Fireworks on the Samsung SC-MX20

Another one that I took just too long to put up. I cycled through several settings to get the best shot, but I lost the list of what those settings were, so let's just file this one under samples again.

Windows Live Movie Maker

Windows 7 is out and for the first time since Windows 98se, it did not come bundled with a new version of Movie Maker. However, the Windows Live team has taken over Movie Maker and has brought us Windows Live Movie Maker.

Early versions were very disappointing, but the most current version, released in August, looks promising. I have not used it yet, but I found this video that I thought I would share.

For us Samsung SC-MX20 users, we're still going to have to deal with the issues with our camera before editing our videos in this version of Movie Maker, too, so keep up to date on my conversion/repair program (Download to the right.) But I'll still be here, talking about how to fix your vids and use this new version of Movie Maker too.

From MediaShow to Movie Maker

I have discussed my frustration with the MediaShow software that came bundled with the Samsung SC-MX20 on this blog before so I won't get into that again. But many people are asking how to transfer videos they have edited with MediaShow to Movie Maker.

It's really very easy. (Please see the documentation on MediaShow for instructions on how to edit your videos.) If you can get MediaShow to work (I have never been able to get it to properly do anything) and have made edits to your videos, when you hit the "back" button in MediaShow, it creates a new copy of your videos in the folder you imported them into. Right-click on the new copy and choose "locate on disk".

You will see that it is still an MP4 file, but in spite of looking right in MediaShow, it still has the wide-screen and interlacing problems that it did coming out of the camera.

Using the nifty little program I created (available to the right in the downloads section) you can then repair the video that includes the edits you made in MediaShow as well as convert it to mpg format to use in Windows Movie maker.

I know that was all kind of quick and dirty, but if you need specific help, please leave a comment and I will be glad to help you.

I don't know how to answer that.

I had an unusual hit on this blog today from Google. I'm not exactly sure what this person was looking for, but this blog came up as the number one hit when they searched for "how to put sounds on windows movie maker with samsung mx20".

I don't know how to answer that. Are they having problems with the sound from their camera? Did they convert it to a Windows Movie Maker friendly format, but the sound didn't transfer? Are they trying to cut out the sound that came from the camera and put in some other sound?

Unfortunately this user didn't leave any comments to know if they found what they were looking for. But I'm intrigued enough by the hit to offer an answer to all these situations.

Problems with sound from the camera

If there is a real problem with the microphones on the camera, that is beyond the scope of this blog, for that you should contact Samsung. But here are things to check before you do that.

First, check the settings on the camera. There are two settings on the camera that affect sound. One is "Wind Cut" and the other is "Voice Mute". Voice mute is not just voice, it cuts off all the sound. Wind cut tries to cut off the "roaring" sound that you hear when wind blows across a microphone, but can sometimes cause parts of the total sound to go missing. Make sure both turned off if you are having problems with your sound.

Next, check the front of the camera. There are two mics, one on either side of the lens. The inlets for sound are the "honey comb" in the plastic. These openings can become clogged with dust and dirt. You can try to clean them out with a pin, BUT be very careful not to push it in too far and damage your mics. DO NOT try to clean them by running water into them!

Finally, to verify that the problem is with the camera on not the computer you transfer them to, try playing the raw mp4 files on another computer. They will play with Quicktime. Make sure you are viewing the raw files and not any that have been tweaked with Cyberlink MediaShow or anything else.

If you are still having issues, then contact Samsung.

Conversion Problems

There are many programs you can use to convert your movie files to a Windows-Movie-Maker-Friendly format. Many work well, others, not so much. My converter program seems to work well, at least I haven't gotten any complaints. If you have tried one converter that messes up your sound, try another. There are many out there and life is too short to fight with one for very long.

There are three formats that work best with Windows Movie Maker. WMV, which is a proprietary format created by Microsoft, AVI and MPG. There are others, but I'm talking about the ones that work best when converting from MP4. The one I like best is MPG. It's an older format, but MP4 is an "evolution" of it and it's basically an updated "container" for the same bits. Most versions of Windows and thus Windows movie maker will cooperate with it.

Mute the Sound in Windows Movie Maker

This is really very easy. Once you've added your clip to your movie, select it in the timeline, right click on it choose audio and then "mute". Then, import a sound you like into Movie Maker, then drop it in the timeline on the same spot as your clip. When you compile it, they new sound will replace the old.

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So, anonymous user out there, I don't know if any of this answers your questions, but I hope it does.

What this camera was made for

Just some random shots of my kids running around at a church function. I shot this right around sunset, so the colors are kind of muddy. I used the easyq setting to see how it would turn out.

This is the kind of stuff this camera was meant for. If you can get a picture that you like doing this kind of stuff then the camera is great.

Let's file this one under EasyQ Samples.

Samsung SC-MX20

I saw this on Amazon and thought it was worth sharing. It's not that great of a commercial or anything, but it shows how you should use your Samsung SC-MX20: It's not a movie-maker's camera, it's for shooting videos of your kids around the house.

(Click to Play)

test

testing.

Flag

I made this as an example of certain settings on the SC-MX20, but it took me so long to get this put together that I forgot what the settings were! So let's just call this a sample. In spite of the HD button on YouTube, there is a big loss in quality in the uploading process. I'm disappointed, but the original clips were really good. Really. They were. Trust me.

Needed: professional looking template

Any of you out there good at making Blogger templates? Or do you know of a good one I can use for this site? I'm not really good at that kind of stuff and I've been tinkering with this one and I think I've messed it up. Any ideas?

Thought this was fun.

Bungee Jump with a Samsung SC-MX20 Digital Camcorder