New to WMM

[jschwalm]

I just discovered WMM (don't laugh - I've got 3 kids under age 4) and want to
make movies from my still digital photos. I've managed to figure that much
out, but I don't know how to save the movie so that I can give the disc to
family members w/o computers to watch like a DVD. Can this be done? Your
help is greatly appreciated as I don't have time to "play around" to figure
it out myself. It's my in-laws anniversary and I'd like to make the movie
for them tonight!

 

[Saga]

This is something that I am interested in doing myself. I too just recently
discovered WMM, and no kids to boot!

My plan is to take the pictures and divide them into categories. In my
case it is a wedding, so I am going to divide the pictures in the groom-before,
the bride-before and the newly wedded couple (after). From there I hope to
further divide the after pictures into church ceremony and then reception.
My idea is to create the DVD so that each category is a chapter that
people can select individually, if they so desire.

Then in MM, I'll importthe pictures pertaining to a specific category, thus
creating a project for each category. I'll add music and then create the
AVI movie. If I have 5 categories, that will be 5 distinct movies. I then will
use a specific DVD creation tool to import the AVI movies, create a menu,
a background image (one that is usually displayed while the viewer decides
what to select). In fact, the background image might also be a movie in
itself.

After I have create a project for the DVD I'll burn it and be able to distribute it
for playback on a normal DVD player (I hope).

I still have to evaluate and select the DVD creation software and experiment
with MM to get the desired results, but I hope that the strategy described
will do it for me.

Good luck on your project!
Saga

 

[John Inzer]

I just discovered WMM (don't laugh - I've got 3 kids under age 4) and
want to make movies from my still digital photos. I've managed to
figure that much out, but I don't know how to save the movie so that
I can give the disc to family members w/o computers to watch like a
DVD. Can this be done? Your help is greatly appreciated as I don't
have time to "play around" to figure it out myself. It's my in-laws
anniversary and I'd like to make the movie for them tonight!

==========================
Video editing is complex and there is
definitely a learning curve...all I can say
is good luck with a rush job...

Are you running WinXP or Vista?

Since you are working with still shots...
it may have been a better idea to create
the project using PhotoStory 3:

PhotoStory 3 For Windows
http://tinyurl.com/4f869
or...
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/photostory/default.mspx

Anyway...

Save your Movie Maker project in the .avi
format and use DVD Flick to burn your DVD.
Read the following instructions:

To save as an .avi movie file...
(and several other options)
Type...Ctrl+P to open the Save Movie Wizard /
Choose...My Computer /
Next /
Enter a Name and a Save Location /
Next /
Show More Choices /
Other Settings /
Open the drop window and choose...DV-AVI /
Next /
Wait while the movie is saved /
Finish...

DVD Flick
http://www.dvdflick.net/

Be sure to read the Guide:
http://www.dvdflick.net/guide.php

--

John Inzer
Digital Media MVP

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk

 

[sonia]

This is something that I am interested in doing myself. I too just recently
discovered WMM, and no kids to boot!

My plan is to take the pictures and divide them into categories. In my
case it is a wedding, so I am going to divide the pictures in the groom-before,
the bride-before and the newly wedded couple (after). From there I hope to
further divide the after pictures into church ceremony and then reception.
My idea is to create the DVD so that each category is a chapter that
people can select individually, if they so desire.

Then in MM, I'll importthe pictures pertaining to a specific category, thus
creating a project for each category. I'll add music and then create the
AVI movie. If I have 5 categories, that will be 5 distinct movies. I then will
use a specific DVD creation tool to import the AVI movies, create a menu,
a background image (one that is usually displayed while the viewer decides
what to select). In fact, the background image might also be a movie in
itself.

After I have create a project for the DVD I'll burn it and be able to distribute it
for playback on a normal DVD player (I hope).

I still have to evaluate and select the DVD creation software and experiment
with MM to get the desired results, but I hope that the strategy described
will do it for me.

Good luck on your project!
Saga

 

[sonia]

I have also just starting with WMM, this is the problem:

I have compiled the pictures in the order I want, and added the titles to
each one. BUT, after saving the project when I reopened all the pictures
were compressed into the timeline. When I switched to storyboard, I could
not input another clip, after switching to storyline I could not see where I
wanted to input the clip, then when I tried to expand the pictures back out,
could not without messing up the titles, so I AM VERY FRUSTRATED.

If anyone out there has an answer, please let me know.

 

[BK]

With the time line view, you can use the page down key to enlarge what you
are seeing. Conversely, page up will compress the pictures together.