Custom 'Directed By' Title

There was a request on the forums for a two-line title where the first line was smaller than the second and where the spacing was a little tighter. This would work well for a series of credits at the beginning or end of your movie.

Take a look at the video and if that is something you would like, click through to the post on Adding a Custom "Directed By" Title to Windows Movie Maker. Incidentally there are versions for either XP or Vista.

Negative and Bloom Effects for Windows Movie Maker 6.0

Here's a couple new effects for the Vista version of Movie Maker. The first two effects are called 'Bloom In' and 'Bloom Out'. They create a bright glare to come from lighter items in the video. If you use Bloom Out at the end of a clip, and Bloom In at the beginning of the next, you can get a cool transition, that you've probably seen a lot on TV. The other effect is a Negative effect which reverses all the color values. Preview a video of the Bloom and Negative effects

There are two installers depending on whether you are running WMM 6.0 on a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows. The installer will put the necessary files into, C:\Program Files\Movie Maker\Shared.

Windows Movie Maker 6.0:
Blaine's Bloom and Negative Effects (32-bit)
Blaine's Bloom and Negative Effects (64-bit)

After installing, you'll have the new effects the next time you start up Movie Maker.

If you have any questions on these effects, feel free to post in the forum topic on the Bloom and Negative Effects

Looking for Video Clips you can Composite?

There are cool things you can do in Movie Maker if you composite clips together. But first you need some cool clips, right? Well 'Neo' has collected all sorts of video clips in .wmv and .avi format that can be used directly in Movie Maker. Some of my favorites are the ones from Kathy's Clip Collection but be sure to check out the complete Clip Archive at Neo's Movie Maker Portal.

Custom Resize Effects for WMM 6.0

These have been released with 32-bit and 64-bit installers. Custom Resize Effects for Windows Movie Maker 6.0

Custom PSP Overlay Title for Windows Movie Maker

Following my series of custom Movie Maker image overlays, here's an overlay where your video appears on the screen of a PSP. This looks best with widescreen video, but you can use standard 4:3 video too.

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 PSP Overlay Title (32-bit)
Blaine's PSP Overlay Title (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 should be a new one called PSP Overlay

Pick it 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.

Custom TV Overlay for Windows Movie Maker

One of the neat things you can do with custom titles is to resize the video and overlay an image. Using this technique, you can easily overlay an image of a TV screen, for example. (Click here for a sample video with a TV overlay).

Note: This title has been designed to work with either WMM 2.1 (XP) or WMM 6.0 version. It also works whether your project has a 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio.

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 TV Overlay Title (32-bit)
Blaine's TV Overlay Title (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 should be a new one called TV Overlay

Pick it 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.

Custom Contrast Effects For Windows Movie Maker 6.0

Windows Movie Maker should have come with some standard effects to decrease/increase the contrast of your video. However, since it doesn't, I had to create some of my own.

Note: These effects take advantage of the effects architecture of Windows Movie Maker 6.0 and therefore will not work in XP.

There are two installers depending on whether you are running WMM 6.0 on a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows. The installer will put the necessary files into, C:\Program Files\Movie Maker\Shared.

Windows Movie Maker 6.0:
Blaine's Contrast Effects (32-bit)
Blaine's Contrast Effects (64-bit)

After installing, you'll have a couple new effects for decreasing contrast and a couple for increasing contrast. If you need a stronger effect, apply the effect several times. You can also customize the .xml if you want other contrast settings. Enjoy!

If you have any questions, feel free to post them in the original forum post that inspired these effects.

Compositing and Translucency now available for Vista Movie Maker

This post is now out-of-date. Please refer to my updated post on Compositing and Translucency Transitions (Re-released)

Custom Bubble Warp Effect for WMM 6.0

I was playing around with Windows Movie Maker 6.0 and came up with this custom "Bubble Warp" effect. It's rather subtle and looks best when applied to pictures with short durations. If you apply it to video or to longer duration photos, you may not even notice the effect.

Note: This effect takes advantage of the effects architecture of Windows Movie Maker 6.0 and therefore will not work in XP.

There are two installers depending on whether you are running WMM 6.0 on a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows. The installer will put the necessary files into, C:\Program Files\Movie Maker\Shared.

Windows Movie Maker 6.0:
Blaine's Bubble Warp Effect (32-bit)
Blaine's Bubble Warp Effect (64-bit)

After installing, you'll have a new effect called "Blaine's Bubble Warp". Enjoy!

Custom Color Fade Effects for Windows Movie Maker 6.0

Windows Movie Maker comes with standard effects to apply a grayscale or sepia tone effect to your pictures or video, but one thing it lacks is an easy way to have video gradually fade to or from grayscale or sepia to full color. I've created a package of custom effects that let you add this ability to Windows Movie Maker 6.0.

