Getting started with iMovie

Getting started with iMovie
There is a lot more information in ‘iMovie Help’ on your computer, and also in the document iMovie tips. This page is just intended to get you started.

David Baugh's site has a useful iMovie tutorial (pdf) for children.

For an explanation of the terms, see iMovie terms at the end of this guide.

1 Start the iMovie programme

Turn on the computer.

Find the ‘iMovie’ icon: a little picture of a clapperboard with ‘DV’ on it. Double-click on this to start the programme.

If iMovie starts with another project:

To create a new project, go to the File menu and select New Project
To open an existing project, go to File>Open and search for the project you want to open.

2 Connect the camera

You connect the camera to the computer using a ‘Firewire’ cable a cable with one large end and one small end.

The large plug is flat, with one end curved and the other flat. The small end is rectangular with a notch on one side. The small end goes in the camera and the large end goes in the computer. Check the plugs carefully to make sure they’re the right way up you shouldn’t force them.

Put your camera into ‘VCR’ mode by turning the main power button down one click from the horizontal position.

iMovie should display ‘Camera connected’ on the screen. If not, you may need to use the button at the bottom left-hand corner of the main window: click on the little picture of a DV camera.

Problem: iMovie doesn’t display 'Camera connected'

Problem: There’s a dialogue box telling me the camera is a different video standard from my project.

Answer: Save your work, then quit and relaunch iMovie: If you still have a problem, save your work then quit iMovie and restart the computer.

3 Find the material you want and import it

Use the buttons below the main window to go back and forward through the tapes selecting the bits you want (but see ‘Logging and paper edit’ below).

If you have several clips one after the other on your camcorder tape, all of which you need, it’s easiest to press the Import button and let iMovie divide the clips up automatically.

Problem: My clips appear in the Movie, not in the Shelf.

Problem: iMovie doesn’t split the clips up automatically.

Answer: Go to File>Preferences and change the settings under the ‘Import’ tab.

When you’ve finished importing your clips, click on the little picture of a filmstrip to switch from camera to ‘movie’ mode. You are now ready to start editing.

4 Start editing

Renaming clips

If you have a lot of clips particularly if they look similar it can be a good idea to give them new names. Click on the name of the clip (just below the small picture) and type the new name straight in. This is particularly useful when you’re working with dialogue.

You must rename clips within iMovie. If you rename them inside the project’s Media folder, you’ll corrupt the project.

Putting your clips in the Movie

The horizontal bar at the bottom of the screen is the Movie, where you put your clips in order, rearrange them and add effects, sound and so on. There are two ways of looking at your clips: the Clip Viewer (eye symbol) where you just see the clips in order as single pictures, and the Timeline Viewer (clock symbol) where you can also see audio tracks and the relative length of clips.

Cropping clips
You can crop clips either in the Movie or on the Shelf, though it’s best to put the clips in order in the Movie first, then trim them. To crop a clip, click on the little picture to select the clip, and then put in crop marks just under the blue scrubber bar below the main window.

There are two ways to put in Crop marks: a quick way and an easy way.

The quick way:

Put the tip of the arrow just below the Scrubber bar where you want your edit to start, then hold the mouse/trackpad button down and drag to select the edit. This can be fiddly.

The easy way:

Use the space bar to play through the clip. Press it once again to stop the Playhead at the point where you want your selection to begin. Then hold down the shift key, and click on the Playhead using the mouse. Crop marks will appear just under the Playhead.
(NB the Playhead is the inverted white triangle just above the blue Scrubber bar don’t confuse it with the play button).
Now, use the space bar to play through to where you want your selection to end. Then select the right-hand crop marker and drag it to where the playhead is at the end of the selection. (You can also use the mouse or the keyboard’s left and right arrows to get the Playhead to the exact point you want.)

Once you’ve inserted your crop markers (remember the yellow selection is the bit you keep) select ‘Crop’ from the Edit menu. Then play through your edited clip to check it.

Alternatively, you can select the part you want to remove, and get rid of it using ‘Cut’ on the Edit menu.

Dividing clips up

You can split clips up into smaller clips. This is good if you want to cut back and forth between material shot from different camera positions. To do this, put the Playhead where you want to divide the clip and go to Edit>Split Clip at Playhead.

Using clips more than once
Select the clip, go to Edit>Copy and then Edit>Paste.

Changing your mind
Changed your mind about an edit? If it’s the last action you did, go to File>Undo.

If you want to restore a clip you trimmed earlier, go to Advanced>Restore Clip Media. (You can’t do this after you’ve emptied the Trash).

Saving your project

Remember to save regularly - every five minutes or so, and just before you make a major change to your movie that you're not sure about!

5 Export your movie

You can export either to computer file or to tape.

To export to DV tape, connect your camera using the Firewire cable. Make sure it has a blank tape in it (or a blank section of tape long enough for the film you want to export.) Switch it on in 'VCR' mode.

Then go to File>Export Movie and choose 'To Camera'. Press 'Export' and leave the movie to run.

To export to computer file, go to File>Export Movie and choose 'To QuickTime'. Choose a suitable Quicktime format from the list. Exporting to QuickTime can take a long time!

iMovie terms

Shelf
The grid at the right of the screen where you keep your clips before putting them in your movie. Buttons at the bottom of the Shelf also let you choose Transitions (like fades and dissolves), Effects, Titles and Audio.
In a professional video editing programme this would be called the Browser or Bin.

Movie
The film you are making, which you put together on the bar at the bottom of the screen (using the Clip Viewer or the Timeline Viewer):

Clip viewer (Eye symbol)
This way of looking at your movie shows you the clips as icons. In the Clip viewer you can rearrange clips and drag them back to the Shelf.
Timeline viewer (Clock symbol)
Another way of viewing your movie, which shows you two audio tracks as well as showing the relative lengths of the video clips.

Playhead
The little vertical line with an upside-down white triangle above it, which indicates exactly where you are in your clip or movie.

Crop marks
The little white triangles just below the scrubber bar that mark the beginning and end of the part of the clip you have selected.
These are equivalent to In and Out points in tape-to-tape video editing or in professional editing programmes.

Scrubber bar
The blue bar under the main picture window, where you move through your clips (using the Playhead) and insert Crop marks.

Logging and paper edits
Unless you’re working with a very small amount of footage at a time, it’s a good idea to select your footage before you start working on the computer. This has several advantages:

it frees up your computer for other users
it saves wear on the camcorder or deck and frees it up for other users
most importantly, it means you think through and plan your edit more carefully.

You could just go through the tape on the camera or DV deck, but you can also make a copy on VHS by connecting the composite video output to a VHS deck. (The composite video lead has a yellow colour-coded jack at one end, and yellow, red and white plugs on the other. These either connect straight into a deck, or you may need to use an oblong multipin SCART adaptor).

You need to ensure that the timecode is displayed on the tape: there should be a control on your camcorder’s remote control which does this it’s probably called TV SCREEN or DISPLAY. You can then take your VHS tapes away to log at your leisure, making a note of the timecode at the beginning and end of each clip. This will let you make a paper edit, where you work out on paper which parts of which shots you need, in which order.

Tom Barrance

www.MediaEd.org.uk the UK media and moving image education site
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