After Windows Live Movie Maker released, are you going to upgrade from Windows Movie Maker to Windows Live Movie Maker? If you have no idea at which one you need to choose, simply have a look at the below comparison between Windows Movie Maker and Windows (Including Windows 8) Live Movie Maker. Here the comparison will be put in the following four aspects: Layout, Video input, Editing and Output.
Windows Movie Maker VS Windows Live Movie Maker
1. Interface
Window Movie Maker: As you see, the main interface of Windows Movie Maker is consisted of a Storyboard, a Timeline, a Preview window and an area to display your source media files. In the Timeline, you can edit videos, audio and titles separately.
Windows Live Movie Maker: Besides a lighter color scheme, Windows Live Movie Maker drops the Storyboard, Timeline and some drop-down menus. The design is quite clear and you can find almost all the functions you need on the toolbar: add files, video effects, edit videos, publish videos, etc.
2. Video Input
Window Movie Maker: You can either add videos from your computer's hard drive or capture the video with a camera connected to your computer and then add the recorded videos for editing. Supported media formats include WMV, ASF, MPG, AVI, WMA, MP3, etc. If you're running Windows Vista Home Premium or Ultimate, you will be able to import MPEG-2 and DVR-MS videos to Windows Movie Maker.
Windows Live Movie Maker: You can import video, audio and image files to the new movie maker. Compared with Windows Movie Maker, Windows Live Movie Maker supports more media formats, including ASF, WMV, M2TS, WTV, MP4, MOV, VOB, AVI, etc.
Note: If your videos are not supported by Windows Movie Maker or Windows Live Movie Maker, you will need to convert the videos before importing with a Video Converter Ultimate.
3. Video Editing
Window Movie Maker: Drag the media clips to the timeline to start editing your home movies. You can copy, paste, delete, split, etc. videos on the timeline. By right-clicking a video clip and choose Edit, you can edit the videos in various ways. Moreover, preset titles, effects, transitions, etc. are provided to make your video amazing.
Windows Live Movie Maker: Now you don't need to drag the media files to the Storyboard and edit them in the Timeline area. All the video editing effects can be seen in real-time, making it convenient for you to ensure all goes well.
4. Finished Videos
Window Movie Maker: You can only export the edited video files as WMV or DV AVI format. Older version of Windows Movie Maker doesn't allow you to transfer the video project to Windows DVD Maker for burning. Luckily, now all users can use Windows DVD Maker to burn the video to DVD as keepsakes.
Windows Live Movie Maker: More output choices are provided for you in Windows Live Movie Maker. You can either save the movie as SD or HD videos files. Or share it to YouTube/Facebook directly by filling in the necessary info. You can also burn the video to DVD for playing on your home DVD player or TV. Moreover, it allows you to publish the movie for mobile devices and even sent it via email.
In conclusion, we highly recommend Windows Live Movie Maker, here are a few reasons I think you will enjoy the new-and-improved Windows Live Movie Maker for it's easier to create beautiful videos wit more customization features and convenient to share your movies with the world.
Software you may need for Windows Movie Maker or Windows Live Movie Maker
1. Video Converter Ultimate
Since some video formats are not supported by Windows Movie Maker or Windows Live Movie Maker, in order to edit those video files in Movie Maker, you will need to convert the videos to Movie Maker compatible video formats first with a video converting tool.
Free download Video Converter Ultimate
2. DVD Ripper
If you want to edit DVD movies in Movie Maker, just get a DVD Ripper and rip DVD to Movie Maker highly compatible video files and then edit the ripped files and create a home movie with ease.
3. Windows DVD Maker
When you finishes your movie making in Movie Maker, you may want to burn the videos to DVD for preservation or sharing with family and friends on the big TV screen. Just get a DVD burning software and convert the homemade videos to DVD with custom DVD menus!
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I like the current version! (mostly with Windows 7 or 8)
Once I have completed my movie on movie maker and saved the project it is saved in mp4 format the problem is how do I go about recording it to a dvd so it can be played on a dvd player?
You can use Movie Maker 6.0, it''s identical to movie maker 2.6 but is compatible with Windows 7/8/8.1
Freakin HATE windows live mm!!!!!! nothing makes sense with this idiotic program. i have used wmm2.6 until recently when (with recent updates to windows) now it doesnt work. bring it back!!!!
omg i so agree. i have stayed with old movie maker 2.6 but now with the latest windows update it wont work. really tried to work with windows live and it sucks!!!! so difficult to use. do not understand how to make one movie from three nights of filming(no problem with old movie maker) and i HATE not having a storyboard
I just downloaded movie maker to my son''s Windows 8 computer. I just edited a movie for him and had sound but then when I saved the movie the sound disappeared. Any suggestions of what could have happened?
I felt better w/ the 2.6 version of WMM
totally agree - given it a fair go now but WMM Live is awful to use, time consuming to edit and all over the place - WMM with the timeline was so easy to see at a glance and fade and add titles and soundtrack exactly where you want them. What sort of research led MS to create this version - been better to make the old timelien version more widely compatible .
no chroma key in live wmm!!!!
after a few hours of extreme frustration and wanting to spike my laptop in to the ground i agree with all you've said. this software is shit and about as accurate as playing pin the tail on the donkey with a blindfold on. annoying enuf to lose my mind!!!