IMovie Help

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iMovie Help

Get Started

To create movies in iMovie, you must first import (transfer) your video footage from your camera to your computer.

You can import from most types of camcorders, including:

Digital camcorders that record to DVD, hard disk drive, or flash memory. These cameras connect to your

computer using a USB cable.

Digital still cameras that record video. These cameras use flash memory, often stored on Secure Digital (SD) or

CompactFlash (CF) cards. They connect to your computer using a USB cable.

Camcorders that record to tape. These cameras connect to your computer using a FireWire cable.

This task describes how to import from digital camcorders and camcorders that record to tape.

When you import video, iMovie stores it as an Event in the Event Library. This is the footage you use to create movie

projects in iMovie.

Import video from a camcorder that records to DVD, hard disk drive, or flash memory

1. Locate the cable that came with your camera, or any other similar USB cable.

The cable should have at least one connector that plugs into your Mac and looks like the connector on the

left (A, below). The other end of the USB cable, which plugs into your recording device, might look

different (as shown in B, below). For more information about cable connectors, go to this topic: About

video cable connectors.

2. Connect the camera to your computer with the cable.

3. Turn on your camera and set it to PC Connect mode (this mode may have a different name on your

camera).

4. The first time you import from a device that records high-definition (HD) video, an HD Import Setting dialog

appears. Even if you aren’t importing high-definition video now, select Large or Full, and then click OK.

5. If the Import window doesn’t open, choose File > “Import from Camera.”

Import video



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The Import window displays all the video clips on the device. You can use the playback controls below the

viewer to play the clips.

6. Select which video clips to import:

To import all clips, set the Automatic/Manual switch to Automatic, and then click Import All.

To import specific clips, set the Automatic/Manual switch to Manual. Deselect the clips you don’t want

to import, and then click Import Checked.

7. Choose the disk where you want to store the video from the Save To pop-up menu.

Typically, you’ll store the video on your computer hard disk, but if you have another hard disk connected

to your computer, you can store the video there.

8. Choose how you want to organize the imported video in your Event Library:

To add the imported video to an existing Event (video you’ve already imported), select “Add to Existing

Event,” and then choose the Event’s name from the pop-up menu. The first t ime you import video,

there won’t be any existing Events in your Event Library.

To create a new Event, type a name for it (for example, “Birthday Party”) in the “Create new Event”

field. If the video you’re importing was recorded on several different days and you want iMovie to

create a new Event for each of those days, select “Split days into new Events.”

9. To have iMovie smooth the shaky portions of your video (a process called stabilization ), or to have iMovieanalyze your video for the presence of people, select “After import analyze for,” and then choose an

option from the pop-up menu.

Stabilization reduces the camera motion in your video so that shaky parts can be played back more

smoothly. Analyzing video for the presence of people marks the footage that contains people. You can

easily search for this video later when you’re creating a project for which you need footage of people.

The processes of stabilization and analyzing video for the presence of people can take a long time.

10. If you’re importing HD video, choose a size from the “Optimize video” pop-up menu.

If you’re not sure whether the video you’re importing is HD video, check the camera’s user manual for

information about how to set the camera to record HD or standard-definition (SD) video.

The option you choose overrides what you selected in step 4 in the HD Import Setting dialog (which you

see only the first time you import video).

11. Click OK.

It can take several minutes to more than an hour for iMovie to import the video, depending on how much

video you have.

Import video from a tape-based camcorder



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1. Locate the cable that came with your camera, or any other similar FireWire cable.

The cable should have a 6-pin connector that plugs into your Mac (A, below) on one end and a 4-pin

connector that plugs into your camcorder (B, below) on the other end. You might have a FireWire 800

cable, with a different end that plugs into your camcorder. For more information about cable connectors,

go to this topic: About video cable connectors.

2. Turn on the camcorder and set it to VTR or VCR mode (this mode may have a different name on your

camera).

3. Connect the camera to your computer with the cable.

4. The first time you import from a camcorder that can record high-definition (HD) video, an HD Import

Setting dialog appears; even if you aren’t importing HD video now, select Large or Full, and then click OK.


