Apple iMovie HD 6 User Manual

iMovie HD

Getting Started

Shows you how to import video; edit footage; and add transitions, effects, titles, and more

Chapter 1 4 Welcome to iMovie HD

Using This Document

What’s New in iMovie HD 6

Before You Begin

What You’ll Learn

What You Need

Finding Out More

Chapter 2 9 iMovie HD Tutorial

Step One: Start a New Project

Step Two: Import Video Into iMovie HD

Step Three: Choose the Video You Want to Keep

Step Four: Build Your Movie

Step Five: Add Photos to Your Movie

Step Six: Add Titles and Text

Step Seven: Make Adjustments to Clips

Step Eight: Add Transitions

Step Nine: Add a Soundtrack

29 30

Adding Audio to Your Movie Adjusting the Length of Audio Clips Adjusting the Volume of Audio Clips

Step Ten: Share Your Movie

Chapter 3 34 iMovie HD at a Glance

iMovie HD Project Window

Main Window

Clip Viewer

Timeline Viewer

Clips Pane

Themes Pane

Media Pane

40 41

Audio Photos

Editing Pane

42 43 44 45 46

Chapters Pane

Titles Transitions Video Effects Audio Effects

Contents

Welcome to iMovie HD

Welcome to iMovie HD 6. This document will get you on your way to creating great movies that have both polish and impact.

iMovie HD is the fastest and easiest way to turn your home video into your own motion picture. iMovie HD is the perfect companion for the latest high definition camcorders and the smallest and most affordable flash cameras. The many new features of iMovie HD make it a snap to create an award-winning movie to share on the Internet or on a DVD.

Using This Document

iMovie HD Getting Started is organized into three chapters, making it easy to find the information you’ll need.

Chapter 1, “Welcome to iMovie HD”:

the major new features of iMovie HD and find out where to get more information about iMovie HD.

Chapter 2, “iMovie HD Tutorial”:

to capture video and make a basic movie that you can share in a variety of ways.

Chapter 3, “iMovie HD at a Glance”:

in iMovie HD. You can use the chapter as a quick reference as you create your own iMovie HD projects.

In this chapter, you’ll get a brief description of

Follow the instructions in this chapter to learn how

This chapter shows you the views and controls

What’s New in iMovie HD 6

Improved performance:

and QuickTime 7 to give you quicker effects rendering and pristine video quality. Experiment with stunning new video effects and see the results instantly. From importing footage to sharing your finished movie, iMovie HD is faster and more responsive every step of the way.

Enhanced user interface:

make building and editing your movie easier than ever. You can even preview transitions, titles, and effects live and in the large iMovie monitor to see exactly how they’ll look in your movie.

Multiple open projects:

copy individual video and audio clips—or even a whole movie or a portion of a movie—from one project to another. You can even open multiple versions of a project to compare different “cuts.”

Apple-designed movie themes:

Hollywood-style polish to your movie. Just select the theme you want to use and choose from its subset of titles and visual effects to get incredible-looking results. Themes use advanced motioning and compositing that even combine your video and photos with stunning backgrounds and animated graphics.

New audio enhancements:

bass or treble in a particular video or audio clip? You can now use the graphic equalizer in iMovie HD to change the levels of individual audio frequencies. You can also change the pitch of your audio and add reverb, delay, and other audio effects to make your movies sound better than ever.

Magic iMovie enhancements:

easier. Just use the “Magic iMovie” feature to have iMovie HD import your video and make a great-looking movie for you. Now, with iMovie HD 6, you can choose whether to have iMovie HD rewind your tape before import, and even specify the moment you want it to stop capturing footage.

More flexible web publishing:

new web-publishing application, to give you more flexibility to present your movies the way you want. Whether you choose to display your movie on its own webpage, use it in a blog, or publish a video podcast made in iMovie, iWeb offers creative options and allows you to easily put your movies on the web.

Even tighter iLife integration:

and video clips—work together to create video slideshows and movies. From iMovie HD 6, you can even compose a soundtrack for your movie project right in GarageBand.

Time lapse video:

the progression of an event (such as a blooming rose) in a fraction of the time it took in real life.

iMovie HD 6 harnesses the power of Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger

The improved editing panes and controls in iMovie HD

You can open more than one iMovie HD project at a time to

iMovie HD 6 makes it easier than ever to add

Want to remove wind noise or camera hum? Adjust the

Performing magic with iMovie HD has never been

iMovie HD integrates key elements of iWeb, Apple’s

All your digital media—your songs and music, photos

The new time-lapse import feature in iMovie HD lets you show

Chapter 1

Welcome to iMovie HD

Before You Begin

To make it easier to do the tasks in the tutorial, print this document before you start.

In many tasks shown here and in iMovie HD Help, you need to choose commands from the menus in the menu bar. Menu commands look like this:

Choose Edit > Copy.

The first term after terms are the items you choose from that menu.

