Thanks to Andy Marken, I have been trying out a really easy to use movie maker called muvee Pixie. This small program does some really exciting things with your pictures, video and music so instead of flipping through a bunch of pics from your last trip or event, to show family, friends or business associates, you can make a much more attractive movie in just a few minutes. It lets you add comments to each picture or video and has various styles for the presentation.

muvee Pixie comes pre-installed with four styles. Each muvee style is a themed library of effects and transitions that give your video a professional look. (Additional styles are available for purchase at a pretty reasonable price.) Really, it is easy to use, all you have to do is add the photos you want to use or short videos and select the music you would like to add as musical background, it allows you to add your own soundtrack from music you own, select pieces from the songs you want to use, or mix and match snippets of music in a way that works for your project, then press play. No need for you to try and synchonize the beat of the music with the video you get because the application will do this automatically for you. And if you are not completely satisfied with the music style chosen you can try different styles until you get to the right one for you. Preview everything with full-screen DVD-quality previews right on your computer screen. Once you have a movie you are satisfied with you can share it with as many family and friends as you want on favorite web sites like Facebook and You Tube, or export it directly to your iPod, iPhone or blog.

This feature also allows you to host your videos on Shwup, muvee's own media sharing service.

muvee Pixie has lots of  incredible features, probably the most important of which is the super-smart automatic editing that allows it to automatically detect faces, make transitions and zoom the images. You can also use it to control the brightness of the pictures, to correct the color and remove the red eye effect. This software was designed with netbooks in mind, which is what I used it on to make my movies as it can adjust the image to the reduced screen so that you won’t have to scroll all the way up and down to be able to view the whole image. I should also mention the impeccable graphics and the power management which make it a valuable tool. As for the musical background of the video, you can use whole songs or you can trim only the part that you like best and you think fits the contents of the movie best. The only requirements are actually basic: Intel Pentium 4, AMD Athlon 64 (or equivalent), 2GHz or higher, 128MB video memory.

Here’s a list of some key features of muvee Pixie:

	Super-smart automatic editing: Face detection, transitions, pans and zooms. It’s all synced to the beat of the music and it’s all done for you.
	Netbook friendly: Designed to be netbook friendly, scaling to smaller screens to eliminate having to scroll excessively. Graphics performance and power management are also streamlined. No worries if you've got an older netbook, even if the previews are jerky, your saved videos will still be smooth as velvet.
	Music trimming: Use the chorus or even your favorite verse from that song that really sets the tone for your video. Or, use the whole song if you want. Even string multiple songs or choruses together. Now you can be the conductor!
	Styles:  Set the tone of your video with a style. Effects. Fades. Transitions. All built in. Tell your story the way you want to in just one click. Download free styles or purchase additional stylePacks. Change themes in seconds. The styles help you tell your story in just one click. Whether it's a party, a family gathering or the kids’ soccer game, there is a style to help tell your story the way you want to. Each style comes with effects and transitions that instantly transform your muvee.
	Share easily: With muvee Pixie, you can instantly share your video on Facebook and YouTube. Export your video to your iPod, iPhone and Android device directly. Or simply save it to your computer. Share your videos anytime, any place. Instant full screen preview: Watch your video instantly in all its glory. Edit it on the spot. Perfect it before putting it out for everyone to see.
	shwup – Your private online gallery: One click access to free and unlimited storage space on shwup - muvee's very own online sharing service. Private sharing of movies, photos and video – invite only those you want to! They can even contribute their own photos and video to tell an even better story!
	NVIDIA® CUDA Acceleration: For systems with NVIDIA CUDA-enabled graphics card, you can enhance the processing power of saving and rendering your movies faster than before.

Here are 3 screenshots: First showing what the main screen looks like when you open the program. Next is a pic of what it looks like after you add your photos, video and music, and finally a handy reference shot with labels for each section. 

That’s about it…if you would like to see the short muvees I made, email me and I’ll tell you how. Also, the price when I did this column was $29.99, a good buy I’d say, but as always, check the net and see if there are any coupons or discounts available. The best news is that you can download a 15 day trial to see if you’d like to buy it. Go to: http://www.muvee.com/en/products/pixie.

‘Til next time, have fun but be careful out there on the ‘net. Aloha, Lou.