Newbie w/ codec question

[marquis]

Not sure if this should go here or the new/alt codec section. I was working with Windows Movie Maker and my video wouldn't show up when I added music. The sounds from the video were all there, but no video. So, I downloaded the codecs the site said I needed, and at yet nothing. Does anyone have any ideas as to why the codecs wouldn't help?

[setarip_old]

Hi!

You'd probably fare better by posting to a Windows Movie Maker-specific website...

[marquis]

Okay, thank you for the suggestion. I am about to give up on this anyway. I am used to working with Windows, but maybe I should move on to something else. Does anyone have any good recommendations for an easy to use movie maker? Thanks for your time.

[Guest]

Does anyone have any good recommendations for an easy to use movie maker? What is a movie maker?

[Djard]

Aw, now you know he means a movie editor. He's only using Microsoft's terminology.

I'd recommend searching YouTube, using search terms like...

Windows Movie Maker adding audio.

There's bound to be a post or two showing the steps he seeks. Microsoft also offers a freeware app called Windows Live Movie Maker.

[Sparktank]

"Non-Linear Editor" is more precise.

WMM is pretty stingy.
It's been years since I've used it but you would definitely get better support from a dedicated WMM forum.

I don't even know how WMM reads video files.

But I've seen this problem a lot.
Make sure you update to the newest WMM version (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-ca/windows-live/movie-maker#t1=overview).

Of course, M$ being M$, doesn't show what the current version is on that site you are about to download, but it's a "web" install, so it will automatically decide to update you or not.

Others have had success after....

updating WMM
updating their graphics driver to the latest release (or even the latest beta release).


EDIT: I did a quick google for "free nle video editor" and got a lot of garbage.
Also a lot are largely aimed towards 3D (CG rendering; not stereoscopic 3D) editing.

Blender supposedly has an NLE available for free(?). Might work without using any 3D assets.
Currently, if you're on Linux, "OpenShot" looks nice but they haven't gotten around to a full stable release for Windows/Mac.

All the other free ones look worse than WMM and possibly filled with spyware/adware.

The better NLE are the expensive ones: Adobe Premiere (Pro), Sony Vegas (Pro), Magix Movie Edit (Pro), and one I tried out on a friend's computer after she bought it. She wanted SV but couldn't afford it so went with something smaller. Pinnacle, something or other.

[marquis]

Thanks for all of your help. I've tried everything to work out this player, including updating, make sure my graphics card will work with it, downloading codecs and the like. I'm going to give up on it and try looking on Blender like you suggested. I only use WMM because I know it and I'm afraid of trying new things. I guess it's time to step into the new age. Thanks again!

[Sparktank]

You can give a look here at VideoHelp/tools for a list of available NLE.
Sorted as Freeware/Adware first (http://www.videohelp.com/tools/sections/video-editors-advanced?orderby=Type).
Can't say I've used any of them, but might be worth a look.

You could also try Codec Tweak Tool (http://www.videohelp.com/tools/Codec-Tweak-Tool) and run a fix or reset codecs or disable some (or re-enable some). That may help in resolving the black screen issue.

[raffriff42]

Lightworks is free but is very film-editing centric and has limited file support.
Adobe Premiere Elements or Vegas Movie Studio are both cheap and pretty good - and learning them gives you a head start on learning the pro versions.

[marquis]

I just bought a copy of Adobe Premier, so I may be bugging you all with a lot of really stupid questions. Thanks again for all of the help. I really would like to take a step away from the basic stuff and move up to software that is recognized a bit more.