iMovie ’08 Getting Started Get to know iMovie and revolutionize the way you play, watch, store, and share your video.
1 2 Chapter 1 5 6 6 7 7 7 8 8 8 Chapter 2 9 9 10 20 20 21 24 26 27 28 28 30 32 32 33 34 36 38 38 40 41 43 45 45 46 Contents Welcome to iMovie ’08 The iMovie Interface A Single Video Library Exploring and Playing Video Creating Video Slideshows About Video File Formats What You’ll Learn Before You Begin What You Need Learn iMovie Step 1: Import Video into iMovie Identifying Your Camera Type and Importing Video Step 2: Organize Your Video Library and View Your Video About iMovie Events Viewing Your Sou
47 49 49 Publishing Directly to the Web Continue to Explore iMovie Getting More Help Contents 3
Contents
1 Welcome to iMovie ’08 1 Introducing iMovie ’08, a revolutionary way to enjoy, store, and share all your home video. You can bring video into iMovie from a variety of sources and devices so that your memories are always at your fingertips. All those clips you have hidden away on your digital camera or camcorder? That box full of discs and tapes in your closet? Add them to your video library to enjoy anytime.
The iMovie Interface The main iMovie window, shown below, is your console for viewing, organizing, and editing video. From here, you can access almost every tool that you’ll use to work with your video. iMovie project Put together video clips, photos, music, and more to create movies you can share on the web, your iPod, or Apple TV. Viewer Your video plays here. Project Library Lists all the iMovie projects you’ve created. iMovie toolbar Most of the tools and controls you need are available here.
Exploring and Playing Video Enjoying your video library has never been easier. The moment you select an Event you’ll see your video displayed as though it were a series of filmstrips, unrolled, allowing you to see the images within the individual movie frames. When you move the pointer over the images, they move. This is called “skimming,” and it allows you to watch any moment you want instantly, without having to fast-forward or rewind a tape or even select and play individual clips.
What You’ll Learn To learn how to get video into iMovie, and then organize, sort, and manage it, follow the quick tutorial that begins in Chapter 2.
2 Learn iMovie 2 Import video from your latest video devices and dig those old DV tapes out of the shoe box. With iMovie you can import, organize, and edit your video, and bring those memories back to life. During this tutorial, you’ll bring your video into iMovie, arrange your Event Library, and play or skim through your video. You’ll also find and mark your favorite parts for instant access to your favorite moments, and mark the parts you want to delete.
To open iMovie: m Double-click the iMovie icon in your Applications folder or click the icon in the Dock. When you open iMovie for the first time, you see the iMovie window, shown below. View your video in this viewer. Build your project. See a list of your projects in the Project Library. Import and edit using the iMovie toolbar buttons. See a list of your Events in the Event Library. Browse your source video.
DVD, HDD, or Flash Memory Camcorders These devices connect to your computer using a USB cable. They’re known as randomaccess devices (RAD) because they allow you to select and import individual video clips randomly, rather than having to import video while it plays through, as with a traditional tape-based camcorder. Note: An Intel processor is required for AVCHD video support. For more information about AVCHD camcorders, go to www.apple.com/ilife/systemrequirements.html.
If you’re importing high definition (HD) video, the 1080i HD Import Setting dialog opens. If you’re not importing 1080i format video, just click OK. If you are importing 1080i format, or if you will do so in the future, select the size in which you want iMovie to import your video. The Large size video is recommended for most ordinary uses (including viewing on Apple TV) because it saves hard disk space and may play back more smoothly on some computers.
7 When the video is finished importing, turn off your camcorder and disconnect it from your computer. Selectively Importing Video from a Random-Access Device If you don’t want to import the entire contents of your device, you can selectively import only the video clips that you want. You can use the playback controls below the viewer in the Import window to review the clips and decide which clips to import. For this tutorial, it’s best to import at least 10 or 15 minutes of video to work with.
FireWire-Equipped Digital Camcorders If you have a DV or HDV mini-DV camcorder that you can connect to your computer using a FireWire cable, you’ll import the video as it plays through on the tape. To import video from a camcorder with a FireWire connection: 1 Set the camcorder to VTR mode (video tape recorder mode, which some camcorders call “Play” or “VCR” mode) and turn it on, if it does not turn on automatically. 2 Connect your camcorder to your computer using a FireWire cable.
