Edit MP4 Video with Windows Movie mMaker – The Ultimate Guide

I. What is Windows Movie Maker software? Does it support editing MP4 video?

Windows Movie Maker is a video editing software developed by Microsoft Corporation for Windows systems. It offers a range of practical features such as video editing, cutting, adding music, special effects, and adjusting playback speed. The software is user-friendly and perfect for editing small clips captured by home cameras.

If you’re looking to edit MP4 videos, you may have run into a roadblock with Windows Movie Maker. Unfortunately, this software only supports a limited number of formats, such as ASF, AVI, WMV, and MPEG. But don’t worry, there are two ways to work around this issue. You can either use a different video editing tool, or convert the MP4 file to a compatible format before editing. In the following paragraphs, we’ll guide you through both options and help you find the best solution for your needs.

II. Use other video editing software to edit MP4 video

1. Use Renee Video Editor Pro to edit MP4 videos

Renee Video Editor Pro is a video recording and editing tool that integrates computer screen recording, video post-production and format conversion functions. Among them, the computer screen recording function can set the recording area and screen size, and can also set the watermark, cursor style, sound source and saved format, automatic recording plan, etc., whether it is online movies, meeting video records, or game screens, software Operation steps, etc., it can help you record and save to the computer with one click.

This software offers a wide range of features to enhance and optimize video content during post-production. These include editing and merging video clips, cropping and rotating screens, adding opening and ending animations, and seamless transitions. With the ability to switch between different filter styles, dub videos, add music, and import or create subtitles, the possibilities are endless. Once the editing is complete, the video can be converted to various formats, including MXF, AVI, MKV, MP4, MOV, M2TS, M4V, AAC, AC3, and more. This software supports free conversion between video and audio formats, making it a versatile and convenient tool for all your video needs.

Editing MP4 videos with Renee Video Editor Pro is very simple. Let’s take a look at the detailed steps:

Step 1: After downloading and installing, run Renee Video Editor Pro and select the (Video Toolbox) option.

Step 2: Next find the (Add File) button and import the MP4 video file into Renee Video Editor Pro.

Step 3: After importing the video, you can edit the video using these tools, such as (cutting), (rotating and cropping), (special effects), (watermark ), (Music), (Subtitles), (Intro/Outro), etc.

① Cut: You can edit video clips and adjust the playback speed.

② Rotate and crop: You can rotate the video clockwise by 90 degrees/180 degrees/270 degrees, or flip the video upside down or left and right. Drag the cropping frame or set a specific cropping area size to crop the video screen.

③ Special effects: You can add filter effects, zoom effects or volume effects to the video.

④ Watermark: You can add text, pictures, video or graphic watermarks to the video or remove the watermark from the video.

⑤ Music: You can add new background music to the video file, or record the sound and then add it to the video. Check (remove original video audio) in the lower right corner to remove the original audio of the video.

⑥ Subtitle: You can add subtitles to the movie or create new subtitles.

Step 4: After editing the video file, you can select the video format in (Output Format) according to your needs. Select the location to save the video in (Output Folder), and click the (Start) button.

2. Edit MP4 videos with online video editing tools

CANVA is a free online video editing tool that can handle videos up to 1.5GB in size. Not only does it offer basic editing features, but it also allows for more complex projects such as format conversion (MP4, MOV, MKV, etc.), video cropping, adding text watermarks, and merging multiple videos. With its user-friendly interface, editing MP4 videos online has never been easier. Follow these simple steps to get started:

It is very simple to use this tool to edit videos in MP4 format online. The specific steps are as follows:

Use a browser to open CANVA tool: https://www.canva.com/create/videos/, and then click the (Make a Video) button to import the MP4 video into the web. Next, you can start editing the MP4 video.

III. Convert MP4 videos to formats supported by Windows Movie Maker before editing

1. Use Renee Video Editor Pro for format conversion

Open Renee Video Editor Pro and select the “Video Toolbox” option. Then, click on the “Add File” button in the top left corner to import the MP4 video file that you want to convert using Renee Video Editor Pro.Once the video is imported, navigate to the “output format” section within the software. Here, you can convert the MP4 file into any video format that is supported by Windows Movie Maker (such as ASF, AVI, WMV, MPEG, MPG, etc.). You can easily search for your desired format using the search box below the format list. For this example, we will choose the WMV format.

Next, select the location where you want to save the converted file and then click on the “Start” button to begin the conversion process. Once the MP4 video is converted to a format supported by Windows Movie Maker, you can easily edit it using the software.

2. Use Windows Movie Maker software to edit video

Step 1: Upon downloading and installing, launch the Windows Movie Maker software. Next, locate the (Add videos and Photos) button on the software’s interface and import the WMV format video files that have been converted by Renee Video Editor Pro. Once the video file is successfully imported, you can utilize the function menu bar at the top of the interface to perform various editing operations on the added video file.

Step 2: To edit a video, simply navigate to the function menu bar at the top and select the (Edit) option. From there, choose the desired video content and click on the (Set start point) and (Set end point) buttons in the top menu bar to adjust the clip’s position by dragging the clip line on the video screen.

Step 3: To easily add a title or subtitle to your video, simply navigate to the (Home) option in the top function menu bar. From there, select the video you want to add text to and click on the (Caption) button in the top menu bar. This will insert a text box at the top of your selected video, where you can enter your desired text. You can also use the various buttons in the function menu bar to make other edits according to your personal preferences.

Once you’re done with all your content editing, don’t forget to save your video by clicking on (File)-(Save file) in the top function menu bar and selecting your desired location.

IV. Summary

In this article, we have shared two solutions to address the issue of Windows Movie Maker software being unable to edit MP4 videos. The first option is to utilize specialized video editing tools like Renee Video Editor Pro and online editing tools. The second option involves converting MP4 files into video formats supported by Windows Movie Maker software using video editing software, and then proceeding with the editing process. While both methods can achieve the desired result, using Renee Video Editor Pro directly would be a more convenient approach.

It is important to mention that Microsoft has officially discontinued support for Windows Movie Maker on January 10, 2017. The latest software update was released in 2012. This means that if you wish to continue using this software for video production and editing, you may encounter unexpected issues such as software crashes and unsaved content.

Download Renee Video Editor Pro to edit video files!