Use iMovie

iMovie, part of iLife from Apple, is an easy-to-use but surprisingly flexible movie-making application that can turn your home videos into polished productions. The tools and effects are very cool, richly featured, and customizable enough to let you make your productions all your own.

Steps

Importing Footage

  1. Launch iMovie. If it's not on the Dock, you can find it in your Applications folder, or search for it in Spotlight.
  2. Import your video. To make a movie with iMovie, you must first import the video from your camera to your computer. Most cameras make this a fairly painless process using either USB or Firewire cables directly from the camera, or flash memory cards such as Secure Digital (SD) or CompactFlash (CF) connected through a card reader. You can also import movies from the iPhone or the iPad through the normal 30-pin or Lightning connector.
    • Connect the most appropriate cable to your camera. Using the cable that came with your camcorder, connect the small end to the camera, and the larger end to your computer.
    • Power on your camera, and set it play out through the cable. This function will have different names depending on the brand and model of camera you are using. It might be PC
    • Select the image definition of your movie. If you are shooting HD video, select that, or select "Large," or "Full" in the import window. If it doesn't open automatically, select "Import from Camera" from the File menu.
  3. Choose what to import into iMovie. The Import window will show you all the clips available on your camera. (Every time you stop and start your camera, you're creating a new clip).You can choose to import all the available clips, or click to deselect the clips you don't want to import, then click "Import Checked."
    • If you're using a tape-based camcorder, you can import everything, or use the on-screen camcorder controls to fast-forward or rewind to locate a particular piece of film you want to import, and use the Play and Stop controls to start and stop the import.
  4. Store your videos. Make sure you choose a location with a lot of room: video files, especially HD files, can be quite large. You don't want to run out of room before you even get started!
  5. Organize the imported video.
    • The first time you import video from your camera, there won’t be any existing events in your Event Library.
    • To create a new event, type a name for it in the “Create new Event” field.
    • If you’re importing video that recorded on different days, you can have iMovie create a new Event for each of those days by selecting “Split days into new Events.”
    • To append the new video to an existing event—video that you imported into iMovie previously—select “Add to Existing Event”. Edit the new event’s name from the pop-up menu.
  6. Get rid of the shakes! Choose "Stabilization" from the "After import analyze for" menu. iMovie will analyze your footage, and smooth any shaky cam motion (such as you might remember from a film like "The Blair Witch Project."
    • The other option in the Analyze menu is to search your footage for people. This will place markers in the footage when iMovie detects the presence of humans.
    • Both stabilization and searching for people can take a long time to complete.
  7. Optimize the video. If you are importing HD video, choose a size for the movie from the "Optimize video" popup menu. When all your settings are set, click the OK button and take a break. It will take anywhere from a few minutes to over an hour.

Creating a New Project

  1. Select a theme. First, from the File menu, select "New Project…" or press Command-N. This will create the basic project framework. With that created, you can add a theme to your movie. iMovie comes pre-loaded with a number of unique and interesting themes that help give your movie a unique, interesting look and feel. There is everything from a scrapbook theme to a Hollywood blockbuster movie. Preview the options, select the one you like—or select "No Theme" if you want to roll your own, then click the Create button.
  2. Assign your project's properties. Before you add content, you have to give that content somewhere to go.
    • Next to the Themes list, assign a name of your project in the "Name:" field.
    • Choose an aspect ratio for your movie. The aspect ratio is a dimension describing the height and width ratios. For example, iPads and iPhones before the iPhone 5, standard TV screens, and older computer monitors have a 4:3 aspect ratio. Newer televisions and monitors will use the widescreen 16:9 format.
    • Choose a frame rate for your video. Use the same rate the video was shot using. Most video cameras in the U.S. use "30 fps - NTSC," whereas European cameras generally use "25 fps - PAL." If your camera supports 24 fps, and you elected to shoot with that format, then choose that option.
  3. Add an automatic transition. When you join two clips together, you have several ways of moving between them. You can set up iMovie to always chose a particular transition, though you may switch any preset transition at any time.
    • The Project Themes automatically add cross dissolves (gradual crossfades between one clip and the next) and other transitions, but allow you to deselect that option if desired.
  4. Click Create. When you're done setting up your project, click the "Create" button, and the new blank project will open in the Project Browser window.

