Movie Maker - Music and Narration

Taken directly from the Microsoft website at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/create/addmusic.mspx & http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/create/narration.mspx - visit this site for full instructions and screenshots

• Add music. Nothing sets the tone of a movie like music. Add some tropical music to set a relaxing tone for a vacation movie, or use a hip-hop beat to set a fast pace for a sports highlights movie.
• Add narration. If you were to watch a home movie with friends in your living room, you'd probably describe where you were in each scene and tell funny stories that happened off-camera. With narration, your stories become part of your movie, so your friends across the Internet and around the world can hear them, too.

Add music

There's no better way to create a mood or crank up the energy in your home movies than by adding music. If you haven't yet copied your CDs to your computer, read Quickly Rip CDs to Your Computer to learn how. With Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Movie Maker, you can add any music from your CD collection to your home movies.

1. Download video from your camera to your computer, and add clips from your collection to your storyboard.
2. In the Movie Tasks pane in Movie Maker, under Capture Video, click Import audio or music.
3. In the Import File dialog box, click the name of the song you want to use in the background. Then click Import. This adds your song to your collection but does not add it to your video.
4. Drag the song from the collection to the video clip where you want the music to start playing.
   
   
5. If prompted, click OK.
6. Movie Maker shows your song on the timeline. If the song extends beyond the end of the movie, drag the right edge of the song so that it ends at the same time as your movie. Otherwise, the song will keep playing after your movie is done. It's a nice touch to have the music stop during a quiet spot so that it doesn't just stop abruptly.
   
   
7. Click Play in the Preview Monitor to watch your movie and listen to the background music.
8. If the background music is too loud or too soft in comparison to the movie, right-click the music on your timeline, and then click Volume. If the audio and music sound good, you can skip the next step.
9. In the Audio Clip Volume dialog box, move the slider to the left to make the music quieter, or to the right to make it louder. Then click OK.
   
   Return to step 7 to listen to the audio again and make another adjustment if necessary. Audio Clip Volume dialog box with OK button selected
   
   Next time you're filming video, think about the background music. For example, if you're filming a football game, see if you can get a copy of the team's fight song. If you're on vacation, buy a CD of local music so you can add it to your movie.

Add narration

Often, home movies don't have much audio. For example, if you filmed your child snowboarding, there might be nonstop action but nothing to listen to (except the cheering audience). Or, the audio in the background may be distracting if you're videotaping in a noisy area or from a moving car. Fortunately, with Windows Movie Maker, you have two options if you want to make up for the lack of audio: you can add or replace the audio with your own narration of the action, or with music.

Note: If you want background music instead of narration, you can use titles to introduce people or describe settings.

1. If you have a desktop computer, connect a microphone. Microphones are available from most electronics stores. If you have a portable computer, you can use the built-in microphone. However, you will get a better-quality recording if you connect an external microphone.
2. Download video from your camera to your computer, and add clips from your collection to your storyboard.
3. In Movie Maker, click the Tools menu, and then click Narrate Timeline.
4. If prompted, click OK.
5. On the timeline, click the clip you want to narrate. You can narrate clips one at a time, or you can narrate the entire movie all at once. If you narrate individual clips, you can rearrange them later and keep your narration synchronized.
6. Speak normally into your microphone, and adjust the Input level so that the bar is about halfway up when you are speaking.
7. Under Narrate Timeline click Start Narration.
8. Speak into your microphone as Movie Maker plays your movie. You can narrate your entire movie at once or just one clip at a time. When you're done narrating, click Stop Narration.
9. Movie Maker will save your narration as a separate file. In the Save Windows Media File dialog box, type a name for your narration. Then click Save.
10. Movie Maker adds your narration to your video. If you only narrated part of your video and you want to add narration to other clips, return to step 5.
11. Click Play in the Preview Monitor to watch your movie and listen to the narration.
12. If the narration is too loud or too soft in comparison to the movie, right-click the narration on your timeline, and then click Volume. If the audio and narration sound good, you can skip the next step.
13. In the Audio Clip Volume dialog box, move the slider to the left to make the narration quieter, or move it to the right to make it louder. Then click OK. Return to step 11 to listen to the narration again, and make another adjustment if necessary. Audio Clip Volume dialog box with OK button selected.
    
    If you don't like the way your narration sounds, don't worry—nobody likes to hear their own voice. Just relax and speak in a normal tone, as if you were telling a friend on the phone about your movie. It may take you a few tries to get the timing right so that your narration doesn't go on longer than your movie. If you misspeak often, it might help to write a script that you can read during the narration.
14. To delete narration so that you can re-record it, right-click the narration on the timeline, and then click Delete. You should also delete the narration from the collection.