How to rotate Videos in windows live movie maker.

     

Sometimes, when you import videos into your Windows library, they end up being oriented incorrectly. This is particularly an issue with cell phone videos, which can be shot in landscape or portrait mode. You can correct their orientation permanently by using Windows Live Movie Maker 2011, which you can get for free as part of Windows Live Essentials 2011 from Microsoft. This quick tutorial will show how to import such videos into Windows Live Movie Maker 2011, rotate and then export them as new video with the correct orientation.

Install Windows Live Movie Maker 2011

     Begin by installing Windows Live Essentials 2011. Check out our earlier tutorial on How to Install Windows Live Essentials 2011 for detailed instructions. Just make sure that you include Windows Live Movie Maker 2011 if you do a custom install.

Importing Videos into Windows Live Movie Maker 2011

    Once you have Windows Live Movie Maker 2011 installed, launch the program and import your video clip into a new project. This can be done by clicking the 'Add videos and photos' button. You can also right-click your file and choose "Open with" and click "Windows Live Movie Maker."

Or, you can drag and drop it into the open Windows Live Movie Maker window.

For more detailed instructions on adding video clips, read our tutorial on How to Import Photos and Videos into Windows Live Movie Maker.

Rotating Your Video Clip

Your video clip will now be added to the storyline in a new Windows Live Movie Maker 2011 project. Next, click 'Rotate left 90 degrees' or 'Rotate right 90 degrees', according to your needs. The clip will be rotated in the pane on the left.

You'll be able to see how the video will look in the preview pane on the left.

Exporting Your Video Clip Back to Your Library

  If everything looks good, go ahead and export it as a .WMV file. Click the Save movie button in the top-right.

   Windows Movie Maker 2011 will automatically choose the recommended export settings based on the project. This is the simplest, and usually the best option. If you'd like choose a different preset, click the text portion of the Save movie button and choose the present that works best for you.

Once the export is complete, you can play it right away, if you'd like. This will immediately open the video in Windows Media Player 12, or your default video player.

Voila! The video is oriented correctly.

Your new video will be saved in your library. Now, you can go ahead and delete the original without affecting the new video.

Conclusion

         As you can see, this isn't the simplest process for rotating a video. But at least it's quick, free and uses software included in the Windows Live Essentials suite. To save yourself from doing these steps next time, see if there is a setting on your cell phone to change the orientation of your videos. If there isn't, get accustomed to going through this process each time you import videos.