Windows live movie maker

One thing I was surprised to find amiss in Windows 7 x64 was Windows Movie Maker. Well, it turns out that some people have managed to get WMM 2.6 (the version supplied in Windows XP) to work in Windows 7. But in the spirit of trying beta software, I thought I’d give the new Windows Live movie maker beta (WLMM) a try. So here is my review of WLMM beta.WLMM is part of the Windows Live Essentials smart installer package which can be downloaded here. When you execute the smart installer, you’ll be asked which of the following parts you’d like to install:

• Messenger
• Mail
• Writer
• Photo Gallery
• Movie Maker beta
• Family Safety
• Toolbar

When you proceed only the components for the packages you have selected will be downloaded and installed. On my system I only chose WLMM. The main interface of WLMM is simple and easy to understand. Just drag and drop an impressive array movie files or picture files onto the right pane and you can start editing.

Once you have added a picture or video file, click the Edit tab to access the main video editing features which are basically mute, trim and add text. For pictures you’ll be able to specify the duration of their stay in the time line.

The next thing you can do is to add a soundtrack or voiceover to your video. WLMM lets you pick from an array of music files (Caution: iTunes m4a format is not supported) to add as your soundtrack. Once added you can use the Fade selector to crossfade the sound between your video’s audio and your soundtrack.

Finally you can “spruce up” your video with some very basic transitions (3) or effects (6) ranging from black & white, sephia, etc. These features are pretty much useless IMHO, but they work well enough.

When your video is ready to be saved you can export it in two formats Windows DVD Quality (640×480) or Windows Media Portable Device (320×240).

Additionally you can also publish your movie to MSN Video or YouTube via this plugin.

So in conclusion, while WLMM beta’s feature set is very limited, all the features it does offer work well. If you’re looking for a very quick free movie editing tool for publishing your cell phone vids to YouTube or MSN, then WLMM is a good contender even if it is still in beta.