# I can't save my movie! [Windows Movie Maker]



## nehssa

Hello! I'm just a high school student that desperately needs to finish her project. 

Basically, I had finished editing everything but when I try to save it to my computer, it will get up to 2% and will not not budge. At all. 

I'm not exactly sure how to fix this, but I'm pretty much at a loss here, considering this has never happened to me before.

I will be happy to provide any information that may be helpful to you guys so I can finally save it. 

Thanks!


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## koala

Hi, welcome to TSF

Make sure all the clips in the storyboard timeline have files associated with them. It could be that you've moved a video file from one folder to another, or renamed/deleted a file, meaning the program gets stuck at that point in the timeline when trying to render.


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## Babbzzz

SOLUTION: Problems When Saving HD Videos in Windows Live Movie Maker [HD] - YouTube


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## fanfenzy

Hi, I made a video using movie maker and now I can't get it to save as a movie to upload to youtube. I am at a lost. Please help. 


Thanks, 
fanfenzy


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## zuluclayman

There are 4 main causes of a failure to save with MovieMaker:

*1: moving or renaming source material* - if any clips, audio or stills are moved or renamed the links the MovieMaker project uses are broken and so the project cannot be saved as a finished file. Sometimes if the files reside on an external storage device (USB stick, external HD, SD card) even just using a different USB port (or even the same one at times) is enough to break the links.

*Solution:* always make a folder to contain your assets, preferably on an internal drive - if the files are on an external drive, make a copy on your internal drive and select the files from there to import to your project.

*2: corrupt files* - sometimes audio or video files can become corrupted during transfer/saving.

*Solution:* the long way around is to take out each file, one at a time, try saving - if it works the file you have just eliminated is the problem - find a new copy of it! For this reason you should never delete files (on your camera or your HD until you know you have a "good" version stored where you need it.

*3: codec incompatibility* - if the audio or video files you are trying to use have been encoded with a codec that is incompatible with MovieMaker's exporting function (note here that sometimes files will import OK but not export OK)

*Solution:* to find the offending file use the same process of elimination mentioned above, then, if need be, use conversion software to transcode the offending file to a suitable format - Format Factory, Prism or Handbrake are all good freeware converters.

*4: insufficient computer resources *- this could be:

* insufficient RAM (2-4GB is the minimum I would recommend for HD video editing)
* insufficient disk space - not only do you need sufficient disk space for the end file but you need working space for the software to store temporary files etc. while the export process is working.
* slow CPU - some older CPU's are just not up to the task of working with HD video files.

*Solution 1:* upgrade your computer (more RAM, bigger or more storage space), ensure you defragment your drive(s)regularly, use disk cleanup or software such as CC Cleaner to clean up temp files etc., get rid of files you don't need - be ruthless, have you used the file in the last 12-24months?

*Solution 2:* break the project into chunks - edit scenes of maybe 5-6 clips. Depending on length and size you may be able to do many more or even less - taste and try! When you have edited and exported all the scenes, make a new project and import them all, add your audio and export.
The reason this works is that each scene has had the hard work done: effects have been added etc - this is what takes the computing power and space!

If you regularly edit video it would pay to look at some of the entry level video editing packages from Sony and Adobe - they aren't very expensive and these days you get a huge bang for your buck.


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