Movie Maker 8.1 gets a major update today bringing more editing FX to Windows Phone

By Daniel Rubino
last updated

For those who love to use the video recording capabilities of Windows Phone 8.1, specifically with the ability to edit those short films, you’ll enjoy the new update to Movie Maker 8.1. The update was a long time in the making, with lots of sweat poured into to, so hopefully you’ll find something that you’ve been requesting.

Let’s take a look at what’s new and if you act now, there may be 100 free redeem codes after the break!

Movie Maker 8.1 (1.1.4.2)

  • UNDO:  unlimited undos!!
  • Custom MP4 and MP3 encoding format
  • Still frame:  extract current frame, apply an effect and set a duration.
  • Grey Effect:  images and videos
  • Fisheye Effect: images and videos
  • Pinch Effect: images and video
  • Warp effect: images and video
  • Voice Recorder to add voice notes/recording to your movie
  • Mute all clips shortcut (by popular demand)
  • Change all images duration (by popular demand)

As you can see, Movie Maker 8.1 finally brings a lot of new effects to the table, including fisheye and warp, which could be a lot of fun if used appropriately. The Voice recorder and mute clips also will greatly enhance you armchair editors out there, in addition to having that unlimited ‘undo’ function, which is always necessary when doing serious edits.

Movie Maker 8.1 new

If you haven’t bought this app yet, the first 100 of you who enter in ‘wpcentral2’ can nab it for free. Here’s how to do it: Update: Codes are SOLD OUT, sorry!

  • Open 1.1.4.2 version of the app
  • Open a video to edit
  • The pop-up opens up by clicking 10+ times the "Deleted part" red square on the Trim page
  • Once you find the pop-up, enter in ‘wpcentral2’ and it should unlock for the first 100 of you

It’s tricky, so good luck on finding it!

For those who already have Movie Maker 8.1 or want a free trial ($1.99 to buy), head here to the Store!

QR: movie maker

Daniel Rubino
Daniel Rubino
Editor-in-chief

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central, head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007 when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and for some reason, watches. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.

171 Comments
  • Cool. It's getting there.
  • Love an active developer...
  • Eh, just wondering, but why can't it be installed to the SD card?
  • Mainly for startup performance reasons.
    If you have issues just uninstall and reinstall MM (you will not loose your unlock if applied, it's for life ;).
    Anyway you can save movies and configurations on the SD card (the app itself is 6MB only :)
  • I'm very impressed with the work you've done so far on this app . Well we be seeing a Windos 8.1 version anytime soon ? 
  • It's coming :)
    I just want to arrive at a more complete version with some other features I'm working on (mainly transitions and titles) before uploading for Win8.1.
  • You really hit a note with all the users with this "100 unlocks free" trick ;-) :)
  • How can I receive a code?
  • It's explained in the article. Thank you.
  • I'm too late. But bought it for £1.49 using free voucher gift. :-)
  • Just leave a nice comment on the Store, then send me a screenshot and I will give you a new personal unlock code, all for WPCentral users ;) !!!
  • I left a nice comment, how do I send you a screenshot?
  • Through email.
  • Wam1q, very helpful....  I guess I'll have to more specific; how do I find the correct email address?
  • MM => "..." (menu) => about
  • Wow. You are really fast. I was just about to tell him how to get it when I saw you had already replied.
  • I am in total need of it. Since  my country doesnot support for payment over internet or gives any credit cards. #Nepal . And I am so much addicted to Photo/Video edit & WindowsPhone that I seek every oppurtunity I get to experience . So please give me chance to make uses of your great app.  Thank You ! <iframe src="https://onedrive.live.com/embed?cid=F57E70156741B566&resid=F57E70156741B... width="250" height="320" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>
  • Hello, thanks for the support. I did the review, I took the print and sent a private message for you here, but do not know if it really was, I have not received any confirmation of dispatch. I'm waiting ...
    I'm sorry for bad english
    thanks again
  • I just sent you a mail
  • I will respond to all, just be a little patient, really too much emails on my outlook now lol :)
  • Thanks venetasoft, David and wpc, just got the code through email
  • Ooh Lala :P this app is good I like using it.
  • Cool! thanks for the unlock code!!
  • Took me a minute to figure it out, but I got it. Thanks for the code!
  • Entered the code and now the app is fully unlocked. Thank you wpcentral :)
  • i typed the code how to know if i unlocked it ?
  • There will be another popup with confirmation. Worked for me. Great stuff! Thanks WPCentral!
     