6. Set the Automatic/Manual switch:

Automatic: Automatically rewinds the tape, imports all of the video on the tape, and rewinds the tape

again. If you use this option, click OK.

Manual: Lets you rewind and fast-forward the tape so that you can import only the footage you want.

Use the controls to set your tape to the point where you want to begin importing.

7. Click Import.

8. Choose the disk where you want to store the video from the Save To pop-up menu.

Typically, you’ll store the video on your computer hard disk, but if you have another hard disk connected

to your computer, you can store the video there.

9. Choose how you want to organize the imported video in your Event Library.

To add the imported video to an existing Event (video you’ve already imported), select “Add to Existing

Event,” and then choose the Event’s name from the pop-up menu. The first t ime you import video,

there won’t be any existing Events in your Event Library.


field. If the video you’re importing was recorded on several different days and you want iMovie to



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create a new Event for each of those days, select “Split days into new Events.”

10. To have iMovie smooth the shaky portions of your video (a process called stabilization ), or to have iMovie

analyze your video for the presence of people, select “After import analyze for,” and then choose an

option from the pop-up menu.

Stabilization reduces the camera motion in your video so that shaky parts can be played back more

smoothly. Analyzing video for the presence of people marks the footage that contains people. You can

easily search for this video later when you’re creating a project for which you need footage of people.

The processes of stabilization and analyzing video for the presence of people can take a long time.


If you’re not sure whether the video you’re importing is HD video, check the camera’s user manual for

information about how to set the camera to record HD or standard-definition (SD) video.

The option you choose overrides what you selected in step 4 in the HD Import Setting dialog (which you

see only the first time you import video).

12. Click Import.

If you’re importing automatically, you can leave your computer and come back when the import is

complete.

If you’re importing manually, click Stop (in the lower-right corner of the Import window) when the section of

video you want has been imported. Then use the import controls to set your video to a point where you

want to begin importing again, and repeat steps 7 through 11. Continue in this manner until you have

imported all the video you want.

For more information about importing video into iMovie, click the Browse Help button above and see the topics in“Import video into iMovie.”

Get Started

To work on a new video project in iMovie, you first create the project by giving it a name and defining other

parameters for it, including whether or not your project will have a theme. Themes give your movies a specific look

and feel. Examples of themes include bulletin board, photo album, and comic book.

iMovie comes with a selection of themes you can use in your movie. Each theme comes with its own title styles (text

that appears onscreen) and transitions (visual effects that play between clips) that you can use to give your movie a

polished and professional look.

When you select a theme, you can have iMovie automatically insert titles and transitions into your project as you add

video clips to it. You can always change or delete these elements later.

After you create the project, you add video to it that you’ve already transferred (imported) from your camera to your

computer. Lesson 1 describes the importing process.

Start a new video project

Start a new project



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1. In iMovie, choose File > New Project.

The File menu appears in a light gray bar across the top of your computer screen.

2. To apply a theme to your project, select one of the themes presented below Project Themes.

If you don’t want to add any theme-based elements to your project, select No Theme.

3. Type a name for the project in the Name field.

4. Choose a format option from the Aspect Ratio pop-up menu.

This format, which refers to the width and height dimensions of your movie, affects how the video appears

on the screen.

Widescreen (16:9): Makes the movie appear much wider than it is high. Widescreen movies are

optimized for viewing on widescreen computer monitors and high-definition TVs (HDTVs). When

viewed on a standard-definition TV, widescreen movies appear with black areas above and below

(sometimes referred to as “letterbox”).

Standard (4:3): Makes the movie more square in shape. When viewed on a standard-definition TV,

these movies can fill the screen. When viewed on an HDTV or widescreen computer monitor, they

appear with black areas on the left and right of the video (sometimes referred to as “pillarbox”).

5. Choose an option from the Frame Rate pop-up menu; choose the same frame rate that you used to shoot

the video.

NTSC, PAL, and Cinema are video format standards that refer to the number of frames per second (fps)

your recorded video contains. In general, video cameras purchased in North America use the NTSC

format (30 fps), and cameras purchased in Europe use the PAL format (25 fps). Cinema format video has

a frame rate of 24 fps. If your camera was set to Cinema format when you shot your video, choose this

option.

