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How to make a movie using Windows Photo Gallery

Guest post by: Mash Bonigala

Article Overview: The windows photo gallery is a fun program for do-it-yourselfers who would like to show off their photo art work in an interesting way. Anything you want from fan art of your favorite band to pictures of your family reunion. While it is not a Top of the line movie making software program, it is fun and simple to use. I have included here my step-by-step instructions on how you can make your own movie in a small amount of time using your home computer.

How to make a movie using Windows Photo Gallery

The windows photo gallery is a fun program for do-it-yourselfers who would like to show off their photo art work in an interesting way. Anything you want from fan art of your favorite band to pictures of your family reunion. While it is not a Top of the line movie making software program, it is fun and simple to use. I have included here my step-by-step instructions on how you can make your own movie in a small amount of time using your home computer.

Selecting photos

Open the program from the start menu on your desktop. Next, select the pictures you want to make your movie with using any of the following methods; click and drag around the photos you want, shift click the first and last photos, control click to select photos that are scattered randomly in the available photos field. Once you have your photos selected you can move on to the fun part!

At the top of the window select the Make a Movie option. This takes your selected photos to a new window where they are automatically placed in the storyboard at the bottom of the window.

Placement of the photos in your movie

The story board indicates the order in which the photos will appear in your movie. If you do not like this order you can click and drag the photos to their proper places. If by chance a picture you did not want in your movie made it in to the story board, simply right click on it and click Remove.

Adding effects and transitions

On the left side of the window is a Tasks pane. In this pane you will find several options from importing media to publishing and finishing your movie. Since we already have the photos to be added we will begin under the Edit heading. Here you find a Effects option. Selecting this opens the effects you can use in the main pane of the window. When you have found one you want to use, simply click and drag it onto the picture you want to apply it to. The Transitions option works in basically the same manner. Select the option you want and apply it to the frame you want it on. These are fun things that will liven your movie if you use them right. Remember, you have to apply them to each frame individually, so if you want the same effects the whole way through the movie you have to drag and drop them into each frame. The small boxes in the Storyboard next to your photos will tell you what effects or transitions are already applied to each picture If you hover your mouse pointer over them. You may also right click on individual frames and select the effects and transitions you want from there.

You may add titles and credits to your movie by selecting the Titles and Credits option. This option takes you to a new pane in which you may choose where you want your titles displayed. Clicking Titles at the beginning presents you with a script box where you will enter your text. Once you have entered your text into the box you may select Title Animation to change how it appears on your movie. To use this, simply select the option you want and click add title. If you notice, now you have a new frame in your story board pane just for the title. The other options work in much the same way, except that you may now choose specific clips to have credits before them, overlay titles on, or put credits at the end of your movie. You may also want to change the font and color of your text, this option appears in the same field where you enter your text. Selecting this option rings you to a new field where you are presented with several options for the appearance of your text. For example; you may choose Comic Sans MS for a fun photo, or Times New Roman for a more professional look. The color should be in enough contrast to the background color so that you can read it without straining your eyes. There are also options for size, position and Bold, Italics, and underlines.

Adding music/sound files

At the top of your Tasks pane where the Import options are there is an Audio or Music option. Clicking this will open a new window for you to select from your computer a sound file to put into your movie. Select the desired file and click import. You music file now appears in the main pane of the window. If you click and drag this file to the story board your storyboard switches to timeline mode. You may switch between these two modes at any time by clicking the down arrow just to the right of the word Timeline or Storyboard.

Once your Audio is added you can adjust which slide it starts on by clicking and dragging the sound to the desired location. If you click on the Timeline link a menu appears, this is the same menu used to select between timeline and storyboard modes, however, you can also use it to select Audio Levels and the option to narrate your movie by recording yourself speaking. When you are finished recording you are given the option to save it. Once saved, it is then added to the timeline pane as another part of the Audio/Music bar.

Finishing up

Now that you have all of the elements you want in your movie you may want to watch it through a few times to polish up the edges. Move this here or that there, find the optimum frame to begin or end your sound or music on, etc….

Publishing your Movie

The last thing you do is to publish your movie. You may choose to simply save it to your computer, burn a DVD, record on a CD, send it via E-mail, or use your computer’s digital video camera.

Good luck and have fun creating your very own movie!

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Article Tags: computer, import movie, make movie, sound files, windows movie maker



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