Open Windows Movie Maker by double-clicking on the program shortcut icon on your Desktop (or, in the task bar go to Start > All Programs and look for the shortcut toward the end of all the listed programs).

The first box that will display, as the program opens, will be the Video Capture Wizard. You should see your borescope listed as an S-Video device. Unless you need to capture audio as well as video, you may click on Next. Should you need to capture audio as well as video, make sure your default audio source is selected in the dialog (it should be selected by default, and you will not need to change anything unless a different, or additional, audio card is added in the future to the laptop). Plug in a microphone to the microphone jack located on the back of the laptop. Your settings will reflect the setup on your own system and will probably be different from those shown in the dialog box below.

You will also want to configure your settings for the camera. Place your borescope well inside the piece that is being recorded. You should see a preview of the image that will be captured. Click on the "Configure" button (as shown in the screenshot below). The dialog that will pop up will enable you to determine in advance how your borescope camera will record. This will be important to capturing a clear image as a darker material will need to have the brightness settings adjusted upward, whereas a brighter material like stainless may need the brightness settings lowered. Another useful setting is Contrast. By experimenting with the settings in advance, you can be assured of an optimum video capture.

Below is the popup from Camera Settings.

Be sure to click "Apply" before clicking "OK" as shown in the screenshot above. After clicking OK, you will be brought back to the original, opening dialog box. Clicking Next brings up a dialog which enables you to enter information for the video file you are about to capture (this will be a file name for the Editable, or Project file).

In the Second step, you also choose where you want to save the file. A note about the file name you enter here; at this point, it's asking for a name that can be saved as a Project file (with a .MSWMM extension). A project file is only necessary to save if you'll need to go back and edit the video (i.e. if you want to add a beginning title or ending credits, or perhaps delete some of the frames from the movie). If you'll just want to save a movie file without editing it, you can let the name it first gives stand for now (such as "Untitled_0001") and each time you add a movie this default filename will increase the number by one (e.g. "Untitled_0002" for the second movie).

In other words, the place where you will give your file a meaningful name for the final version that will play in Windows Media Player (such as "stator_borescope_022206.wmv") will come later on in this process, as you will see.

Clicking on Next will open a dialog which enables you to determine the quality of your recording; in most cases, leave it at "Best Quality for Playback on My Computer" -- however, if the file will need to be sent through email or displayed on another device (such as a video-enabled cellphone) you may choose such options, but be aware that the quality will degrade with these other options, as the target file size is forced to be smaller.

Clicking Next in the wizard brings up the "Capture Video" Dialog, and you are ready to begin recording your borescope video. Click on "Start Capture" to begin recording and, when finished, click on "Stop Capture".