| Tip: | This article only has information pertaining to video editing on a PC. If you have any information on editing video with a Macintosh, feel free to expand on this page. |
Editing your own wedding video may be time consuming, but in the end it will be worth it when you have produced a beautiful video where you exclusively own the rights.
This page will feature step-by-step instructions on how to edit your own video, as well as tips and tricks.
You'll need special video editing software to edit your video file. Windows Movie Maker should be installed with Windows XP. If you don't have Windows XP, there are others, such as Avidemux.
Windows Movie Maker
Import Your Video File
Don't use Open Project to try to open your video; it can only be done with video editing projects done in Windows Movie Maker. Instead, import the video file by pressing Ctrol-I. The following file formats are supported: ASF, AVI, MPG, M1V, MP2, MP2V, MPE, MPEG, MPV2, WM, WMV. (WMV, Windows Media Video, is the file format that Windows Movie Maker builds.)
After you imported the file, it should appear in the Collection space for you to use.
Still Images
You may even import still images, sound effects, and music files as well. If you do use a still image as a video clip, the default clip duration is five seconds, but you can drag the end of the clip to make it any length you want.
Cropping and Splicing Clips
At the bottom of the window, go to the timeline. If you're seeing the storyboard, click on Show Timeline.
Drag your movie onto the Video part of the timeline. Now, you may trim off the video from the beginning or the end by dragging on either edge of the video. To add another clip from the video, just drag and drop your video again into the video timeline and trim that new clip.
While you're trimming, look at the preview screen to see when you want the clip to begin and to end.
If you accidentally cut off more than you wanted from the clip, you can stretch the clip back to restore lost footage.
Video Effects
You can apply various effects on each individual clip. Note that the effect will apply to the entirety of the clip. However, you can apply more than one video effect on the same clip.
To apply video effects, you can right click on the clip (in either the storyboard or the timeline) where you want the video effect, then select Video Effects... from the context menu. From there, you can pick and choose which video effects you want on the clip.
Fade In and Fade Out
Sometimes you might not want choppy, abrupt cuts between clips or at the beginning or the end. To solve this problem:
- For the first clip, you can apply a Fade In video effect.
- For two clips, you can apply a Fade Out video effect for the earlier clip and Fade In for the later clip.
- For the last clip, you can apply a Fade Out video effect.
Transitions
If you would like to move between clips without abruptly cutting or fading out and in, you can use various video transitions.
 Transition from one clip to another using the Circle video transition. In this case, go to the storyboard by clicking on the "Show Storyboard" button. Between each clip, there should be a small box. This is where you drag and drop the video transitions. To access the video transitions, go to the combo menu on the top toolbar and select "Video Transitions." Here, you can browse all the various ways that a movie can cut from one clip to another:
- If you want a traditional smooth cut, use Fade.
- For a cut like in Star Wars, use Wipe, Normal Right.
- For a cut like in several earlier Super Nintendo games, use Pixelate.
- There are many other available Video Transitions that look like they would be used in some old game shows from the 1970s.
Fading In with Circle
If you want to fade into a clip with an opening circle like in really old movies, you can use a black screen image as a clip, then put it right before the clip you want. Then put in the Circle transition between the black screen and the clip.
Titles, Subtitles, and Credits
Go to Titles and Credits... under the pulldown menu Tools. The easy-to-use interface will guide you through everything you need.
Subtitles
If you would like to add subtitles (especially if something spoken or read in a foreign language), select Add title on the selected clip in the timeline. Then select Change the title animation and select Subtitle.
The subtitles will appear as title overlays on the timeline, so you can move them around and time them as you please like with the clips, and they can be timed independently of the clips (they can be moved from one clip to another or even between clips).
Saving
Be sure to save your movie editing project (Ctrl-S) so you can go back to it later if you make any mistakes. Then save the movie file (Ctrl-P). You can set the quality of the movie file. However, all saved movies will be in WMV format.
Postediting
After you completed your video, you may want to fix it so it looks even nicer than before.
VirtualDub is an open-source video postprocessor. Although not all codecs may be supported by VirtualDub, you can use various filters to help you make finishing touches to your completed movie.
The following filters and plugins for VirtualDub may be very useful:
- Deshaker - Fixes various "shaken camera" and other errors that come from handling the camera used to record the video.
- The Filters of Donald Graft contains various other filters that might be useful (look under "Mine" on the left frame of that site), such as:
- Brightness/Constrast (UI Enhanced) - Preview the movie while adjusting contrast and brightness.
- Logo - Adds an overlapping logo or other image to the screen.
- Red/Green/Blue Adjustment - Adjust color settings that don't look quite right.
- Smart Bob - Doubles the frame rate (number of frames per second), making the video smoother (like in many TV shows).
- Smart Resize - Adjust the picture size. The additional features help you figure out what size you need.
- Windowed Histogram Equalization - Attempts to adjust colors such that image detail is increased and less cloudy.
Uploading
Google Video, Ourmedia, and YouTube allow you to upload your video file. Be sure to check each site's policy on size, format, etc.
Sharing and Licensing
Those three video upload sites have different policies on how you and how (or if) others can share your video.
Google Video
Google Video allows others to view your video. You can also allow them to download them or embed them on their Web sites if you like.
Ourmedia
Ourmedia allows users to download your videos. You may even apply Creative Commons licenses to your videos if you want people to share them on the Internet.
YouTube
YouTube provides HTML code by which you (or others) can embed your video on their Web page. This code is an authorized direct link
to your video on YouTube. You may also make your video "private" to make it harder for people to find your video.
Transfer to DVD
You can transfer your video to DVD. To do that, you will need a DVD ROM burner on your computer, or a DVD-ROM drive that can both read and write DVD discs.
Before burning your video to DVD, you need to convert your movie to a DVD image. You can do this with a tool such as Avi2Dvd (Avi2Dvd is free and also comes with a menu creator; a quick guide can be found here from the Avi2Dvd site).
External Links & Sources
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