One thing I have learned is that if you do edit your movie with Windows Movie Maker, it may not be possible to use Flip's DVD Service to create a DVD.  That service wants you to create your content with precisely the same parameters as FlipShare uses.

I'm doing some experimentation to use FlipShare's Windows Media Profile with Windows Movie Maker.  This is all for Chapter 5 of the Secrets of the Flip Mino-HD series. The first thing I noticed is that it produced files that are roughly twice the size that occur with WMM's HD settings.  I'm still puzzling over why.

I'm not that fond of the Flip DVD service in the first place:

1. It takes an extraordinarily long time to upload Flip videos (up to 24 hours for an hour's worth of video with a broadband connection.)
2. Even though you shot your video as 16:9 aspect ratio, Flip returns a 4:3 aspect ratio on the DVD, so your video gets letter-boxed
3. The cost is $19.95 plus shipping for each DVD.  I have yet to see what kind of added value Flip provides for this extraordinarily high price.

We will be talking about (and showing) some other approaches to DVD creation that give you a better result, that aren't restrictive about video file formats, and that are a fraction of the cost.  Watch for Chapter 6 of the Secrets of the Flip Mino-HD for our ideas and research.

One of the best, A-1 resources on Windows Movie Maker (and many other Windows-related subjects) is a guy who calls himself Papa John. His well-organized (if idiosynchratic) site is here: http://www.papajohn.org.

I had many conversations with Papa John about building a workflow that lets you edit Flip HD clips in Windows Movie Maker. (The process and resources are available to members in the full version of Chapter 4: Secrets of the Flip Mino-HD.) He even did some experiments with me to confirm some things I was finding out.

Hats off, Papa John!

I was just wondering if the flipshare hack that allows you to export to HD WMV usually takes a really long time, like 10 miniutes to every recorded minute, or if I did somethin wrong?

That doesn't sound right. Two questions:

1. Did you make sure the downloaded file didn't get ".mp3" tacked onto the end?

2. What kind of computer are you using? CPU speed? Memory?

It's not the fastest, but its not too slow...

HP laptop - HP Pavilion DV4

System Manufacturer    Hewlett-Packard
System Model    HP Pavilion dv4 Notebook PC

Processor    Pentium(R) Dual-Core CPU       T4200  @ 2.00GHz, 2000 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)
Installed Physical Memory (RAM)    4.00 GB
Total Physical Memory    3.90 GB
Available Physical Memory    2.13 GB
Total Virtual Memory    8.03 GB
Available Virtual Memory    6.20 GB

I'm pretty sure it isn't putting a .mp3 at the end?  At least the videos I have converted do not have .mp3 in the file name.

Last time i converted videos it was about 20 minutes of footage and took almost 3 hours.

But just recently I realized that I had been running my comp on power saver mode, for taking notes in class and such, and I was not sure if maybe that affected the performance and speed of the convert?

Thanks for your help by the way :)

Power saver mode can definitely get in the way on a video render, which is one of the most resource-intensive things you can do on a computer. It uses all the CPU, memory, and disk access capabilities your computer will provide to it. You definitely should be using the power adapter, and you can set the power saver settings differently for when the computer is plugged in.  You can even create a custom power profile just for this purpose.

You have good processor speed and memory, but laptops have the drawback of using hard disks with slower access times.  Disk access drains laptop power faster than almost anything else you can do, and they use slower disks to minimize the drain.

So it is probably just the fact that I'm using a laptop?

Just making sure it wasn't somethin I did wrong...  I may end up buyin some software that can edit the mp4 files if I start takin a lot of footage?

I think you will also have trouble editing .mp4 files directly only a laptop. Here's a suggestion: Download Windows Live Movie Maker, which is recently out from Microsoft.  You can get it here, and it's also free.  Unlike Windows Movie Maker, it edits .mp4 files without any coaxing.

Edit a sequence, add a transition or two, and make your movie.  Find out how long it takes.  If you're going to do lots o this, you might want to spend $5-600 on a desktop computer -- say a quad core -- that will do better with editing.

