Windows XP [Electronic resources] : Visual Quickstart Guide, Second Edition

Editing a Project

Now comes the fun. To begin editing your project, you add captured or imported video, audio, or pictures to the storyboard/timeline. The storyboard/timeline clips become the contents of your project and future movie.

The storyboard and timeline both display your work in progress, but from different perspectives. The storyboard displays the

sequence of clips (Figure 11.8 ); the timeline displays the

timing of clips (Figure 11.9 ).

You can preview your entire project or a particular clip in the Monitor.

To switch between storyboard and timeline view:

Press Ctrl+T (or choose View > Storyboard or View > Timeline).

or

Click the Show Storyboard/Timeline button on the toolbar.

Tips

Timeline time is displayed as hours:minutes:seconds.hundredths of a second (h:mm:ss.ss).

Some editing tasks can be performed in both storyboard and timeline views; others, in only one view.

To add a clip to a project:

1. In the Collections pane, click the collection that contains the clip that you want to add to your project.

2. In the Contents pane, click the clip that you want to add (or Ctrl+click to select multiple clips).

3. Drag the clip (or multiple clips) onto the storyboard/timeline in whatever order you like (or choose Clip > Add to Storyboard/Timeline).

Tips

To rearrange your clips, just drag them to a different location on the storyboard/timeline. You also can move or duplicate clips with the usual Cut, Copy, and Paste commands in the Edit menu.

To move a clip only slightly, select it; then choose Clip > Nudge Left/Right (timeline view only).

To remove a clip from the storyboard/timeline, right-click it; then choose Delete (or select it and press Delete). To remove all clips, press Ctrl+Delete or choose Edit > Clear toryboard/Timeline.

If the timeline's clips become too cramped or too spread out, you can zoom to change the level of detail displayed. From the View menu, choose Zoom In, Zoom Out, or Zoom to Fit (or press Page Down, Page Up, or F9, respectively).

Timeline Tracks

Each timeline track (refer to Figure 11.9) shows specific items that you've added to a project:

Video. Shows video clips, pictures, and titles. If you add video effects to a clip, a small star icon appears on that clip.

Transition. Shows video transitions between clips.

Audio. Shows the audio that's included in any video clips.

Audio/Music. Shows audio clips that aren't part of the video track, such as narration and background music.

Title Overlay. Shows any titles or credits.

To preview a project or clip:

To preview a project, choose Play > Play Storyboard/Timeline.

or

To preview a clip, select the clip; then choose Play > Play Clip.

Tips

The Play menu and the Monitor's playback controls let you play the current selection continuously or frame by frame.

Press Alt+Enter to preview in full-screen mode. Press Esc (or Alt+Enter again) to go back to normal.

Movie Maker's AutoMovie feature creates a movie quickly and automatically based on the selected clips or collection.

To create a movie automatically:

1. Select a collection in the Collections pane or select multiple clips in the Contents pane.

The selected clips must contain video and/or pictures that have a combined duration of at least 30 seconds. (An audio clip must be at least 30 seconds long.)

2. Choose Tools > AutoMovie.

3. Select an AutoMovie editing style.

4. If desired, click the More Options links to enter a movie title and select audio or background music (Figure 11.10 ).

5. Click Done, Edit Movie.

Tip

After you create an AutoMovie, you can save it with the Save Movie Wizard or make further edits, just as you would when creating a project and movie manually.