  • Just try to create video longer than 10 seconds :)
  • I get it :D
  • Cannot install on an SD card. Publisher not allowing it. Must first move the app to the phone then update. I assume they have discoverd a performance issue when having in on the SD.
  • You are right :)
    It is a little slower to start when installed on SD. MM is integrating with other apps, so I want it to start up the fastest way possible....
  • Can't figure out this pop up... ETA: Then got a popup... but invalid keycode...
  • Got it!
  • Can't wait for 8.1!!!
  • Cant wait for cyan, bbm,nokia photoshop.
  • Woot Woot!!!
  • Thanks...just fully unlock using the cides!
  • Windows 8.1 version?
  • It's coming :)
    I want to arrive at a more complete version with some other features I'm working on (mainly transitions and titles) before uploading for Win8.1.
  • Keep it coming!
  • Thanks wpcentral!
  • Damn! If I knew they were going to renew the offer,I wouldn't have purchased it. But it's great by the way.
  • You will be awarded for that (a special feature will be added on next updates for who buyed the full version :)
  • I would have purchased regardless. People are getting so cheap with apps. Video editing for $1.49?? Come on. The work pit into this deserves at least that amount.
  • Have you considered to translate your app into Spanish? I can help you with that.
  • Thank you !! Please contact me via email :)
  • Nothing wrong with supporting a hard working developer by purchasing the App
  • Cool! Thank you for the unlock code :)
  • Yipppeee.. Unlocked
  • Thanks to WPCentral and the developer for the unlock code. Will be using this a lot.
  • YEAAAHH BABY YEAAAH, thank god I followed Daniel on twitter for saving me a few bucks, lol
  • It's gone
  • Don't worry, for all wpcentral users, just write a nice review on the Store and send me a screenshot, I will send you a new personal unlock code :)
  • How to send you a screenshot
  • Sold out. :(
  • Yeah. I was yup slow too
  • Got it :) and it installed happily on my SD card...
  • Which is the app where we can record slow motion video? Anyone?
  • Slowly app
  • Super App !! I highly recommend it for fine-tune slow effects (we will integrate in next coming update too :)
  • Yeah,,, got the free full version
  • Ya no alcance.... :( sold-out.... :'(
  • Dang, sold out, but an still an awesome editing app.
  • its sold out 
  • I wonder if this is what Spielberg uses?
  • I hope so, maybe with an awesome Lumia 1020 :D :D :D :D
  • I'm a little busy right now but could someone enlighten me on the pros/cons to Movie Momements?
  • Movie Moments is an awesome app, it has titles and themes (will be soon added to MM too ;), but you cannot add photos, collage clip/tracks, choose encoding format, etc.. And has a 60 sec limit.
    Movie Maker8.1 has no limits and really tons of other fetures missing on Movie Moments ;)
  • Wish i could get such a response too when i begin developing.. I'd need a major idea though ;-) hope i can make the best of my ideas.. Something like you've done ;-) :)
  • Make an app like digibeats for India and take my money!
  • Why is it such a neccessity ? Nokia mixradio for most songs and digitally imported for electronic, and you get what you need :) I listen to rock mostly, so i use sky.fm instead of digitally imported, and mix radio is even better than that ! Anyway, the UI of digibeats looks really cool :) (the best UI i've seen till now is that of myTube though)
  • What i am looking for is an app which has a variety of music (including Indian Music), lets me make radio stations, lets me download any song which i want, billboard charts, etc etc etc.
  • Take it to the forums then! :P
  • Yes you got it ! Download music sense ! Its an amazing app with high speed background downloads, correct metadata, and many charts. Mail the dev and ask him to add indian charts (he is very responsive), and till then enjoy it ! And meanwhile, you can use mix musix for Hindi song charts.
    Hope these two help ! :) music sense is my favorite app for music since a long while !
    (it wont let you make radio stations, but you can download any song for free, or stream it even. But its basically a great downloading app with charts)
  • Ay, thanks for the quick and well thought out response! I just bought it. :D
  • Key isn't working anymore =(
    but I'll buy it to support the developer o/
  • Looks like 1.99 to buy, not 1.49
  • The reviews are great, so just bought it. Thank you!
  • I just got the pop up, after I'm entering the code it's already sold out, oh nooooo ;)
  • So I updated the app (it was on my SD card) and the app started crashing after the update, I didn't even let me move the app to phone, so I deleted the app and installed it again, and lost all the premium features (I unlocked the app when it was released, Ventasoft gave me the code, really awesome developer if you ask me), and now this offer sold out >_>
  • Just reuse the code (if you changed your phone, just email me for a new code ;)
  • Again, too late for me. This is the second time I miss the free unlock of this app :(
  • Key code sold out at 7:54am pst
  • Don't worry, for all wpcentral users, just write a nice review on the Store and send me a screenshot, I will send you a new personal unlock code :)