Is there any way to saturate for more color in a video?

I'm celebrating the holidays with my family, and will soon be back to join in the fun.

The short answer: Yes, you can change color balance in video, as you can with photos, but you need to have more of an editor than FlipShare or MovieMaker. You may be able to achieve a more saturated look with the brightness effect in MovieMaker, but I'm guessing that's not what you're after. Sony Vegas comes to mind, as a piece of software with competent color correction tools, but it isn't free.

I have Vegus Studio 9 but can't figure out how to use the program.  I couln't even import a flip mino video.

In Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 9.0, just create a project, find your .mp4 files in the "Explorer" tab, and drag the video down to a video track on the timeline. You don't need to mess with "Import" from the file menu, though that works, too.

More later, if you need it...

By the way, I use Sony Vegas, and you should understand that Movie Studio derives from the professional version, and that both of them are fairly difficult to learn to use.  However, if you persist, I think it's worth it.

Bill Myers has put together a series of short tutorials on this site, that might get you started:

http://www.wonderhowto.com/creator/www.bmyers.com/

This one is specifically about using the color corrector in Movie Studio:

http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-use-color-corrector-in-so...

Thanks for your help!

Nice avatar!

I got the Flip for just one reason.  To put it on my RC airplane and get videos and stills of my flights.  I have been using a gum stick camera which does a pretty good job for $25.  But I wanted HD quality and light weight so I chose the FlipMino HD.  You can see my first video I made with the Flip here.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j11sGe-lrtw   The weather has been bad so I haven't been out flying to much and I also got a new AP airplane which I put a 12 MP camera on it to get high quality stills.  I'm still just gettin use to these two new planes with the extra weight on them.  How do I get to use the tools in the comment section of this forum.  I was only able to get a cursor to write this by putting a cursor in the subject box and tab twice to get a cursor here.  Maybe I'm missing something.

First of all, coincarver, that is a fantastic video! I would like to showcase it, with your permission?

Let's get at some of your issues:

1. I'm wondering why you didn't get an HD YouTube rating, and why the video is shrunken in the frame.

• Which Flip are you using?
• What did you use to edit?
• How did you upload?

1. Your problems with using this site.

• Are you on a Mac or a PC?
• What browser are you using?

Yes you may showcase my video.  I would be honored.

What is an HD You Tube rating?

Which Flip are you using?

I am using the Flip Mino HD

What did you use to edit?

I took it into Windows moviemaker V. 6 Vista premium

How did you upload?

I opened it in Explorer and draged it into Movie Maker (like I read somewhere)

I just realized that I can use the tools with my laptop (which I am using now, but when I wrote to you last time I was using my desktop computer.) It doesn't work with the desktop. Windows XP and Internet Explorer 8.

Are you on a Mac or a PC?

I am using a PC

What browser are you using?

I am using Windows Internet Explorer V. 7 (laptop)

I am using Windows Internet Explorer V. 8 (desktop)

I still have an XP machine. I'll see if I can replicate the problem.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Very nice video, coincarver. Looking forward to seeing more videos of additional flights.

I' musing an old Windows XP laptop which I just updated to Explorer 8, and I did experience some wierdness.  I was able to type the subject line, but then the cursor didn't seem to want to locate in the content box.

There are several things to try.  The method I used, unfortunately, involves administrator powers.  I'll look for a better solution.

In the meantime, I can't recommend Firefox more highly as an alternative to Internet Explorer.  IE is well-known for not following html and css standard practices.  If you look at website code, you'll usually see one code clause dedicated to IE, and another for everything else.  These are attempts to overcome IE's deficiencies, but they aren't always successful.

Meanwhile, Firefox recently overtook IE in the browser popularity contest.  My own website analytics show a higher proportion of Firefox users.  It has many add-ons and a community of interest that keep making it better.

But I'll see what I can come up with for IE.

I do have filrefox on this XP computer so I will try to remember to use it.  If I click in the subject line and then tab twice it will get me to the comment line to write but I can't us the tools.

