Three Great Alternatives to Windows Movie Maker. UPDATE Windows Essentials has been discontinued by Microsoft. This information is being retained for archive purposes and to help you find an alternative to Windows Movie Maker. Technology keeps you connected everywhere you go, helps you capture every moment makes your life a bit easier stay uptodate with tips tricks from eHow. Microsoft has put an end to one of its favorite free software bundles, Windows Essentials. It included a variety of different programs such as a blog writing program, the now defunct MSN Messenger, Windows Live Mail, and Movie Maker. The latter was a particularly beloved program, because it made it easy to do basic edits for a video. With Movie Maker you could add an introductory screen, credits, a soundtrack, cut out certain portions of the video, add visual filters, and then easily share those videos on various platforms such as Facebook, You. Tube, Vimeo, and Flickr. It was a fun way to spice up a family movie or school project. Its not a stretch to say there werent many programs like it. If you still love the program, you can find downloads of Movie Maker from non Microsoft web sites, but its not advisable to install them since its always better to download a program from its creator. If you still have Movie Maker you can continue to use it. Windows-Movie-Maker-Logo.png' alt='Fade Out In Windows Movie Maker' title='Fade Out In Windows Movie Maker' />But if the program ever ceases to work properly, or you get a new PC and dont know how to transfer the program youll no longer have access to it. For those who continue to use Movie Maker keep in mind that since its no longer supported it wont be updated. If some kind of vulnerability is discovered in the programsuch as this oneyour PC could be at risk. At some point, youll have no other choice but to seek out alternatives. Unfortunately, there isnt a one to one replacement for Movie Maker. Some programs, for example, offer easy sharing but dont have the same filters or the ability to add credits or introductory frames with pre set text. Fade Out In Windows Movie Maker' title='Fade Out In Windows Movie Maker' />How do I edit audio with Windows Movie Maker Images Windows Tech Ease The video you shoot with your video camera will usually have audio that is recorded. Fade Out In Windows Movie Maker' title='Fade Out In Windows Movie Maker' />Others have comparable easy editing features and filters, but lack the sharing capabilities. Ive had a look at a number of video editing suites to find programs that are at least a close approximation of what Movie Maker provided. Heres a look at the three programs Ive found that are the best bet for anyone looking to replace the capabilities of Movie Maker including the most important feature of all its free. Video. Pad by NCH Software. This is easily the top choice for replacing Movie Maker at least in my book. It doesnt look like Movie Maker, but NCH Softwares Video. Pad Video Editor makes it very easy to edit your home video and include a music track to go along with it. Its also got some of the sharing features similar to what Movie Maker offered, just updated for our current online lives. At the top of the Video. Pad interface, you have basic editing commands such as adding text, undoing and redoing changes, and adding blank clips. Theres even a screen recording feature if you want to do screencasts. Video. Pad also offers audio and video effects such as rotating, shake, motion blur, pan and zoom, and more. There are audio effects such as distortions, amplify, fade in, and so on. It also has transitions to fade in and out using all kinds of different patterns. Like any other program youll have to learn the quirks of Video. Pad to understand how it works and how to mix elements together. Nevertheless, with a little patience and willingness to consult the online users guide you can get up and running in a few minutes. If youre ever stuck on how to use a certain feature, NCH has some helpful video tutorials You can access them by clicking on the question mark icon in the upper right corner of the program and selecting Video Tutorials. Once your project is finished, Video. Pad has some nice sharing options under the Export menu item such as sending your video up to You. Tube, Facebook, Flickr, Dropbox, and Google Drive. Video. Pad has a variety of tiered paid options. It also doesnt proudly advertise its free option as there is a paid version for home users. Nevertheless, at this writing you could just download Video. Pad and use it for free, as long as youre using it for non commercial use. VSDC Video Editor. A similarly friendly looking video editor. The free edition of VSDC Video Editor starts off with a bunch of options such as a blank project, creating a slideshow, importing content, capturing video, or capturing a screen. Theres also a big screen asking you to upgrade to the paid version every time you open the program just close that or click Continue to ignore. For anyone editing video, the easiest way to get going is select Import content, and choose the video you want to edit from your hard drive. Once youre up and running, youll see that VSDC is more complex than Movie Maker, but if you hover over any button it will tell you what its name is. Most of the features you need for your project are under the Editor tab. This includes various filters, video effects, audio effects, add music, trim videos, and add text or subtitles. One thing thats really nice about VSDC is that its easy to shift the point at which your music track starts. Adobe Dreamweaver Cs4 Navigation Builder Direct. So if you want it to start a few seconds after the video is running, you just have to click and drag the bar representing the audio file. Once youve got your project set up the way you like it, head over to the Export project tab where you can easily export it using a specific video format, as well as modify the resolution for specific screen sizes such as the PC, i. Phone, Web, DVD, and so on. VSDC lacks the in app uploads for various web services so youll have to do that the old fashioned way through each websites manual upload system. Shotcut. Anyone looking for something slightly more complex than Movie Maker, but still easy to use and understand should look at Shotcut. This free, open source program has a basic interface across the top of the window with various features including a Timeline view and filters such as fade in and out for audio and video. Like other video editing programs you can set beginning and end points right on the time counter in the main working window. This program definitely isnt as easy to use or understand as Movie Maker. Nevertheless, with a little bit of time you can figure things out. If you want to add a filter, for example, youd click Filters and then in the sidebar that shows up hit the plus button. This provides a large menu of different filters divided up into three categories favorites, video, and audio. All of these automated filters can be added on the fly with your changes reflected right away. Like other programs weve discussed, Shotcut lacks any easy upload features to popular web services, but it does let you export your video into a ton of different formats from regular MP4 files to still images in JPG or PNG formats.