Monday, December 26, 2016

Movie Maker and Photo Gallery went away on January 10, 2017

Update: This post has been updated to reflect the state of Windows Essentials 2012 now that the deadline has passed.

Microsoft announced it has stopped supporting Movie Maker and Photo Gallery (part of Windows Essentials 2012) as of January 10, 2017.

Here are a few questions and answers:

Are the programs still available for download? 
The web installers and offline installers that used to be available at download.live.com have all been removed. The following response to a question on Microsoft Answers might help:
Where to get a Safe Download of Movie Maker

Where are the Windows Essentials Offline Installers for other languages?
They have all been removed from the Microsoft website.

What happens to Movie Maker (and Photo Gallery) if it is already installed?
Already installed applications will continue to work as they do today but there will be no updates.

What are the recommended alternatives for Movie Maker and Photo Gallery from Microsoft?
As part of the Fall Creators Update to Windows 10, the Photos App now includes the ability to create a movie from your photos and videos. You can either let it start the process using the Create > Video remix option, or you can do it yourself using the Create > Video project.


What other options are there? 
ProVideoCoalition has posted their Free Video Editing Software Guide for 2017.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Upgrading to Windows 10 - Is there an update to Movie Maker?

The short answer is "no". Movie Maker was provided as part of Windows Essentials 2012. As you might have guessed from the version number (2012), there have been no updates to the program in a few years. And, unfortunately there are no announced plans by Microsoft to change this for Windows 10. If you want the Windows Essentials version of Movie Maker, you will continue using Movie Maker 2012. The good news is it still works the same as before and seems unaffected by the upgrade to Windows 10.

For those of you that are still enjoying the classic version of Windows Movie Maker 6.0, be aware that Microsoft will rebuild your C:\Program Files\ folder. The contents will be backed up in C:\Windows.old\Program Files\ but that means that Windows Movie Maker 6.0 will seem to disappear. One fix for this is to just reinstall WMM 6.0. This might be the best approach since it will ensure that everything gets added to the registry correctly. This would also require you to reinstall any custom transitions, effects and titles you may have installed, including ShaderTFX. Alternatively, you may just want to copy the Movie Maker folder from C:\Windows.old\Program Files\Movie Maker into C:\Program Files\Movie Maker.

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Fading Logo Overlays for WMM 6.0

For years people have been asking for custom titles for putting a logo or watermark on their video.

There have been solutions for this in Windows Movie Maker 6.0 previously but it required customization of the XML. It also didn't have an ability to fade the logo in and out. I've decided to create an installer that makes it much easier, doesn't require editing of the XML and also adds a fading version.

There are two installers depending on whether you are running on a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows. The installer will put the necessary files into, C:\Program Files\Movie Maker\Shared.
Blaine's Logo Overlay Titles (32-bit)
Blaine's Logo Overlay Titles (64-bit)
The packaged installer comes with two sample logos in C:\Program Files\Movie Maker\Shared\AddOnTFX\BlaineLogoOverlays. To use your own logo, edit the .png images to replace my logo with your own. In order to create/edit your own, you'll need a program that can create .png images with transparency. Some freeware options are GIMP and Paint.net.

To use the new title
  • Go to 'Tools' > 'Titles and Credits' > 'Title on the selected clip'.

  • Click on 'change the title animation'.

  • Under your list of one line titles there will 4 new title animations: Blaine's Logo Overlay (16:9), Blaine's Logo Overlay (16:9) Fading, Blaine's Logo Overlay (4:3), Blaine's Logo Overlay (4:3) Fading

  • Pick the one that matches the aspect ratio of your project and whether you want it solid or fading. Then click 'Done'.

  • Stretch the title so that it extends for the length of your clip.


  • If you have any questions, feel free to post them in the original forum post that inspired this title.

    Saturday, March 16, 2013

    Custom Camera Back Overlay for WMM 6.0

    Camera back overlayFollowing my series of custom Movie Maker image overlays, here's an overlay where your video appears on the back of a digital camera.

    There are two installers depending on whether you are running on a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows. The installer will put the necessary files into, C:\Program Files\Movie Maker\Shared.
    Blaine's Camera Back Overlay (32-bit)
    Blaine's Camera Back Overlay (64-bit)
    To use the new title
  • Go to 'Tools' > 'Titles and Credits' > 'Title on the selected clip'.

  • Click on 'change the title animation'.

  • Under your list of one line titles there will a new title animation: Camera Back Overlay (4:3)

  • Pick this then click 'Done'.

  • Stretch the title so that it extends for the length of your clip.


  • If you have any questions, feel free to post them in the original forum post that inspired this title.

    Sunday, January 27, 2013

    Installing Windows Movie Maker 6.0 on Windows 7, 8, 8.1 or 10

    If you are reading this, I'm going to assume you've upgraded or purchased at least one PC with Windows 7, 8, 8.1 or 10 and discovered Windows Movie Maker is no where to be found. In its place, Microsoft offered a set of programs called "Windows Essentials" which included Movie Maker 2011 or 2012.

    Many people have tried these versions of Movie Maker 2011 or 2012 and complained about the lack of a traditional timeline, issues with crashing, long times to prepare video files and the inability to customize the transitions, effects and titles. If you have been building up a library of custom titles, transitions and effects under Windows Movie Maker 6.0, none of these can be used in the newest Movie Maker because the rendering architecture has changed and Microsoft has no API for customizing things.

    The good news is you can still use the latest version of Windows Movie Maker 6.0 from Vista. You can do this manually by copying the files from a Vista machine, registering some DLLs and creating a shortcut in your start menu. Or you can just use the installers I created below:
    Movie Maker 6.0 for Windows 7/8/8.1/10 (64-bit)
    Movie Maker 6.0 for Windows 7/8/8.1/10 (32-bit)
    There are two versions (64-bit or 32-bit) depending on the version of Windows you are running. If you are unsure, go to your 'Start' menu, right-click on 'Computer' and choose 'Properties'. System type should show 64-bit or 32-bit operating system. Pick the installer that matches. After that, don't forget to start previewing all the cool add-ons that you can have with this version.

    Note: I'm turning off comments on this thread since there are more than 200.
    Update: Newer browsers have started blocking (MSI) installer files. If you are having this problem, right-click on the link and choose "Open in new window". You'll see the URL ending in .MSI at the top of your browser. Highlight that name and press Enter until the file downloads. After that you should be able to see the download at the bottom and then click the little arrow and choose "Open". That should then start the installation process.