love to start playing with this like before in WMM 2.x and 6.0.I\’m guessing at a few things like the Templates folder must be important. Not sure how to create a custom icon to go with a modified effect. Still learning how one would take something written for X3D and use it in WLMM. I think one little example of a custom transition or effect that takes advantage of the new engine would be something that would allay the fears of those wondering if the rewrite was worth it.
Blaine: Thanks – that\’s great, targeted feedback. We\’ll definitely be looking into beefing up the context menu.
Blaine: We don\’t have anything formal with respect to an SDK at this time, but it\’s something we\’re looking into. It is possible to take a look at the existing templates (they\’re XML based) and tweak them, etc. but we aren\’t yet ready for a formal SDK.
Imss yoy bratar
You mean targeted feedback that doesn\’t point to a timeline? That would reduce non-spam traffic by 90%!
ibdont no
Yes..xDxD
saying as WLMM doesn\’t support webcam\’s now, what MS product should consumers use to capture their webcams to edit and send as an e-mail? yet another round of applause for Microsoft!!!! Well done team, as usual, remove the good stuff and replace it with nothing
lame
With no timeline option and no ability to add audio from a microphone you have lost me as a user – and I am what you call a newbie user.Defintely a backward step. I just dont understand the logic. Yes I have read the comments from the developers.
now removed from my system along with all live products including messenger…no offence to the design team but perhaps you might consider getting a professional to consult on your software developments…get out of your bean bag conference rooms and make a decent product…no wonder apple is overtaking you
They need an option for an ADVANCED interface for use that love the XP and Vista interface. i mean come on! I want to edit my audio! i Want to use my webcam! i want what you gave use earlier. ADVANCED OPTION now that owuld make me like wlmm. ye\’ old timeline was far easier!!!!! timelines cna be used much easier than thumbnails of different length.
One thign i don\’t like abotu wlmm before I forget: when i want to preview a clip BEFORE i add it to the project helps me to know whether i should add it or not. But now im stuck with adding it to the project thus disrupting the flow of the project and the timing! and almost all the time it ends up being a lcip i decide NOT to add!!!!! add a tiemline microsoft if ya know whats good for your Movie maker series. Right now im thinking of leaving windows 7 just so i can have my timeline back. 7 ain\’t worth it if movie maker ain\’t worth it.
I recently spent a large amount of time editing clips to insert into my PowerPoint presentation for a conference. Upon finishing the edit the playback volume was so low it was barely audible. I then used the XP version of Windows Movie Maker where I could increase the volume and hey-presto, problem solved. From now on I will be doing ALL my editing on the XP version as for a multitude of reasons it is a far superior programme. The accesibility and range of effects (transitions/fades etc/), the timeline and of course the ability to increase the audio. Sorry guys, but Windows Live Movie Maker for me has been a backward step with less functionality.
its nice but not workin in window xp what i do
I\’m trying hard to made WLMM work for me! I\’m trying to slow down the text animation, in both the rolling credits at the end of the movie and during the spin in text effect. I\’ve tried to slow down both the text duration and the duration of the clip, but the clip just stays on longer while the text is too fast to even read and doesn\’t slow down no matter what I do! Any suggestions? Thanks!
Hello Cheryl White,I\’m hoping you and your team actually read these comments and reviews. I agree with the overwhelming majority consensus that WLMM has gone horribly wrong. It sounds like you were really trying to dumb it down by removing \’real confusin-like stuff\’ such as a time-line; this just makes it almost unusable for creating anything more than the most basic of video montages. I can\’t see using this new system to actually edit video clips into a movie file. I will be going back to the older version. In the future PLEASE don\’t assume that most of your users are dummies that can\’t handle a basic movie maker with actual functioning features… it\’s sort of insulting. Maybe it makes sense to have a simple video clip program like WLMM as something separate from the real deal.
I agree with Josh, WLMM is just way too dumbed down compared to WMM. While a I do like several of the changes, I actually find it more difficult to get a similar result as WMM. Also the auto pan of still images in WLMM is usable, it doesn\’t come close to the superb control that Photo Story provided. Luckily I was able to find Digital Image Suite 2006 and get Photo Story to work with Windows 7. Photo Story is a real "killer app". WLMM just doesn\’t cut it.
Why would you take out the ability to directly capture video using the webcam? I\’d like to see how the MS team got this as FEEDBACK from their users. Please put that functionality back in!!! It just ridiculous that its no longer there.
I liked it on first try. I agree it is hard to do it differently when everyone else does it with the timeline etc, but I thought it was a very creative attempt to simplify making an easy movie. It works! It was great to see how easy it was once you had learned where everything was……..most of the things people are missing are there as far as I can see, but you have to learn new tricks, just as in 2007 office. Well done – I do think the advanced users version is a good idea too……….
Has anyone added some music files to a video using WLMM? When I add short files and repeat them to fill in the video, they get shorter and shorter! Any idea why?
Mike or Cheryl,What\’s the status of getting speed up and slow down effects back into WLMM? Many of the users on the Windows Movie Maker forums are used to being able to affect the clip speed to do a slow-motion replay for example. I\’m hoping this will be back in one if the later updates. Also, while you are at it, a long-standing request is for a way to do *reverse* video where it plays backwards (e.g. undunking a basketball, running backwards, "falling" upwards, etc.)
Here\’s another question/suggestion. Currently in WLMM when you hover over a \’Visual Effect\’, you get a short preview of the effect applied to the current clip. However, now if you open up the gallery and hover, you can\’t see the preview because the gallery is covering the video window. How can one see a preview from the gallery?
