Windows Movie Maker: Transitions and Video Effects

Windows Movie Maker: Capture Video from a Camcorder
Video that has been recorded on a camcorder must be captured into a video editing program. Video taping
cannot be imported into a computer like images. Video can be captured by hooking the camcorder into the computer or
by hooking a capture device into the computer. This handout will cover how to hook the camera into the computer.
1. Camcorders need to be installed before use, please submit a help desk issue requesting the
camcorder be installed. Be sure to provide the name of the computer you want to use the
camcorder on. Please note that some of the older camcorders will require a capture device as
they are not USB capable.
2. Hook the camcorder up to the computer’s USB port
3. Turn the camcorder on and change the mode to VCR or Play/Edit
4. If the camcorder has a touch screen, click stream on the LCD screen. If the camcorder does not
have a touch screen, the camcorder will automatically go to streaming mode.
5. Open Windows Movie Maker, which can be found under start, then programs, then in the
multimedia menu.
6. Click on the “capture from video device” in the left menu
7. Set the audio device to USB audio device
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8. Enter an appropriate title for the captured video segment and save the file to an appropriate
location. To change the saving location click the browse button and navigate to the
location the file should be saved to. It is recommended to save the file to a C: drive location, like the
desktop, and then copy it to a network location once the capture is completed. Once you have named
the captured segment and have chosen a save location, click the next button.
9. It is recommended to set the radio button to best quality unless you are using the end project for
web integration or something similar. Contact the Help Desk if you need assistance deciding the
appropriate setting. Please keep in mind that the better the captured video quality, the larger the file
size. If you are capturing hours of video, you will not be able to fit the large files in your network
space. Once you have selected your quality setting, click the next button.
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10. Click play on the camcorder and fast-forward the movie to the area you want to begin your
capture. Once you have the video in the correct location, click the start capture button. You will
see the video playing in the preview window. Once you have captured the desired segment, click the
stop capture button. You may start and stop capture as many times as you desire. Please
note that stopping the capture will not create a different clip in Movie Maker, but will continue to add
to the main captured video segment. All video captured will become one clip that the user must splice
later if desired. Once you have captured all video segments needed, click the finish button.
You can see the amount of
video captured in both
seconds and in file size.
11. Once you click finish the video segment will appear in your collections. To view all your
captured videos, click the collections icon on the top of the screen.
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You have a few options for getting multiple movie clips imported.
Option one: use the start and stop capture buttons to capture all the desired clips in one large
video file. Begin playing the imported video clip by clicking on the clip and then clicking the play button
on the preview window. Once the video reaches a point that should be another video segment, click the split
into two clips icon and the video will be split at the point you click the button. Following this
method, you will end up with multiple clips in one collection.
Option two: go through the whole capture process for every segment you desire. For example: I
have a video of a Spring concert, a classroom play and students reading a poem. I need small portions of the
Spring concert and the students reading a poem. I will get the tape to the portion of the Spring concert I need
and use the stop capture and finish buttons. Then I will fast forward the tape to the students reading a
poem and start a new capture. Following this option, you will end up with multiple videos in the
collections area.
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