If you are editing HD video, do you have an i7 quad core computer? If not, that could be your problem.
2 possible solutions:
#1: Video codec. Many times, if you do not have the correct video codec, the preview or play will be black.
What is the format (extension: avi? wmv? mp4?) of the video file?
#2: Your hardware acceleration (check in Control Panel) — try it ‘off’ and try it ‘on’.
[http://www.wikihow.com/Turn-off-Hardware-Acceleration]
I am a great technical resource, but I’m not sure I can help you with video. Websites? Sure. Killer on designing and implementing. Applications? Getting good on those right now; have a major personal project in-the-making. Almost anything else: Server stuff, Events, tweaking applications.... but no video experience.
That said, I got a gift when it comes to computers. If you are unable to get the help you need on this thread, then we should talk.
Try re-installing it or download the free trial version of Wondershare video editor for Windows for building the raw video and editing. It is fairly intuitive and not hard to understand if you have used Live Movie Maker.
You can also get a trial version of Adobe Premiere. It is a great product. Much more robust, but may represent overkill for your project.
that program is world famous in the world of cinematography as being buggy and also an immense memory hog. you are absolutely not imagining your problem not even, in the words of Obama, a smidgen.
I do don’t know how much time you have invested already in learning all of the features of microsoft movie maker, however short of radically upgrading your memory or decreasing the number of clips my strong advice to you is that this problem is not going away.
I cannot tell you how many people have like you torn their hair out over this type of thing.
sony vegas is universally leave regsrded as providing more features and at least up to 1 year ago it was free the features of sony vegas are much richer and it is much less of a memory hog and you’ll be much much happier using it.
Are you logged in? /s
had to
...or...
...or...
...or...
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...if you can't get MovieMaker to work.
I’ve tried any number of video editors including Windows Movie maker. I found the restrictions on file types or their sheer complexity to be, well, extremely frustrating.
I’ve settled with ripping youtube videos using;
www.dvdvideosoft.com it’s free and works great.
If I need to convert a file type, I use; “Media Converter” that will convert virtually any file type into anything you need. Also, free.
For video editing and production I use “Serif” I started with the free version and it was easy to use, very intuitive and it works great. There were a few file type restrictions with the free version and I decided to upgrade to the paid version. Before I sent them any money I was able to actually talk to someone on the phone,(a competent guy in the UK) about exactly what I was paying for and whether there was a time limit etc on my upgrade. I found this to be very rare.
Serif works great, it’s not overly complex, they have tutorials that actually get to the point and you can call them.
It sounds like your processor can’t keep up with the footage, if it’s a really large file. Try updating your video card first and/or running any updates that Windows recommends from the Control Panel’s Windows Update.
bookmark
Sorry for all my spelling errors, earlier I was typing from my phone:
If you do a lot of video editing —and this is advice coming from a person who does not like Facebook— I would recommend you join the group, “The Frugal Film-maker”.
Those people are geniuses, humble, and will save you lots of time and money.
EVERY video problem you’ve encountered 100 people there have encountered and are now expert on.
They will teach you TONS of stuff. For free. Immediately.
It is a very active group and I can’t recommend them enough.
Have you tried another video editor, one of the free ones to see if it has a similar problem?
do you have a Linux liveCD or LiveUSB?
Then try OpenShot Video editor if your project is on the simple side.
Thanks for all the great input. I finally decided to download Wondershare Video Editor after viewing various reviews and tutorials of different products, with price being a key consideration.
I’ve been playing with it for the last several hours and find it pretty intuitive and easy. So it’s what I’ll be using for my project.
MS Live Movie Maker is a dog.
Thanks again everybody.