I\’ve been using WLMM to burn DVD discs of television recordings (MPEG-2). WLMM has been infuriating. The source material is 10 Mbps, or commercial DVD quality. But WLMM\’s only option for burning DVD discs is 3 Mbps. Why??? I\’m losing lots of picture quality! I can see how degraded the video is in the newly burned discs. This is monumentally stupid. You should give us the option to burn at true DVD bitrates.
I also found a subtle, intermittent, and annoying bug. I split the video into several segments to edit out commercial breaks — I set the Startpoint and then apply a nice transition. In preview within WLMM, it looks fine. But when it comes time to save the movie (into Standard Definition wmv, for example), for some segments, WLMM goes past the Endpoint by a few seconds! This *lack of precision* ruins some of my movies. Very infuriating!This is clearly an example of sloppy programming. (I know — I\’m a 20-year software engineering veteran.) How did this program get released so soon?! Between this and my previous comment, it\’s no wonder people switch to the Mac for multimedia work (iMovie). I\’m reminded of the Kylie "I\’m a PC" commercial who so easily creates a movie — what a lie!
excuse my lang. but this wat 2 long an kinda stupiid
Dear Cheryl White,Please reevaluate this decision. Choosing to get rid of the timeline is the ablsolut dumbest decision you could have possibly made. I have editing on everything from two home video vcrs, to 5 thousand dollar SVHS professional editing vcr\’s, and apps that range from Windows Movie maker and IMovie alll the way up to Adobe Premier.Getting rid of the "tradiional" video timeline totally defies all logc at any step of the way from analog or digital editing. A few years ago when I was in high school I spent alot of time in our TV studio teaching many students hot to edit. The timeline is simple as pie, I had students going on the xp version of Movie Maker in literally an hour. I am not sure what user testing you did but the Live version of Movie maker is just a massive step backwards. Sorry Please change this.
I was wondering why Pictures from a networkdrive can\’t be added to a project?I have a 1GB Network drive and my HDD is not much faster!Many customers have their documents on a windows Homeserver or another network drive!Please remove that limitation.
Not having a timeline view for video editing is absolutely ridiculous!
I like Window Movie Maker but there is one thing missing….it is missing the feature where you can take a snapshot of an individual picture from a video. I used to love that. Are there any plan in the future to possibly add that feature again? And why wasn\’t that feature added?
Not having a timeline view for video editing is absolutely ridiculous!why did you take the f\’ing option from us? you tried to work hard to get to a "happy medium level" thanks to those dumb users that are pc illiterate.you should TOTALLY release an update to have the option to have timeline!
I am running Win7 and just imported live HDV video from my JVC HD camcorder. The resulting dvr-ms file properties indicate its size as 720×480. Is this the actual size (which is only SD) or is it really larger, like 1440×1080 or other HD resolution?
I am sorry, but I have tried WMM under Xp and Vista and now WMM Live, and the Live version is a horrible replacement. It has become so dumbed down that it is pathetic. PLEASE give us an up to date version of WMM that plays well with Win7 and leave the dumbeddown version who want something quick and easy with not a lot of features.Having said all that, I don\’t think they read this…..look at all the junk posts.
This program is a load of bobbins…Come on Microsoft!
WLMM a product for us to use? Ain\’t gonna happen. No wonder people are switching over to Apple and iMovie/Final Cut/Express in such huge numbers. Right now I am making my last film using Windows (on WMM 6), as my next will be made on a new Mac.
I can\’t get over how bad this new version is. You can\’t add more than one effect to a clip. So if it\’s black and white you can\’t fade it in or out. Terrible regression. Sort it out guys.
Aweful.Aweful, aweful, aweful!You stripped alot of the most useful elements of WMM.No timeline? Are you serious? It is such a chore now to do anything remotely complicated and made movie making much more challenging… Unless you are dumb and just want to drag clips in and publish as is.Hell, I am using FRAPs to capture footage, and your program freaks out if I try and publish more then a single clip file in a movie.This really is very poor showing for Windows 7…. and I basically just lost a project and evenings work because it fails to publish with the second clip included. Very disappointed… and yea, I glad you like it because I really hate this software and its embarrassing considering the might Microsoft wields.Poor showing.
I would really appreciate having a WMM 6.0 available for download.
I think the primary problem with Windows Live Movie Maker is that you REPLACED a working program that people were relying on with BETA program. I know that version 6.0 runs under Windows 7, because I\’ve got it working — thank goodness. Your decision to make the live beta available but not the 6.0 version, leads me to believe that you think the live beta is a BETTER version than the 6.0 version. Or do you readily admit that it\’s currently pretty horrid? If so, why not make the 6.0 version available until the live version is no longer in beta? Am I stuck with the beta version because it meets your marketing needs?Bottom line: Good intentions for future features don\’t make my current home movies any better. Provide 6.0 as the current version of the product for Windows 7 until you\’re out of beta on the live version, or risk losing me as a user of Windows Movie Maker. I\’ll almost certainly switch to the Live version once it can do most or all of what the 6.0 version can do, but in the mean time, I need working software.
Mac, I thought the same thing about single effects on a clip. The answer is you *can* do multiple effects; it\’s just harder to find the option. Click the "Visual Effects" tab. Now open up the whole gallery by clicking the down-arrow in the lower right corner. You should see the \’Multiple Effects\’ button.For taking a picture, that feature is missing for now but you can workaround it, by pausing and taking a screenshot. It takes more work and I think the WLMM should add it back in soon, please?Also, I agree on the lack of the speed up and slow down effects; where did they go?
Is there a way to put special effects on Windows Live Movie Maker? Like on the old one you could speed up clips and what not, but on Windows Live Movie Maker I do not see it….