Moviemaker can't make the movie file

[Robo]

I've captured the scenes from my DV cam and saved as .wmv format.
Then I've tried to add transitions between the clips. It's ok, no problem yet.
At the and I've tried to save as a different .wmv file.

At this point Moviemaker couldn't complete the whole movie. First 52MB is done,
the full file should be 800 MB.

I've tried at home and at the office. Last night I didn't shut the computer down
and Moviemaker was running all night long. Just %11 completed and
partial file size was 52.292 KB and there was no increase. Moviemaker was not
frozen, I've cancelled the process easily.

Is it possible to make a large .wmv file from another .wmv file? I want to add transitions
between the clips.

XP Pro En SP2
Moviemaker 2 + Transitions + Video effects
AMD XP 2500+ / 1 GB Ram / 15 MB free disk

 

[John Kelly]

Hello there,

I had exactly the same problem a few months back. For me the problem was
caused by a number of JPeg images I had used. I converted them to BMP and
the problem went away.

In addition, you can get unpredictable problems if you have any MPEG, or
MP3 files in your project. Converting them to AVI or WAV will remove those
as a possible cause.

Yes, within any limits imposed by your machine you can add very large
wmv files and compile them.

Best Wishes.....John Kelly
www.the-kellys.org
www.the-kellys.co.uk

 

[Robo]

I've found an explanation of my problem at: http://www.eicsoftware.com/PapaJohn/MM2/MM2.html

===
Or you don't get a message; the progress meter doesn't start showing progress, or it makes some progress and just doesn't finish. Or
the forecast time to completion stops going down and then starts going up. You wait and wait, and finally give up, thinking that
Movie Maker has stopped working.
===

I've captured easily in variable bitrate .wmv PAL video format. 800 MB. in 75 minutes.

I've edit the video clips, added a few trainsititions, there is no mp3, or other things.

Now I can't save

 

[John Kelly]

Hello there,

I've found an explanation of my problem at:
http://www.eicsoftware.com/PapaJohn/MM2/MM2.html

===
Or you don't get a message; the progress meter doesn't start showing progress,
or it makes some progress and just doesn't finish. Or
the forecast time to completion stops going down and then starts going up. You
wait and wait, and finally give up, thinking that
Movie Maker has stopped working.
===

I've captured easily in variable bitrate .wmv PAL video format. 800 MB. in 75
minutes.

I've edit the video clips, added a few trainsititions, there is no mp3, or
other things.

Now I can't save

Yes, Thats what I thought your problem was, not being able to save the video.
What was the explanation you found for not being able to save? (stuck at 52MB)

I should point out that if it is offered (depends on your camera) the best
capture type is DV-AVI, however it is also the largest format in terms of
amount of disk space.

Best Wishes.....John Kelly
www.the-kellys.org
www.the-kellys.co.uk

 

[Robo]

I don't want to capture the cassettes again, and my .wmv files are ok
I mean their quality is enough.

And I don't want to use another software but I think I will.

I will try this: I will import all of the clips then save as another file to test
Moviemaker can save or not...

 

[John Kelly]

OK, as you wish.

Best Wishes.....John Kelly
www.the-kellys.org
www.the-kellys.co.uk

 

[Guest]

John,

it seems to me you're saying that even though MM2 can save in the default (wmv) format, it is finicky. For this reason it's best to stick with the AVI format "always". I myself would prefer to watch a movie on a tv in a lounge chair rather than at a computer, so I see no reason to ever use the wmv format.

Kirk

 

[John Kelly]

Hello there,

it seems to me you're saying that even though MM2 can save in the default
(wmv) format, it is finicky. For this reason it's best to stick with the AVI
format "always". I myself would prefer to watch a movie on a tv in a lounge
chair rather than at a computer, so I see no reason to ever use the wmv
format.

No I didn't say any of that. I said that if the option to capture included
DV-AVI then that was the best possible format to capture in. I make no
reference to where it should be played or on what device. Optimum viewing is
obtained by always working with the highest quality format prior to creating
the disk type of your choice with whatever software you have at hand.

I have not been able to understand the original posters messages, they seem to
be going around in a circle, I have decided to leave it with them.

 

[Robo]

Hi again.

First I have to say I could save my file without any transitition effect.
I think I've got a problem with transititions.

Second my clips have taken in a classrom and the light conditition is not good.
The clips look like noisy a bit. Then highest .wmv quality is enough - variable bitrate PAL- .

A few clips have taken in the direct sunlight - at the beach - and those are perfect pictures.

