The basics: How to Edit Videos on Your Mac with iMovie
Once you open up iMovie, the free video editing software on your Mac, you will be able to create three kinds of projects: Media, Projects, Theater, found on the top bar. How do i download imovie to my computer.
- Media: here is your library of different footage clips, stills, and audio to create your videos; for ease of use photos have a camera icon and audio tracks are colored green
- Projects: this is where you work on creating your movie: the main workspace
- Theater: here are your finished projects – you can play them, or use the little icon on the lower right to play, delete, rename or remove them from the cloud storage. You can also distribute it from here, we will come back to this later
1. Prepare the Project Workspace
I'm using iMovie 10.1.1 under Mac OS-X 10.11.3. I'm trying to take about 380 still images and create a stop-motion video. I want each image to play for about 0.1 seconds. When I imported the image it set the clip duration to 10 seconds for each one. I thought this would be easy to change after the fact. Cannot figure out how!
When you click Project, two options are available: Movie and Trailer. How to create and use live usb.
You can make batch changes by group-selecting the clips/photos and then clicking on the information button in the tool bar at the upper right of your screen (the circle with an 'i' in it). A duration box will appear to the right, into which you can type the duration that you want. Then press the return key on your keyboard. Trim clips in iMovie on Mac You can fine-tune the duration of a clip in your movie by moving the clip's start point or end point, or by changing the duration of a range selection. Fine-tuning start and end points and changing clip durations is called trimming. Extend or shorten a clip in the timeline by dragging. Your imported clips appear in the Clips pane with the default names 'Clip 01,' 'Clip 02,' and so on, and that may be okay for your project. But you can also change these names in iMovie to make the clips easier to recognize. You may want to rename clips as you edit them to indicate that the clips have been edited. Basic Editing in the Timeline. Now that we know how to add clips from our Event Browser to our Timeline, we can start to edit some of our footage. Splitting a Clip. To split a clip into two different clips, move your Playhead (white line that follows your cursor) to the point you want to split, and click on it.
Trailer is a fun way of creating a little teaser for a movie or combining short clips. It prompts you to create a satisfying short video using templates.
In this article, we are going to look at the Movie method of editing video. These basics apply to Trailer too, and if you have accomplished them, making trailers will be quite easy.
Click on Create New > Movie.
This will take you into the Project workspace. Video editing consists of a Timeline, which is the film going from left to right, with tracks for visuals and audio. There is also an area for media, and windows for playing either the clip or the edited sequence.
The media are your building blocks. The timeline is where you edit visuals, sound, music, effects, and titles to make a satisfying video. iMovie is quite easy for beginners to use.
Drag and drop your media into the timeline to create your video. You can move them around and rearrange by dragging.
Modern video editing is 'non-destructive', that is you can play around with everything to your heart's content, without ruining the originals, so you can go back if you do something you don't like.
Cmd+Z undoes the last action.
2. Cutting Video Clips
You can see each clip in the Preview window (or panel). Hitting the space bar plays/stops playing the clip or you can drag the mouse across the timeline to where you want to be.
iMovie editing tips: most clips won't be the right length. You can edit visuals (still or moving), audio, or music independently. You can also trim clips to the exact duration needed.
How To Edit Length Of Clip In Imovie
How to split a clip in iMovie
You often want to remove the beginning or end of a clip. It is an old rule-of-thumb in film-making to start the camera rolling early and finish late so you capture all the action. That means there is excess to trim in the editing stage.
Move the vertical line with the mouse to where you want to edit, right-click to split the clip into two. Then you can press delete to remove it. You can scrub around in the preview window to find the exact place to cut.
How To Edit Clip Length In Imovie 10.1
Audio clips can be edited in exactly the same way. You can use the Settings slider to zoom in and out on the timeline. The audio shows the sound graphically. If you look carefully you can see where a particular sound finishes. For example, if you have an interview with someone, and you have asked questions, you can cut them out so the person just appears to be talking continuously.
