Evaulation of Two Video Editing Programs

Microsoft Moviemaker



Movie Maker is great free software to use with students and teachers who have little or no experience with video editing. The interface is easily understood and includes three basic sections; a task menu along the left column, a video and sound clip bank in the middle section and a timeline of the project along the bottom.

Moviemaker projects can import video clips, still photos and sound. You can also edit the clips (shortening, adding effects and even creating a still photo from a frame in the video). Sound can be edited and faded in and out or muted if needed. The program has templates for adding titles, text over picture and even animated text. Since each piece of media inserted into the timeline is a separate piece of media, it can be moved, overlapped and edited to make very polished movie projects.

Video files can be captured from a video camera that is attached to your computer or you can import videos in the following formats: avi, mpg. M1v, mp2, mp2v, mpeg, mpe, mpv2, wm, wmv, asf. I have had to convert some video files created on Flip cameras into avi in order to import into Moviemaker. Some of our Flips at school save the video as a mp4 file. When your project is complete it can then be converted in a movie file that can be saved to a computer, emailed or posted to the Internet. The movies are saved in avi and wmv file types. These can be imported into iTunes and converted to play on portable devices as well as Windows Media Player and Quicktime Movie Player.

Moviemaker is free on all computers with Window Operating system. It is not a limited trial version. For educational use Moviemaker is a great free resource to teach students and teachers which they can also use at home. Since it is a Microsoft program it also uses familiar terms and menu options found in PowerPoint and Photo Story. I have used this editing software with my students and teachers at school. After learning PowerPoint and Photo Story, Moviemaker is the next logical software to introduce and works nicely with the previously learned skills. I am always excited to teach students skills that they can then use at home. Moviemaker is one of those tools that enables learning to continue outside of the classroom.



Pinnacle Studio 14



Pinnacle Studio 14 is a free 15 day trial version which then costs $99 to continue using. The interface has three sections much like Moviemaker; task buttons along the left side, video bank and timeline at the bottom. It also has helpful buttons at the top that guide the user in the basic three steps of importing, editing and making movie.

I watched the tutorial before editing my own project. I would encourage anyone using the program to watch this short tutorial because it was very helpful. I did experience memory problems on my computer, which is normal with most video editing programs. Video editing takes memory and time and patience. Pinnacle did save my work when my computer crashed due to memory issues.

Pinnacle Studio allows you to import from a camera or other device as well as bring in pictures and saved videos from your computer. It comes with many stylish and animated text options which offer click and drag editing and quick preview options. It also has a wide choice of transitions which are easily added by dragging between the pieces of media. Pinnacle also has Montage templates. These are similar to scrapbook pages and can contain video or pictures. You can import sound but also add sound effects and voice over.

Movies can be converted to, but not limited to; avi, ipod compatible, and flash, which is a nice option. It also has a menu for creating a DVD menu directlty within the program. This is a nice feature.

I was interested in trying Pinnacle Studio 14 because it appeared to have similarities to Moviemaker. I wanted to find a program that was slightly more complicated but had familiar layout. Pinnacle would be a great software program to use with my older students (5th grade) and my experienced teachers. It offers many more editing and effect options. The montage pages would offer a new platform for digital story telling. I can see using the 15 day trial program with students for a short focused movie project. Another option might be to buy a few copies of the program and use it in group projects.