Coincarver:

Explorer 8 makes the point in its documentation that it isn't compatible with all the websites that Explorer 7 was, and it introduced a "compatibility mode" for those situations where your experience with a given website isn't what it is supposed to be.

In such instances, you will hopefully see a little icon on the right end of the address bar that looks like a torn document -- an appropriate symbol, I think. 

I'm using compatibility mode in Explorer 8 right now, and it appears to be working, since, for example, I was just able to italicize that last phrase.

Would you try it out -- click the button and try editing something in Explorer 8 -- and see if it works for you?

This isn't a great solution.  I just upgraded my laptop to Windows 7 and Explorer 8, and I'm experiencing the problem here, too.  However, I'm also experiencing a problem with Firefox on Windows 7, in this editor, so I'm going to go looking for good solutions to all these problems to fix them on the server end.

I tried it and when I click on the torn page icon I get no tools, but I can typ a message directly in the comment window.

I'm having another problem. I tookk a new video with the Flip but could not get it into movie maker. Vista on my laptop lets me drag the video into movie maker but I can't do it with this computer running XP. I tried removing the file in the tutorial and replaced it with the new one and still no go.

There isn't any way to coax Windows Movie Maker 2.1 (the XP version) to edit .MP4 files.  They have to be converted to .WMV files, one way or another.  The solution offered in the tutorial was for FlipShare 4.5 and earlier, which would export .WMV files, and replacing the Windows Movie Profile (.prx) caused that export to be high definition.

I wrote this article specifically to provide a way for Windows XP/Windows Movie Maker 2.1 users to be able to edit Flip videos and produce an HD movie.  That movie can, in turn, be imported back into FlipShare 5.0, as you might want to do to use its improved interface for uploading YouTube videos -- and get a HD rating on YouTube in the process.

Although it looks a little complex, if you run through it once, it gets pretty simple to do it again.

Thanks.  I did that and it worked.  It sure takes a long time to convert.  Than when I take into movie maker it come in all cut up.  7 minute video has 36 pieces.  Some as short a s one second and as long as 45 seconds and it also freezes up a lot.

Yes, conversion takes a long time, unless you have a really fast computer. Just playing HD video takes a certain amount of computing power, as I have explained. However, it looks as though you should have enough power to do what you're trying to do.

I'm not sure what you mean when you say that it came into Movie Maker "all cut up."  Do you mean that clips were split in places that they weren't in the original?

Some conversion/rendering software does something called "scene detection," but I can find no evidence that Any Video Converter does that.  I certainly didn't experience it, myself.

If you like, we can arrange for you to transfer some of your raw video to me, and I can experiment with it, to see if I can figure out what the problem is.

When I import the video, it comes in like 35 videos.  Another way to explain it is if I take one video and split it into 35 pieces.  I can select all 35 and drag it into the time line and it plays like one. 

I haven't experienced that, and have no idea what would cause it.  I'll email you about some things we can try.

Now I have a virus on that machine and can not do anything with it.  I will have to take it in on Monday to be fixed. The virus was "Internet Security 2010"  It has made it so nothing works.  Can't even get on line.  Fotunatley I have this laptop.

The link from last two emails I got from you go to Flip in Focus "access denied" even when logged in. ??

I'm looking at the log of your session, and error messages started coming up as soon as you logged on.

What antivirus software are you using?  A quick search for "Internet Security 2010" shows that that is a nasty trojan.  There are lots of suggested fixes -- none of them simple.  You're basically being held for ransom: buy our security software or we'll keep your computer messed up.  Definitely don't buy the software. 

I would consider taking both of your computers to Geek Squad and getting them cleaned up and tuned up. You're experiencing lots of problems that I haven't seen before, and don't know how to diagnose without being there.

This was the page I suggested you look at in order to send me a large file:

http://flipinfocus.com/newsletter/free-weekly-tips/2009/43/send-large-fi...

I saw that you tried to access it (or something) through Weblinks.  Try it from the above link, instead.

I have to say that I just ran the whole file conversion and edit process again on my Windows XP laptop -- a slow one, at that -- and it worked perfectly.

