How To Create A Digital Story Using Windows Live Movie Maker

Windows Live Movie Maker has several basic tools with which you should be familiar before beginning to make a movie. To the left of the “Home” tab in the upper left corner, is a Pull-down Menu.

Stretching across the entire Movie Maker window is the Ribbon Toolbar.

The large black window is the Preview Window.

The large area to the right of the Preview Window is the Storyboard.

Below the Preview Window are the Playback Controls.

In the lower right corner, the slider control is a Zoom Time Scale.

Photos and videos can be added. This can be done several ways: 1) Click “Drag videos and photos here or click to browse for them.” 2) Click “Add videos and photos” on the Home tab.

To save your work, Click “Save project” on the pull-down menu on the left.

To play your movie, press the “Play” button or press the Spacebar.

AutoMovie is an option that adds automatic options to your photos/videos. It adds transitions as well as pan-and-zoom effects. In addition, it adds a title and a credit slide. It will also ask you if you want to add a soundtrack, which will fit your content to your music.

Transitions can be added by clicking the “Animations” tab on the ribbon. To change the automatic transition, select another transition on the “Animations” tab. By clicking on the desired transition, it is automatically added to your video.

By clicking the “Visual Effects” tab on the ribbon, you will find options for display effects that can be applied to your photos and videos. By clicking on the desired effect, it is automatically added to your video.

To add music, click “Add Music” on the “Home” tab on the ribbon. You will now see a new tab, titled “Music Tools-Options.” This tab allows you to edit the song track.

To add a movie title, click the “Title” button on the “Home” tab. Enter your movie title in the designated area.

To add captions to your movie, click the “Caption” button on the “Home” tab at the desired location. Edit the text and appearance accordingly by using the “Text-Tools-Format” tab.

To publish your movie, click the “YouTube” button on the “Home” tab ribbon. (Note: You will have to sign in to your YouTube account.). Follow the given prompts. Click the “Publish” button.

You have now successfully created a movie in Windows Live Movie Maker.