Movie Maker and Video Codecs
If you try to import a video file from a DVD, YouTube, a hard drive camcorder, a phone... etc. you'll quickly find yourself having to learn about video and audio codecs.... more than you ever expected or wanted to know.
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The subject is complex and confusing to most... when all is working well, codecs (some call them filters) do their job and the computer user doesn't know which ones are doing what. But when there are issues that involve codecs, you may need to add another one, select a specific one, or resolve conflicts between them. There are notes about codec-related items throughout the website.
A computer typically has a hundred or more codecs. Many come with the computer when new, and others are added by software installations or users downloading individual codecs or codec packages. The available codecs on each system will differ because of differences in installed software.
See the Setup Movie Maker > Codecs and Compressors page of the website for some basic setup recommendations.
When you make or convert a video file using video utilities such as VirtualDub and TMPGEnc, you can select from a drop-down list of compression codecs on the computer.
These screen shots show the codec choices I have when using VirtualDub on my Vista Home Basic and XP laptops as of March 2008. I've lined out the choices that won't get me all the way to my goal of having files that work well in Movie Maker projects. I'm running with all of the line items in the Compatibility list of Movie Maker unchecked (turned off for Movie Maker use... so it works quicker and better).
... some compression choices won't work in VirtualDub when saving a video file, some create video files that won't play well in Windows Media Player, and some will make files that play OK in WMP but don't work in Movie Maker. The ones I've drawn lines through don't work. For high quality files that consistently work well, my usual choice is the Panasonic DV CODEC... it quickly makes a DV-AVI file that works well as a source file in Movie Maker.
Some computer messages tell you a codec isn't installed and needs to be. Some messages say it's checking for an available one and will automatically download it... but it doesn't. Movie Maker will only automatically get codecs available on a Microsoft server, which doesn't include such codecs as Divx, Xvid, QuickTime, Motion JPEG, etc. They need to be obtained from other sources.
Codec packs with multiple ones can cause you more problems than they resolve... it's best to know which codec you need and get it from a recommended and trusted source.
To see which compression codec was used to create a video file, check it with GSpot. If you post for help, use the audio and video codec info from this utility.
Checking Codec Info with GSpot
Knowing that a file has an extension of AVI, MPG or WMV isn't enough. Within those broad groups are many specific codecs.
GSpot can check your file to see what codecs are needed, and if they are on your system. One thing it doesn't tell you is if the video editing software you're using (like Movie Maker) can edit the files with the codecs already on your system. Many codecs are there to play video clips, not to provide the ability to edit them.
If a clip plays but doesn't work in Movie Maker, you should do a file conversion before importing... converting it to something known to work in an editing project.
The snapshot at the right shows a WMV file open in GSpot. Starting at the top, the file extension is wmv, the container type is WMA/WMV, and the codecs used to compress the file inside the container are msmpeg4.v2 for the video and mp3 for the audio.
Video file conversion is often done with a utility such as VirtualDub, VirtualDub MPEG, TMPGEnc or Rad Video Tools. The Setup > Other Software page has links to download them, and links to online copies of newsletters with tutorials.
This page is about video codecs, not audio... sometimes conversion steps for the video and audio streams take different paths and the two files need to be put back together. Converting DVD files is often that way. I put the two back together in Movie Maker, the video file on one track and the audio on the other.
Newsletter #84 is the most recent one about converting files to get ones that work in Movie Maker. It's about using VDubMod to convert an AVI file that doesn't work to one that does. The info about video codecs can be helpful for other conversions also. Click the image to read it.
Video Codec Test Results - XP
I did another wave of tests in March 2008. My notebook computer (HP Pavilion zd8000 with the 2005 MCE of Windows XP) had 25 video codecs in the drop down list of VirtualDub to select from. 17 of them produced AVI files, but not all of them worked in Movie Maker.
There's a considerable range in rendering times, as you can see from this chart.
... and, depending on the selected compression codec, you'll see a considerable range in file sizes. This chart shows the relative sizes when using the default settings of each compression codec.
The visual quality of the new files will also vary by the choice of compression codec and the optional settings for them... you might use one that renders quicker for one video, a different one when trying to maintain the highest quality, and something else when concerned mostly about file sizes.
It's not a 'one size fits all' situation. Experiment to determine what's best for your current project.
This image is a link to a 3-1/2 minute video sampler that shows the same clip over and over 16 times, each made as an AVI file in VirtualDub with a different video compression codec.
The clips in the sampler are labeled to let you know the codec used... it's an interesting assortment of compression choices, each in a file with an AVI extension.
As the sampler video was saved in Movie Maker using the video for LAN (768 kbps) setting, you can't use it to assess quality. To do that you should use the originals from VirtualDub.
Video Codec Test Results - Vista Home Basic
Checking my notebook computer (Toshiba Satellite L35) in January 2008 showed 9 video codecs in the drop down list of VirtualDub MPEG. One of them, Microsoft RLE, wouldn't work and the other 8 did.
To check the differences, I used a clip of just a few hundred frames.... here's the compression options, the time taken to make an AVI file from it, and the file sizes.
They all went into Movie Maker 6 and previewed in the collection and on the timeline. Some had significant audio stuttering. The thumbnail on the timeline for the Microsoft Video 1 clip was right side up but the preview monitor showed it upside down.
To see how they looked in a rendered movie, I strung them together and made this...
3 flunked this final check (both Intel IYUV compressors and Microsoft Video 1), leaving 5 options.
I added the ffdshow, Panasonic DV and PIC Video M-JPEG codecs to my system... without them there would have been only two usable options... uncompressed and Cinepak.
From XP to Vista or Vista to XP
How well do video files made by VirtualDub in XP work in Vista's Home Basic MM6?
How well do video files made by VirtualDub in Vista work in XP's MM2.1? All of them worked fine on my system
If you're confused by all this, you're normal. Different compression codecs can result in significantly different performance... when you figure out what works on on your systems and those of your viewers, use them.
