Microsoft announced a feature called Story Mix in Photos on Windows 10 a while back. The feature was initially rolled out to the insider builds, to users on the Fast ring. This feature lets users create a movie from videos and photos. It’s basically Microsoft’s Movie Maker but much simpler and with fewer features. In a recent update to the app, Microsoft has enabled Story Mix in Photos on Windows 10 stable version. Here’s how to use it.
Add Folder
The Photos app is a bit buggy when it comes to detecting videos. You should either move any videos you want to add to a story remix to the Pictures library or add the folder that videos are in, in the Photos app. Make sure that Photos detects the videos. It doesn’t have any trouble detecting newly added images. Click the Refresh button at the top to force the app to check for new content.
Story Mix In Photos
Open the Photos app and go to the ‘Albums’ tab. Click the ‘Create a video’ button.
Navigate through the folders and select the photos and videos you want to add to your video.
Once you’ve added the video and photos, you will be taken to a video editing interface complete with a timeline. Select each picture/video and choose how long it will be visible in the video. You can drag & drop the pictures and videos to change their order and you can add more any time you want.
In Story Mix, you have the option to add motion effects, filters, and music. The filters and effects are added on a per-item basis. Additionally, you can also add text. There’s a modest number of motion effects and filters to choose from. As for the music, the Photos app has a few presets but you can also use a music file from your own music library.
Once you’re done, you have to export your video. Photos offers to export the in three different qualities; S for small that is quick to upload and suitable for small screens, M for medium that is optimized for online sharing, and L that’s suitable for viewing on large screens.
The videos are exported in MP4 format.
The Photos app should have updated automatically. If not, check the Windows Store app for an update. If the app is up to date and you don’t see this feature, it’s possible Microsoft is rolling it out to select users on the stable build. It shouldn’t be too long before it’s available for everyone considering the Fall Creators Update is about to be released in the next month.