The subject has been with us since Movie Maker 2.0 was released. MM2 gave us the ability to add neat video effects and
transitions, but with those features came increased demands on our computer's memory.
We can add RAM and tweak virtual memory settings to get more, but I've watched memory usage during lots of renderings
and have yet to see Movie Maker use more than 2 GB... when it gets to that level, it stalls or crashes. I think the programmers
who made Movie Maker assumed 2 GB was more than enough.
Adding memory will often make it reach that hurdle quicker but do nothing to help you get over it. If that's the case,
it's time to sub-divide the project and successfully render it in parts. Then assemble the parts and save the final movie.
It's become a popular remedy for issues about rendering a movie, maybe too much so. Sometimes it's not the complexity
of the project being the real issue... but for this newsletter let's assume it is.
One of my standard services is to do the sub-dividing for those who don't know how, or prefer to have someone else do
it for them. I've yet to come across one that couldn't be subdivided, rendered and assembled.
Let's look at two projects I've subdivided for others. I'd rather use real-world cases than make something up.
A quick look at the two shows similar complexity in terms of the numbers of things in the project. The wedding project
is obviously made from video clips, as the audio track associated with the video is as full as the video track... video
clips have associated audio but still pictures don't. The soccer video is a slide-show of still pix, with hardly any associated
audio.
Another big difference is in transitions. The wedding video hardly has only a couple, but the soccer slide show looks
like it uses a transition at every possible location.
They each have about the same number of audio/music clips and almost no title overlays.
... before getting into it further, a note...
Note...
Vacation Corner... we're putting the finishing touches on our plans and starting to round up the
things we're taking. I was able to change the August 24th trip to bypass a stop in London. We now have a direct flight from
Chicago to Zurich.
.... back to the main topic...
Assess the Project
When I get an 'overly complex' project to subdivide, I first do an overall assessment to see if it's the right approach,
and to see how feasible it is.
I'll spot check the location and type of source files being used. If video clips are MPG files I'll ask about their source...
to be sure we're not dealing with MPEG-2 files. Even without the source files, the properties of the clips in the Movie
Maker project show their file location and full name.
The wedding project used mostly video clips with .wmv extensions.
and music files with ..wav extensions
Of
course, as I'm PapaJohn and not the one who sent the project file, it'll look for the personally associated files in my
folder.
After passing the source file checks... the next review is for convenient points to split the project.
Notes about the Wedding Project
The wedding project had an overall duration of 2 hrs, 7 minutes, 2.93 seconds. The sum of the parts needed to add up
to that when the dividing was finished and the rendered parts were in the final project for assembly. If they don't add
up to a total duration very close to the original, you need to check things to see what happened.
Keep a copy of the original complex project file to check against as you create the sub-projects.
The figure at the right shows a clean break point at the half way mark... two video clips with no transition between
them, and a change in music files at the same point, with no audio fading from one to the other.
Notes about the Soccer Project
The project had a duration of 26 minutes, 38.33 seconds. It was a typical slide-show, JPG images with durations of exactly
5 seconds each, and with a different transition between each.
The closest clean break I could find about mid-way was this one at just over 19 minutes. There was no transition used
between a title clip and the following video clip... but splitting the project there would be right in the middle of a music
file, and audio blips are much worse than slight visual ones.
With 7 music pieces in the project, and no clear space between them, it appeared that one of the sub-projects would be
the music track. If I saved that first I wouldn't have to think about how any of the divisions would effect the audio.
Touch any of the video clips on the timeline with your mouse, use the Control-A keys to expand the selection to all of
them, and press the Delete key... you'll have this subproject, just the music. Save it as a new project file with a name
like Soccer-AudioTrack.
With the music in its own project, re-open the original project and strip away the music.
Touch one of the songs with the mouse, use Control-A to expand the selection to all the music, and then the Delete key...
Save the project to new file. At this point you'll have 3 project files... the full original, the visual part only, and
the music.
In some cases that might be enough of a subdivision. Render the video and music to separate files and then bring them
in as individual clips and combine them in a final rendering.
But that would be too easy. Let's assume it's not sufficient and break the video into two or more sub-projects.
If we split the visual at the 19 minute mark as shown earlier, it'd be easy to combine the two parts of the video track.
Notes
about the Audio/Music Clips
Music and sound effects on the audio/music track can always be treated as a separate sub-project. The rendered audio
track is often the same duration as the video track. Seeing them come together and ending at the same place in the final
project provides some assurance that the dividing is going well.
If you strip away all the clips on the video track, and all the title overlay clips, leaving just the audio/music...
rendering it to a movie will result in an audio WMA file.
Use the high quality choice and save the rendered audio/music track for the final assembly.
Notes about
Title
Overlays
Check the position of the first title overlay of the group you're going to copy from the master project to a new sub-project,
so you can align it with the clips in the new project.
The soccer project had no title overlays, and there was only one in the wedding project. It was easy to position because
it started at the same time as the final video and music clips.