6. If you didn’t select a theme in step 2, and you want iMovie to automatically include transition effects

between video clips as you add them, select “Automatically add,” and then choose a transition style from

the pop-up menu.

7. If you did select a theme for your project but don’t want iMovie to add themed elements automatically,

deselect “Automatically add transitions and titles.”

When this option is selected, iMovie automatically inserts cross-dissolve transitions and special themed

transitions between clips, as well as a theme-styled introductory title over the first clip in your project, and

a theme-styled credits title over the last clip.

8. Click Create.

The empty project, which contains no video yet, opens in the Project browser. It appears as shown in the

image below, with the project’s name (in this case, “Spring Vacation 2010”) at the top.



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Get Started

After you create a project, as described in Lesson 2, you add video clips to it that you’ve already imported

(transferred) from your camera to your computer.

All of your imported video appears in the Event Library. From there, you select specific video and add it to your project

by dragging it to the project in the Project browser, which is your project workspace. As you add video and other

elements to your project, they appear immediately in the Project browser, where you can edit them, rearrange them,

delete them, and so on.

Add video to a project

1. Open an existing project by double-clicking it (don’t click the project’s name directly) in the Project Library.

If you don’t see the Project Library, click the Project Library button.

2. In the Event Library, select an Event whose footage you want to add to your project.

If you don’t see the Event Library, click the Event Library button, which is typically located in the lower-left

corner of the iMovie window.

Add video to your project



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You select an Event by clicking its name once. The Event footage appears in the Event browser to the

right of the Event Library.

3. In the Event browser, select a range of video frames or an entire video clip.

To select an entire video clip, hold down the Shift key and click the clip once, so that it’s outlined in yellow.

To select a portion of a clip (called a frame range ), drag across any clip while you hold down the button on

your mouse or trackpad. Selected frames are outlined in yellow.

4. Drag your video selection to the Project browser.

You drag by holding down the button on your mouse or trackpad as you move the selected clip to the

Project browser. You can drag it anywhere: to the beginning or end of the project, or between clips you’ve

already added. A vertical green line, along with a green Add (+) symbol, appears anywhere you can place

the clip.

The image below shows how the Project browser appears when you add your first video clip to a project.



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Video that’s been added to a project is marked along the bottom with an orange stripe in the Event

browser, so that you can see at a glance which video you’ve used. You can add the same video to

multiple projects, and you can use it more than once within a project.

Continue adding video in this way until you have all the video you want in your project. Next, you can enhance your

project by adding music, photos, titles (text that appears onscreen, over your video), and more.

Get Started

After you’ve created a project and added video to it, you can embellish it in a number of ways with both visual and

audio enhancements. Themes give your project a polished look in an instant. You can also add background music,

titles, and transitions that let you create professional-quality projects.

Add a theme to your project

iMovie comes with a selection of themes you can use in your movie. Each theme comes with its own title styles

(text that appears onscreen) and transitions (visual effects that play between clips) that you can use to give

your movie a big-budget look.

When you select a theme, you can have iMovie automatically insert titles and transitions into your project as

you add video clips to it. You can always change or delete these elements later.

If you didn’t choose a theme for your project when you first created it, you can apply one at any time thereafter.

1. If your project isn’t already open (showing in the Project browser), double-click it in the Project Library to

open it.

2. Choose File > Project Theme.


3. Select a theme by clicking its thumbnail once; the theme previews automatically in the viewer on the right

You can click other thumbnails to preview those themes.

4. If you want to turn off automatic transitions and titles so that iMovie doesn’t replace transitions that you’ve

already added to your project, deselect “Automatically add transitions and titles.”

5. Click OK.

Add background music from your iTunes library

Background music you add to a project plays behind the audio recorded with your video, so that you can hear

both tracks of sound at the same time. You can adjust the volume of the background music so that it plays

more loudly or softly, which allows you to layer sound in interesting ways.

