I created a quick movie called Seeing the Wind from some .avi video and .jpg pictures taken with a Cannon PowerShot S2 5 MP camera that is old but trusty. The resulting WMV file created using the below instructions was about 20MB, and even at fullscreen, it looks great on my computer. That is the way I want it since it is my master file for converting to different platforms, like iPod Touch and cell phone (3GP format). The conversion for the iPod Touch is the one I uploaded to YouTube. Frankly, it looks way better on the Touch than on YouTube. That is understandable, as I'm sure YouTube converted and re-encoded it again to be smaller in size for streaming.

Make a Movie

Windows Movie Maker (WMM) comes with XP and Vista and is a free, easy to use tool, that lets you take raw files (pictures, movies and other media) and organize them into a movie. It is typically found in the start menu – Start > All Programs > Accessories > Windows Movie Maker. Getting your raw files into the program can be tricky and takes some getting used to.

Screenshot while making Seeing the Wind with WMM



When the movie is ready for prime-time, and I want create the final file I use the File > Save Movie File.. menu item, and follow these steps.

Step 1 - Select the location..


Step 2 - Self explanatory.. where you want WMM to put the finished movie file..


Step 3 - This sets the parameters for the encoder (sets the movie quality and size).
What you do with the file later will determine what you pick here. I always pick the best quality here since I will be re-encoding and converting for iPod or phone later and want the best quality master file I can get. Copies and conversions of files can never be better than the original!


Step 4 - Click next and wait for your movie!