  • Damnit!
  • Missed it again :(
  • Need the ability to pull content from OneDrive. That's where I store all my videos.
  • OneDrive in the dev preview has some issues when acting as a "share source"...
    Just download the video to your phone first, then inport from MM ;)
  • Hi mr venetasoft, you have a very nice app here and a 5* review and now a screenshot . You said you would send us who missed out on the trial a personal unlock code and I am dying to see what the full app can do. I have no debit card in my phone so I cant pay for it. Screenshot [IMG]http://i59.tinypic.com/t0i0yg.png[/IMG]
  • Write me an email please ;)
  • Thanks so much mr venetasoft, you are really the best dev I know! You have an email
  • Damn, I keep missing out on those codes. Seems like an incredible app. I can't buy it due to having no bank card.
  • Don't worry, for all wpcentral users, just write a nice review on the Store and send me a screenshot, I will send you a new personal unlock code :)
  • shit, I lost :////////
  • SUPERR app and awsome developer
  • Does this app have transitions?
  • Next coming update (MM is just 10 days old, I'm trying not to sleep but my stupid body needs some hours of sleeping sometimes :( .... )
  • No worries. You have my money anyway. ;)
  • A suggestion for venetasoft! Please Remove "8.1" from the app title! Just keep it Movie Maker!
  • Do you want @Microsoft to kill me :D ???
  • Lol.. No. Absolutely not! Okay maybe not Movie Maker! Some other cool name perhaps! But please remove the "8.1".
  • I added "8.1" to both avoid infringments from Microsoft, and let users understand it is for wp8.1 only...
  • Does this app compare to Video Editor 8.1?
  • The list is really long... That app is nice but has a small subset of MM features (the dev entirely copied my UI, not really innovating too...). Anyway I would really like him to contact me, should be nice to work together integrating our apps :)
  • Fair enough.  Thanks for the info.  I've been using Video Editor for a while and like it, but I'll buy your app and give it a run. 
  • Well.  Am I missing something on how to load a video to start editing it?  I tapped the Load icon and selected Videos.  It found nothing.  Realizing that videos I've recorded will show up in the Camera roll, then selected Pictures and then Camera Roll.  It still found nothing, even though I have four videos in my camera roll.  Did I miss a step?
  • Please write me to the support email so I can guide you  (it seems that you are doing something wrong ;)
  • I had to unistall the app and reinstall it.  Now it's working.  
  • Sold out for me. Nonetheless a great idea and good fun to boot
  • Every Dev. should be like Venetasoft..Replyin to every query and probs. in the comments..Givin free codes..One man army for sure..Keep up the great work :-) :-)
  • +920
  • Nice app man, good job
  • Hi! Just bought your app, however I'm having problema when using files that are on sdcard, vídeo and audio files are all located there, app recognizes them but in the end when I try to save final render, app crashes...
  • There are some issues with the developer preview and file pickers/sharing...
    I see that too, I am in contact with Microsft support and I am communicating all the glitches I note while developing MM...
    I suggest you to try with a fastest SD, or to copy your media to the phone storage before adding to your movie. What phone and SD card are you using ? Please write me all the details on my support emil (don't want to annoy other users here ;)
  • Hi! Thanks for your reply. I have sent an email with the requested data to your support email address. Regards!
  • Try to uninstall and reinstall the app too (your unlock code will be preserved)
  • @Ventasoft I used the old code but it said 'Invalid key code' so what?
  • Old codes are finished, please use "wpcentral2" now (if sold out, read how to obtain a new one above ;)
  • Hope you could add transition effect..
  • Of course I can (next updates :)
  • the app is coming along, though its still pretty basic. Transitions are needed badly as well as fades, titles and credits. Having the app auto-fade the music would be very helpful as well. Still hoping for a Hollywood FX type app.
  • I am a single developer..... And the app is 10 days old... Transition are coming VERY soon, I have a prototype on my L10150 of best classic transitions and they work great :)
    I want to finish to add titles and some animations (like in Movie Moments) and I will publish it.
  • I applaud your effort. Yours and the Movie Moments are the only two apps really worth downloading on the platform, so now is your time to get a foothold and be noticed. Great work and I look forward to your updates.
  • Missed it ! Damn!
  • Thanks for the code!
  • The only thing I hate about windows phone is we can't zoom while recording video! That makes my camera useless! I have a L520 and L1020, everything is good except this feature is missing!
  • What are you talking about :). Just run your finger up the screen when recording...zooms in. Do it in the opposite direction to zoom out.
    I have a 1020, and often use the lossless zoom (particularly for macro work).
    Try sticking the 1020 on a tripod & use 720p...you then get 5x lossless zoom! I get some amazing close ups doing that.