Adding Video to an iMovie Project

  1. Select the clips you want to include. Once you've defined a new project, you can add video clips into the movie. All the clips you imported will be listed in the Event Library section below your Project Library and Preview screen.
    • If you closed iMovie before beginning this section, launch iMovie, then double click on the Project Name of the project you created earlier.
    • If you want to change projects, click on the Project Library button, and choose one from the list.
  2. Select the desired event. In the Event library, all events available will be listed. Select the event you wish to work with by clicking once on it.
    • If you don't see the event list, look in the lower left hand corner of the iMovie window.
  3. Add the first clip. Select clip or a range of video frames from the film strips in the Event Library.
    • To select an entire clip, hold down the Shift key, then click once on the clip once, so that it’s outlined in yellow.
    • To select a specific range or section of a clip, click and hold on a section of the clip, then drag across the clip while holding down the button on your mouse or trackpad. Selected frames are outlined in yellow.
    • Drag your video selection to the Project browser in the top left of the screen. A vertical green line, along with a green Add (+) symbol, appears anywhere you can place the clip.
  4. Add in all your video. Drag in each clip, or section of a clip, into the Project browser in any order you prefer. You can place the clips sequentially, or place a clip between two others.

Adding Photographs

  1. Scan your photos (or import them from your camera). You can add more than movies to iMovie, and add a documentary feel to your film by adding still photographs. Whether scanned or shot digitally, the process is the same.
  2. Open the Photo Browser. Click on the camera icon located on the lower right side of the screen, above the video clips. The Photo Browser will slide in from the right, and lets you choose all the files in your iPhoto library.
    • If you haven't imported you're stills into iPhoto, you can do so, then click on the Last Import button to see only those images. Otherwise, you can simply drag them in from wherever they are located on your hard drive—though keeping all your images together in one folder is best.
  3. Drag your photo to its desired location. If you drag it before or after a clip, there will be a green vertical line, indicating that it's safe to place the image in that spot.
    • If the line is red, you are placing the image in the middle of an existing clip, and you'll be asked if you wish to replace the existing clip, insert the clip, or cancel the operation.
  4. Use photos creatively. You can intersperse still images in between a clip of an action scene—for example, grabbing a clip of a snowboarder catching air, extracting a single frame in mid-jump, and then placing that in the video where it was cut from.
    • You can set the duration of the still, so the end result will be something like: jump begins, boarder starts to lose balance, freeze! The clip lingers on the boarder, giving your audience a moment to realize what's about to happen, then unfreeze! The jump completes, and the boarder does a yard sale—exactly as expected. You could top it off with another still of the the boarder smiling with a face full of snow!

