Video Editing Software | Strengths | Weaknesses |
Windows Live Movie Maker Technical Support | Free Easy to use AutoMovie feature Playback/preview feature Supports multiple resolutions and aspect ratios Comes pre-loaded with transitions and effects Capable of exporting to DVD and Zune media players, but can only import from QuickTime MOV and QT, AVCHD, and various MPEG-4 formats and online sharing sites Supports .M4V, .WTV, .MOV, AVCHD, MPEG4, MT2, RAW, and 3GP | Only outputs videos in WMV format Does not support H.264 Limited “power” tools and options Only for Windows 7 and Vista Limited technical support availability/options Does not support exporting to Apple products such as the iPhone, iPod, and iPad (not really a weakness as these are not standard) |
| Zwei-Stein ZS4 Video Editor (v.0960) URL http://www.zs4.net/downloads Technical Support | Free Rich in advanced features Unlimited number of audio/video tracks and effects for each track More than 120 effects built-in Playback/preview feature Full automation control for all track and effect variables using keyframes (cropping, zooming, panning, volume, rotation, opacity, and key-color) Lets user define parameters such as output size and frame rate Audio/video loop feature Exports uncompressed video (i420 format AVI) Built-in audio digital sound processor (DSP) RGB, chroma key, color-picking effects and tools Supports iyuv/i420, yv12 and yuv9 AVI, MJPG AVI, MPNG AVI, WAV, JPG, PNG, BMP, AIF, SND, ICO, CUR, GIF, PNM, PBM, PGM, PPM, XPM, XBM (input), and i420/iyuv-AVI, motion-JPG AVI, motion-PNG, AVI, WAV (output). However, on Windows only DV type 2 AVI files are supported. | Complicated, confusing to use No technical support, user relies on forum Requires powerful hardware specifications Works on Windows, Linux, and Mac OSX operating systems For Windows users, only DV type 2 AVI files are supported |
Windows Live Movie Maker is a free and simple video editing program from Microsoft, and is a part of their Windows Live Essentials suite. It appears similar to, and does the same things as, the now-discontinued Microsoft Photo Story 3. The user interface, or UI, is split between a full-featured toolbar (similar to the ribbon interface that other Microsoft programs have), a video preview pane, and a content pane.
Operation is simple. After choosing content, it appears as clips in the content pane in what looks like a storyboard. You can drag and drop clips to order them and can mix and match videos with photos. From here, you can proceed manually and discover some of the application's more advanced features, or use the program's “AutoMovie” feature, which makes a final movie that includes a title, credits, and simple crossfade transitions between each clip. If you so choose, it can also fit the length of the video to a song or other audio track. When the AutoMovie process is complete, you can edit the title and credits as well.
Manual editing is also as easy and simple. You can do things like add captions, which come complete with optional special panning effects, custom fonts, transparency settings, and even cusotmizable start and end times. The program comes pre-loaded with transitions – for video clips as well as photos – and you can choose among more than 60 different transitions, and even edit their duration. For photos, you can set how it pans and zooms while onscreen, a la Ken Burns's documentaries.
Windows Live Movie Maker also offers 20 visual effects, and if you prefer, you can use two or more on the same clip using a Multiple effects tool. Visual effects include brightness controls, grayscale filters, horizontal and vertical mirror images, and more.
Additional editing features include 4:4 and widescreen 16:9 aspect ratios for your project, fine-tuning audio tracks, rotating clips, editing the audio mix , and other useful functions.
After finishing your project, the program offers ways to share it such as posting to YouTube (which is easy if you already have an account there. All you have to click the YouTube button, fill in some information about the video, and then click Publish. Windows Live Movie Maker will process the video and then upload it to YouTube. Other sharing sites are available, such as Facebook, SmugMug, Picasa, PixelPipe, Multiply, and Drupal, but you have to download plug-ins for each site.
Another feature of Movie Maker is creating and uploading an HD movie, and you can choose between 720p (1280 x 720) or 1080p (1920 x 1080) resolution – which is a high-quality video, with an 8 Mbps bit rate, and is the highest resolution currently on HD televisions – so people who view the movie online will have that option. The resulting movie is in the Windows Media Video, or WMV, format. Other formats available include 720p HD at 6 Mbps, 480p widescreen (720 x 480) at 3 Mbps, standard definition 480p (640 x 480) at 3 Mbps, portable device or phone (320 x 240, 1.7 Mbps), a smaller file for email or instant messaging (320 x 240) at a significantly lower bit rate of 291 Kbps. However, as previously mentioned, the only file type supported is WMV. One caution though, YouTube doesn't allow you to use copyrighted music in the videos you upload, so please be careful in choosing your audio soundtrack.
Movie Maker also lets you burn a DVD, which creates a local 720p WMV file with a bit rate of 3 Mbps. After the file is created, Windows DVD Maker launches and starts a new project with your video as the file.