5 From the Save To pop-up menu, choose a disk where you want to store the imported video. You can choose any supported hard disk that’s connected to your computer with a FireWire cable. It takes about 13 GB to store an hour of standard definition (DV) video and 40 GB to store an hour of high definition (HD) video, so make sure you have enough space on the disk you choose. The amount of free space on each available disk is shown in parentheses next to the disk’s name in the pop-up menu.
9 When the video is finished importing, you can turn off your camcorder and disconnect it from your computer. Selectively Importing Video from a FireWire Camcorder If you don’t want to import the entire contents of your tape, you can selectively import only the moments you want. For this tutorial, it’s best to import at least 10 or 15 minutes of video to work with. After connecting your camcorder to your computer as described above, do the following.
Recording Video Directly into iMovie If your Mac has a built-in iSight camera, or if you connect an iSight or other compatible web camera or camcorder with a FireWire cable, you can record video directly into iMovie and work with it. To record directly into iMovie: 1 Connect your iSight if it’s not built in (or your other web camera or FireWire-equipped camcorder.) 2 Click the Import button to open the Import window.
iMovie HD Projects or Other Movie Files on Your Hard Disk You can import the video that you’ve already stored on your computer’s hard disk, or on any supported external hard disk connected to your computer with a FireWire cable. To import video from a hard disk: 1 Choose File > Import Movies, and then locate the project in the Import window. If you’re importing high definition (HD) video, the 1080i HD Import Setting dialog opens. If you’re not importing 1080i format video, just click OK.
6 Click Import. You can also import video from a project created in iMovie HD. When you import an iMovie HD project, only the video that was originally imported from a camcorder into the project is imported into iMovie; any video that was dragged into the project from the Finder is not imported. The clips in the clip viewer are added to the video library and grouped as an Event; the clips in the timeline are placed in a new iMovie project. All transitions are replaced by cross dissolves.
Step 2: Organize Your Video Library and View Your Video After you’ve imported your video, you’re ready to enjoy it. Your video is categorized into Events in your Event Library, where it’s available for immediate viewing, browsing, searching, or embellishing. About iMovie Events When you import video into iMovie and give it an Event name, a new Event appears in the Event Library, listed by the year in which it occurred.
m Select a year in the Event Library to browse all the Events within it. Sort Events by hard disk. Event names are listed in the Event Library, separated into days. Video clips appear like “filmstrips” in the source video library. To merge Events: m Select them in the Event Library, and then choose File > Merge Events. To split an Event into two: m Click the video clip you want to make the first clip in the new Event, and then choose File > “Split Event Before Selected Clip.
Notice that you can “see into” the video by looking at the images stretched across time, just like looking at filmstrips unrolled on a table. Each “filmstrip” represents a video clip, or a segment of video that begins at the moment the camera started recording and ends when it stopped recording. Typically, each Event includes several video clips, one for each time you started and stopped the camera while recording the Event.
Playing Your Video You’ll notice as you move the pointer across the filmstrips that the images in the filmstrips move and so does the larger image in the viewer. The image in the viewer corresponds to the moment of video, or video frame, where the pointer is resting. Moving the pointer back and forth across the video to watch it play is called “skimming,“ and it’s a quick way to get an idea of how the video looks.
m Click the Play button below the Event Library. Click to play full screen. Click to play from the beginning. To play an Event full screen: 1 Select any part of a clip and then click the Play Full Screen button below the Event Library to play the Event from the beginning, or press Command (x)-G to begin playing from wherever the pointer is resting.
A yellow selection border appears around a frame range when you select it. The yellow border denotes a selected frame range within a clip. Drag the selection handles to resize the selection. You can extend or shorten a frame range selection, recenter it, or select an entire clip or multiple clips at once. To select a video frame range in the source video library, do either of the following: m Click a clip to select four seconds of video, beginning at the point where you clicked.
To select multiple video clips: m Hold down the Shift key and click the first and last clips you want to select in a continuous range. m Hold down the Command (x) key and click individual clips that are not contiguous; click a clip again to remove it from the set of selected clips. With multiple clips selected, you can drag them into another Event or into an iMovie project.