Computer is well now.  I have another question.  I bought a 7" LCD TV monitor to view through a downlink from my RC plane through my camera on the plane.  I don't have the downlink system yet but I hooked the monitor up to my Canon Power Shot A1100 with the AV cord and I can view what the camera sees.  Works great.  But when I hook the Flip Mino up with the supplied AV cord to the monitor (RCA plug) I get no signal.  I tried with my Kodak Zi6 HD video camera and I also get no signal.  Any ideas how to get it to work?

I dragged another Flip Mino file to Windows Movie Maker and again I get about 30 slices of the video.  I can select all of them and drag them to the time line and it will play like one video but very hard to edit.  This is on my laptop with Vista.

More expensive camcorders sometimes provide a live feed of what they are shooting through the A/V or other outputs, but the Flip and camcorders of its ilk don't, as you discovered. I think we're talking about lack of power to shoot video and output it at the same time.

Reading your comment a little more carefully, I see a couple of issues.

First, you can't edit in HD on the XP version of Movie Maker without first converting the video.  I wrote an article on the process that I use here.

Note that if you produce the video in Movie Maker, you still have to publish it in an HD format.  The above article provides a profile you can use to do that.

From there, whatever upload method you use should get you an HD rating on YouTube, which means the viewers will get an option in the lower right corner to watch it in 720p, which is the Flip's HD format.

At any rate, I did get around to featuring your video, since it's wonderful the way it is.  You'll see it in the 'filmstrip' on the home page, in the upper left corner.  Also, it has its own page, here.

Darrell,

When I open windows movie maker live I don't get a story board like it shown on some of the suggestion in those videos.

Is there suppose to be a story broad with it?

Thanks

Dabuzzard

Are you sure it is Windows Live Movie Maker?  (http://download.live.com/moviemaker)

There is no other view than the storyboard view in this product, so I'm not sure what it is you're seeing.  (As a matter of fact one of the chief complaints about it is that it doesn't have a timeline.  It's a different style of editing, more than it is a functional limitation.)

You have to drag some videos into the editor to edit them, and they then show up as thumbnails, which is the storyboard view.  You can drag them around to change the order.

I written a number of tips and articles on Movie Maker, recently, and I'll be doing more on Movie Maker in its various flavors in weeks and months to come, because interest is high.

I just put up a new, members-only video, which addresses the issue of editing video -- from you Flip or virtually any other camcorder -- on any version of Windows, with any version of Windows Movie Maker or Windows Live Movie Maker.  It also makes it easier to edit HD video of any sort in any Windows-based editor, while maintaining high quality.

The answer is to use a good quality video file converter with the right settings.  This video introduces two free tools and tells you how to use them.

http://flipinfocus.com/video/video-conversion-windows-video-editors

I just bought a used flip HD to replace the one I lost in the swanp in a plane crash (RC plane).  Hopefully I will be flying again soon with the new flip when it arrives in the mail.  I'm all set up for FPV ( first person view) flying now.

Mike

I hope you can share some new video with us.

FPV? 'Splain please?

I have a small video camera on the plane that is hooked to a transmitter which transmits a signal to a pair of gogglese hooked to the receiver with a video view of what the plane sees.  My goggles have one video screen on the right eye so I can watch what the pilot would see and I can also look out the left side of the goggles and watch the plane from the ground.  Right now I also have a sony 12 MP camera mounted and triggered by me on the ground whenever I see the view I want through the goggles.  I have also put a Kodak Zi6 HD video camera in place of the sony to get video but I like the flip mino better.  With this set up I am not just guessing what I am filming because I see what the camera is seeing in real time.  I have the small video camera and the camera I am shooting with aimed the same so I pretty much get the shots I want.  I also have a small keychain video camera that films the flight as well.  You can see some of my videos on youtube here: 

http://www.youtube.com/user/coincarver#p/u

I am using the Hawkeye for the FPV flights.  Here are some pictures of my set up:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=882390&page=100#post14980204

Wow!