Windows Movie Maker lets you work with audio in a variety of ways. Some of the different audio-related tasks you can perform in Windows Movie Maker include the following.
Narrate the timeline. Add an audio narration to narrate the video clips or pictures that appear on the Video track of the timeline. Your audio narration is automatically synchronized with the video, so the narration describes the action or event in your movie as it plays back.
Adjust audio levels. Adjust the audio levels so you can determine the audio balance and playback when you have audio that appears on the Audio and Audio/Music tracks on the timeline.
Add audio effects. Add different audio effects such as a fade in, fade out, or mute.
Adjust the volume of audio clips. Adjust the volume of audio for audio-only clips or the audio portion of a video clip. This lets you adjust the volume of the audio for clips so that it can be clearly heard or not heard, depending the volume level you specify for the audio clip.
You can capture an audio narration to synchronize with video clips, pictures, titles, or other items that you have added to the storyboard/timeline. Before you can begin capturing an audio narration:
The playback indicator on the timeline must be at a position where the Audio/Music track is empty.
You must be in the timeline view.
Capturing an audio narration lets you describe, in your own words and voice, what is displayed in the video, pictures, or titles as the items are shown in your project and, ultimately, in your final saved movie. Narrating the contents of the timeline serves as another way for you to enhance your movie.
The narration you capture is saved as a Windows Media Audio file with a .wma file name extension. By default, the audio narration file is saved in the Narration folder under My Videos on your hard disk.
The following options are displayed when you narrate the timeline.
Start Narration - Click to begin capturing your audio narration to your computer.
Stop Narration - Click to stop capturing your audio narration to your computer.
Input level - Adjusts the volume of the captured audio. When choosing the input level, select a level toward the upper part of the meter without entering the red-colored area, which is marked by the second line from the top. If the capturing level is set too low, the captured audio may be too low to be heard. Conversely, if the capturing level is set too high, the captured audio may be too loud and distorted.
Narration captured - Displays the amount of time elapsed for the current audio narration in the form of hours:minutes:seconds (h:mm:ss) by default. Timing starts when capturing the narration begins and stops when capturing the narration is stopped.
Time available - Displays the amount of time available for your audio narration when the Limit narration to available free space on Audio/Music track check box is selected. For example, if you have ten seconds between the end of one audio clip on the Audio/Music track and the beginning of another audio clip on the same track, and the playback indicator on the timeline is at the end of the first audio clip, the time available is displayed as 0:00:10. As you capture your audio narration, the time displayed counts down and shows the time remaining for your narration.
If the Limit narration to available free space on Audio/Music track check box is cleared, this value is blank.
Audio device - Lists the available audio capture devices you can use for capturing audio. If you have only one audio capture device, such as your default sound card, that device is selected automatically and is the only one listed.
This option is available only for analog devices.
Audio input source - Lists the available connection lines based on the number of lines available for the selected audio device. For example, if you have a microphone attached to the microphone line input of your computer, you would choose Microphone as the audio input source.
This option is available only for analog devices with multiple line inputs.
Limit narration to available free space on Audio/Music track - Specifies that you want to limit the narration to the amount of time available between two audio clips on the Audio/Music track. When this check box is selected, the audio clips on the timeline will not shift, and your narration is limited to the time available between two audio clips. This prevents audio clips from shifting if you have already synchronized the current audio clips with other video clips, pictures, transitions, titles, and so forth on the timeline. When you add a narration and this check box is selected, capturing stops automatically once the available time limit has been reached.
If this check box is cleared, the narration is not limited to the time available between two audio clips on the Audio/Music track. Therefore, if your audio narration exceeds the amount of time between the two audio clips, the narration will continue to be captured until you manually stop capturing your narration. The narration is then added automatically to the timeline and the audio clips on the timeline will shift to accommodate the audio narration you captured.
Mute speakers - Specifies that you want to mute the speakers and all audio output lines that are connected to the audio card on your computer. Muting the speakers prevents audio from being played back on the speakers, which can distract from the audio you are capturing.
If you clear this check box, audio such as any background music or other sounds from your computer that are played back over your speakers may be heard and captured in your narration.
Show fewer options - Click this link so that fewer audio narration options are displayed.
To narrate the timeline
- Add any video clips, pictures, titles, or credits that you want to display in your project to the storyboard/timeline.
- On the View menu, click Timeline.
- Move the playback indicator on the timeline, which appears as a square with a vertical line, to a point on the timeline where the Audio/Music track is empty and where you want to begin your audio narration.
- To see more options, click Show more options, and do the following:
If you have added other audio clips to the Audio/Music track and you do not want the other clips to shift on the timeline, select the Limit narration to available free space on Audio/Music track check box. In the Audio device list, click the audio capture device you want to use. Then, in Audio input source, click the line that you want to use.
To adjust the volume of your captured audio, move the Input level slider to the level you want to use. Select the Mute speakers check box to prevent the audio from a video clip on the timeline from playing back over your speakers while you are narrating the timeline. This prevents unwanted audio from being captured in your narration. - Click Start Narration and begin narrating the content on the timeline.
- Do one of the following:
If the Limit narration to available free space on Audio/Music track check box is selected, narrate the timeline until the time limit expires.
If the Limit narration to available free space on Audio/Music track check box is cleared, click Stop Narration after you have finished narrating the contents on the timeline. - In the File name box, type a name for your captured audio narration, and then click Save.