Copy/Paste skills
Basic copy/paste skills are all you need to move batches of clips from an overly complex project into new sub-projects,
and to position them as needed.
The steps to easily copy a batch of clips from any of the tracks into a new project are:
1. select the first clip of the group you want
2. hold the shift key down as you move to the last clip in the group and select it... all of the clips in the group
will be selected. Don't worry if you don't get enough visual feedback... keep going and assume it'll happen right
3. use the Control-C keys in combo to copy the batch of clips to the computer's clipboard. You won't see anything
until you paste them into the new project
4. open a new Movie Maker project (File > New Project) and paste the batch of clips into it... touch the timeline
with your mouse before pasting to be sure they'll go to the right place. Use the Control-V keys in combo to do the pasting
5. if you're pasting a batch of video clips, they'll all be snuggled to the left... if you're copying a set of
audio/music clips or title overlays, you may need to position them on the timeline. After the pasting, zoom far enough into
the timeline so you can see the starting point for the batch. You can drag them as a group for gross-tuning, and use the
nudge left or right feature as needed for fine-tuning.
If you haven't done it yet, when you have nothing else to do, try copying/pasting a batch of clips from a project into
a new one to see how it works. Fine tune your skills by practicing as needed. It's easier to do than to write about it.
Render the Parts.... and do the final assembly.
Render each of the sub-projects to DV-AVI files (or high quality WMV), and import them into Movie Maker with the auto-splitting
option unchecked so they come in as single clips.
Put the parts on the timeline and render the complete finished project using the quality profile you need. High quality
WMV files need the most memory, DV-AVI files need a moderate amount, and low quality WMV files need the least.
Conclusions and Closing
Subdividing an overly complex project into renderable parts is fairly easy... it just takes a high level of copy/paste
skills, and a disciplined/organized approach to make any notes needed about which clips start where on the timeline.
If you need to split a project such that the final assembly involves adding transitions, make a note of the transition
names and their durations. I'll include such instructions with the sub-projects, saying something like ".... between parts
C and D, add a fade transition of 5.4 seconds....". It's easier if there isn't a transition involved, but sometimes there
is.
Calibrate the computer that is doing the rendering by splitting the project into just a couple parts and rendering one
of them. If it can't get through one part, split that part again... and again... and again as needed. I had one project
that needed to be split into parts that were each less than 5 minutes, even with my 2 GB of RAM. Once you determine the
size and complexity of the sub-project that can be successfully rendered, you can do the project carving as needed.
I haven't mentioned how much RAM a computer needs to successfully do the renderings. It's not really important. If it's
your computer that's doing it, you just need small enough projects to get fully over the rendering hurdles with the quality
choice you need. The goal is to render it on your computer, not mine or someone else's.
With our vacation to Europe less than two weeks away, I'm phasing out of newsgroup and forum postings
for a while... next weeks newsletter will be the last one until I return.
Movie Maker and Photo Story will be on my mind as I shoot video throughout the trip, and Bernadette will have 5 and 7
megapixel cameras for the still shots.
I look forward to comments and discussion about this and other newsletters on the forums at:
Windows Movie Makers.net
Have a great week...
PapaJohn
Movie Maker 2 and Photo Story 3 - www.papajohn.org
Photo Story 2 - www.photostory.papajohn.org
Products and Services
I'm involved in many things that support users of Movie Maker and Photo Story, and adding more regularly. Some are free
and others reasonably priced.
Radio and Podcasting
TheDVShow
is the only weekly Podcast having more useful information about desktop video editing and production than anywhere else
on the Web. Digital video editing, nonlinear editing, streaming media, software releases, tutorials, business tips, technical
help, download of the day and news on the latest products to make everything easier. It's where professional and consumer
desktop video users go to stay on the cutting edge.
Call the phone mail machine to get your technical question answered on the air... call (206)-203-3516
The radio broadcast is from Boston, and the website has downloadable podcast files. The June 19th 2005 podcast was the
first 'bi-weekly' show with a segment about Movie Maker 2.
Books
and Magazines
Movie Maker 2 - Do Amazing Things (with its online companion on
www.papajohn.org), published by Microsoft Press...
Movie Maker 2 - Zero to Hero - with support on the publisher's forum -
Friends of Ed
MaximumPC's winter 2005 quarterly special... had a 7 page tutorial 'Make a Killer Home Movie with Maker
2'. The special edition of the video made for it is now
on my website as a file download.
The November 2005 edition of Maximum PC had a well done reworked 6 page reprint of the same article, starting on page
42 after the Happy 20th Birthday article for Windows.
My new 7 page tutorial about Photo Story 3 is in the Summer Special edition of Maximum PC, now on newsstands in the USA
and Canada.... the sample story is on the magazine's disc.
Learning
VirtualDub - published by Packt Publishing in April 2005, is the first book about VirtualDub software. I wrote
the introductory chapter about downloading and setting up the software: VirtualDub, VDubMod and AVISynth.
Websites
Movie Maker 2 and Photo Story 3 - www.papajohn.org - the site's
3 goals are: Doing Amazing Things, a detailed tutorial for PhotoStory 3, and helping you solve Movie Maker 2 problems.
