Photo Story 3 to Silverlight

This week I'd like to take you through the steps to take a story from Photo Story 3 to an online embedded Silverlight player and see it playing on a typical website page...

Click the link or picture to view my sample... playing as a file download from my website.

For this full-sized snapshot, I manually sized the browser to get the player and text positioned on the grid so they looked good. The player controls are a bit small, but you can use them. Just a short single line of html code was needed to embed the player and video in the web page.

The Silverlight process can use wmv video files made by Movie Maker, but not stories made by Photo Story 3.... different codecs are used to make and play them. That's why we have to take the story through the Expression Media Encoder.

The forums of

SimplyDV are back... having been closed from April 2nd to July 19th for a long holiday and face-lifting.

It's under the same owner Colin Barrett, and you may recognize a couple of the moderators (Graham Hughes and myself)...

As the forums at WindowsMovieMakers.net have almost all of today's forum traffic about Movie Maker, I look forward to helping reshape the parts of the forums that cover the broader sphere of Microsoft video and multimedia products.

Images can now be included in posts at SimplyDV... provided they not exceed 600x600 pixels in size, with a file size maximum of 60 Kb.

Stories are compressed with the Windows Media image codec and can't be used in Silverlight packages, which needs wmv files compressed with a Windows Media video codec. You could use Movie Maker to convert the story, but for this exercise I'll use the Expression Media Encoder.

I downloaded fresh copies as I wrote this, and installed them on my Vista Home Basic laptop. Until now I'd only been using the Encoder on my XP laptop.

The installation, followed by the update, went well using whatever the defaults were.

To open the Encoder use Start > All Programs > Microsoft Expression > Microsoft Expression Media Encoder... even easier in Vista is to just type a few letters such as 'enc' and select it from the short list of apps and files you'll see.

When prompted... enter the product key to extend the trial version from 30 days to 180. That'll get you well past the end of the year holidays, even if you procrastinate in putting your end of the year stories and movies online.

I made a new story for the newsletter, a tweak of a Manarola, Italy story I'd previously made to use as the opening clip of one of my vacation movies.

I then dragged and dropped it from a file manager (Total Commander) into the Encoder. Drop it anyplace and it'll know where to go.

Here's a screenshot of my encoder session... ready to press the 'Encode' button that generates the Silverlight package. If you only wanted the video file, don't select a template. Choosing a template gets you the full package including the video wmv file.

My story was widescreen, but with the frame around it I didn't want it letterboxed. I opted for the 'Stretch' mode in the Video Profile settings. Some distortion is acceptable and preferred to the letterbox black bars being part of the video under the overlying frame.

The encoder calls it an 'Overlay Icon' (see the above picture), but I use it for any sized overlay, up to full-frame images. For this sample I used a picture frame with its center cutout and made transparent (using Paint.net). It's a png file I use as an overlay in Movie Maker.

Uncheck the 'Maintain Aspect Ratio' in the 'Overlay' settings area. That lets you stretch it to full frame size... or any other size and position over the story.

Be sure to pick one of the choices with RC at the end of its name, or it won't work in the latest Release Candidate version of Silverlight. The template provides the style for the online player. If your list doesn't include those with RC, then you have the Encoder but not the update.

c:\Users\John\Documents\Expression\Expression Media Encoder\Output\TOSHIBANOTEBOOK 8-26-2007 2.16.32 AM

You don't need to understand what all these files are... just know that the wmv is the video file made from the story, and the Default.html file is the website page to open... or call on from another page.

To see it playing in a full-sized Silverlight package on a web page, open the Default.html file with your browser. Here's a link to my sample...

I got a Silverlight update message when first previewing... you'll probably also need an update, and your browser will need restarting after the update... quick and easy.

If you see only blackness in the player, check that the template you used included an RC extension. A template with the same name but without RC won't play in the latest Silverlight version. Re-render it with an appropriate template if needed. I know this because my first one was only blackness.

To a website... any website. That's all you need for an online Silverlight experience... playable on Windows and Mac computers.

Beyond that, you may want to use someone else's video in an online Silverlight package, or embed your package in a website page with other things on it.

The Silverlight player is using a wmv file, which is a file-download process. The file goes into a temporary Internet file folder.