The music in your iTunes library is automatically available for use in iMovie projects.


open it.

Enhance your project



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2. Click the “Music and Sound Effect” button at the right end of the iMovie toolbar.

The “Music and Sound Effect” browser appears.

3. Choose one of the music options (not the sound effects options) from the options at the top of the Music

and Sound Effect browser; you should see either a list of options or a pop-up menu from which you

choose an option.

For example, if you choose iTunes, you see a list of everything that’s in iTunes. If you choose Music, you

see just the music you have stored in iTunes. If you choose a specific playlist, you see just the music in

that playlist.

4. Scroll through the list to find the song you want to add, and then click the song so that it’s highlighted with

a blue bar.

5. Drag the song to the Project browser, to the dark gray area to the right of the last clip in your project,

making sure that you don’t drag it over a clip.

You drag by holding down the button on your mouse or trackpad as you move the selected song to the

Project browser. Release the mouse button when you see a green Add button.

The background music well of your project is then shaded with green, representing the background music

clip. The music begins at the start of your project and ends with your video, even if the song is longer than

your video.

If the music doesn’t cover your entire video, you can add more music by dragging it to the background

music well of your project.

6. To adjust the volume of the background music, click the Action pop-up menu (looks like a gear) in the

upper-left corner of the green background music well, and then choose Audio Adjustments.



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7. In the window that opens (called an inspector ), drag the volume slider, which appears at the top, to the

right or left to increase or decrease volume, and then click Done.

Add a photo from your iPhoto library

You can add photos to your iMovie projects—to add visual interest, to highlight specific moments, or simply tobreak up the action of the video footage itself. All the photos in your iPhoto library are automatically available

for use in iMovie.


open it.

2. Click the Photos button at the right end of the iMovie toolbar.

The photos appear in the Photo browser.

3. Choose iPhoto from the pop-up menu at the top of the browser to see all the photos stored in iPhoto, or

choose an iPhoto album from the pop-up menu to narrow your search.

4. Scroll through the thumbnails (miniatures) of the photos to find the one you want to add, and then click it

so that it’s outlined in blue.

5. Drag your chosen photo to the project in the Project browser.

You drag by holding down the button on your mouse or trackpad as you move the selected photo to theProject browser. You can release the mouse button anyplace you see a vertical green line along with a

green Add button.

When you add a photo, by default it is set to remain onscreen in your project for 4 seconds. Also, the Ken

Burns effect is applied to the photo. This effect makes it appear as though the camera were panning

across and zooming in on the image.

6. To change how long the photo stays onscreen, double-click the photo in the Project browser.

7. In the window that opens (called an inspector ), type a new value, in seconds, in the Duration field, and

then click Done.

Add titles (onscreen text)

You can add onscreen text to any video in your project using one of the many title styles available in iMovie.

Onscreen text can be used to add a title and credits to your movie, to visually “narrate” the scenes in your

movie, to create textual segues from one scene to the next (for example, “Ten years later” or “Later that same

day”), and so on.


open it.

2. Click the Title button at the right end of the iMovie toolbar.



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The title styles appear in the Title browser.

3. Browse the title styles, scrolling through the window if necessary, to find the one you want to use.

Many title styles are animated, which means that they move onto the screen in an interesting way. Move

your pointer over the title thumbnails in the browser to see how they animate. If you have set a theme for

your project, a number of theme-styled titles appear above the standard titles in the browser.

4. Drag a title to the Project browser directly over the clip where you want the title to appear.

You drag by holding down the button on your mouse or trackpad as you move the selected title to the

Project browser. You can release the mouse button anyplace you see a green Add (+) symbol.

When you add a title, a blue or gold title bar appears above the video clip to show where the title appears

in your video. Blue title bars represent nonthemed titles, and gold title bars represent themed titles.

Placeholder text (text that shows placement only and is meant to be replaced) appears in the viewer on

the right, and some or all of it is ready for editing (which means that it’s selected and ready to be replaced

by your own text).

5. Replace the highlighted placeholder text by typing your own text.

If you need to select placeholder text, click it until it is highlighted, and then type.