I want to fit six cassettes in a DVD and my format should be .wmv

And I can not capture in DV-AVI because my laptop which one has a firewire port has no free disk space and
Moviemaker can't save the file in a network drive

Moviemaker is a simplified tool like Notepad and it doesn't inform us what it does in the file process time.
So I don't know where it has stuck and why... I've got only a not completed partial movie.

 

[John Kelly]

Hello there,

Hi again.

First I have to say I could save my file without any transitition effect.
I think I've got a problem with transititions.

In that case see below my signature for a possible set of solutions.

Second my clips have taken in a classrom and the light conditition is not good.
The clips look like noisy a bit. Then highest .wmv quality is enough -

variable bitrate PAL- .

OK

A few clips have taken in the direct sunlight - at the beach - and those are perfect pictures.

I want to fit six cassettes in a DVD and my format should be .wmv

And I can not capture in DV-AVI because my laptop which one has a firewire

port has no free disk space and

Moviemaker can't save the file in a network drive

Trying to save a real time capture across a network would be a problem
but not absolutely impossible, depending on the type of network.

Moviemaker is a simplified tool like Notepad and it doesn't inform us what

it does in the file process time.

So I don't know where it has stuck and why... I've got only a not

completed partial movie.

Yes, thats where the confusion arises, in an earlier message when I
offered help you replied that you had found your solution on another web
site.

Take a look at the information below my signature, maybe there is a
solution there for you.

Best Wishes.....John Kelly
www.the-kellys.org
www.the-kellys.co.uk

You sound as though you are suffering from a codec problem. There are two
root causes and below you will find the solution for each together with some
notes on other issues.

Option 1)

The one stop solution for that is a program called Rename Codecs and it is
available from my web site (Free). Make sure you check out the FAQ, on the
site, on what it does and how to run it (That will take about one minute of
your time!!) All the info you need is on the web site. The latest version is
1.51.

This reassuringly safe to use program requires no knowledge on your part
about what it is doing or how it is doing it or what it is doing it too!!!
neither do you need to know where any of these files are or whether it is
safe to rename them or not.....and best of all, ITS FREE !!!

Option 2)

If this does not solve your problem then try the following out...it has
proved to be a successful procedure for a variety of problems.

1) Download the full version of DirectX Ver 9.0b, Media Player 9 and Movie
Maker 2.

2) Reboot you computer and Install DirectX

3) Reboot again and install Windows Media Player 9

4) Reboot yet again and install Movie Maker 2

5) Reboot one more time

Yes it sounds very tedious, but if you want to be certain all file locks
are removed so that the correct files can be installed this is the way you
have to go.

It is very important that you only download the full versions of these
programs and that you DO NOT attempt an install over the internet.

Other Notes
===========
Graphic Card Acceleration
-------------------------

There is advice floating around that you should disable the graphics
acceleration abilities of your graphics card if Movie Maker locks up or
crashes out. Doing this is roughly equivalent to taking out your current
graphics card and replacing it with one that is several years old....this is
not the way forward!

The Graphics card on the machine I edit on is a cut above the average, it
has DV In & Out as well as Video In & Out. It does all sorts of clever
things and it is extremely fast. Then the day came when I tried Movie Maker
2 for the first time. It was a disaster. Knowing what the problem was I
immediately logged on to Microsoft and got the latest driver. There was no
change with the performance of the Graphics card with respect to Movie
Maker. After a lot of messing about I went to the cards manufacturer and
downloaded there most recent driver. I was convinced that the one from
Microsoft was in some way defective. It turned out that I was right but for
the wrong reason.

The version of the driver from Microsoft was more recent than the one on my
system AND more recent than the one from the OEM.BUT, the OEM had made minor
changes to how the card worked and these were not taken into consideration
by the Microsoft update!!!

So, do not get the generic update from Microsoft until you have tried the
latest driver from the manufacturer of your card.

Registration
------------

There is in my view some very bad advice floating around that tells you to
unregister the offending codec. If you take this advise be warned that
unregistering any file and doing it wrong will more than likely stop the
program that file belongs to from working all together and may in an extreme
situation cause your entire XP system to fail. This is true whether you make
a mistake using the Registry editor or the registration program itself, one
mistake and you are potentially in deep trouble. Whatever you unregister in
this manner has to be restored and you should take note that the
registration of a codec can often involve more than one registry entry. If
you are expert in these matters you will have no problem.

I have also found that MP3, Mpeg and Jpeg files can cause problems, So...

Convert all MP3 to WAV or WMA

Convert all MPeg to AVI

Convert all Jpeg to BMP

Video Conversion
----------------

For Video Conversion you should also check out the Knowledge Base Section
of my "Great Links > Knowledge Base" One of the website's in there called
"Video Help" has the best collection of useful information I have yet come
across on converting between the various formats together with links to the
software needed.