Movie Maker Keyboard shortcuts
Ctrl + S = Save
It will only save the project files and not the movie.
Ctrl + P = Save Movie
This saves the movie file. When selected it will bring up the save movie wizard, allowing you to choose the settings to save the movie in.
F12 = Save Project As
Maybe you want to make some changes to your project, but need to keep the original as well. You use F12, save the project as a different name and then you have 2 projects, one of which you can either change as necessary, or use to practice making alterations you are not too familiar with.
Ctrl + R = Capture Video
You will need the camcorder connected and ready to go, as this will launch the capture video wizard.
Ctrl + I = Import into Collections
This will let you quickly locate files to import into the collections folder.
Ctrl + Del = Clear Timeline
Pressing these two will remove everything from the timeline. Don't worry; if you didn't mean to do it you can always use the undo function to put it all back.
Ctrl + T = Toggle between storyboard and timeline view
Some people prefer to work in Movie Maker using the storyboard view, others the timeline one. Whichever you prefer, some actions are easier to perform in one than another, so this is a quick way to switch between them.
Page Down (Pg Dn) = Zoom in
When making accurate editing decisions it is often easiest to do when you can see the item magnified.
Page Up (Pg Up) = Zoom Out
After making an accurate editing decision, you may want to quickly find another place on the timeline to edit. Zooming out will make it much quicker to roughly find the place by showing more of the whole timeline.
F9 = Zoom to Fit
An even quicker way to see the whole of the timeline.
Ctrl + D = Add to Timeline
Click on the item to be added to the timeline, and then use the short-cut. Movie Maker will automatically add it to the end of the movie. You can also do this with transitions, choosing the place to be added, music etc.
Ctrl + L = Split
Place the timeline marker in the position in which you want to split the movie
Ctrl + M = Combine
Didn't like the effect splitting the movie had, you can use this method to combine the two clips back to one, or if you have several split clips, you can select them by left clicking and pressing Ctrl to select which ones you want and use combine to join them all back up.
Space Bar or Ctrl + W = Play movie
This will start to play and pause the movie when playing on the timeline.
Ctrl + K = Stop
This will stop the timeline playing and move the timeline marker back to the beginning.
Ctrl + Q = Rewind timeline
When the timeline is playing this will return the marker to the beginning and resume playing.
Ctrl + Alt + Right Arrow = Forward
This will move the timeline marker forward to the next clip on the timeline.
Ctrl + Alt + Left Arrow + Backward
This will move the timeline marker backward to the last clip on the timeline.
Alt + Right Arrow = Frame Advance
For frame accurate editing this will be a benefit, as it will allow you to move the timeline marker forward one frame at a time.
Alt + Left Arrow = Frame rewind
As above, but will allow you to go backwards a frame at a time.
Ctrl + Shift + B = Nudge Left
This will let you move a clip a frame at a time to the left. If the clip is between others, Movie Maker will automatically allow for this and move other clips as necessary.
Ctrl + Shift + N = Nudge Right
This will let you move a clip a frame at a time to the right. If the clip is between others, Movie Maker will automatically allow for this and move other clips as necessary.
