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iMovie ’11
IML User Guide
Overview of Features
iMovie ’11 has added some important tools that make it a worthwhile consideration
for your editing needs. Chief amongst these are:
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Volume graphing
Noise reduction
Cutaways
Fine tuning clip ins and outs in the timeline
Improved media management
Improved file type compatibilities
Setup Features
By default, iMovie does NOT give you access to its advanced options so you need to
set your project up carefully.
1) Open iMovie
2) Hit the button with arrows pointing up and down to ‘Swap Events and
Projects’ . This will change the layout of your workspace and make it much
more efficient.
3) Go to the ‘iMovie’ menu, go to ‘Preferences’, in the ‘General’ tab select ‘Show
advanced tools’ and ‘Display time as HH:MM:SS:Frames’, then in the
‘Browser’ tab select ‘Show fine tuning controls’ and ‘Always show clip
durations’. Close the preferences window.
4) In the middle right of the workspace, click the button to ‘Show project clips
as single or multiple rows’, you want the button to turn blue so that it is
showing a single row
5) In the bottom right of the workspace click the button to ‘Show or hide audio
wave forms’, you want it to be blue so that you will show audio waveforms.
Setup Media Organization
Now that you’ve got your workspace and features setup, we need to give some
thought to media organization.
Two very important terms to understand are ‘Projects’ and ‘Events’. An iMovie
Project is basically a file that contains information about all the work you are doing
with your various media assets (video, still images and sounds). The project file
itself will be small as it is just a bunch of instructions. An iMovie Event is where
iMovie actually puts all of your video files. It is very important that from the start,
you pay close attention to where you are setting your projects and events – which
disks, which folders, etc. Detailed instructions are below.
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It is also important to note that Still Images and Sound files are NOT moved into
events when you work with them in iMovie. So it is always important to organize
assets like these in folders and on your external hard drive BEFORE you bring them
into iMovie.
You should be working on your own external hard drive. For it to work on iMovie, it
will need to be formatted for Macs. Our Lab Techs can help you with this if you
aren’t sure.
Plugin your external hard drive to the computer before proceeding.
1) Events. In the event library window, click on the button to ‘Group events by
disk’, you want the button to be blue.
2) You should see your external hard drive pictured in the event library now (it
needs to be plugged in, turned on, and formatted for Mac)
3) Import movies. You can either import movie files that you already have on
the computer (.movs, .m4vs, etc.) or you can import footage directly from a
camera.
4) Import movie files. Right click in the Event Library and choose ‘Import
Movies’. In the dialog box that pops up, make sure to select your hard drive
from the ‘Save to’ option. Also make sure that you specify whether you want
to add to an existing event or create a new event. These two choices will
determine where your movie files wind up. Choose ‘Optimize video: Full –
original size’, and then decide whether you want to Copy files or Move them.
You probably want to Move them.
* NOTE - Be aware, if iMovie has to optimize your files (and in many
cases it will) then the files will be copied instead of moved and you
may want to delete the unoptimized original source files AFTER
you’ve successfully imported them, if you are running low on disk
space.*
5) Import from camera. Make sure your camera is connected and powered on.
Most cameras will show up on your desktop as a ‘no name’ disk. Right click
in the Event Library and choose ‘Import from Camera’. In the lower left of
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the import window you will see a place to choose your camera. Choose your
camera. Select the clips you want to import and click ‘Import’. In the dialog
box that pops up make sure you choose your hard drive for the ‘Save to’
location and that you specify either a new or existing event where you want
the clips to be saved.
* HINT - If you have shaky footage you may want to check the ‘analyze
for image stabilization’ box, but this will add time to the import
process.*
**A note on moving projects and events**
If you’ve already imported footage into an event and are working on it in a project,
and you need to MOVE all of your event clips and project file to a different drive,
there is a pretty easy way to do this.
1) Attach your drive.
2) Go to the Project Library in iMovie.
3) Hold down the command key and drag your project from its current location
to your external hard drive (assuming it shows up in the Project Library,
which it should as long as it is Mac formatted). You will be prompted to
choose either ‘Move project’ or ‘Move project and events’. Choose the second
once so that you will move your project file and the events containing all of
your clips. iMovie will also copy sound and still images that you are using in
your project, but they will only be available within iMovie, not as stand alone
files, so it is best not to rely on this technique for moving around files of this
type – it would be preferable to have your sound and still image files
organized on your drive and import them directly from there by dragging
them into your timeline from a finder window.
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Editing
Now that you’ve setup your workspace, attached your external hard drive and
imported the necessary media assets into appropriately named events, you’re ready
to start editing and your workspace should look like this:
1) Make a new project. Go to the project library, select the drive where you
want to store your project, and click the ‘plus’ button to create a new project.
Name it appropriately and choose a 16:9 wide screen aspect ratio ans 30 fps
NTSC.
2) Select the Event you want to work from in the Event Library. You will now
see all the video associated with that event in the top middle window. Video
clips are represented from left to right, beginning to end, and a single clip can
be represented on multiple lines depending on its length.
3) Find the part of the clip you want to work with by moving your cursor over it,
press space bar when you want to play from the point where your cursor is.
To select a piece of the clip, just click and drag to create a yellow selection
box. Then click and drag your selection down into the project window.
Trimming
Once you’ve placed a clip into your timeline, you can then trim selection.
a) For a quick trim, you can select the clip in your timeline by clicking on it.
Use the handles on the yellow box to drag the clip to lengthen or shorten.
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b) For a more precise trim, click on the “cog wheel” icon
on the clip you’d like to trim, then select “clip
trimmer” in the drop down menu. That will open up
a new window, replacing your events library. From
there you can view the yellow selected range within
the original clip and can either slide the entire
selection to a new point in the original clip
(maintaining the timing) or drag the handles on the
yellow box to either lengthen or shorten.
