Windows 11 brings replacement for Movie Maker - Only 640x480 videos are free, otherwise subscription
[12:38 Wed,16.March 2022 by Thomas Richter]
Who remembers Microsoft&s Movie Maker, the simple video editing program that used to come with Windows, but was replaced in 2017 by the - extremely feature-poor and buggy - Windows Video Editor? In fact, Movie Maker (or rather a functional video editing program) is now coming back, in the form of the Clipchamp app, which is now integrated in the latest build 22572 of Windows 11 in the form of a so-called "in-box app" and will probably be included in Windows in the future.
. Clipchamp is significantly more powerful than the old Movie Maker, but is aimed just as much at normal users who simply want to edit videos and put them online, rather than professionals. In addition to a timeline, Clipchamp offers classic video editing functions for cutting, trimming, cropping, rotating or changing the speed of videos. Likewise, text, graphics or audio can also be added or effect filters can be applied such as for transitions between different scenes. The finished clips can then be exported directly to video portals or social networks such as YouTube, TikTok, Facebook or Instagram online in various output styles and aspect ratios.
Other tools are also available to simplify the creation of videos, such as templates, free video and audio libraries, and a webcam and screen recording function. Microsoft, in addition to its OneDrive for storing videos in the cloud, has also integrated a text-to-speech feature based on its Azure Web service, which can be used to speak text in 70 languages using 170 different virtual speakers.
Inexpensive subscription or free ineligible?
But now to the actually biggest change compared to previous Microsoft bundled apps like Movie Maker: although the number of imports or exports is not limited and even the free version includes all features, Clipchamp can only export videos in 480p (i.e. a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels!) in the free version, exports in 720p or even 1080p are only possible via subscription model (and only here the audio stock libraries are available).
So the 720p ("Creator") subscription costs 9 dollars monthly (or 72 dollars per year) and the 1080p ("Business") subscription already 19 dollars (or 156 dollars per year). And the video templates, as well as the video and image archives, are only available in the Business Platinum model for per month ( per year). There is no provision for exporting 4K video at all.
Clipchamp pricing model.
Since videos in the resolutions of 640x480 are absolutely no longer contemporary and presentable, this means that Clipchimp can actually only be used sensibly with a subscription, which costs (at least) 9 dollars per month and includes only a - compared to other editing programs - basic functionality. This is clearly too expensive for a simple video editing program, especially since there is an extremely powerful free competitor with Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve - which, however, has a somewhat steep learning curve for casual editors. However, there are quite a few other simple free alternatives.
Microsoft - Why? And Where?
Microsoft is apparently hoping that enough Windows users will be found who are willing to pay each month to be able to easily put video clips online, and that the mass of users (potentially many millions) will result in a new constant stream of revenue via subscription. But maybe Microsoft will decide to change the pricing model for ClipChamp again or integrate it into the Office 365 subscription because of the (very negative) feedback from users already www.reddit.com/r/Windows11/comments/tbmckd/does_anyone_else_think_clipchamp_is_garbage/. Perhaps Microsoft will also be taught better by the new attractive M1 generation of Apple&s hardware and will realize that its own offering needs to be upgraded somewhat with, among other things, a free video editing program (as Apple has been offering for a long time with iMovie).
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