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Getting Started Overview

This section takes you from a fresh clone to a running MovieMaker.exe and a green contract suite. Work through the pages in order:

  1. Requirements — the exact toolchain (VS2022 Build Tools + ATL, CMake, Windows SDK, WTL 10).
  2. Building — configure with CMake (Win32 / VS2022 generator) and build all 29 targets, or use the tools/build.ps1 wrapper.
  3. Running — launch the app, understand the launcher → engine DLL flow, and what the supporting executables are for.
  4. Verification — run the contract suite (PASS=116 FAIL=0), CTest, the GUI harness, and the TODO audit.
  5. Troubleshooting — the classic failure modes: wrong DLL dir, missing ATL component, 64-bit Python, and more.

The 60-second version​

# 1. Clone (submodules are used for tests/apps)
git clone https://github.com/havaianasdestruido/WindowsMovieMakerDecomp.git
cd WindowsMovieMakerDecomp
git submodule update --init --recursive

# 2. Configure + build
cmake -S . -B build -G "Visual Studio 17 2022" -A Win32
cmake --build build --config Debug

# 3. Launch
build\bin\Debug\MovieMaker.exe

# 4. Verify (contract suite) — always point it at the REAL build output!
$env:WMMR_DLL_DIR = "$PWD\build\bin\Debug"
python32\python.exe tests\mmr-python\run_tests.py    # expect PASS=116 FAIL=0
Windows-only

The project is MSVC-only — CMake fails configuration with FATAL_ERROR on non-Windows or non-MSVC toolchains. The architecture must be selected as Win32 (x86) with -A Win32 (as in the commands above): the original 2012 binaries are 32-bit, and export decorations and the contract suite assume x86.