iMovie Guide

Guide to iMovie

Untitled Document

Introduction
Video Editing Terminology
Starting a Project
The iMovie Workspace
Capturing Digital Video and Importing Media
The Rough Cut
Editing Tools
Working with Audio
Creating Transitions
Special Effects
Adding Titles and Images
Exporting your Project
Further Assistance

Introduction

iMovie is a video editing software package for the Macintosh that allows you to create and edit video like a professional, regardless of your technical level. With iMovie, you can add transitions, titles, and effects to your project, as well as incorporate many other file types to add sound or still images.

This tutorial is targeted to assist a broad variety of users with different editing needs. However, in some cases this guide will give specific information on hardware currently in use in the Digital Media Center.

Video Editing Terminology

The following list of video editing terms will help you become familiar with some of the basic concepts in video editing to help you get started with your video project.

Clip- a "media snippet", a media file containing audio, video, graphics or other media for manipulation in iMovie

DV- digital video

Firewire- officially called the IEEE 1394 standard, is a way of linking electronic devices (such as computers or video cameras) so that they can transfer masses of digital information at very high speeds.

Frames- the series of still images that make up video. Video consists of a series of still frames put together to generate a motion in a film. A single frame is a still image.

NTSC- A video standard for the US, Japan, Mexico, and many other countries. NTSC isn't compatible with PAL, a different analog format that's popular in Europe.

Project- An iMovie file that stores references to all of your media clips and information about how you arranged and edited the clips. Everything for your movie is stored within this folder.

Timecode- the categorizing of time in video which allows you locate specific frames and navigate easily within video media. iMovie uses standard timecode, in the format of {Hours: Minutes: Seconds; Frames}. In NTSC (standard) format, 30 frames=1 second.

Timeline- this is the window where you can visually lay out and manipulate the order and duration of your media clips.

Transition- an effect used to create seamless shifts between clips.

Starting a Project

The first step to editing video in iMovie is to create a project file. A Project file is an iMovie file that stores references to all of your media clips and information about how you arranged and edited the clips. Everything used in your project will be accessible and organized under this name.

To create a new Project:

Choose File > New Project.
A dialog box will appear asking you for your project name

It's a good idea to create a new directory just for your project so that the component files don't get lost or deleted. Remember that high-quality video makes gigabytes of information, so you should save on a large, SCSI or Fire-Wire hard drive. (SCSI and Fire-Wire are interfaces for transferring data really fast.)

To save your project, click Ok after entering your project name.

The iMovie Workspace

The monitor is the viewing area on the left side of the screen; your clips will play here. Located directly below it are the playback controls which allow you to navigate through your movie. Below is the scrubber bar , which indicates time position via the playhead and enables you to make cuts.

The clip viewer and timeline are located on the lower portion of the screen. The clip viewer allows you to easily manipulate your clips, showing you where the clips begin and end, where transitions are, etc. The timeline shows this same information but includes the audio tracks as well. Also located on the timeline are the timeline zoom pop-up menu, which allows you to "zoom in" in time for more precise editing, and the clip speed slider which controls the speed at which your clips are played back. To switch between the timeline and the clip viewer, click the tabs of the one you wish to use.

The shelf is your clip storage area; all captured clips are automatically placed here for you. Located in the same area of the screen are the photos, audio, titles, transitions, effects, and iDVDpanels; to access them, simply click on the appropriate button.

Capturing Digital Video and Importing Media

Capturing video is the procedure you will use to get media clips from your camera into the computer to edit.

To use iMovie to capture video:

Connect the 4 pin end of the Firewire cable to the DV camera. (On the DMC's Canon camcorder this is marked DV IN/OUT.)
Connect the 6 pin end of the Firewire cable to the computer's Firewire port. (On the DMC's Mac G5s, this is the bottom port on the front of the computer. On the G4s, they are the middle 2 ports on the back. On the PC this is the lower card, not the one on the Pinnacle card. The camera should now display "DV IN" on the LCD screen. Also, the DV tape from the camera can be put in one of the 2 JVC VCR/DV decks, which is plugged in and used just like the camera.)

Set the camera/edit mode switch to camera
Make sure that the camera is turned on, loaded with the right tape and set to VCR mode.
Preview your video on the VCR or camera and decide on exactly what segment you want to capture. Rewind a few seconds before the beginning of where you want your video to start so you won't miss the beginning.
Click Import to start recording and press Play on the DV camera/player
When enough video has been captured, click Import again to stop recording.
Your clip will now be visible on the shelf; to capture more clips, simply repeat the process

Importing Media Files into your Project

iMovie supports a wide variety of media formats, including many types of audio and video, as well as still images and animations. To import media files:

Select File > Import
Select a file, and click Open.
The file will be added to your shelf

The Rough Cut

To get started on your project, you'll create a rough cut. A rough cut is a series of clips arranged in the general sequence that you want. It will provide a basic layout for your sequence and give you a sense of where you want to apply edits, add transitions, and create effects. Use the following steps to create a rough cut. Don't worry about precise editing until later.

To insert clip to the Timeline:

Choose a clip from the Shelf
Use the mouse to drag it to the desired point on the Clip Viewer. The space you are about to fill will turn dark grey.
Release the mouse button to drop the clip in your track.
To rearrange the clips on the Clip Viewer, simply drag them to the desired location and release the mouse button.

