Open Movie Editor is designed to be a simple tool, that provides basic movie making capabilities. It aims to be powerful enough for the amateur movie artist, yet easy to use.
The timeline is at the bottom of the application window, and features several tracks for both, video and audio data. To add a piece of footage simple drag the desired file from the simple file manager to the timeline. You can then position it wherever you like. The same thing works for audio files too.
To remove a clip, simply drag it onto the trash can on the bottom left of the application window.
Trimming means setting In and Out points of a clip, defining where to start playing the clip and where to stop the clip, think of it as removing stuff from beginning and end of the clip. This can be easily done using the small arrows that are on the edges of the clip. Grab one with the mouse and drag them to the preferred position. To control what picture will be the cut the video view will display the video-frame at that position.
The Open Movie Editor uses a simple "project management" facility. To name a project you just need to type in the name in the textbook on the left. A new project can be started with the appropriate command in the "Project" menu. All your project will be added to the project list on the right of the menu bar. Just select the one you want to work on, and it's loaded. In case you want to duplicate a project, go to "Save as..." in the "Project" menu, you will then be asked to enter a new name for the copy.
If you want to create a cross fade, where two clips blend into each other softly, you just drag them onto the same track such that they overlap. Than red cross on blue background will appear like in the highlighted region in the image.
Audio automations are useful, if you want to make some parts of an audio more quiet than other parts, or if you want to fade out some background music. Just click on the automations tool button as marked in the image, and click onto an audio clip to add automation points. You can drag them around with the mouse, and if you drag on outside of the clip, it will disappear. Press shift while adjusting to manipulate the volume for a whole area.
To split a clip into two parts, use the split tool as highlighted in the image. If you click on a clip, it will be divided at that position.
If you want to add a transparent text overlay, a so called title, you have to prepare a transparent png image in your favorite image manipulation program. Then you can add it to the timeline by dragging it onto a track.
The original sound of a clip can be easily muted, be clicking the right mouse button on it. This will pop up a context menu, where you can select "Mute Original Sound". A muted clip will be indicated by a simple mute symbol.
Using the "Tracks" menu, new audio- and video-tracks can be easily added to the timeline.
Tracks might also be removed again, by clicking on the "Video" or "Audio" buttons in front of every track. This brings up a menu where you can choose "Remove Track".
Whenever a clip is positioned on the timeline it will snap to the other clips that are near the current position. This behavior can be disabled by the tiny button that is marked in the picture on the right.
Every action in the Open Movie Editor can be easily undone, using the "Undo" and "Redo" commands from the "Edit" menu. Alternatively there are keyboard shortcuts available: Ctrl+z and Ctrl+y
Applying one or more video filters or effects onto a video clip is easy, just select a single clip by pressing the Ctrl key while clicking the desired clip with the mouse. The clip will then have a red outline. Then you can use the "Add Effect" selector from the "Effects" tab to find a effect and add it to the clip. You can add any number of effects, and use the "Edit Effect" button to vary the parameters. For some effects this button is not available, that means that this specfic effect has no variables.
Creating a new video file from the arrangement is called "Rendering", it's also available in the "Project" menu. You have to select a filename, video and audio codecs, and there you go. The choices are limited at the moment, and there will probably some simpler presets in the future.