6. To play back the title (see how the title looks in your video), click the Play button in the upper-right corner

of the viewer.

7. Click Done in the upper-right corner of the viewer.



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Add transitions between clips

iMovie comes with several styles of transitions that you can add between clips to give professional polish to

your projects. A transition smoothes or blends the change from one scene to another. For example, a transition

can make one clip fade in or out, dissolve into another clip, zoom in to another clip, and so on.

iMovie makes all the transitions in your movie the same length. Standard transitions are one-half of a second

long, and theme-styled transitions (which are available only if you’ve set a theme for your project) are twoseconds long. You can change these durations if you want.


open it.

2. Click the Transition button at the right end of the iMovie toolbar.

The transition styles appear in the Transition browser.

3. Browse through the transition styles, scrolling the window if necessary, to find the one you want to use.

Move your pointer over the transition thumbnails in the browser to see how they animate. If you’ve set a

theme for your project, a number of theme-styled transitions appear above the standard transitions in the

browser.

4. Drag a transition to the Project browser before, after, or between the clips where you want it to appear.

You drag by holding down the button on your mouse or trackpad as you move the selected transition to

the Project browser. You can release the mouse button anyplace you see a green Add (+) symbol.

The transition effect is represented by a transition icon in the Project browser. (Several icons are shown

below; which you see depends on the transition style you added.)

5. To play back the transition effect to see how the transition looks in your video, move your pointer in the

Project browser anyplace before the transition effect icon (you see a vertical red line where the pointer is),

and then press the Space bar.

6. To change the duration of the transition, double-click the transition icon in the Project browser.

7. In the window that opens (called an inspector ), type a new value, in seconds, in the Duration field, and

then click Done.



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Get Started

iMovie includes a number of templates you can use to create professional-quality movie trailers in genres that range

from adventure, to romance, to friendship and drama. Each template lets you customize screen text (movie name,

cast, credits, and so on) and add clips of your own video to build a visually appealing story. Each template also comes

with a unique musical score that matches the style of the trailer.

Create a trailer

1. Choose File > New Project.


2. In the window that appears, select a template in the Movie Trailers section (on the left, below Project

Themes) by clicking its thumbnail image.

View any template by clicking its thumbnail and watching its preview in the viewer on the right.

3. Type a name for the trailer project in the Name field.

4. Choose a format option from the Aspect Ratio pop-up menu.

This format, which refers to the width and height dimensions of your movie, affects how your video

appears on the screen you’re using to view it.








5. Choose an option from the Frame Rate pop-up menu; choose the same frame rate that you used to shoot

the video.

NTSC, PAL, and Cinema are video format standards that refer to the number of frames per second (fps)

your recorded video contains. In general, video cameras purchased in North America use the NTSC

format (30 fps), and cameras purchased in Europe use the PAL format (25 fps). Cinema format video has

a frame rate of 24 fps. If your camera was set to Cinema format when you shot your video, choose this

option.

6. Click Create.

In the Project browser, you see a tabbed interface with areas for entering information iMovie uses to buildyour trailer. The tabs are Outline, Storyboard, and Shot List.

Create a trailer



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7. In the Outline tab, which is already selected, select the placeholder text (text that serves as an example

only and is meant to be replaced), and then type your own text.

Simply click the existing name or words (such as “Mom,” “Dad,” “Female,” “Male,” the movie name, and so

on) and type new ones. The information required varies among templates. These are the possible

categories:

Name and Date: Required details vary from template to template. Type the movie name, its release

date, and any other information requested, following the model of the placeholder text.

Cast: Type the names of the people who are featured as main characters in the footage you plan to

use in the trailer. Some templates have no cast members, and some allow you to delete or add more

cast members by clicking the Delete (-) button or Add (+) button to the right of a field.

Studio: Type a fictitious studio name and choose a logo style from the pop-up menu. Click the triangles

to the right of the logo style name to open the pop-up menu.

Credits: Type a name in each of the credits fields.

8. Click the Storyboard tab.

A graphic interface representing the trailer’s storyboard appears. The storyboard provides a visual map of

the trailer from start to finish. It includes text bars that let you edit the titles that appear in the trailer. There

are also wells with gray placeholder imagery that you replace with your own video.