This program is compatible with both Windows Vista and Windows 7, and the application provides support for additional video formats--including QuickTime MOV and QT, AVCHD, and various MPEG-4 formats, but these are available on Windows 7 only, as Windows 7 provides native support for these formats. Sadly, H.264 output, which is the current and preferred standard for video compression by professionals. Also, Windows Live Movie Maker does not run on Windows XP, but previous versions of Windows Movie Maker is available for this version of Windows.
ZS4 Video Editor
The other highly reviewed program I picked, Thugs @ Bay's Zwei-Stein Video Editor, now renamed to just ZS4 Video Editor, is highly regarded by video professionals on the free and open source side. That being said, this program is not for beginners as it is very complicated and confusing, but one can refer to the tutorials posted on http://www.zs4.net/tutorials. After importing a file, it appears on the Import panel, where you can preview video and audio using the playback controls below the waveform display. To select a section of a video or audio file to add to the project, you can either draw the area with the mouse, or use the start/end selection buttons located to the left of the playback controls. The program has what are called “dig” buttons to the right of the play controls. The manual details that, “the dig button (single heart) can be used to save one or more selections (digs) for future use. These will still be available the next time the file is loaded into ZS4. Use the next dig button (multiple hearts) to navigate between digs.” A feature that makes this program really advanced but hard to use is that media are arranged in descendant/child layout, where the main track is called the “MediaMixer,” and all tracks are descendants thereof, but each child can have their own descendants as well. Like I said, it becomes highly confusing as it can become convoluted if you use this feature. However, the “Project Tree View” helps in this regard by giving you an easier snapshot.
Using effects is not any easier. To change the settings for an effect, select the effect in the track treeview and click on the "current" tab, next to the arrangement (track display) tab. There will be a large representation of the current frame with several drawing tool toggles below it. Click the toggle you want to use and then use the mouse to draw on the frame. Every effect will have different toggles allowing you to draw the affected area, color pick, set rotation angle, and more depending on the effect. You can also manipulate the variables directly using either the “Vars Tab List View” or the variable settings tab.
When finished with your project, get to the export tab, by either clicking on the export icon on the appropriate track or selecting the appropriate track in the tree view and click the track button at the top, followed by the export tab. To save a JPG, BMP OR PNG still image (PNG preserves transparency), type a file name in the output-file text entry field followed by a an extension of .jpg .bmp or .png. It will be stored in “home/t@b/export/todaysdate” on Linux, or “C:\My Documents\t@b\export\todaysdate” on Windows. To export only audio, use a .wav extension. If the export video button next to the text entry field is depressed, be sure to un-depress it, or else export will not work. To export video, either don't specify an extension (AVI is default) or use .zsv for exporting MPNG files (if you use Windows and have no decoder for this format. Doing so, ZS4 will be able to read the file, bypassing the default program, Windows Media Player. To specify a different folder to save the file to, you might use something like this under Windows: “C:\My Documents\My Videos\My Stuff\myvideo” or on Linux “/home/me/whatever/video,” or you can use the browse button to select a location and file name. The default save location for video and audio is My Documents or home. The audio and video toggles are used to mute video or audio output in the exported file. The quality slider should NOT be set to 100 and should potentially not be set to anything above 0. For exporting video, there are four choices: IYUV/i420 (uncompressed format), Motion JPEG or MJPG (this is included with libavcodec which comes with mencoder), MVJP, OR MPNG.
Reflection:
My computer runs Windows 7, so my choices were limited to the ones that are available for this operating system. Another limitation is good user reviews if only for two reasons: I want to use something that works, and I do not want to download a virus or other malware onto my only computer. After an exhaustive Google search, I narrowed my choices down to Microsoft's own Windows Live Movie Maker and Thugs @ Bay's ZS4 Video Editing Software. I must confess that I had a really hard time using ZS4, especially after using the user-friendlier Movie Maker. The user interface (UI) and the options proved to be too overwhelming for me that I cannot imagine myself using it beyond this assignment. On the other hand, Movie Maker is a breeze to use. It also helped that I used another Microsoft product with a similar UI for the previous week's assignment, Microsoft Photo Story 3. Its limited file type support did not hamper my usage as I am an avid Microsoft user, with Windows 7 and Zune loaded on my computer and the hardware to match. For my use too, the other formats, aspect ratios, and availability of effects and transitions is not really a big requirement. Rather, my priorities would include ease of use and compatibility with the school's computers that run Windows and corresponding file types.
From this point forward, I think I will add Movie Maker to my arsenal of digital storytelling tools and instructional technology as well as tell my fellow teachers about it. It can also prove to be handy when it comes to “Meet the Teacher Night” as well as PTO meetings to make video presentations about the years past or a preview of the year ahead. Its ease of use and handy “AutoMovie” feature will probably win my fellow teachers, especially those who are easily intimidated by technology.
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