How to Capture Video

How to Capture Video

…using Windows Movie Maker (SP2) (remember to

Save your work often)

The ability to capture video into Windows Movie Maker is dependent on the basic setup (Operating System, permissions, etc.) of the computer as well as the codecs which are loaded onto the computer. (More on “codecs” later)

A movie captured on one computer may “play” correctly, while not so on another, if the codec is not loaded properly on the second computer

The ability of the computer to “play” the movie correctly through an external display device (such as a projector) may also be affected by the codec that is installed on the computer

No video can be seen

although it is

playing…

When inserting a movie file it is best to insert files with the .wmv suffix or .avi suffix. Most often the codec associated with these file types is loaded automatically whenever the computer is set up originally

Trying to insert movie files with the .mpg or .mov suffix will generally be more difficult. (There are several codecs associated with the .mpg suffix and the codec associated with .mov is usually found on a Macintosh computer only)

(You may be able to convert movie files using QuickTime Pro or other such downloadable software. Often the audio portion that results with these conversions is not of the best quality. For instance, QuickTime Pro can be used to convert some files to the codec associated with the .m4v format, thereby enabling movies on iPods, but cannot be used to convert certain .mpg files without losing all sound associated with the movie)

Use a digital camera to import a portion (or all) of a video tape into Windows Movie Maker (Service Pack 2)

Start Windows Movie Maker from the start menu in the lower left corner of the screen

The success of this venture is dependent on several factors…

• Acquistion of the right kind of camera – the camera should be matched to the computer onto which the movie file is to be imported


• Shown here with a “shoe” attached that enables the connection of cables–


• Matching the connection of the camera with the computer – most computers will only allow a USB connection from a camera. USB 2.0 or IEEE 1394 (commonly known as Firewire) is preferable. (NOTE: Many GCPS computers have only a USB connection)


• If you computer is not equipped with a built-in firewire interface…you can find a PCMCIA card that will provide this interface…


• Inclusion of software to manage the transfer – usually the camera will come with software for transfer. Take care to load the software correctly. For instance, most Sony cameras require that the software be loaded onto the computer BEFORE the camera is connected to the computer. The software must be loaded onto each computer that is to be used for transfer of the movie files


• Availability of large quantities of free hard drive space – it is best to keep movie files stored on an external hard drive. Many software programs prefer this. A typical movie file can grow quite large, with 5 minutes of video occupying 1 GB of space

Movie files can also be captured from other (non-tape) media such as memory sticks or SD cards. However, the video that usually results uses the codec associated with .mpg files, and often cannot be imported into presentations

Movie files can be captured from VHS and DVD format as well. It is necessary to have a video camera with Pass Through capability. (Fewer video cameras are enabled with this capability. The Sony DCR-HC96, some Sharp models, and some Canon models may be used in this manner)

Click on Collections to make it active

Attach the video camera as you have determined will work with the computer that you are using. At this time you might be asked to provide software included with the camera to manage the transfer. (See Slide 10 above)

Turn on the camera and position it into the Play/Edit mode

At this point the computer may prompt you with the information that a camera has been attached (if not, then move to Slide 31)

If there is a problem with the interface, you will see this screen. It that is the case, return to Slide 13 and repeat the connection to the interface

If you happen to connect the camera before you start the Windows Movie Maker software, here’s the screen that you see…

In either case, enter a name for the video file and Browse to determine a storage location. The default location is the My Videos folder within the My Documents folder

In this case, since we will save our work to an external drive, navigate to that drive and to the folder on the drive into which the work will be saved

Select Make New Folder, being careful that the name of the folder can still be changed

If by chance, this does not happen, but rather the folder is named “New Folder” you can right click on the name, and Rename the folder to a name of your choosing

In either case, press OK when you are finished

You may select Next to proceed

You will be prompted to select a video format. The .wmv format is selected. Generally, this results in a smaller size video file, and this format is usually accepted by any Windows computer

Choose to capture “parts of the tape manually.” You may select to preview the video as it is captured. This may slow down the capture and affect the quality of the video after capture. But this usually happens only when capturing video of greater length

If you are not prompted, as described in Slide 21, select Capture Video from the File menu. Since this is an electrical connection between devices from different generations, sometimes the connection is not made and an error message results…follow the guidelines for troubleshooting the connections at this point. Otherwise…

Position the digital video tape to a location just before the video that is to be captured. This will need to be done beforehand, with the camera in the Play/Edit position

