Digital Movie Editing with iMovie
To capture video from a digital camera
- Attach the camera to the computer with a Firewire cable
- Plug the camera into a power source to save the batteries
- Turn on the camera to the Playback (VCR) mode
- Open iMovie
- Choose Create Project
- Give the project a name
- Choose a location for saving, somewhere on the hard drive
but not on a memory stick and not on the network
- Click Save
- Using the controls on the computer, rewind the tape, if necessary;
then click the Play button to preview the tape
- When you’re at the beginning of the part of the tape you want
to include in the movie, click Import
- Note: you can stop and then use the arrow keys to move the
Playhead to the exact location where you want to start.
- When you get to the end of the part of the tape you want to
include, click the Stop button Note: think in terms of small
clips—they will be easier to work with.
- Repeat the above steps of importing to create more clips.
They will appear on the Control box on the right side of your
screen.
- To playback a clip, click on the clip in the Control box
and then click on the Play button
- Note: To return to capture mode after you have played clips,
click on the DV camera icon at the bottom of the capture screen.
To crop a clip after it’s been captured
- While holding down the shift key, drag the Playhead over the
portion of the film you wish to cut
- Stop dragging when you get to the portion you want to keep
To fine tune your selection, use the arrow keys to move to the
exact frame you want
- From the Edit menu, choose Cut; this will cut the highlighted
section
To split a clip into two clips
- Move the Playhead to the place in the video where you want
to cut
- From the Edit menu, choose Split Video at Playhead
- Two clips will appear in the Control box instead of the one
To build a movie
- Select the first clip you want by clicking on it
- Drag the clip to the timeline at the bottom of the screen
- Repeat the above steps to add other clips, in the order you
want them to appear
To add transitions
- Click on the Trans at the bottom of the Control box on the
right side of the screen
- Select a transition
- Click Preview to see how it works
- When a proper transition is found, drag it to the timeline
between the clips you want to join
- To view it, click on the timeline at a starting point, then
click on the Play button
- Note: If one clip is highlighted (appears blue) only that
clip will play.
- To play through several clips you must highlight all or none.
- Note: It takes a few moments to render the transition.
During this time, playback will be choppy. You can monitor the
progress of rendering by watching the red line on the transition
clip.
To add a title
- Click on the Titles button at the bottom of the Control box
- Choose a style
- Watch the small screen at the top for preview
- Highlight the current text and type your title at the bottom
of the Control box
- To play the title on a black screen, click Over Black.
- To play over the video picture, leave the box unchecked.
- To make colored text, click the box next to the Color and
choose the color you want
- When finished, drag the selected title style into the timeline
before the clip you want to play over
- Wait for the title to render
- Click Play to view you finished title
- Credits can be added at any point in your movie including
the end
To add sound affects
- Click on the Audio button at the bottom of the Control box
- Click on the blue arrow in the top bar and drag down to iMovie
Sound Effects
- To listen to a sound, double click on it in the drop-down
list
- When you have chosen the sound you want, click and drag it
down to the timeline
- Note: The timeline will automatically change to show two
audio tracks. You may place your sound any place on either audio
track. You may also drag it to move it after it is placed.
Note: To switch back and forth between the
timeline views (with or without audio tracks showing), click
on the icons just above the left side of the timeline. The filmstrip
icon shows video clips; the clock shows both the video and the
audio.
To add music
- Put a CD in the CD drive Click the Audio button on the Control
box
- Select the desired track and drag it to the first soundtrack
on the timeline
- To cut out extra music, place the Playhead at the desired
end and choose Edit and Split Audio at Playhead
- Click on the portion you don’t want to select it and from
the Edit menu choose Cut
- To turn off the original soundtrack, unclick the box at the
far right on the video timeline
- Note: Follow essentially the same directions to add other
sounds. You may check out a microphone from the computer lab
to record voices.
To adjust sound volumes
- From the View menu, choose Show Clip Volume Levels
- A thin line will appear on each of your audio tracks
- Click on the line where you want the sound to start fading
in or out
- A small dot will appear; drag the dot down to decrease the
volume and up to increase the volume
- Or
- To adjust the volume evenly on an entire clip, select the
clip by clicking on it
- In the “Clip” box at the bottom of the screen, change the
volume to the desired percentage
- Or
- To turn the volume completely off for an entire track, uncheck
the box at the end of that track
To extract the audio from the video
so you can edit bits of it
- Click on the clip(s) from which you want to extract audio
- From the Advanced menu, choose Extract Audio.
- The audio will be removed from the video and will be placed
on the audio track below the video, still synchronized
- You may now edit parts of the audio track
- To select one portion of the audio, place the Playhead at
your start point
- From the Edit menu, choose Split Selected Audio Clip at Playhead
- Repeat this process at your end point
- You may now click on the section between the start and end
point to select it, and you may delete it or make changes to
just that section of audio
To play a clip in fast or slow motion
or to play a clip backwards
- Click on the clip you want to change
- Click on the Effects button at the bottom of the Control box
- Choose Fast / Slow / Reverse
- Change the options desired
- Click apply
- Note: This may vary with different versions of iMovie.
To save the final movie
Option 1: Record back to digital tape
- From the File menu, choose
- Share Click on Videocamera at the top of the screen
- Adjust the settings at the bottom as desired
- Make certain that the camera is connected to the computer
with the Firewire cable
- Set the camera to the VCR (playback) mode
- Put a blank tape in the camera (or fast forward to a blank
place on the tape)
- Click Share
Option 2: Quicktime movie (for use
with PowerPoint and other programs)
- From the File menu, choose Share
- Click the Quicktime at the top of the screen
- Change “Compress movie for” setting to CD-ROM
- Click Share
- Save it to the Desktop (from there you can drag it to your
users folder, to a memory stick or onto a burnable CD
To Burn CD’s
- Hold down the Eject key to open the CD drive
- Insert you burnable CD and close the CD drive
- Click OK
- The CD will show up on the Desktop
- Drag the files you want to burn onto the CD icon
- Drag the CD down to the Trash icon (it will turn into a gold
and black disk icon) In the window that appears, click Burn;
then wait patiently
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