Cropping/Photo Editing
If you have a video clip that you’d like to re-size, or zoom in on, AND/OR if you have
a photo* that you’d like add motion to, then the crop tool is at your disposal.
(*You must first you must drag the file from your computer into the timeline.)
a) Select the asset (video/photo) in your timeline
that you’d like to crop, click on the “cog wheel”
icon, and select “Cropping & Rotation”. The video
playback will be replaced with a cropping
workspace.
b) Within the workspace you must first choose “Fit”, “Crop”, or “Ken Burns”.
a. “Fit” will fit the entire image into your screen size.
b. “Crop” allows you to resize the image using the Green Box, dragging
the corners to change size, and moving the box to center.
c. “Ken Burns” will allow you to create two spots on the image to allow
for both resizing and movement. The Green Box is the starting point,
the Red Box is the stopping point.
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Volume Graphing Audio
Use the volume controls to raise/lower the volume on you video and audio clips.
a) First, make sure the audio waveforms are
shown in your timeline by selecting the
appropriate button at the bottom right of
your screen.
b) To change the volume of an entire clip, click
and drag the black line on the audio
waveform up and down
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c) To affect only a portion of a clip’s vol., select
the part that you want to change, then click
and drag the black line to make your change.
d) To Fade Audio In/Out click on the clip. A
small white marker will appear on the audio
waveform’s edge. Click and drag it right or left
(away from the edge) and a fade will be made.
Adding Music
You can add music into your project in one of two ways –
a) Drag and drop your music file directly from your computer desktop/hard
drive onto the timeline; either globally (when the green highlight is shown in
the timeline) or locally (where your play head is located).
b) Open your music browser in iMovie – a representation of your iTunes library,
and drag and drop the file onto your timeline like in a).
Separating Audio from Video
You can separate the audio from the video in order to create audio/video overlaps
for smoother editing.
a) Hold “Control” and click on the video clip you want to edit. In the drop down
menu, select “Detach Audio”. The audio will then separate from the video
and be placed on a track of it’s own in the timeline.
b) You can slide the audio or video within the timeline separate from each
other.
****NOTE – Be very careful when doing this. It is very easy to lose synch between
your video and audio which will make your film unwatchable.****
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Recording Voice Over
You can record V.O. directly into your iMovie session by:
a) Click on the Microphone Icon and a
V.O. dialogue box will appear. You can
choose either “Built-in Mic” to use the
computer’s microphone, or “Built-in
Input” if you’ve connected a USB mic
into your computer.
b) Click on the clip where you want you V.O.
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to begin and that will start the recording.
Speak clearly and succinctly. Tap the
Space Bar to stop recording.
c) You’ll now see a VO recording track in your timeline. You can manipulate the
track in all of the same ways as your other audio.
Transitions
Transitions are an effective storytelling tool and iMovie provides a plethora to
choose from. However, “Cross Dissolves”, “Fades to Black”, and hard cuts should be
your primary tools for your film. The other transitions will come across as too
gimmicky, or unprofessional. If you choose to use one of these, then you should be
able to justify it other than “it looks cool.”
a) Click on the “Transitions Browser” button in the toolbar. This will show the
menu of transition options from which to choose.
b) Click and drag the transition of your choice onto a point between the two
clips you’d like to add it to. You can also place it at the end of a clip for a
“fade to black” even if there isn’t an adjacent clip.
c) To change duration, and other elements,
double click on the transition and a popup window will appear with options.
Titles
Use these tools to place an Opening Title, End Credits, Informational Slugs, or Lower
Thirds (identifying a person, place, or thing) into your film.
a) Click on the “Title Browser” button in the toolbar. This will show you a menu
of title options from which to choose.
b) Click and drag the title of your choice onto a video clip in your timeline. This
will place the title over your clip. You can also place at the beginning or end
of your project in order to create an opening title or end credits.
c) You can edit the words directly in the viewer on the top right of your screen.
If you double click the title in your timeline, a pop-up window will appear
with options to change the background, or timing of the titles.
d) You can also use this to create Lower Thirds for identifying people on screen,
and/or to create cards with text describing something in your video.
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Cutaways/B-Roll
Use the ‘Cutaway’ feature of iMovie when you want to put a video clip over another
clip without interrupting its audio or in and out points. This is a handy way for
integrating B-Roll footage with interview footage. To use the cutaway tool you’ll
have to make sure that the ‘Show Advanced Tools’ option is selected in the
preferences.
a) Make a selection from a video clip that you want to use as a cutaway and drag
it onto a clip in your timeline at the point where you want the cutaway to
happen.
b) When you release the clip, you will get a pop-up menu with lots of choices.
Choose ‘Cutaway’.
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c) Now the cutaway clip will play over the clip where you placed it. By default
you will hear the audio from both clips, so you will want to adjust
accordingly, probably dropping the audio of the cutaway.
Exporting Project
When you’ve finished all of your editing, you need to export your project so that you
have a standalone movie file that you can put on your hard drive, burn onto DVD,
upload to the internet, etc.
a) Go to the ‘Share’ menu and choose ‘Export Movie’.
b) Choose a name and location for your movie file.
c) Choose a ‘size’ for your movie file. You probably want to use ‘Large’. Other
options will either create smaller, lower quality files that are appropriate for
mobile devices etc, or even larger HD files that will maximize quality but
result in bigger files. Try different sizes to find what’s right for you.
d) Note that depending on the resolution of your source material, some sizes
may not be available as export options – you will not be able to choose a size
that is bigger than the resolution of your source material.
e) When you’re ready, press the ‘Export’ button and wait for iMovie to make
your movie file. You’re done!