Chapter 9 Mastering Digital Video

Working with Windows Live Movie Maker was quite fun. At first I was frustrated because I didn't understand what I was doing, but after I got going, it became clearer and with practice using this app will become second nature. Some of the features have been moved around because I have the latest version of Windows Live. For example, the audio mixer was moved to the project tab...um that made no sense to me. Why not put it in the audio group?  I also had issues with the splitting feature. This is where you can remove any portion of a video you no longer want. I didn't quite understand fully how this works, but with practice I will master this. Playing around with the features like adding titles, changing background color, adding animations etc., got my creative imagination running wild. I loved all of the saving and publishing options including saving in HD format. One of the coolest features is the AutoMovie where you can apply a theme and Windows Live Movie Maker will make the movie instantly.

I've never done anything like this before other than using my digital camera and now my Razr Maxx smart phone to create videos. Now that I've gotten my feet wet messing around with this application, I want to do something fun with the video of my oldest granddaughter's ballet recital and incorporate still shots of her little sister's performance (I did not get a video of her performance sad to say). Then, I shall surprise the girls and their parents with grandma's brilliant creation, ha! One of the things the chapter discusses is how to publish a movie (or any video) to YouTube. This is something I have done with the dance recital I mentioned above. It is a terrific way to share a video with family members who would be interested in seeing it.

This is my final post for this class. It's been a fun learning experience working my way through the chapters and various capabilities of Windows 7. The final activity is a question and answer session about Movie Maker, such as what are the basic steps to create a movie, what is a transition, an effect. This last chapter is my favorite because it's new and I love learning new things.