  • The finger up and finger down works only with "Nokia Camera" not the stock Camera. Stock camera uses the pich to zoom feature.
  • Good tip...though I've no idea why anyone would use the stock camera ahead of the Nokia one...
    Whatever the case, we can zoom in on videos whilst recording - no matter what app we are using :)
  • It only works in Nokia camera! Microsoft should make Nokia camera as the default camera because it has a way lot of features than Microsoft Camera!
  • Mmmm this could be easily done...  "Add a 'zoom camera' to MM", ok it is in my check list now :)
  • Hii ventasoft.. I really cant buy your app because I dont have a credit card.. Plzzz provide me a free unlock code.. :P Thanx in advance.. :)
  • No problem at all :)
    Just show a little love to MM with a nice review on the Sotre, then send me a screenshot of it and I will send you a brand new unlock code for you :)
  • Still no reply to the email detailing my review of the app :| after 2 weeks
  • Please send me again, I could have missed it...I m receiving tons of free code requests :D
  • MM was not out two weeks ago...
  • A feature request I'd like to make: after adding an audio track and splitting a piece of it off, I'd like to be able to move the remaining piece of audio track.  For example, I have a video that I dropped an instrumental music track onto.  The first 10 seconds or so of the music is a preamble that I don't want on the video, so I selected the audio track, moved to where I wanted to split the audio track and then deleted the first half of the split.  Right now I don't see a way to slide the remainder of the music track to the left to start at the same time as the video.
  • You can :) ! just crop/trim the audio track (click to select) =>  "copy" => click the point on the timeline where you need it => "paste" => "delete" old one
  • Still stutters when playing music changing picture frames, I have a Nokia 1020 and have bout the app, not working right,
  • Another issue of the develper preview, hopefully fixed on final release ;)
  • Bought the app to support the dev, seeing how active the dev is in engaging with the users in the comments :D. Keep up the great work!.
  • Is anybody else having a problem with music stuttering and skipping when the app changes frames, or is it because I'm using Nokia Lumia 1020, :'(
  • It's an issue of the develper preview, hopefully fixed on final release ( I'm sending all these glitches  to Microsft support too ;)
  • K, thanks, keep up the good work.
  • I think the developer can charge more for the feature support of this app. Its amazing at the tempo the app update features are rolling out. Even more rightfully so if the app turns out to be stable and reliable in use in the shortterm and longterm use.
  • Can you please make a more according UI like Sony's video editing app, that would be crazy
  • I do not know Sony editing UI (I am more attracted from iMOvie style UI). Could you please send me some screenshots/video of it ?? I'm really interested on evaluating  new solutions :)
  • You can see it in the new Sony's commercial spots for his last phone they have 2 where you can see a lot of things of it :)
  • Could you be so kind as to send me a link (utube...?), really I cant find it..... Thank you !!
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hpdDUSv-L8 there you have
  • Thank you !!!!!!
  • When for 7.8?
  • 7.X is gone...Sorry :'(
  • Bought it rather than getting an unlock code - support the dev and heck it's only $1.99!!!  
  • I would really love if we could add text to the video. Something like Nokia does in the Living Images preview... Here is it in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbH1E57LuYA That bold white font is sexy!
  • Under development ;)
  • Will really look forward to it! That'll be a crazy good update!
  • Thanx ventasoft.. M nit an editor but still downliaded it.. Thanx for your love..
  • Codes are all gone... but It's worth $1.99, and I appreciate the developer responding to feedback here in the comments, so I'll pick it up. It's worth supporting developers for good software, especially independent ones and developers on smaller marketplaces like WP.
  • OMG! What am I missing??? where's venetasoft??? I ned code too. My phone is updating to the new updaets for WP8.1 Preview for Developer. I'm going to donwload and leave a comment.. avery nice one!
  • Still can't compress video
  • You can choose from many mp4 formats and encoding speed with 1.1.2.4, please check to have the latest version.
  • damn, i lost this oportunity... i can't pay for the version cause i don't have a credit card. But this app is great, 5 stars on the store right now!
  • Thank you :)
    Write me and I will send you a new code ;)
  • Very good.It keeps improving. I wish it can also add text like Movie Moments :)
  • How to to get the code
  • I want to be able to upload my edited videos to 6tag!
  • +1520
  • bought it, its perfect!
    Only I need is upload to Instagram (6tag) :)
  •  Of course I can contact Rudy, maybe he has a wp8.1 6tag version ready :) 
  • Movie Maker 1.1.5 is out, HUGE update.
    Thank you very much for all your feedbacks, my feature list is entirely based on your emails :)