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.