iMovie Basics

Posted on August 20, 2010 | Posted in Editing | Posted by Drew | 0 Comments

iMovie Basics

Apple iMovie

Learn the basics of creating fun and easy digital video with Apple iMovie. While iMovie is a model of simplicity, its speed and high quality make it an ideal candidate for putting together video material in a very fast and painless manner.

iMovie Basics

Below you see the iMovie screen and the controls that are used to create movies. An explanation of the use of each follows:

1. Sequence Run Time: duration of your movie

2. Project Pane: displays the thumbnails of the clips in your movie. This shows the order in which the video and audio clips will play. Clips can be dragged to reorder them.

3. Play Button: this icon will play your sequence in the video pane. Pressing the spacebar on your keyboard will also stop and start your video.

4. Play Full Screen: this icon will play your sequence full screen on your computer monitor. The video will be scaled to match the dimensions of your monitor display. Pressing the spacebar on your keyboard will stop and start your video when it is in full screen mode. Additionally, the arrow keys will advance your video forward and backward one frame at a time.

5. Thumbnail Slider: Drag the small circle icon to adjust the size of thumbnails in your browser panes.

6. Add Selection to Project: this is the edit button. Once you have selected a clip or region of a clip, this icon becomes active. By clicking on this icon your video selection will be added to the end of your sequence. Note: It is often faster to drag the clip you want to add to your video directly from the Clips Pane (#7) to your sequence in the Project Pane (#2). This has the added benefit of allowing you to place your selected clip directly where you would like for it to appear in your movie. Using this method bypasses the Add Selection to Project button entirely.

7. Clips Pane: the Clips Pane displays thumbnails once your files have been imported.

8. Thumbnail Duration Display Slider: This tool adjusts the display of media in the project and clip panes to reflect the duration of your source media. Moving the slider to the left increases the detail representing the total length of your clip. This is particularly helpful when you are hoping to use only a small section of the video and want to use the selection tool to finely tune where your clip begins and ends. This tool does not change the actual original duration of your clip, only how it is displayed in the editing interface.

9. Scrubber Bar: This special scrollbar lets you move to anywhere in either a single clip, or the whole movie. You may move it a single frame with the arrow keys. The current selection is highlighted yellow in the Scrubber Bar

10. Video Pane: this is where you can see your video play as you edit and add clips to the project pane.

11. Show or hide Music and Sound Effects browser: Shows you a list of the sound effects and music available for use in your project. Play button at bottom of browser window allows you to preview audio prior to inserting it into your movie. This will also present your iLife and iTunes libraries, if you have these software packages installed on your computer. To use a specific audio file click and drag the file icon to the project window (#2). Once the file is in the window you can adjust duration and position in your movie.

12. Show or hide Photos browser: This will give you access to photos that have been imported to iPhoto on your computer. If you want to include photos that are not in iPhoto, you can drag them directly into the Project window (#2), adjust the duration and transition and photo effects.

13. Show or hide Titles browser: shows thumbnails of the different pre-loaded title effects.

14. Show or hide Transitions browser: displays thumbnails of 20 pre-loaded video effects that can be used as transitions from one video clip to another. To use a transition drag the icon to the area between two clips. Duration and some transition parameters can be adjusted by double clicking the effect once it is in your sequence.

15. Show or hide Maps and Backgrounds browser: displays various maps and backgrounds that can be used for graphic and text in your movie.

16. Video Thumbnails. These clips represent the individual video files you have imported to your project for use as the source to your movie.