Storyboard/Timelinelost Gone

[Windancer]

Using Windows Movie Maker with Vista. Made a great movie for my first time.
Burned two DVD's supposedly at 16:9 ratio. However they turned out as 4:3
ratio. Opened the project which was saved and backed up on an external hard
drive as well as the file for the DVD burn. I wanted to change some of the
time on the movie but when I opened the project, everything is there but not
on the storyboard or timeline.

This was my first attempt using WMM and after all the time I spent on it, I
am disappointed that everything is gone. What have I done wrong so this does
not happen in the future or is there a way to get back all my lost work.

Thanks for any assistance.

 

[John Inzer]

Using Windows Movie Maker with Vista. Made a great movie for my first
time. Burned two DVD's supposedly at 16:9 ratio. However they turned
out as 4:3 ratio. Opened the project which was saved and backed up on
an external hard drive as well as the file for the DVD burn. I wanted
to change some of the time on the movie but when I opened the
project, everything is there but not on the storyboard or timeline.

This was my first attempt using WMM and after all the time I spent on
it, I am disappointed that everything is gone. What have I done wrong
so this does not happen in the future or is there a way to get back
all my lost work.

Thanks for any assistance.

====================================
The Movie Maker .mswmm project file is the
one used for re-editing. Is that the file you re-
opened in Movie Maker? And...BTW...the
..mswmm project file does not include your
source files...it simply records the path to the
original locations.

If you opened the .mswmm project file and only
see Red Xs where the source files should be...
that means they are no longer in their original
locations. If you know where the source files are...
you may be able to right click the Red Xs and
browse to the current location and hopefully
re-establish the path.

If you opened the .wmv movie file in Movie Maker...
that's all it is...a movie...the source files would not
be a factor.

--

J. Inzer MS-MVP
Digital Media Experience

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

 

[Windancer]

I opened the mswmm file. All the pictures, videos and audio files are there
but nothing on the storyboard or timeline.

I opened the same file several times earlier to do editing. I saved each
time I added or changed something and had no problem opening the file again.

I "published" two DVD's in Windows DVD Maker. This program even said it was
saving the project before sending to DVD Maker. The DVD's burned fine. I
opened the project later on and "published" again. No problem. I can't even
open the movie in DVD Maker as it says "Windows DVD Maker cannot add the
selected Windows Movie Maker project because it contains only audio
files..........". Now I can't even burn more DVD's. This was a holiday video
that seven friends went on so I wanted a copy of each person.

 

[John Inzer]

I opened the mswmm file. All the pictures, videos and audio files are
there but nothing on the storyboard or timeline.

I opened the same file several times earlier to do editing. I saved
each time I added or changed something and had no problem opening the
file again.

I "published" two DVD's in Windows DVD Maker. This program even said
it was saving the project before sending to DVD Maker. The DVD's
burned fine. I opened the project later on and "published" again. No
problem. I can't even open the movie in DVD Maker as it says "Windows
DVD Maker cannot add the selected Windows Movie Maker project because
it contains only audio files..........". Now I can't even burn more
DVD's. This was a holiday video that seven friends went on so I
wanted a copy of each person.

======================================
Apparently the last time the project file was saved
the timeline had been cleared...I have no idea why.

The following steps may be worth a try for making
copies of your existing DVD..

(FWIW...it's always a good idea to create a System
Restore point before installing software or updates)

The following freeware can be used to create an
ISO Image of your DVD and also it can burn that
image on additional DVDs.

ImgBurn Download:
http://tinyurl.com/bbppnd
or...
http://www.digital-digest.com/software/download.php?sid=470&ssid=0&did=1

How to create an image file from a disc with ImgBurn
http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?showtopic=6379

How to write an image file to a disc with ImgBurn
http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?showtopic=61

--

J. Inzer MS-MVP
Digital Media Experience

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

 

[Windancer]

Hi John:

Thanks for the suggestion. I downloaded ImgBurn and I was able to burn the
balance of my DVD's. This saved me a lot of work.

Thanks again.

 

[John Inzer]

Hi John:

Thanks for the suggestion. I downloaded ImgBurn and I was able to
burn the balance of my DVD's. This saved me a lot of work.

Thanks again.

==========================
You're welcome.

Thanks for the update.

--

J. Inzer MS-MVP
Digital Media Experience

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