“Making movies has never been easier,” says Microsoft in reference to its Movie Creator Beta app for Lumia phones, the Lumia 2520 tablet and Surface tablets running Windows 8.1. The new app works as an all-in-one basic editing suite in which users, or should we say auteurs, can splice video clips, insert images, add text and credits, pan-out, zoom-in, and employ a range of background music, filters and cinematic themes, to your homemade masterpiece. Branded themes are also available, including inserts from Dreamworks Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda animated movies.

The finished films, saved on the device – not in the cloud – can then be shared easily between devices, uploaded to the web, email, or to Facebook Inc., and because you have options to choose the resolution settings, files can be kept to a moderate size. A total of 25 clips, text inserts and images can be implemented, but there’s no restriction on the length of the video.

One of the attractions of the Movie Creator is that it allows you to download and import images and clips from different devices, although all data must be saved to your phone or tablet – you won’t be able to import data from OneDrive. Once you have all the media on your device you need to make your movie, the editor allows you select certain images, music, text, clips, and insert them on your film’s timeline. If that proves to be a somewhat complex experience a pop-up question mark acts as guide offering information on what to do next.

There are a lot of editors available on the market already, but it costs money to get particular features. The Movie Creator Beta app will be tempting users looking for a free, start-to-finish movie editing option with unlimited recording – presently there are no other video-editing apps that offer unlimited video length at no cost. The app is available as a download from the Windows Phone Store and Widows Store – 164MB and 189.7MB.

Movie Creator is quite similar to another Lumia app, Video Tuner, so why bother creating a not-so distant-cousin? “Actually, these apps have two very distinct value offerings. Video Tuner’s great for editing single videos; Movie Creator is better for editing many videos (and images and cinegraphs — up to 25) together into longer, professional-looking videos. Movie Creator’s launch does not affect Video Tuner at all,” a Microsoft spokesperson said.

It remains to be seen if, when the app is out of its Beta stage, it will become available on more Windows devices, and perhaps replace the older movie-making app.

Photo credit: Marta Paz via photo pin cc