It's being expanded to include the new version of Movie Maker in Vista.
PhotoStory 2 - www.papajohn.org/photostory2/PS2.html
- a detailed tutorial about using the earlier version.
Online Support - Forums and Newsgroups
I'm a regular on many online forums and newsgroups, the key ones being:
Forums are open to all for viewing, but require registration of those who want to post. Moderators actively
participate to ensure the forum discussions move forward and stay on track.
Movie Maker and Photo Story forums at Windows Movie
Makers
Movie Maker 2 forum at SimplyDV.com
Newsgroups are wide open for all to view and post... moderation is collective by the participants.
Windows XP Movie Maker newsgroup -
microsoft.public.windowsxp.moviemaker
Photo Story 2 newsgroup -
microsoft.public.plus
Photo Story 3 newsgroup -
microsoft.public.windowsxp.photos
Weekly Newsletters
Movie Maker 2/Photo Story newsletter. The subscription is $20 for 52 issues, and the link to subscribe is on the main
page of my Movie Maker website at:
www.papajohn.org
Topics for upcoming newsletters (always subject to change):
#117 - August 19 - open
Aug 26 to Sept 20 - vacation... busy taking video footage for future sample movies
#118 - Sept 30 - open
Newsletters issued more than 6 weeks ago are posted by Rob Morris to an
Archive Site on his Windows Movie Makers'
website. Links from my website pages to specific newsletters make it easier for viewers to see the content of both while
browsing a topic.
Drop an email to suggest a newsletter topic... I can use more requests rather than fewer.
Software
Add-On Transitions and Effects
Transition Maker 2 (TM2) is a utility for the ultimate in
making your own personal and custom transitions for Movie Maker 2. It's a joint product from Patrick Leabo, the programmer,
and myself.
I've
beta tested some of the Pixelan packages and think very
highly of their people and products.
ProDAD's Adorage packages for Movie Maker 2 are additional sources of very professionally developed
transitions and effects. And here are the links
Package
for Movie Maker - Volume 1
PapaJohn's Transitions - Volume 2
PapaJohn's Video Effects - Volume 3
Personal Database
With
more info to manage, consider additional tools that help.
My personal database has been an ongoing project over many years, and is now available to others. A tutorial about using
it is on the Managing > Personal Database page of my site, and more info is in the database package itself.
It's free for the asking to regular newsletter subscribers... send an email request and I'll return it with the zipped
file, which is less than 1 MB.
To others it's $10. To order, use the button on the top of the Managing > Personal Database page.
Online Gallery
An online gallery that fully aligns with the main priority of the website is the
'PapaJohn Expert Zone' at neptune.
Check it at Neptune and the Distributing > Neptune page
of the website, where there's a developing tutorial about how to use the service.
Training
In conjunction with the Portage, Michigan library,
I offer two free training sessions about Movie Maker and Photo Story, an intro session and a workshop. Scheduled sessions
are:
(Summer Break... will re-start late September)
Use the link for the colander of dates, times and sign-up info.
The classroom has a large screen overhead projection system... and individual laptops for each attendee to use. You learn
by doing, with a little guidance from me.
Other fee-based services
If
you can't save a movie because your project has become too complex, e-mail a copy and I'll divide it into
manageable sub-projects, and provide detailed instructions about how to render the parts and assemble them into your final
movie. $49.95 (no cost if it's not the right solution or doesn't work) - for details, see the sidebar on the Problem Solving
> Can't Save a Movie page of www.papajohn.org
Movie Maker 2/Photo Story training and support services start at $75 per hour - send an email -
PapaJohn@CharterMi.net and I'll help you determine your needs,
and work with you to plan and implement them.
Wedding combo website/video packages - check the bottom branch of the Movie Maker 2 website for a sample
of what you can expect for the online portion of the package.
© 2006 - PapaJohn
Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
About John 'PapaJohn' Buechler from Microsoft.com
 |
John "PapaJohn" Buechler, of Kalamazoo, Mich., goes by PapaJohn
online. An avid user of Movie Maker since its first release, and
a regular supporter of the community of Movie Maker users, John
received a 2003 MVP award from Microsoft for that support. In March
2003, he started a comprehensive website about Movie Maker 2 at
www.PapaJohn.org.
He maintains the website, writes books and articles, teaches, and
provides support services - all for the community of Movie Maker
2 users. An engineer by formal education, John is a computer database
and multimedia expert by business and personal experience. He co-authored
the first book about Movie Maker 2 and is actively working on a
second one. You can find his advice in the
Windows XP Movie Maker newsgroup and in the
Windows Movie Makers Forums. |
 This
newsletter is republished with permission of John "PapaJohn" Buechler.
Please note that this is an archive of newsletters and some information
may become outdated. PapaJohn, and the webmaster of this site, provides
this information "AS IS" with no warranties.
Visit - PapaJohn's Movie Maker 2 and
Photo Story 2 Newsletter Index
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