Windows Movie Maker, what is it good for?

[nikos1]

Hi everyone,
im pretty new to this forum and really to RP.net, i have gotten a couple photos accepted and i want to add some of my videos to the database but i have not been able to get my videos to look any good on the computer without saving a .AVI file format which is too big to even upload a clip of one train passing is 150mb in widescreen format, a little less in standard.
The only video editor i have on my computer is the default windows movie maker, its easy to use but the results have been less than desirable.
I use a Cannon ZR500 (same as Chris Starnes i believe 8-) ) and the video looks fine on the TV can read numbers and such (even the tiny numbers on UK trains)
however saved as WMV file even at a high resolution, on Chris Starnes video i can read the numbers though not that well but thats probably because im watching it on medium quality. Can any one suggest what setting in WMM would yield acceptable quality other than NTSC AVI which is too big or what are some other good video editors, ive heard Ulead Video studio is good, im guessing im gonna have to buy one as ive looked for freeware ones and there aren't any.
heres a example of the quality of my video on the computer
http://www.rail-videos.net/video/view.php?id=271
(skip to about 1:00 in i accidentaly uploaded the wrong version :oops: )
or watch it on youtube http://youtube.com/watch?v=lAyilefGTv8
any help would be appreciated, i would really like to submit my videos to rv but with the current quality im not sure its worth it.

Thanks
Nikos Kavoori

[Frederick]

You may want to consider investing in a program such as Adobe Premiere Elements. It is a much cheaper version of their professional software, but with fewer features.

EDIT: Apparently, this program is unstable and suffers from crashes. Generally, Adobe makes a good product, but I guess this isn't one of them.

[IC 6071]

I used to have Windows Movie Maker on XP, and I thought it just flat out sucked. Then on Chrismas, I got a new computer, and that came with a newer version of Movie Maker, and I was very happy with that. The Quality is great, and it is still very user friendly.
-Adam

[alstom]

I have about 7 or 8 videos on rail-videos.net now and could probably get more if I took the time to. I am known as CSXno601 on Youtube and have about 91 videos on there currently. What I use is a Kodak Z730, a retired still photo camera I used. It now does all the videography I need. It is pretty excellent at recording video, except for the occasional muffled, distorted horn. It records in either .AVI or .MOV format. To make it capable of being edited in Windows Movie Maker, I downloaded and bought a system called "Alive Video Converter." A simple, easy-to-use tool that allows you to switch file formats quick and efficiently. On Windows Movie Maker, you can do almost anything to make your movies look professionally edited. Change clips through fading and spinning and so forth. You can narrate the video. You can easily edit out bad scenes, or shaky moments. You can edit out people's voices (you also have to edit out the part of the video in this scenario). Take a look at my videos on Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/CSXno601). See what you think. All recorded with a Kodak Z730, a $110 tripod, a lazy 14-year-old boy (me), Windows Movie Maker and Alive Video Converter.

[Rod Williams]

I use Windows. I have about 70 videos on this site and over 100 on Youtube. For Youtube I compress down to 512kbs and for here I use 1.5mbps. I have a couple on here that are poor quality in that they pixelate.... I don't know what went wrong in the uploading or processing ( by me ). I would prefer to upload here at a lower compression but my ISP gives me a lousy 15kbs upload and if I try anything bigger than 25mb I time out so I'm basically limited to about a 2' clip. On Youtube I get the full 10' at 512kbs.....just under 40mb with no time out problems. I find Windows adequate for working at this level.