A green bar appears at the top of the frame range. A green bar indicates the range is marked as a favorite. To mark video for deletion: m Select a range and then click the Reject button in the iMovie toolbar. A red bar appears at the top of the frame range. A red bar indicates the range is marked for deletion (rejected). To remove a mark: m Select a range that you’ve already marked as a favorite or that you’ve rejected, and then click the Unmark button in the iMovie toolbar. The colored bar disappears.
To delete rejected clips: 1 Choose View > Rejected Only, or choose Rejected Only from the Show pop-up menu. 2 Click “Move to Trash” in the upper-right corner above the rejected clips. If you want to regain the disk space occupied by the video you’ve deleted, you must empty the Trash on your computer. To regain disk space from deleted clips: m Click the desktop to activate the Finder, and then choose Finder > Empty Trash.
To crop a clip: 1 Click the Crop button and then click a clip to select it. 2 In the viewer, click Crop. A green crop rectangle appears around the outer edges of the frame in the viewer. 3 Drag the green crop rectangle to resize and reposition it until it highlights the parts of the image you want to focus on. Click to rotate the entire image. Click to crop. Click to restore the image to full frame. Click to preview your work. Click when you’re done. Drag and resize to set size and placement of crop.
Click the crop icon to change or remove the crop at any time. You can restore your video to the original size at any time by opening the crop editor and clicking Fit. Nondestructive Editing “Nondestructive editing” means that any change you make to your video (or other media you add to your iMovie projects) is always reversible if, for example, you change your mind or don’t like the result. This is because iMovie never alters the original media that you edit; nor does iMovie create a copy of the original.
To open the Audio Adjustments window: m Click a clip and then click the Audio Adjustments button. Drag to set the volume of the clip. Select to give the selected clip’s audio priority over the competing audio of other clips. Drag to set how much you want to duck the volume of other audio and video clips. Select Manual and then drag the sliders to set the rate at which the clip’s volume fades in and out. Click to reset the clip’s volume range. Click to restore clip volumes to the original levels.
To normalize volumes across clips: 1 With the Audio Adjustments window open, click a clip to select it. 2 Click Normalize Volume. This sets the clip volume to its maximum level without distortion. 3 Select another clip, and then click Normalize Volume again. The volumes of the two clips are adjusted to the same range. 4 Repeat steps 2 and 3 for any additional clips to bring them into the same range.
 Standard (4:3): Produces a movie for viewing on a standard TV screen or on the web. When viewed on an HDTV, there will be black space on the left and right sides of the video, known as “pillar box.”  iPhone (3:2): Produces a movie for viewing on the iPhone.  Widescreen (16:9): Produces a movie ideal for viewing on a widescreen monitor or high definition television (HDTV). When you view the movie on a standard TV, there will be black space above and below the video, known as “letterbox”.
3 Continue selecting video and adding it to your project. 4 In the project, drag the clips around to rearrange them in any order you want. You can preview your project by playing it one of the following ways: To play a selected project from the beginning: m Click the Play Project button below the Project Library, or press the Backslash (\) key. To play a selected project from any point: m Press the Space bar or double-click the frame where you want to begin playing.
You can preview any sound file by double-clicking it. 3 Select a music file and drag it to the project background, being careful to avoid dragging it onto any clip. A green background music icon appears behind the video clips, starting at the beginning and continuing for the duration of the song or the video, whichever ends first. If the music extends beyond the video, a music indicator appears at the end of the video. The music automatically fades out at the end of the video.
5 To set the point in the music where the video begins playing (the video startpoint), drag the first selection handle. As you drag the video startpoint handle, the pink waveform shifts within the music clip and the corresponding video plays in the viewer, indicating the new position of the video startpoint. 6 To set the point in the video where the music ends (the music endpoint), drag the second selection handle.
To adjust clip duration (frame range): 1 Select a clip in your project. 2 Choose Edit > Trim, or click the Clip Duration button in the corner at the beginning of the clip (it appears if you rest the pointer over the clip and it looks like a clock). Clip duration icon The trimmer opens, displaying only the selected clip. The selection handles indicate the clip’s startpoint and endpoint in your project.
To adjust a clip’s duration, one frame at a time: 1 Move the pointer close to the end of the clip you want to adjust and then do one of the following: Â Hold down the Command (x) and Option keys. When the orange selection handle appears at the end of the clip, drag the selection handle right or left to extend or reduce the clip duration by one-frame increments. Â Hold down the Option key while pressing the Left Arrow or Right Arrow key to extend or reduce the clip duration by one-frame increments.
