Every once in a while I want to do some quick video editing. Windows Movie Maker usually did a decent enough job, though it was always a bit down on features. So when Microsoft said they were redoing it for Windows 7, I was happy. It could use a bit of a facelift and some design improvements.
Except they made it worse.
My biggest complaint is that they now offer only a few output options–not customizable. So if you happen to need one of the exact width, height, bitrate, and audio quality combinations they’ve preset for you, you’re good to go! But you won’t. To try to fix this, you can attempt to edit one of the .prx files buried in Program Files. But it still won’t work right.
Then, if you do change it in a fashion you think should export the settings you actually want, Movie Maker will override it with some preset aspect ratio settings you didn’t know about, conveniently adding black bars on all four sides if necessary and reducing your video to be nearly indiscernible.
Not to mention random UI issues, like a lack of a usable timeline, and by clicking in many places it will jump back to the beginning of the video…completely losing the spot you wanted to edit. Too bad.
I like Microsoft and Windows 7, but Windows Live Movie Maker sucks.
