Synchronize Video and Music With Windows Movie Maker

This tutorial describes the basic techniques for using Windows Movie Maker to synchronize video files of your choosing with a background song in the Windows Operating System. Many videos can be made more interesting through the addition of a soundtrack, but those videos can be made even more exciting by taking the time to synchronize various beats and rhythms in the song with action or scene changes in your video. This article describes some of the basic ideas behind editing and synchronizing, as well as some more specific techniques pertaining to the use of Windows Movie Maker. The pictures in this article will be screen shots taken form the 2007 version of Windows Movie Maker on Vista.

Steps

  1. Open Windows Movie Maker. You can find it easily by searching it into your Start Bar, or by downloading the version I have provided in Things You Need.
  2. Take the time to upload the audio file you have chosen. If you are using iTunes, open My Music, select the iTunes folder, then iTunes Music, and find the artist and song you’d like.
  3. Now that you’ve added your music, take some time to look at the sound wave bars that the music creates. You can zoom in on the graph itself with the (+) magnifying glass see the changes in more detail. The places where this graph spikes and dips sharply are good candidates for syncing opportunities, whether you are simply transitioning between two clips, or adding flashes and more complicated effects.
  4. Add your video file into the project in a similar way to how you added your music. For windows, there is also a Video’s Folder.
  5. Most videos you put in will already have an audio file associated with them, mute this audio track, so it does not overlay with the song you have picked.
  6. Choose whether you would like to add the entire video, or individually add clips as you move through the song. If you are using a longer video, it is often easier to add the video in its entirety and clip each segment you will use individually. Regardless, start focusing on your first video clip.
  7. If there is a brief moment of silence at the start of your video, you may want to try a fade in. You can insert a still image of a plain black picture (easily created in Microsoft Paint or other comparable programs. Simply use the Paint Bucket Tool to create a solid black background, then under "Import" on the side of Windows Movie Maker, select picture) at the very start of the video, and then simply merge your first video clip into the black picture. Make sure the merge point is close to the point where the audio kicks in. To change the timing the black picture, simply click and drag at the edge of the picture on the timeline until it is the desired length.
  8. Once you have your intro finished you can begin editing in your next clip. Find the next large bass beat, cymbal crash, lyric change etc on the audio graph.
  9. If you would like to split the video clip you are currently using, simply press the “M” key. Or, under clip, scroll down until you find the “Split” selection. This will split the video segment you have into 2 sections at exactly the point where you have the cursor.
  10. In order to make your two clips fit in correctly you can either shorten or lengthen them or change their speeds. By right clicking on the video clip, a menu will open up where you can select “Effects”. Under Effects there is are two options for both speeding up and slowing down your clip. Click “Add” on the desired one to change the length of your clip, but keep all the desired video. Make sure the clip once again ends close to the beat you’ve chosen.
  11. Select the new clip you’d like to merge, and drag it together with the previous clip (just like in step 7) to create a simple, synced fade transition between two clips. The longer the transition, the smoother it will look. The following picture will demonstrate where the clips will align with an audio spike for the best sync.
  12. At the red circle there is a drum beat that you would like to sync to. Notice how the old clip extends a bit past that drum beat. This is to allow a bit of material to fade out to. If the video ended abruptly at the beat, then you would get an abrupt fade as opposed to a smooth one. For the same reason, the new clip is faded in to a point just before the beat. This way, the completed fade has an equal distance on each side of the beat, with the beat resting directly in the middle.
  13. One more technique you can use is the creation of a simple black or white flash. Creating these takes a little more effort, but it gives off a sharp, quick effect for fast transitions.
  14. Split your clips directly on the beat, as opposed to right after it for the transition.
  15. Now right click the first clip and open the “Effects” menu again. From these effects, choose either “Fade Out to Black” or “Fade Out to White” depending on which color flash you would like. Then once again click Add.
  16. Right click on the second clip, bring up “Effects” again, and this time select the corresponding “Fade In from Black” or “Fade In from White” effect. This will create a brief flash right on the beat between the two clips you have chosen. The shorter the clips, the quicker the flash.
  17. With these two basic techniques, you can create some pretty interesting effects from rapid flashes, to long peaceful transitions, all in sync with music of your choice.



Tips

  • If you find the sync of the music to the movie changes depending on the start point of the cursor, try using mwa as the audio. Movie Maker seems to struggle a little with the mp3 format.
  • Editing takes practice just like anything else, and the more you do it the more you will be able to tweak these basic techniques to get the effects you desire.

Warnings

  • Avoid using copyrighted material that you do not have permission to use. YouTube in particular tends to block audio or video that is owned by another company, and a good way to to insure your video can be viewed in its original intended format is to include the following disclaimer in your video, and contesting the blocking of your video if it does occur. *Disclaimer: This video is PURELY fan made. It is in no way associated with the musical artist or the broadcasting company. I do not own the song or the show, all material is used for my personal use and not for gain. All material is copyrighted to it's original owners. "Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."*

Things You'll Need

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