windows movie maker began life in 2000, when it was first released for Windows ME. Since then it has evolved, gaining many followers and advocates in the XP era and disappearing in popularity with Windows 7. Unfortunately, Microsoft discontinued its video editor after the release of version 2012, and today, it is very difficult to find it on the net.
This program has very intuitive and easy to use interface, that is why over time it has become a very popular program for both beginners and more experienced users. Movie Maker allows us to work with videos, photos and images. At the same time, it has a large number of effects, transitions and the possibility of adding texts, titles and credits.
Main Features
Although it is far from being a professional video editor like Adobe Premiere, Movie Maker has many functions and features that are not normally seen in other similar free editors.
One of the surprising features to find in an editor with these characteristics is that it has a video stabilization with preview, which allows us to reduce vibrations when recording and see the final result at all times.
This video editor at the same time has many audio editing functions. As well as allowing you to record audio directly from the program, it allows you to edit audio, enhance it, and even normalize and degrade audio. All-in-one for maximum control over audio recordings and narration.
At the same time we found some interesting features when working with video. This program supports a large number of different formats and codecs, allows you to add text with borders and even use full videos as audio so you don't have to resort to third-party programs for separate channels.
Finally, a characteristic that has saved our lives on more than one occasion is that it has a automatic saving of projects. If the program crashes or closes unexpectedly, we can get the job back.
And thanks to hardware acceleration native, the performance of this video editor is more than exceptional, even on very long projects.
Supported formats
Movie Maker allows us to capture videos directly from the program from different sources (camera, scanner, sensors, etc.). And, at the same time, it allows us to import any video and audio clip to the program in the following formats:
- WMV / ASF
- MPG (MPEG-1)
- AVI (DV-AVI)
- WMA
- Wav
- MP3
- MPEG-2
- DVR-MS
- MP4
- 3GP
- FLV
- MOV
- CAA
Previous versions of Movie Maker only allowed you to export videos in Windows Media Video (WMV) and AVI format. However, the latest versions of the program allowed to record video clips with H.264 codec to MP4.
At the same time, it has a large number of profiles to record videos prepared for iPhone, Android and other platforms. Even to prepare them for social networks and platforms like YouTube.
Advantages and disadvantages
Among the main advantages of this program we can highlight that, being from Microsoft, it has been installed by default with Windows for a long time. At the same time, its interface is one of the clearest and simplest so that any user, even if they have never edited a video before, can use it with a minimal learning curve. This program has everything that any non-professional user may need to edit their videos.
But it is not perfect. And among its main drawbacks, it should be noted that, currently, it is software that is not compatible. In this way, we will not receive security updates or correct errors in the program. It should be noted at the same time that, for professional use, it leaves a lot to be desired, both in terms of functions (which are limited) and performance (it crashes many times).
Minimum requirements
Although it is a fairly simple video editor, editing videos is a resource-intensive task. Therefore, if we want Movie Maker to work more or less well, we will have to meet at least the following requirements:
- Operating system: Windows (from 7 to 10).
- RAM: 1 GB (2 GB for HD video editing).
- Processor: 1 core 2.4 GHz (dual core recommended for HD video).
- Graphics card: compatible with DirectX 10 and Pixel Shader 2.0.
At the same time, if we are going to export our videos directly to social networks, or if we are going to have access to any network resource, we will need an internet connection.
Download and install Windows Movie Maker on Windows 10
The main problem we have when trying to use this video editor is that since Microsoft stopped updating it, there is no way to find it. At the same time, there are many websites that try to trick us into offering us similar paid publishers, fake and even malware.
The last Windows Movie Maker review released by Microsoft was in February 2018. And to find it, the best trustworthy site we can find is Archive.org. At following link we can find the installer of Microsoft Windows Live Essentials 2012. This installer includes a series of Microsoft applications, among which we highlight the Movie Maker video editor.
We download the executable from this page (it occupies 131 megabytes) and, when we have it on our PC, we can start the installation by executing the file “wlsetup-all.exe” that we have just downloaded. When installing we have to choose the option «choose the programs we want to install», as shown in the screenshot, and choose only «Photo Gallery and Movie Maker«.
The installation process of windows movie maker. But, at some point, an error will appear. This is due to one of the Live Essentials components, we don't have to worry about that.
We close the error window and that's it. Windows Movie Maker will be installed on our computer. We will only have to look for it in the start menu and we can start using it. Of course, when you first open it, we will need to agree to the Live Essentials Terms of Service to start using it.
Although Microsoft wanted to turn its back on its excellent video editor, Windows Movie Maker still works on Windows 10.
How to put Movie Maker in Spanish
Downloading files from the Internet downloads a Windows Live Essentials in English. Therefore, this program will be in English. However, there is a little trick that will allow us to put it in Spanish if we do not want to use it in that language.
You have to go to the Windows Live installation path (C: Program Files (x86) Windows LiveInstaller) and here run the file "LangSelector.exe".
All Windows Essentials programs will be automatically configured in Spanish, and we can use them without any problem in our language.
At the same time we can choose to download Windows Live Essentials directly in Spanish by searching for it on other websites, but from SoftZone we do not recommend it. The net is full of fake programs and users trying to trick you into downloading fake versions of this editor.
Easy Alternatives to Movie Maker
Although Windows Movie Maker is still one of the easiest video editors we can find, the truth is that, because it is not supported, we may lose updates and functions. Fortunately, there are other alternatives, as simple as this one, that will help us edit our videos with ease.
HitPaw Toolkit
HitPaw is another of the best alternatives that we can find to Windows Movie Maker. This is an all-in-one video editor ideal for users who are just starting to edit and those who are already experienced and don't want the hassle. It offers us all the necessary tools to edit audio and video in a very simple interface. At the same time it allows us to trim videos, add music tracks and convert them to GIF. If you don't want complications, this is your editor.
From there we can download the HitPaw Video Editor.
MiniTool MovieMaker
This MiniTool program is one of the best alternatives to Microsoft's video editor. It even uses his name. It has a very easy-to-use interface, and it has a large number of functions and functionalities so that any user can carry out all kinds of modifications even without difficulty.
We can download this video editor from here.
Wondershare Filmora
Filmora is another similar program that allows us to edit videos. Its main feature is that, while having a very simple interface, thanks to it we can perform more complex editing tasks than those offered by Movie Maker. 4K support and a host of settings at the same time stand out in one of the most comprehensive individual programs.
We can download Filmora from this link.
OpenShot
If what we are looking for is an open source video editor, then one of the best we can have on hand is OpenShot. This video editor will allow us to carry out the same, and even more so, the tasks that we can do with Movie Maker, but with a totally updated, modern software with excellent support.
We can download OpenShot for free from your website.
Kdenlive
For many, one of the best alternatives, more complete at the same time, that can be found for the Microsoft video editor. Kdenlive is an acronym for KDE Non-Linear Video Editor, software originally created for Linux systems but that today we can use without problems on any system, even Windows and macOS. A video editor that offers professional functions and possibilities but without reaching the complexity of other programs such as Adobe Premiere.
We can download this video editor from following link.