At this point select Start Capture

Depending on the type of camera, and capture card (firewire interface) it may be possible to press Play and operate the camera directly from within the software

Monitor the video capturing as it takes place. Be sure to monitor the time elapsed, and the size of the file. You should be able to monitor the video that is captured

If prompted start the camera. When the video that is to be captured has completed, stop the capture

If you were able to Start the camera with the Camera Controls, you can Stop the camera in the same manner

In either case, once you are finished, select Finish

At this point it is a good idea to save the actual Windows Movie Maker working file

Be creative with the filename. Use some part of the name to describe that you are in the build mode

After the video is captured the file data will be imported into the Collections inside Windows Movie Maker. A new collections folder is created each time media is imported. If you can’t find your video clip, try clicking on one of the other collections folders. Depending on how you chose the file data will be one complete file, or broken into several clips

Often, an icon will be placed into the Collections folder that has an X on it. Click on the X if necessary to reveal the captured video

Preview the video to determine quality by selecting play from the video preview window to the right hand side of the screen. The video now can be trimmed using Windows Movie Maker

No video can be seen

although it is

playing…

“Grab” the icon which represents the video file, holding down the left mouse button, and slide it onto the timeline below…

Drag it onto the Video portion of the timeline and position it adjacent to the left margin. (If you don’t, you might have gaps in the final video which is produced)

The timeline will indicate that a video clip is positioned, ready for editing. You can preview the video clip again by selecting play from the options in the toolbar just above the timeline

If sound was recorded as a part of the captured video clip, it will appear in the Audio section of the timeline as well

Select Storyboard just above the Video timeline

This gives you an alternative view of the captured video. You can switch between these views

It is also possible to capture a still picture from the video clip, by pressing the camera button on the preview window to the right

…or by selecting Take Picture from Preview from the Tools menu

By default, the My Pictures will be chosen as the storage location. It is better to place the pictures into the same folder as the captured video

Rename the picture accordingly

Migrate to the chosen storage location

Perhaps it is located on the external hard drive which may have been attached

Follow the steps necessary to save the picture file

The picture will now appear in the Collections folder

By clicking on the “magnifying glass” marked with a + you can expand the timeline to make editing the clip easier

Find the beginning point of the section of the clip that you want to “cut out” of the entire video that was captured. Click the timeline at that point

Select Split from the Clip menu

In a likewise manner select the ending point for your clip. Be sure to select no more than 30 seconds to 1 minute worth of video. Even the shortest clip can require a great deal of disk space for storage

Select Split again from the Clip menu. If the command is greyed out, select the Video timeline again

Select Split again from the Clip menu

Once the “clipping” is complete, it will be necessary to delete each of the parts of the clip that are no longer needed

Select the first section of the video clip…BEFORE…your first split

Select Delete from the Edit menu

In a likewise manner select, and delete, the section…AFTER…your chosen clip

Grab the section of video clip that remains and move it to the left margin, if necessary, keeping it on the Video section of the timeline

The program file with which you are working is a Windows Movie Maker file. The video clip is stored within this file. It is not “damaged” by the “cutting” of video unless you delete the video clip entirely from Collections. You should save the working file (unless you have already done so using Slide 40) which will save as a .WMM file. Windows Movie Maker “crashes” often. Especially if the video production begins to be lengthy

You can Mute the video file if you would like. Do so by right-clicking on the Audio portion of the timeline

Select Save Movie File… from the File menu

The Save Movie Wizard will guide you through the process of saving the “movie” file. Select My Computer but pay attention to where you save the file. If you are planning on incorporating this movie into a PowerPoint file, you should save the movie to the same folder into which the PowerPoint file will be placed. If not, you will need this movie file for creating a DVD

Name the movie and click Browse to decide where you will save it

It is preferrable to save the new file in the My Videos folder for retrieval. However, if you are planning to import the movie into PowerPoint you should save the movie into the same storage location as the PowerPoint file into which it will be placed

Select the Video to Transfer folder in this case, as well as the Lesson Capture folder. Click OK to complete the process

Click Next to continue the Wizard

Make no changes on this screen, and press Next. If the setting is not WMV, an earlier setting was changed

The Wizard will show, briefly, the progress of the saving function and then give you the option of watching the “rendered” movie. Click Finish to complete the editing process

The movie will play within Windows Media Player

Close the Windows Media Player window

At this point you will take the movie file that resulted (probably ending with the .wmv suffix) and using DVD burning software, create a DVD. From within Windows Movie Maker you can only burn to CDs