Polishing Your Project

  1. Spiff it up. Once you have everything in place, you can add elements to your film to really make it look special. You can use (or change) themes, add transitions, music, and titles.
  2. Add a project theme. If you didn't choose a theme at the beginning, you can add one now. From the File menu, choose "Project Theme…" or press Shift-Command-J.
  3. Select a theme. Fine one of the thumbnails that you like (you can preview them by clicking them), and choose whether or not to include the automatic transitions.
    • When you select a theme, you will see a 30-second sample video so you know what to expect.
    • If you're new to iMovie, use the automatic transitions and titles option. It will help you get a feel for how they work, and you can always change or edit them later.
    • Make your choice by selecting or un-selecting the "Automatically add transitions and titles" checkbox.
  4. Click OK. iMovie will work through your project, adding transitions between clips, and titles at the end.
  5. Add your own transitions. You can add transitions between clips by opening the Transitions browser on the iMovie toolbar.
    • Select the desired transition, then drag it between two clips. iMovie will automatically manage the transition. You can easily change transitions by double clicking on the transition icon in your movie, and selecting a new one from the popup menu.
  6. Add music. A movie without music is what they used to call a "slide show." Nobody liked to sit through those back when that was the only way to see those vacation pics, let alone now, when it's so easy to do.
  7. Click on the "Music and Sound Effects" button (the musical notes icon) on the iTunes toolbar. This will switch the browser from your photo library to your iTunes library, as well as your Garage Band folder and Sound Effects folders.
    • Look through your list of music until you find the song you want to add. When you find an appropriate selection, click on the song, and drag it to the end of the video clips in the Project browser. Don't drag it over a particular clip. When you see the green vertical line, release the mouse, and your clip will be placed into the movie.
    • The background behind the movie clips will be shaded green for the duration of the music clip, beginning at the first clip in your movie, and ending at the end of the music. Note that this may end before your video track, or go beyond your video track. If the music is too short, you can always add another clip at the end of the project. If it's too long, you can fade it out at the end.
  8. Add sound effects. In the Music and Sound Effects browser, there is a sound effects folder. Click on that, and select a sound effect for a spot in the movie. For example, if you have a clip of people walking, you can add footsteps to the movie, even if you have background music! Drag the sound effect to the first frame you want it to appear. If it's too short, add another sound effect, or if too long, trim and fade out as desired. (See following).
  9. Adjust the audio properties. If the music or effects are too long, too loud, or you want to add some studio effects, click the Action pop-up menu (the gear icon at the top left of the green audio clip), and then click on Audio Adjustments. Play your movie. As long as the Inspector window is open, your movie will loop through the selected sound—making it easy to adjust the settings for short snippets of audio like sound effects, so they're not too loud, or too soft.
    • In the resulting Inspector window, you can adjust the volume, fade in or fade out, EQ, and other adjustments as desired.
    • Volume: adjusts the volume of the selected audio track.
    • Ducking: drops the volume of all other audio tracks. This is useful if you have a clip of somebody talking over background music. Ducking makes the volume of the background music lower, so the voice can be heard more clearly.
    • Fade In/Fade Out: lets you ease in or out of a sound by a specified duration. Click on which one you want to alter, then drag the sliders to the set the length of time for each.
    • Reduce Background Noise: reduces "noisy" sounds, useful for traffic, crowds, etc., to make voices more intelligible. Too much can eliminate background sounds completely.
    • EQ: this is just like the EQ on your stereo, and adjusts the tonal qualities of the sound.
    • Normalize Clip Volume: this will make the loudest sound in the clip as loud as possible without distortion, making every other sound in the clip louder as well (unless the loudest sound is already at maximum, in which case this will have no noticeable impact on the sound. You can remove added normalization by clicking the "Remove Normalization" button below it.
  10. Add audio effects. At the top of the audio Inspector window, click the Clip button, and then the "Audio Effect:" popup menu.
    • Audition the reverbs, echoes, and pitch effects by rolling over them (not clicking), and if any are desirable, click on them.
    • When you're satisfied with all adjustments, click Done, and your choices will be saved.

Adding Titles

  1. Add text to your movie. You can add text anywhere within the movie, and at the beginning or end as credits.
  2. Open the Titles browser by clicking on the T icon in the iMovie toolbar on the right. A series of different text treatments appear. To add those to your movie, click and drag one to the relevant clip.
  3. Enter the text. Replace the temporary text with words of your own, as necessary. To alter the font, right click on the text and select "Show Fonts" from the menu. Choose from the available list or click "System Font Panel" at the bottom left of the window, and choose from your available fonts. There are 9 different color options in the basic panel, but you can set any desired color in the System font panel.
  4. Trim the title length. Select the title clip in the Project browser, and adjust the length as desired by clicking on the side, and dragging in necessary direction.
    • To view the Title inspector, double click on the title clip.
  5. Add credits. If you didn't use a stock theme, you can add credits at the end by dragging the Scrolling Credits title to the end of the movie, and filling in the correct credits.

Finalizing Your Movie

  1. From the File menu, select Finalize Project. iTunes will build your project, with all transitions, effects, titles, and settings baked in. Depending on the length and complexity of your movie, this could take an hour or two, so be ready to take a break!
    • When you're done, your movie will be ready to play, burn to DVD, or upload to YouTube. Congratulations!

Tips

  • If you're using still images, make sure the originals are as large as possible for the best final resolution
  • Don't be afraid to experiment: most things in iMovie are un-doable, or can be changed at any time.
  • If you have GarageBand, take advantage of that for music you can distribute freely, without worrying about copyrights or royalties (as long as you're using original images).

Warnings

  • If you're using copyrighted images or music, do not distribute the movie to anybody or place it on YouTube or other online sites without first running it by a copyright attorney. The penalties can be very stiff.[1]

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Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.copyright.gov/

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