There are two installers depending on whether you are running WMM 6.0 on a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows. The installer will put the necessary files into, C:\Program Files\Movie Maker\Shared.

Windows Movie Maker 6.0:
Blaine's Color Fade Effects (32-bit)
Blaine's Color Fade Effects (64-bit)

After installing, you'll have the following new color fade effects:

Grayscale (Color In)

Grayscale (Color Out)

Sepia (Color In)

Sepia (Color Out)

Note: These effects take advantage of the effects architecture of Windows Movie Maker 6.0 and therefore will not work in WMM 2.x. For users of XP, you can achieve this same look manually: Fading between grayscale and color in XP Movie Maker

Custom Dreamy Look Title Overlay for Windows Movie Maker

I've just reworked my prior "Dreamy Look" overlay so it works with either WMM 2.1 (XP) or WMM 6.0. Here's a sample Dreamy Look Video

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 Dreamy Look Title (32-bit)
Blaine's Dreamy Look Title (64-bit)

To use the new title

Go to 'Tools' > 'Titles and Credits' > 'Title on the selected clip'.

Type the text you want to appear below the photo as a caption or, if you don't want any text, type a single space.

Click on 'change the title animation'.

Under your list of one line titles should be a new one called Dreamy Look

Pick 'Dreamy Look', then click 'Done'.

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

You might want to apply the "Fade In From White" and "Fade Out To White" effects to your clip, so that it starts and ends on a full white frame.

Custom Photo Album Title for Windows Movie Maker

Have you ever wanted to make your photos or videos look like they are part of a photo album? (See my sample album) If so, I've just created a custom title overlay that can be used in Windows Movie Maker. It makes it look like your photos or video are mounted in a photo album, with a white edge and notched photo corners.

Note: This title has been designed to work with either WMM 2.1 (XP) or WMM 6.0 (Vista) version of Movie Maker.

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 Photo Album Title (32-bit)
Blaine's Photo Album Title (64-bit)

To use the new title

Go to 'Tools' > 'Titles and Credits' > 'Title on the selected clip'.

Type the text you want to appear below the photo as a caption.

Click on 'change the title animation'.

Under your list of one line titles should be a new one called Photo Album

Pick 'Photo Album', then click 'Done'.

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

Repeat as needed for each photo or clip.

Custom Torn Page Titles in the style of Veronica Mars, Updated for Vista

The UPN show Veronica Mars opens with video of the various cast members and torn notebook pages showing their names. I was inspired by a post on the Windows Movie Maker forums, to create a similar look.

Note: These titles will work in WMM 2.1 (XP) and WMM 6.0 (Vista). I've provided XML for both versions in the installers.

Choose the correct 32-bit or 64-bit installer link below. Run the installer and it will install the custom XML code and the image files you'll need.

Blaine's Torn Pages (32-bit)
Blaine's Torn Pages (64-bit)

To use the new title:

Go to 'Tools' > 'Titles and Credits' > 'Title on the selected clip'.

Type the text you want to appear on the torn page.

Click on 'change the title animation'.

Under your list of one line titles should be new ones called Torn Page (Bottom) and Torn Page (Right). Pick the one you want to use.

For my example, I switched fonts to a serifed Playbill font, but you can choose any font or leave it as the default.

Click 'Done'.

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

Repeat as needed for each title.

Custom Speed Effects for Movie Maker (XP & Vista)

Movie Maker comes with a couple standard effects to speed up or slow down your video. If you find that you need more control over the speed, you can download these custom Speed Effects with different incremental speeds.

Note: These effects have been designed to work with either WMM 2.1 (XP) or WMM 6.0 (Vista) version of Movie Maker.

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 Custom Speed Effects (32-bit)
Blaine's Custom Speed Effects (64-bit)

After installing, you'll have new custom speed effects for

Slow Down in increments of 25%, 50%, 66%, x3, x4, x6, x8

Speed Up in increments of 25%, 50%, 66%, x3, x4, x6, x8

Custom TV Ratings Titles updated for WMM 6.0

Are you using Windows Movie Maker to edit your home videos? Have you ever wanted to add the TV Ratings to the top of your home videos? I created a set of custom titles that can be used in Windows Movie Maker to overlay the various TV Ratings (Y, Y7, G, PG, 14, MA) to the top left corner of your video.

Note: These titles have been designed to work with either WMM 2.1 (XP) or WMM 6.0 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 TV Ratings Titles (32-bit)
Blaine's TV Ratings Titles (64-bit)

To use the new titles, go to 'Tools' > 'Titles and Credits' > 'Title on the selected clip' > 'change the title animation'. Under your list of one line titles should be 6 new ones called:

TV Rating (Y)

TV Rating (Y7)

TV Rating (G)

TV Rating (PG)

TV Rating (14)

TV Rating (MA)

If you want an additional subtitle, type it into the text fields, otherwise just type a single space. Click 'Done'.