Taking video
Taking video is simple and you can use a dedicated video
camera, or the video/movie mode on a digital still camera or your
smartphone. Video from a smartphone or still camera will not be as good
as that taken with a video camera as a video camera will usually have a
much better optical zoom and you will not need to rely on digital zoom
to take closeups. Digital zoom is like cropping a picture - your video
will be of a lower quality.
When using movie mode, the stop and record button
acts as a toggle. You press it once and it starts to record your video.
Press it again, and the video will be paused. In most cameras, this will
create a separate "clip".
Read the following article for more details as well as tips for using video.
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/3438174465/digital-cameras-video-a-beginners-guide
A
video camera will also take still shots, although not usually with the
same quality as a still camera. Some video cameras will also allow you
to take stills at the same time as you are recording video.
Different video cameras, still cameras, and smartphones may use different formats for saving video.
The following specifications are from a cheap digital still camera with a cost of $129.
with the technical specifications as:
This camera saves video as AVI (MJPEG). The Canon IXUS 150 saves video in MOV (H264).
Video Resolution
https://vimeo.com/videoschool/lesson/186/the-basics-of-image-resolution
Windows Essentials
Windows Live Essentials is a free package from Microsoft and includes
Movie Maker and Photo Gallery. If it is not installed on your computer,
you can download it from Microsoft,
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-live/download-windows-essentials#wetabs=we2012
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/music-video-photo-download
Video Editing Terminology
Using Movie Maker to edit video is very
simple. The concept of video editing is to watch your clip in the
preview window, use the split tool to break the video into smaller
chunks, and delete the bits you don't want.
Split
The concept of splitting a video is the same as good old fashioned video
editing. You "cut" out the bits that you don't want and stick it back
together.
Trim
When you split a video clip, you can "cut" out the bits that you don't
want anywhere within the clip as as many times in the clip. Trimming
allows you to only cut out video at the beginning or end of the clip.
Movie Maker Basics
If you want to play along, there is a folder with the videos and images
from this example. These were all taken with my iPhone, so nothing
special used and limited zoom.
This shows where Movie Maker is installed in my Windows 8. If you can't find it, use the search bar.
The main parts of Movie Maker are the preview screen and your
"timeline". You view the timeline in the preview screen. The timeline
represents your end movie.
Use the add Videos/Photos to add selected items to your timeline.
You can apply a theme, animations/transitions, and special effects to any or all of your clips.
To change the order of the assets, you can just drag and drop them into whatever order you want.
Adding Text
A title creates a blank image that you can put text on, whereas captions appear over the current photo or video clip
Other Audio
When you import any video clips into Movie Maker, you automatically get
any audio that was recorded at the same time. If you don't want to play
the original audio, you can mute it using the editing tools.
To add a soundtrack to your video, it is as simple as clicking on the button and selecting your music.
If you had a microphone, you can also add a voiceover or Narration to your movie.
Saving and Publishing your Movie
This is important!!! Movie Maker, like most other video editing tools is
Non-destructive. When you split, delete, or trim a video clip, you do
not actually change the original clip. Movie Maker essentially makes a
list of all of your edits and within Movie Maker, what you preview has
all of your edits that are in the list. When you click Save in Movie
Maker, what you are saving is JUST THE LIST OF EDITS, and not your end
movie. Movie Maker calls this your Project file. Save this if you think
you might want to change anything in your movie at a later date.
To Save your Movie (actual video file complete with all of the edits), you either Publish Movie, which will save your completed video to your preferred social media platform, or you can save it on your computer for playback using Save Movie.
For More Tutorials on using Movie Maker 2012
Class Activity
Using my video clips and images or your own, create a short movie to
practice using Movie Maker. If you want, share your creation on our
Facebook group.
Mac Users
Those using an Apple can use iMovie, which is also a free movie creation tool.