In Vista I got it by using the Internet Explorer 11 menu > Tools > Internet Options > General tab > Browsing history Settings button > View Files > sort by Type > change the sort order so it goes from Z to A > the Windows Media Audio/Video file type will be toward the top of the list > select the file and copy it to another more accessible folder.

Here's the total html code for my sample page... the Encoder did all the hard parts. All I needed to do to embed the Silverlight player with the story was to include an iframe in my website page.

My files are all in the same folder so I didn't have to tell it the path to the Default.html file.

You're seeing my typical html editing using Notepad... not pretty, just functional.

You must have detected by now that I have a pretty positive bias toward the new Expression Media Encoder. This newsletter adds another positive test sample to my experiences with it. I'm careful to do lots of testing before heavily investing (time and effort, not necessarily money) in a new software package.

What I can still use is some feedback from Mac users... can you view my Silverlight packages?

I have some experimenting ahead of me to learn more about how to best embed Silverlight players, sizing and positioning them on website pages.

We're taking off for a long holiday weekend of fun with one of our sons and his family... Have a great week and enjoy your summer fun and video work...

I look forward to comments and discussion about this and other newsletters on the forums at:

I'm involved in anything and everything that supports the users of Movie Maker and Photo Story, and adding more regularly. Some are free and others reasonably priced.

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. The frequency of radio Q&A sessions about Movie Maker has fallen off as submitted questions are minimal. Maybe Vista will perk it up a bit.

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

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.

A six page article Making Movies with Vista was in the Spring 2007 Special Edition (page 78). It covered the movie making process from camcorder tape to viewing it on a standard video DVD.

The 2006 Summer Special edition included a 7 page tutorial Create a Ken Burns-Style Slideshow with Photo Story 3.

The November 2005 edition had a well done reworked 6 page reprint of the article about Movie Maker, starting on page 42 after the Happy 20th Birthday article for Windows.

The 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 on my website as a file download.

Movie Maker and Photo Story - www.papajohn.org - the site's goals are: doing amazing things, providing a detailed tutorial for PhotoStory 3, and helping you solve Movie Maker problems.

It's been expanded to include the version 6 of Movie Maker in Vista, along with the new Photo Gallery and DVD Maker apps.

PhotoStory 2 - www.papajohn.org/photostory2/PS2.html - a detailed tutorial about using the earlier version. It's been a long time since I've updated anything on it, but it still gets pretty good viewer traffic.

I'm a regular or moderator 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.

SimplyDV - for camcorder hardware and Apple, Windows, and any other video editing software. Include pictures in your posts to help explain them.

Newsgroups are wide open for all to view and post... moderation is collective by the participants.

Movie Maker/Photo Story newsletter. The subscription is $20 for 52 issues, and a link to subscribe is on the main page of www.papajohn.org or the Products and Services page.

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.

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 , including the new packages for Vista, 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. Here are links

I use a lot of professional background music for movies and stories that was created by Randon Myles, and act as his agent in selling tunes individually.

There are 62 tunes available from 4 of his many albums... at 99 cents per tune (MP3 or WMA format). Here's a Sample - 45 seconds from 'Groove 2'. The 4 albums are: In the Fields of the on-Feretin , Music for Film Volume III, the Emerald Way, and the Fourth Door.

I don't have a full set of online samples yet, but if you hear something you like in one of my videos, there's a good chance it was done by Randon. Send an email if you are interested.

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.

neptune Mediashare is the preferred file download service for Movie Maker users... there's a 'PapaJohn Expert Zone' where I keep many of my samples and personal videos.

Check it at N eptune and the Distributing > Neptune page of the website, where there's a developing tutorial about how to use the service.

... and mydeo is the preferred video streaming service. Many of the video samples for newsletter are on it.

In conjunction with the Portage, Michigan library , I offer free training sessions about Movie Maker and Photo Story, an intro session and a workshop.

Classes will resume at the end of summer, when schools re-open. We'll be re-inventing the topics offered, as the subject of Movie Maker doesn't draw very many... maybe topics such as making and uploading videos to YouTube, and vacation videos to Trip Advisor... using Movie Maker as the tool rather than the primary subject.

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 Living Projects section of the website for samples of what you can expect for the online portion of a package.

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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