Video production
Have you wondered about how difficult and expensive it would be to edit your home video movies? Anyone who has held a video camera for more than a few minutes has had the experience of shooting something you really don't want to share; that shot of Uncle Joe picking his nose at a wedding; the time you accidentally hit the button while carrying the camera and shot 30 seconds of your shoes; the big football game where somebody jumped up right in front of you and all you got was the back of their head...
Perhaps you just want to add some background music or some narration, or maybe a few captions and credits. The great news is that video editing on your home computer has become relatively easy, and some of the tools to do it are FREE.
Most people today have computers equipped with the Windows XP operating system. If you have Windows XP or the new Vista, you have a tool already called Windows Movie Maker. If you have an early version of XP or have never upgraded to Service Pack 2, you may have version 1. Windows Movie Maker version 2.1 can be downloaded from Microsoft at no cost.
Windows Movie Maker can be used to do all kinds of basic editing including cutting, trimming and rearranging your shots (called "clips"), but is also capable of adding a surprising number of professional looking special effects like transitions and dissolves. Windows Move Maker is intended to be a simple, basic tool that covers everything that most casual home video editors might want or need, and it succeeds. You can work with an audio music or narration track, and there is a simple "Title and Credits" tool that allows you to place lettering on the screen.(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
