Does editing in movie maker reduce quality?

[timarp000]

every time i edit 1080p game recordings from FRAPS the quality and level of detail comes down... Why?
Is there a setting to stop this from happening?

 

[kenrivers]

What settings are you using to export the edited video? For example what format are exporting the files as? Unless you are exporting in an HD format the quality won't be as good.

 

[timarp000]

what i do-
Save Movie-->For high-definition display

 

[kenrivers]

I checked the settings you use and it appears as though they should be fine. What format does FRAPS save the video as and are they large files? I've never used FRAPS so I'm not familiar with how it encodes video.

 

[timarp000]

a 3min Fraps file is like 4-5GB a 3min movie maker file is 500-600MB! bitrate is much lower on the monie maker file 🙁

 

[kenrivers]

There's a lot of compression going on when converting to .wmv. Another option might be to convert the file using Handbrake ( http://handbrake.fr/ ) or MPEG_Streamclip ( http://www.squared5.com/ ) to another format before importing into MovieMaker for editing. Both are free downloads.

 

[timarp000]

i save it as-
MPEG-4/H.264

 

[The Stealthinator]

Yes the newer versions have an option to export to MP4. You can create your own exporting preset in which you can edit the res, bitrate and a couple of other things. Try that.

 

[timarp000]

Yes the newer versions have an option to export to MP4. You can create your own exporting preset in which you can edit the res, bitrate and a couple of other things. Try that.

how?

 

[The Stealthinator]

how?

Movie Maker > File > Save Movie > Create custom setting...

 

[kenrivers]

The Stealthinator is right, the newer version does allow you to save as .mp4 instead of .wmv. I just installed the newest version of MovieMaker to test it I imported a clip and choose to export for High Definition Display and it saved the file as an .mp4 file by default. Link to download newest version: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-live/movie-maker-get-started

 

[n3rdy]

I just started using Movie Maker and am having possibly the same problem, but I don't think you guys have answered this. I am recording Killing Floor gameplay using D3DGear with mpeg-4 codec in 1080p. I lose tons of quality, not when I Export/save, but when I Open/IMPORT the file! If I open the raw gameplay file in VLC, the footage looks exactly like when I was playing. However, when I then import the file into Windows Movie Maker, it's already lost a ton of quality before I even export it. Does the preview you work with in Windows Movie Maker just show the file in less quality than it really is, while you work on it? Or is it really losing quality when importing?

 

[The Stealthinator]

If you have k-lite codec pack, that shouldn't be a problem

 

[DEG3456]

I just started using Movie Maker and am having possibly the same problem, but I don't think you guys have answered this. I am recording Killing Floor gameplay using D3DGear with mpeg-4 codec in 1080p. I lose tons of quality, not when I Export/save, but when I Open/IMPORT the file! If I open the raw gameplay file in VLC, the footage looks exactly like when I was playing. However, when I then import the file into Windows Movie Maker, it's already lost a ton of quality before I even export it. Does the preview you work with in Windows Movie Maker just show the file in less quality than it really is, while you work on it? Or is it really losing quality when importing?

Yes, WMM reduces the quality for preview when editing but when saving the movie the original quality will be correct as long as you save it appropriately.

 

[brettaugust]

There's a lot of compression going on when converting to .wmv. Another option might be to convert the file using Handbrake ( http://handbrake.fr/ ) or MPEG_Streamclip ( http://www.squared5.com/ ) to another format before importing into MovieMaker for editing. Both are free downloads.

I'm importing .mp4 into WMM and saving as .mp4 as well. Without making any changes but just by importing and then saving my file size goes from 10MB to 2MB. How can I avoid this compression?

 

[kenrivers]

There's a lot of compression going on when converting to .wmv. Another option might be to convert the file using Handbrake ( http://handbrake.fr/ ) or MPEG_Streamclip ( http://www.squared5.com/ ) to another format before importing into MovieMaker for editing. Both are free downloads.

I'm importing .mp4 into WMM and saving as .mp4 as well. Without making any changes but just by importing and then saving my file size goes from 10MB to 2MB. How can I avoid this compression?

What are the exact settings you are using in WMM?

 

[brettaugust]

There's a lot of compression going on when converting to .wmv. Another option might be to convert the file using Handbrake ( http://handbrake.fr/ ) or MPEG_Streamclip ( http://www.squared5.com/ ) to another format before importing into MovieMaker for editing. Both are free downloads.

I'm importing .mp4 into WMM and saving as .mp4 as well. Without making any changes but just by importing and then saving my file size goes from 10MB to 2MB. How can I avoid this compression?

What are the exact settings you are using in WMM?

Thanks for the quick reply. I'm importing by simply browsing for my existing mp4 and then saving as 'for high-def display' and it's reducing my quality by a factor of 5. I've tried every variation I can think of and assume that something is happening on the import side. That as soon as I import it is already at 1/5 the quality.

 

[kenrivers]

There's a lot of compression going on when converting to .wmv. Another option might be to convert the file using Handbrake ( http://handbrake.fr/ ) or MPEG_Streamclip ( http://www.squared5.com/ ) to another format before importing into MovieMaker for editing. Both are free downloads.

I'm importing .mp4 into WMM and saving as .mp4 as well. Without making any changes but just by importing and then saving my file size goes from 10MB to 2MB. How can I avoid this compression?

What are the exact settings you are using in WMM?

Thanks for the quick reply. I'm importing by simply browsing for my existing mp4 and then saving as 'for high-def display' and it's reducing my quality by a factor of 5. I've tried every variation I can think of and assume that something is happening on the import side. That as soon as I import it is already at 1/5 the quality.

I will try one tonight and see what settings to use and see what results I get.

 

[fletch137]

I had this same problem and, after some caveman-like poking at things, here's the solution I found:

I was using PlayClaw to capture videogame footage and found any amount of editing in Movie Maker left a lower-resolution image. The problem was that PlayClaw captures video as .avi and I guess that doesn't transfer well into Movie Maker.

So I added a middle step and now use Handbrake to convert the .avi video to .mp4. Using .mp4 as the source video has given me top resolution when I save my edit as "for high definition display."

I'm totally not a tech guy, so I hope that makes sense.

 

[Hana_]

The Stealthinator is right, the newer version does allow you to save as .mp4 instead of .wmv. I just installed the newest version of MovieMaker to test it I imported a clip and choose to export for High Definition Display and it saved the file as an .mp4 file by default. Link to download newest version: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-live/movie-maker-get-started

Hello everyone. I am aware that it quite a while since you guys were discussing this problem. As for the newest version of Movie maker. Is it the one included in "windows essentials 12"?? Because last time I tried that one, it didn't open the file made in movie maker 2.6, nor movie maker 6 and I found it rather worse to use than movie maker 6. So, my question is, is it possible to open a project made in MM6 in the newest version? If so, what is the best possible quality I can get of the video? If not, is it possible to get better quality in MM6 than 640x480 pixels ?? Also, mo movie consists from pictures and videos. The quality of pictures is very very bad.
Thank you all for response!! =)