Choose

is the name of a menu in the iMovie HD menu bar. The next

What You’ll Learn

If you follow all the steps in the tutorial, you will learn how to use your own video to create a basic movie that includes a title, transitions between clips, and a soundtrack. You’ll also learn to do the following:

Crop and trim video footage

Add motion to photographs using the Ken Burns Effect

Trim audio clips

Adjust sound volume

Synchronize audio and video

Share your finished movie with others

What You Need

To complete all the parts of the tutorial, you need the following:

iMovie HD 6 installed on your computer

Digital video footage on a camcorder or on your hard disk.

The tutorial tells you how to capture digital video from your camcorder and import it directly into iMovie HD using a FireWire cable. If you have digital video on a flash device or want to capture video directly from an iSight camera, open iMovie and choose Help > iMovie HD Help. Then type “importing” in the search field. You’ll find instructions for importing video from other locations or devices.

Music files in your iTunes library

Photographs in your iPhoto library

If you don’t have photographs or music in iPhoto or iTunes, you can still do the tutorial. You can skip the related steps or read through them for future reference. Most importantly, experiment and have fun as you learn how to get started with iMovie HD.

6 Chapter 1

Welcome to iMovie HD

Did You Know?—Using Magic iMovie to Create a Movie in Minutes

Whether this is your first movie or you’ve made many, you can use Magic iMovie to create a complete movie or to get a head start on editing. Magic iMovie can automatically import video from your FireWire camcorder (DV or HDV), compose it into a movie, and send it to iDVD so you can burn it on a DVD disc. You can even choose a title, transition style, and soundtrack, and iMovie HD sits in the director’s chair and does the rest.

To make a movie with Magic iMovie, click the “Make a Magic iMovie” button in the iMovie HD opening dialog, or choose File > “Make a Magic iMovie” when iMovie HD is open.

For more information about making a movie with Magic iMovie, look in iMovie HD Help.

Chapter 1

Welcome to iMovie HD

Finding Out More

Your computer comes with a built-in help system for iMovie HD. When iMovie HD is open, choose Help > iMovie HD Help. When iMovie HD Help opens, type a word or phrase in the search field at the top of the page or click one of the topic areas to find out information about a certain topic.

You’ll find links to other helpful resources listed on the iMovie HD Help page, such as an online multimedia tutorial, Hot Tips website, and the Apple Support website.

For the latest news and information about iMovie HD, go to the iMovie HD website at www.apple.com/ilife/imovie.

8 Chapter 1

Welcome to iMovie HD

iMovie HD Tutorial

This chapter takes you step by step through the process of building your own movie in iMovie HD.

You can use video from a variety of sources and devices to create a movie in iMovie HD. If you have some digital video in your camcorder or digital video footage on your computer, you can follow the steps in this chapter to automatically transfer it to iMovie HD, edit the clips, add transitions and a title, and lay down a soundtrack.

Step One: Start a New Project

The first time you open iMovie HD, you see the Project window, shown below, which gives you several options for creating a movie. In this step, you will select one of these options to create a new project.

To start a new iMovie HD project:

Click the iMovie HD icon in the Dock.

If you don’t see the icon in the Dock, open the Applications folder and double-click the iMovie HD icon.

Click the “Create a New Project” button.

Type a name for your project in the Project field.

Click the pop-up menu labeled “Where” and choose a folder to store your movie project.

The default location is the Movies folder in your home folder. Saving your movie in this folder will allow other iLife applications, such as iDVD or GarageBand, to find it easily.

Click Create.

A new project file for your iMovie HD project is created in the location you chose. Eventually it will contain all the video clips, transitions, effects, and audio used in your movie.

Step Two: Import Video Into iMovie HD

iMovie HD can transfer, or types of camcorders, including DV camcorders (including those that support widescreen) and high definition (HDV) camcorders. In most cases, iMovie HD can automatically recognize and import the video you’re using, so you don’t have to pay attention to video formats.

In this step, you will import your own video into your iMovie project. If you have a camcorder with a FireWire connection, follow the instructions to connect your camcorder and import the video using the capture controls in iMovie HD. If you have another type of digital video device or have footage in a file on your computer, see the instructions on page 13.

import,

video in many video formats and from many different

To import video from a camcorder:

Set the camcorder to VTR mode (some camcorders call this Play or VCR) and turn it on, if necessary.

Connect your camcorder to your computer using a FireWire cable.

10 Chapter 2

iMovie HD Tutorial

If your camcorder uses a dock, connect the dock to the computer and place the camcorder in the dock. The illustration below shows how to connect a camcorder to an iMac using a FireWire cable.

In iMovie HD, click the mode switch (shown below) to set iMovie HD to camera mode.

Note:

You must have a camcorder connected and turned on to be able to switch to camera mode and see the capture controls. If you’re having trouble getting your camcorder to communicate with iMovie HD, click the Connection Help button in the iMovie monitor. It connects you to useful information in iMovie HD Help.