To add a transition between two clips: 1 Choose Window > Transitions, or click the Transitions button in the iMovie toolbar. In the Transitions pane, you can preview the available transition styles by letting the pointer rest over each one. 2 Select the transition you want and drag it between two clips in your iMovie project. A black transition icon appears.
Adding Titles to Your Project You can add text over video at any point in your project. For example, you might give your movie a title or end credits, or use text to identify a scene or individual in the movie. All added text is referred to as titles. To add a title to your video: 1 Choose Window > Titles, or click the Titles button in the iMovie toolbar. 2 Select the title style you want, and drag it to a clip in your iMovie project.
5 To preview your work, click the Play button in the viewer, and when you like the way it looks, click Done. To make the title shorter or longer: m Let the pointer hover over either end of the title until it changes to a vertical line, and then drag either end of the title icon. The pointer changes to let you drag the ends of the title icon. To reposition the title: m Drag it to where you want it to appear in your video. You can even place it so that it straddles two clips.
4 To reposition the audio clip over the video, drag it to where you want it to begin playing in your movie. 5 To make it shorter, drag the end toward the left. To record a voiceover: 1 Click the Voiceover button to open the Voiceover window. Left and Right volume level indicators 2 Choose the microphone you want to use from the Record From pop-up menu. 3 Drag the Input Volume slider to the right or left: Â If you have a soft voice, drag the Input Volume slider to the right to make the recording louder.
8 Begin speaking when prompted. Speak loudly and clearly into the computer’s microphone, keeping the Left and Right volume level indicators in the green. Yellow indicates you’re speaking a bit too loudly; red indicates you’re speaking much too loudly and your voice will be distorted (“clipped”) in the recording. 9 To stop recording, press the Space bar or click anywhere in the iMovie window. To make the voiceover clip shorter: m Drag the end of the voiceover icon to the left.
To change the Ken Burns effect: 1 Select the photo in your project, and then click the Crop button in the iMovie toolbar. 2 In the viewer, click Ken Burns. Two crop rectangles appear in the viewer. The green crop rectangle indicates the startpoint of the Ken Burns effect and the red crop rectangle indicates the endpoint of the Ken Burns effect. You can quickly exchange the positions of the red and green crop rectangles by clicking the small button with two arrows inside the selected crop rectangle.
6 When you like the way it looks, click Done. You’ll see a crop icon at the beginning of the clip. The same crop icon represents a clip that has been simply cropped or rotated, or to which the Ken Burns effect has been added. Crop icon Click the crop icon to change or remove the crop at any time. You can remove the Ken Burns effect and restore your video to the original size at any time by opening the crop editor and clicking Fit. You can also rotate an image in iMovie.
To create a finished movie for viewing on your iPod, iPhone, or Apple TV: 1 Choose Share > iTunes. 2 Select the size or sizes of movie you want. Medium-size movies are best for viewing on an iPod; the large size is best for viewing on HDTV. For your iPhone, it’s best to create movies in both small and mobile sizes. Some size options may not be available, because the original project media isn’t large enough to render in that size.
If you want to retain copies of your rendered movies that you can access outside of the Media Browser or iTunes, see the topics about sharing and exporting in iMovie Help. Indicates that the project has been rendered in any of the four sizes Indicates that the project has been published on the web Indicates that the project has been altered since it was last published on the web Publishing Directly to the Web If you have a MobileMe account, you can publish your finished movie as soon as it’s completed.
To publish your project to YouTube: 1 Select your project in the Project Library, and then choose Share > YouTube. 2 Choose your account from the Account pop-up menu. If you don’t have a YouTube account, you can set one up by clicking Add and creating an account on the YouTube website. 3 Type a name for your movie in the Title field and give it a short description that viewers can read in the Description field.
Continue to Explore iMovie Congratulations, you’ve completed the tutorial. Now that you’re familiar with the basic tools and features of iMovie, you can continue importing and enjoying your video whenever you want, and creating and sharing more movies. In iMovie Help, you can learn more tips for working with video and sound, including shortcuts for working with video, and much more. Here are just a few more things you can do with iMovie: Â Adjust color, brightness, contrast, and other images qualities.
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