Windows Movie maker not making cd

happyhero

Hi having problems with windows movie maker. I have tried several cd's and I had the same problem each time, it gets to 2 minutes left and 58% done and displays "Your movie is being created and saved to a recordable CD" but then it just sticks on that for ever. So I can never save my movie creation on a CD.

I have edited a movie from my camcorder.

Any ideas?

Also is there a better program I should be using?

And could the better program take the project I have already made so that I don't have to do it all over again?

Any help appreciated.

Donnie

Not sure of the format WMM uses to save the project.

Bear in mind that if you choose the 'fit to CD' option in WMM, you will only be able to play the video on a computer with Windows Media Player.

Better to choose VCD, SVCD or DVD, if you have the choice.

Use Nero.

Asus_Mobo

To save it as a WMV file in Movie Maker load up your project then go to File>Save Movie File.

Choose the "My Computer" option and on the next screen enter a file name and directory to save it to.

Next choose your quality settings. If you're not sure on what settings to use, just set it to "Best quality playback". The quality will also determine file size of the clip, which you can see the estimated size of in the lower right corner. YouTube only accepts clips no bigger than 100megs in size

taken from http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070607194454AADlDT4

a project is saved as a .mswmm its has its own extension

Donnie

Saving as a .wmv file won't allow for TV playback. He needs VCD, SVCD or DVD.

Of course he can convert from .wmv to SVCD or DVD, but there will be a probable loss of quality.

bat999

You're right Donnie.
Also when the app asks about PAL or NTSC it's for when creating SVCD, VCD or DVD. If it's only gonna create a wmv file then the TV broadcast standard is irrelevant so it won't ask.

Donnie

As far as I know, you cannot burn a DVD with Windows Movie Maker. Maybe it only offers VCD in it's standard form.

happyhero

Cheers to everyone for your help, seems I am getting a bit mixed up I had not realised that saving to a CD would only play back in WMM, I just assumed I could then stick it in a DVD machine under the TV and watch it, which is what I would like to do at best quality possible. Each of my camcorder tapes that I am editing are about 1 hour long before being fiddled with.

After it failing to write a CD several times I have gone for saving to PC and took what it offered not the file format offering PAL which give a file 4 times the size (dont really understand this bit) and it has produced by the looks of it, a WMV file which it seems I will have to convert for a DVD/CD to watch on the TV. I edited a lot of bits on this video and dont really want to go through that part again but will obviously bare this in mind to avoid for my next efforts.

So first how do I convert the WMV to a format that will fit a CD/DVD?

and secondly

what program should I use to make these home movies (preferrably free, if possible)?

Also for best quality wont the movies end up being a huge file for quality and have to go on a DVD or will there be no reason for DVD's, only CD's.

Sorry just trying to learn if I am asking silly questions.

Donnie

I'm sure I've already provided the answer for this.

bat999

Hi
These days blank DVD+-R discs aren't so expensive. So when you have bought your DVD writer you can forget about having to squeeze things onto a CD-R.

And once you've saved your edited movie as a wmv file I think that you have lost your quality already. So even if you carry on to make a VCD or DVD out of it the result won't be as good as when it came off the camcorder.
So don't erase your tapes just yet.

Perhaps when you have your DVD writer you can bring up the subject again and get some specific answers on how to author a DVD to watch on your TV set.

In the meantime try reading through these two posts again and try to extract the relevant bits for how to make a VCD from a wmv file.

Good luck
:cool:

Donnie

The info he needs for burning to DVD is provided throughout the two threads.

He should be able to pull the whole thing together by using Nero Vision 4 for VCD, SVCD or DVD.
For TV viewing, he'll need to use DVD if his videos are an hour long. VCD would be a little 'pixellated'.

happyhero

Thanks guys for all the help, I made too many assumption, I assumed because it was called Windows Movie maker that would be all about making movies and DVD's hence my wondering why it was trying to put a copy on a CD but it seems this program is far from ideal for what I want, but it did let me edit, add effects and transitions and sound quite well, will Nero also allow this and do it as well as WMM?

I haven't used Nero for anything, for a long, long, time but last time I used a version it seemed to be just a way of writing a CD and I did notice any editing capabilities. I have just checked my PC and I have a full version 5 that came with the PC from new. I'm sure it has come a long way since I last used it and can now do all the editing too.

I have not deleted anything on my HD on my PC yet so maybe I can still create a file out of WMM that will keep the quality of the project I did (project still exists as a *.MSWMM file) and somehow eventually end up with that on a DVD at a good quality level. Another possible save on WMM is out to a DV camcorder which I do have, so dont know if pumping it into that and then back to the PC in NERO is an option or just me having silly ideas.

Anyway I am getting a new DVD writer as bat999 spotted from my other post in a day or two and I will do as he suggests and come on here with more questions about how to do DVD authoring.

Thanks again for all the help guys, I will still follow this on here obviously if anybody puts any more additions to this post.