If you have more than one camcorder, or a camcorder and iSight are connected, choose your camcorder from the pop-up menu that appears when you switch to camera mode.

Chapter 2

iMovie HD Tutorial

Use the capture controls shown below to review your tape in the iMovie monitor.

Import

Rewind

Stop

Play

Pause

Fast forward

5 Rewind the tape to a few seconds before the point where you want to start importing.

6 Click Play.

7 When you see the frame where you want to begin importing, click Import (shown

above) or press the Space bar.

During the import process, the footage plays in the iMovie monitor. You can import all the footage, or just parts that you choose.

8 Click Import again or press the Space bar when you want to stop importing.

∏ Tip: To adjust the volume of your computer while you’re working in iMovie, use the

volume slider below the iMovie monitor. This slider doesn’t increase or decrease the level of sound that viewers of the video will eventually hear. It only changes the volume on your computer as you play and listen to your audio.

9 When the footage you want is captured in the Clips pane, turn off your camcorder and

disconnect it from your computer.

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iMovie HD Tutorial

As you import your video footage from a camcorder connected via FireWire, iMovie HD detects where you made a break in recording and automatically divides the video into separate scenes, or “clips.” Each sequence of recorded video is then made into a video clip that is stored in the Clips pane, shown below.

∏ Tip: You can use iMovie HD Preferences to change import settings, such as where

imported clips go, whether iMovie creates new clips at scene breaks, and more. To see the settings you can adjust, choose iMovie HD > Preferences and click Import.

In addition to transferring video from your camcorder, you can import video from a CD or DVD, or from other locations on your computer’s hard disk.

To import video from a disc or other location:

1 Choose File > Import.

2 Locate and select the file you want to import.

3 Click Open.

Chapter 2 iMovie HD Tutorial 13

You can also drag files from your desktop or from applications like iTunes or iPhoto to the Clips pane. In iMovie HD 6, you can also drag, copy, and paste clips from one iMovie HD project to another.

Did You Know?—Importing Video From a Flash Device

MPEG-4 camcorders may have a USB connector instead of a FireWire connector. To transfer video from one of these devices, connect the device to your computer using the USB port. Your MPEG-4 camera or device appears as a hard disk on your desktop. You can open the hard disk icon and drag the video footage into your iMovie HD project or to your desktop for importing later.

When you import footage from an MPEG-4 device, your video is imported as a single clip, iMovie HD does not break it up into clips automatically. You cannot use the capture controls to import your video or control your camera, nor can you use the Magic iMovie feature to import video automatically.

Step Three: Choose the Video You Want to Keep

To pare down your video to the best shots, you’ll play through each clip and cut, or “crop,” the footage. Each second of video is made up of many separate pictures, or frames. You can play each clip all the way through, or play frame by frame to find the exact moments where you want to crop.

In this step, you will preview the clips you imported and crop or delete unwanted footage. Use the iMovie playback controls, shown below, to preview clips.

Rewind

Play/Pause

Play Full Screen

To play a clip, you can do any of the following:

Â Select the clip and click Play in the iMovie playback controls.

Â Click Rewind to move to the beginning of your movie or sequence of clips.

Â Click Play Full Screen to play the video in full-screen mode. (Click anywhere on the

screen or press the Esc key to return to leave full-screen mode.)

Shots of the floor, blurry action, and unflattering poses can be disposed of right away, so only the footage you want remains. You may want to delete some clips completely.

14 Chapter 2 iMovie HD Tutorial

To delete a clip:

m Select the clip, then choose Edit > Cut or press the Delete key.

The clip disappears from the Clips pane. Notice that the iMovie Trash at the bottom of the window now has something in it—the clip you just cut. It will remain there until you empty the iMovie Trash.

The remaining clips can be cropped so that only the good parts remain. When you crop a clip, you select the frames that you want to keep and delete the rest of the clip. Cropping preserves the middle part of a clip and deletes the beginning and the end.

To crop a clip:

1 Select the clip you want to crop by clicking it in the Clips pane.

2 Drag the playhead in the scrubber bar below the iMovie monitor (shown below) to

where you want your scene to begin.

Playhead

Pointer

3 Place the pointer just below the playhead and then drag to the right to include the

footage you want to keep. (When you move the pointer to the right, the crop markers appear.)

The gold portion of the scrubber bar (shown below) highlights the footage you’ve selected.

Crop marker

4 Choose Edit > Crop to keep the portion of video you’ve highlighted and remove the

rest.

∏ Tip: To precisely adjust the position of the crop markers, click a crop marker (shown

above) to select it, and then press the Left or Right Arrow key to move the crop marker one frame at a time. To move the crop marker in 10-frame increments, hold down the Shift key while pressing the arrow key.

Chapter 2 iMovie HD Tutorial 15

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