Making movies with Windows 10 Photo App

A reader is searching for a replacement for Windows Movie Maker.

“I had to replace my computer over the last 2 months and no longer have Movie Maker.  I have learned that it was a part of Windows essentials on my old computer.  Since the motherboard died, I was barely able to get most of my pictures, videos and Family trees saved with a computer guy taking the hard drive out and transferring them to my new computer.  Unfortunately, I didn’t realize I no longer have Movie Maker.  Online, I learned that Windows no longer supports Movie Maker and so I would like to know if you can help me.  I tried installing a “movie maker” from the “store” but it is not the same and HP and said it wouldn’t be. Thanks for any help you can give me.”

Alas, I can’t give you the name of anything to exactly replace Movie Maker. Too bad. It was a nice, simple program. I can, however, explore some alternatives.  Let’s start with the very basic. There is an option in the built-in Photos app in Windows 10 to make slideshow set to music with your photos. Let’s check that out.

Start by opening the Photos app.

Here’s what it looks like when it opens.

Click Create at the top right.

You can choose between an automatic video with music or a custom video with music.

First, we’ll make an automatic video.  Tick the boxes next to the images you wish to use. You can also select an album or collection to use all of the videos contained in that file.

Then choose Add to at the top.

Select Add to new video with music.

Name the video and select Create.

The video will be created pretty quickly. Click View Video at the top.

Here’s what the video interface looks like. To see your video, just press play.

There are a number of adjustments you can make to the video. We’ll cover that in part two of this article.