How to Make a Fun Video
I made the Hawaii 5-0 video below from several movie clips I took in the Fall of 2007. To make the video more interesting, I added a soundtrack. Read below for step-by-step instructions on how to make fun videos.
How to Make a Cool Video
Making a fun video is actually fairly easy. I’m on a Microsoft Windows system, so I used a program called Movie Maker. It’s free and should have been pre-installed on your pc at the factory. To make a fun movie, launch Windows Movie Maker and follow the steps below. [Note: the screenshots are from a Vista pc and may look different with XP]
Importing Video Clips
(1) Click on “Videos” (under Tasks, Import)
(2) Locate your video clip and then click on “Import”
(3) Repeat Steps 1 and 2 if you want to use multiple movie clips
Trimming Movie Clips
If you are like me, you will want to remove portions of a video clip. To remove a portion of your video clip, follow these steps:
(4) With the mouse, select the clip you want to edit
(5) Click the play button under the video screen
(6) Hit pause at the point you want to trim the video
(7) Click on the “Split” icon to the right of the Play button (Movie Maker will break the clip into two parts)
(8) Select the clip you don’t want and press the “delete” button on your keyboard
[trimming movie clips in Movie Maker does not alter the original video files]
Making the Movie
(9) Drag the movie clips into the Video Timeline at the bottom of the screen. You can easily reorder the clips by dragging them to different parts of the timeline.
Adding Images
I like to add a static image at the end of my videos. To add a static image:
(10) Click on “Picture” (under Tasks, Import)
(11) Locate your photo and then click “Import”
(12) Drag the image to the desire location on the timeline
(13) To increase or decrease the display time, drag the right border of the image in the timeline
Adding Transitions
With Movie Maker, you can easily add transition effects between movie clips. In my video, I only added a “Fan, In” transition before the static image at the end of the movie.
(14) To add a transition, drag the desired transition between two clips on the Video Timeline
Adding a Sound Track
(15) Click on “Audio or Music” (under Tasks, Import)
(16) Locate your audio clip and then click “Import”
(17) Drag the sound clip to the Audio/Music Timeline (below Video Timeline)
(18) If needed, shorten the soundtrack by dragging the right border of the audio clip to the left
(19) Right click on the soundtrack in the timeline and select “Fade Out”
(20) Mute the audio of the video clips by right clicking each clip and selecting “mute” (otherwise you’ll hear the original audio from the video you recorded)
Exporting the Movie
To save the video:
(21) Click “This computer” (under Publish to)
(22) Enter file name and change location if needed
(23) Select “Best Quality for playback on my computer” (you can also experiment with different formats)
That’s it. It took me longer to write this up than it took me to make the Hawaii 5-0 video.
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Thanks for the tutorial; I didn’t even realize I had this program on my laptop! I’ve been playing with Google Picasa, but I’ll have to give this program a try.
BTW, Spider Boy looks like a pro in that last shot.
Read Desert Songbird´s recent blog post..Manic Monday – Party
I found it by accident on my XP system a few years ago.
Very cute… hawaii 5-0… that takes you back!
Too bad they never got around to making a movie for the big screen. I would like to see a Hawaii 5-0 movie.
River really loved this video. He danced while it was playing.
It’s so cute to see all your children together!
Read Autumn´s recent blog post..Impulse cut
I danced too, but my kids just laugh.
So fun! I love making fun things on the computer. My Mac conversion has been far less painful than I was expecting, especially for things like this. I think your tutorial is great for Windows users though and it’s fun to see what you’ve been up to when you’re not walking the floors with the new one. :)
Hugs,
Holly
Read Holly Schwendiman´s recent blog post..Create
I think Mac’s have iMovie, which is better than Movie Maker. I would like to give iMove a try, but I don’t have a Mac.
Fab….I so needed to learn how to do this….stay tuned..
Read Danielle´s recent blog post..Frightful Really….
No X-rated stuff please!
That was a great video! You made it look so easy. And you made me want to go to the beach!
Read peepnroosmom´s recent blog post..Prissy yelled at him.
Me too. Too bad it’s too stormy to go to the beach this time of the year.
i just ran screaming out of the room. i tend to have a technical leanings, but for some reason, video has always been something i’ve resisted. but, now that you’ve put it out there, i’m going to have to try.
have you heard of gabcast.com???
Read jenx67´s recent blog post..saint super bridgy
Screaming out of the room is exactly the reaction I was hoping for. Nope, never heard of gabcast.