Editing Videos in iMovie on iPhone or iPad
This article has covered the basics of editing using a laptop or desktop mac. You can also edit videos using iMovie on the iPhone or iPad mobile apps. It is very similar to the way that you edit on your desktop, although some of the methods have been streamlined to make it easier to produce a movie using these platforms.
3. Add Music to iMovie
You can't really do without music. If you are making a simple movie about your holiday, you might want to get some stock background music (Apple includes various tracks in iMovie). Simply lay that in an audio track. You can fade in and out by dragging on the beginning or end.
Note: if you are making a more complex production – for example with interviews or voice-over – you should not let the music overwhelm the audio. Fade it under the narration – it is actually better to err on the quiet side. Viewers find it quite annoying if they can't hear what is being said.
4. Add Transitions to Video Clips
These are where two clips merge into each other. In the Transitions menu (on the top bar) you can find plenty of fun ways to go from one visual to the next. All you have to do is drag them into your movie at the appropriate place on the timeline. Note that lots of flashy transitions can become quite irritating to the viewer. The ordinary cut is the standard way. Transitions can be particularly effective when used with titles to introduce the video.
5. Add Titles to Project
Probably the first thing on screen in your film will be the title sequence. This is where you let your audience know that they are going to see something interesting, so think about them carefully. A good title, even if it lasts only a few seconds, primes the viewers for the film.
PRO TIP: People often watch videos on social media with the sound off, and many viewers are deaf or hard-of-hearing. Rev closed-captioning is a service available to produce subtitles for iMovie projects.
6. Export Your Project in iMovie
Once you have finished your project and viewed it through a couple of times to check everything is OK, you can go to the very top right-hand corner of the screen and there is an export icon. This allows you to finalize your video for Theater, Email, iTunes, YouTube, Facebook, and various others.
If you plan to put it up on YouTube, click on that icon and a panel comes up which lets you set various parameters of the film, such as description, resolution, and category. Private means only you can see it. You may want to ensure it is ready in your channel before you make it public and distribute it to the world.
If Theater is checked, then it will automatically add it to your Theater and the iCloud.
When you click Next you will be prompted to log in to your YouTube account and upload the movie. That's all, folks!
Add Captions and Subtitles to Your iMovie Projects
Although Apple doesn't currently support importing caption files directly into their free editing software, you can add titles in iMovie with your captions files, or you can add SRT files to videos exported from iMovie.
With either method, you'll want to have Rev produce your captions files. It'll save you time and reduce the headache of formatting your own SRT file. Plus, you can use it on platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Vimeo!
In iMovie for macOS, you might want to make a transition longer between clips, so the transition between clips is slower. When you try to make the transition longer, you might see this alert:
This alert means iMovie needs more footage from one or both clips to create the overlap.
To make a transition longer, you can manually trim the clips next to the transition.*
* If you select 'Do not warn me again' in the alert, iMovie will automatically trim the clips next to a transition based on the duration you entered.
Trim clips manually
To make the transition longer, trim the clips next to the transition until you can enter the duration you want.
How To Edit Clip Length In Imovie 10.1
- In the timeline, hover your pointer over a clip on either side of the transition until your pointer becomes the clip trim tool . The arrows indicate which directions you can trim the clip.
- Drag the clip towards the center to shorten the clip.
- Double-click the transition, enter the duration you want, then click Apply.
- If the alert reappears, trim more footage. Keep trimming until you can enter the duration you want.
Use transitions in iMovie on iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
In iMovie for iOS, transitions are available in fixed durations—half a second, one second, one and a half seconds, or two seconds. To add a transition, tap the icon between clips where you want to add a transition, then tap a transition type under the timeline. To change the length of the transition, tap one of the duration options under the timeline. iMovie automatically trims the clips for the duration you chose.
Learn more
- Learn more about adding transitions to your movie.
- Learn more about how to trim clips.