Editing Tools

Once you have your rough cut, you're ready to begin editing your sequence.

To edit more precisely, you can "zoom in" with the timeline zoom popup menu; this decreases the length of the time increment with which you work, allowing you not only to go second by second, but frame by frame.

Cut Points

You can set cut points for your clips by dragging the mouse below the scrubber bar until the cut markers appear. Drag the start and end markers to the correct places; time is shown next to the playhead.

To trim a clip:

View the clip you wish to edit in the Monitor and locate your new In or Out point position.
Drag the mouse underneath the scrubber bar until the cut markers appear,
Position the In marker where you want the clip to begin, and the Out marker where you want the clip to end
Choose Edit > Crop NOTE: This will delete everything from the clip that does not fall between the markers

Splitting

Splitting involves making a clip into two or more pieces. It is helpful if you wish to move parts of clips to other positions in your sequence, add effects to a piece of a clip, or superimpose additional clips.

To split a clip:

On the scrubber bar, place the playhead at the point you wish to split your clip
Choose Edit > Split Clip at Playhead
Your clip is now cut.

Pasting Over a Clip

Sometimes, rather than splitting or cropping, you may simply wish to paste over a portion of a clip.

To paste over a clip:

Create a clip that is the same length as the portion of the clip you wish to paste over by using one of the above methods.
On the scrubber bar, place the playhead at the point you wish to split your clip
Choose Advanced > Paste Over at Playhead
The new clip has now replaced that portion of the old clip. NOTE: The portion of the old clip that was pasted over will be deleted

Working with Audio

You can add audio clips to your project simply by dragging them from the Audio Panel to the appropriate place in the audio track in the Timeline. Audio can be imported from AIFF or MP3 files, obtained from the video source, or even recorded with iMovie. iMovie also comes with several sounds effects such as footsteps, applause, etc.; to add one, simply drag it to the appropriate place in the audio track.

To record audio:

Click the audio button
To record voice:

Be sure a microphone is connected to the computer
Click the record button and speak into the microphone
Click the record button again to stop recording

To record music from a CD:

Insert the CD into the CD-Rom drive
Choose the CD from the pop-up menu or (iTunes if your music is already in your iTunes library). You can type part of the title in the Find field to search for a particular song. Click the Play to the left of the Find field to listen to the track.
Choose the track you want to use.
Drag the song from the list in the Audio pane and place it in one of the audio tracks in the timeline viewer where you want it to start, or click "Place at Playhead".

To extract audio from a clip:

Select the clip from which you want to extract the audio
Choose Advanced > Extract Audio

It is often necessary to ensure that a specific audio track stays in sync with a clip. To make sure they don't get separated, you can lock them together. To lock an audio track to a video track:

Select the audio track in the timeline
Position the playhead at the point at which the track should begin
Choose Advanced > Lock Audio Clip at Playhead

Creating Transitions

Transition Effects are used to seamlessly link clips together. They are one of the key components of professional video editing. You can use transitions to create artistic effects, like a ripple dissolve to indicate, "It was all a dream...", or a fade in/fade out to signify the passage of time.

To insert a transition:

Select Transitions from the bar below the panel on the right
Select your transition style from the menu
Adjust the transition speed via the speed slider bar
Some transitions allow you to adjust the direction of motion via the arrows
Preview occurs automatically after making changes; preview will render as being wherever the playhead is
When you have completed your transition customizations, drag the transition into place by dragging the transition name

Special Effects

To add an effect to a clip or series of clips:

Select the clip or group of clips you wish to modify
Select Effects from the bar below the panel on the right
Select the desired effect from the effect list
To fade effect in or out within a clip, adjust Effect In/Effect Out slider bars to achieve the desired result
To increase or decrease the extent of an effect, adjust the Amount slider bar
Preview your effect, then select Apply to keep it

To create a still frame:

Position the playhead at the frame of which you want an image
Choose Edit > Create Still Frame. The clip appears in a box at the top of the shelf. To change the length of the clip, double-click and type the desired duration. You can also name it this way.
If you wish to add a still image from another source, such as a JPEG or GIF, you can import it by choosing File > Import File; the image will be added to your shelf

Adding Titles

To add a title to your Project:

Select the clip to which you wish to add the title
Select Titles from the bar below the panel on the right
Select the desired title style from the style list
Enter text in the fields which appear in the lower portion of the panel; these fields will vary with the title style
You can change the font, color, and size settings using the menus and slider bar located above the text you have entered
You can change the direction of title roll, or the justification of your titles (depending on the type of title you have chosen) by using the four arrow buttons
Titles can appear over black, rather than over a clip; if you wish to run your titles over black, simply select the Over Black box
If exporting your movie to Quicktime, be sure to select the QT Margins box so that your titles won't get cut off

Exporting your Project

When you are finished with your project you will need to export it. From there, you can burn it to a CD, DVD, record it to a video tape, or compress it for the web.

To export your finished movie as a file:

Choose File > Export...
You can either export your movie back to the camera, export it to a Quicktime file, or export it to iDVD to burn onto a DVD you can play in any DVD player:
- Click on the menu at the top of the popup window to change between file destinations
- Choose Export.

Further Assistance

For further assistance using iMovie, other digital video editing software, or other digital media resources, come by the Digital Media Center and browse through our guide collections or ask a DMC staff member for assistance.

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