PE2_iMovie

The next three sections of the online iMovie tutorial cover editing video, working with effects and working with audio. This is the bulk of what you have available to make your project look it's best. Look at the menu items shown for the specific topics covered.

Before you can begin editing you've got to assemble the content. Create a New Project, give it a name, select the Aspect Ratio and Frame Rate and choose a Project Theme. iMovie has 32 themes to choose from including No Theme which is like working with a blank sheet of paper.

The Aspect Ratio is how your project will be output and should be the same as the original footage. Standard Frame Rate for footage shot in North America is 30 frames per second (fps). In Europe the standard is 24 fps.

Click and drag the clips you want to use into the Project Window and you're ready for editing. Some, or more likely, most of your clips will need editing. They'll have footage you'll want to delete and manipulate to get the movie looking clean and slick. iMovie allows you to trim clips so you eliminate those shots of the sky or the blurred and dizzying effect caused by unfocused camera movements. This is done with two features; trimming and slip editing. 


Trimming will let you choose the good frames in the clip and get rid of the rest. It's important to do your editing in the Project Window so you don't change the original, unless you are certain that you want to replace the original with the trimmed version in your Event Library. In that case, edit in the bottom half of the window

Slip editing is used when you want to keep a clip at a certain duration. It allows you to choose a section of footage and move it within the clip. Slip editing is best done in the Clip Trimmer because it allows for more accuracy.

The blue dot represents the edit point you are currently editing. Move the line with the blue dot while viewing the clip in the viewer window to precisely mark where the clip should end. When you've got the clip trimmed precisely where you want it, click Done.











You may want to stick a photo or a piece of footage in the middle of a clip for a special effect. Just click the first part of the clip and drag to the point where you want the insert. Choose Clip the Split Clip and your clip will be split. Next, go to the Event Browser, select the footage or photo you want to insert and drag it between the two pieces of the split clip. If you change your mind, split clips can be re-joined by positioning them next to one another, choose Clip from the menu bar, then select Join Clip.

Transitions help smooth out the jump between clips and can add some flair to your iMovie. There are 24 transitions available to choose from but for professional results you should stick to the Cross Dissolve and Fade Effects transitions. Fades are good for the beginning and end of your project. Choose the effect you want to use and drag it to the space between the clips you want to transition. A transition icon will appear in the place where the transition will occur.

iMovie '11 has a new feature that allows you to super-impose a clip over a clip. It's called the Green or Blue Effect. One clip has to have a blue or green background with the subject you want to superimpose over the clip with the scenery. The subject cannot have any blue or green on them or they will not appear on the superimposed image.

iMovie '11 also has an option to create movie trailers. They're easy and fun templates that include many of the editing features along with built-in music and credits. You just stick in your clips according that match the labels in the template and you're ready to go.

One of the most frustrating but fun parts of this tutorial and iMovie creation is the sound. iMovie allows you add music and sound effects to help set the mood and tone of your piece. There are hundreds of sound effects to choose from right through iMovie but you can import your own if they are .mp3 or .aac files.

You can also extract audio from your own clips and add a voiceover.

If you have a clip with audio you want to use in another project, select the portion of the clip you want to take the audio from, press the command/apple key and click and drag the clip to where you want the sound to be inserted.  Make sure you look at the bottom of the Project window to see how far into the clip you are placing the new audio. You'll have to grab the right length of audio to fit.

Audio clips can be edited with the visual graph that shows up below the clips when you click the audio wave button. You'll see the name of the audio file and a graph of its volumes below the clip it is associated with. Move the graph objects around to adjust the volume, length and location of the clip.

Some audio adjustments are done from the Inspector window. Adjust Volume, Fade and Ducking. Ducking is similar to slip editing in that the clip's volume will be lower when there is an overlap with another track. You can adjust how high or low you want it to be. There's also an option to Enhance your Voice. Try it and see if you like the effect.

One last feature I want to share with you is Editing to the Beat. You can synch video clips, photos and titles to specific points in your audio tracks. First, add audio to the Project window and click Audio Clips in the Action Menu. Choose Clip Trimmer. You'll see your audio clip's wave form at the bottom of the window. Figure out where you want beat markers and click on those areas in the wave form. Then right-click or CTRL-click and select Add Beat Marker. A tiny dot is inserted in the place where the beat marker occurs. Alternatively, you could press the "m" key while listening to the track to place to beat markers. Click View then Snap to Beats. This is a fun feature because you can add photos to a project and synch them to the beats.

Next post I'll be wrapping up the iMovie tutorial and my iMovie project.

STAY TUNED....