9. To edit any onscreen text, click the word or words in a text bar, type new text, and then press Return.

You can mimic the wording style of the placeholder text to preserve the template’s flow and flavor.

10. Select the Event whose video you want to use in the trailer by clicking its name once in the Event Library.

The video appears in the Event browser on the right.

11. Add video clips to the template simply by clicking video in the Event browser.

When you click, the correct length of video is added to fill the active placeholder well, which is outlined in

yellow. (The time stamp on the left edge of each well indicates the length of video it requires.) When you



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fill a placeholder well with video, iMovie automatically makes the next well active in the storyboard. If you

want to fill wells out of order, simply click one to select it.

The video you click should conform to the style of shot illustrated by the placeholder image. For example,

if the active placeholder shows a headshot, you should add a tight close-up shot of the cast member in

question. If the image shows a character running, you should add footage of that character in action.

12. To view your project’s clips organized by type of shot (for example, landscape, medium range, action) and

by cast member, click the Shot List tab.

This project view is helpful for assessing just the video in your projects. You can add, change, and delete

video clips in this view.

13. To delete a clip in Storyboard or Shot List view, click to select it and then press Delete.

14. Play back your trailer at any time by clicking the “Play full-screen” button (A, below) or Play button (B,

below) in the upper-right corner of the template.

15. When you’ve completed your trailer by filling all of the placeholder wells with video clips, a dialog appears;

click Watch Trailer to play the trailer, or click Done.

For more information about creating trailers, click the Browse Help button above and see the topics in “Create a

movie trailer.”

Get Started

There are a number of ways to share your video projects with others. The most popular ways include burning the

project to a DVD, publishing it to your MobileMe Gallery, and publishing it to a sharing website such as YouTube or

Facebook.

Create a DVD

In iMovie, open a project or select it in the Project Library (by clicking its name once), and then choose

Share > iDVD.

The Share menu appears in a light gray bar across the top of your computer screen.

iMovie generates a finished version of your project and sends it to iDVD (another application in the iLife

suite).

iDVD opens with your movie in a new iDVD project, which you can burn to a DVD immediately.

For instructions about how to burn a DVD, choose Help > iDVD Help when the iDVD application is open.

The Help menu appears in a gray bar at the top of your computer screen.

Share your movie



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Publish to your MobileMe Gallery

MobileMe is an Apple service that allows you to keep email, contacts, and your calendar synchronized across

all your devices—including your computer, iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. MobileMe Gallery is a part of this

service. It lets you publish photos and movies online so that you can share them with friends.

To publish to MobileMe Gallery, you must have an active MobileMe subscription and be connected to the

Internet. You can sign up for a MobileMe subscription at the MobileMe website.

MobileMe website

1. In iMovie, open a project or select it in the Project Library (by clicking its name), and then choose Share >

MobileMe Gallery.


If you aren’t already logged into MobileMe, you’re prompted to do so.

2. In the “Publish to your MobileMe” window that opens, type a title and description for your movie in the Title

and Description text fields.

3. Select one or more of the sizes that are compatible with MobileMe, as indicated in the “Sizes to publish”

table.

4. Choose an option from the “Viewable by” pop-up menu to set password protection for your movie,

depending on whether you want it to be publicly viewable or accessible only by specific people.

5. Select “Hide movie on my Gallery home page” if you don’t want the movie to appear on the homepage of

your Gallery.

6. Select “Allow movie to be downloaded” if you want viewers to be able to download copies of your movie.

7. Click Publish.

iMovie prepares your movie for publishing and uploads it to your MobileMe Gallery.

8. To watch your movie online, click View, or to notify your friends and family of the new movie you’ve

published, click “Tell a Friend.”

Click OK to do neither and simply close the window.

Publish to YouTube or Facebook

To publish a movie to YouTube or Facebook, you need to be connected to the Internet, and you need an

account on those websites. Accounts are free and easy to set up. If you don’t have an account, first go to

www.youtube.com or www.facebook.com and create one.

1. In iMovie, open a project or select it in the Project Library (by clicking its name), and then choose Share >

YouTube, or Share > Facebook.


2. Choose your account from the Account pop-up menu.

If you don’t see your account in the pop-up menu, click Add to add it.

3. Fill in the fields and make selections from pop-up menus.



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For YouTube, “Category” refers to the category under which the video will be categorized on the YouTube

website. “Tags” are keywords that viewers can use to search for your movie on the YouTube website.

4. Select a size of movie to publish that’s compatible with YouTube or Facebook, as indicated in the “Sizes

to publish” table.

Larger sizes typically offer higher quality but may take longer to upload.

5. For YouTube, to allow your video to be viewable by anyone, deselect “Make this movie personal.”

6. Click Next.

7. Click Publish.

iMovie uploads your movie to YouTube or Facebook; depending on website traffic, the movie may not be

available on YouTube or Facebook right away.

8. To see your movie online, click View in the window that appears.

9. To notify your friends via email of the new movie you’ve published, click “Tell a Friend.”

For more ways to share your iMovie projects, click the Browse Help button above and see the topics in “Share your

video project.”

Get Started

iMovie is a powerful tool that can be used in two ways: to create movie projects from your raw footage, and to store

and organize video in a video library.

In iMovie, your video is organized in two places:

The Event Library holds the video you import (transfer) from your camera; this video is referred to as Events .

The Project Library lists the movie and trailer projects you create from your imported video.

There are a number of ways you can organize and view your projects and Events in iMovie.

Organize the Project Library

You can organize your projects into folders in the Project Library. This is useful if you have a lot of projects andwant to be able to find them more easily.

1. If you don’t see the Project Library, open it by clicking the Project Library button, which is typically located

in the top-left corner of the iMovie window.

2. Choose File > New Folder.


Organize your video



5/5/13 5:57 PM


3. Type a name for the folder in the Folder Name field, and then click Create.

4. Select a project in the library and drag it to the folder.

Move your pointer over the name of the project you want to move, and then hold down the button on your

mouse or trackpad as you move the selected project to the new folder. Release the mouse button when

the folder name becomes highlighted with a blue bar.

5. To open a folder, click the white disclosure triangle to the left of its name. To close the folder, click the

disclosure triangle again.

Organize the Event Library

When you import video from your camera into iMovie, you name the video (called an Event), and then by

default iMovie lists it in the Event Library by the date it was recorded. You can choose to organize the library in

other ways, however. The ability to reorganize your Events makes iMovie useful as a video library—a platform

for organizing, accessing, and watching all your footage.

1. If you don’t see the Event Library, click the Event Library button below the Event browser.

2. Do any of the following:

To view Events based on the month in which they were recorded, choose View > Group Events By

Month.

The View menu appears in a l ight gray bar across the top of your computer screen.

To see Events listed in descending order by the date they were recorded, choose View > “Most

Recent Events at Top.”



5/5/13 5:57 PM


To separate clips in the Event browser by the days they were recorded, choose View > “Show

Separate Days in Events.”

You might want to do this if you have any Events that contain video that was recorded on more than

one day. For example, an Event could have video recorded on New Year’s Eve and on New Year’s

Day. To find specific clips more easily, you could separate the footage by date.

To view Events according to the hard disk where they’re stored, choose View > Group Events By Disk,

or click the Hard Disk button in the upper-right corner of the Event Library (shown below).

When you first transfer video from your camera, you can choose to store it on your computer or on a

different hard disk that’s connected to your computer.

To reorganize the library again, simply choose a new option from the View menu.

For more ways to organize video, click the Browse Help button above and see the topics in “Organize video.”

Browse Help ! Import video into iMovie

Some camcorders record high-definition (HD) video. When you import HD-format video into iMovie, you can import it

in its full size or a “large” size.

If you have a MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, or Mac mini computer, you might find that the large-size video

plays back more smoothly in iMovie.

Although large-size video doesn’t preserve the quality of the full-size video, the loss in quality is typically unnoticeable

when used as listed below.

Full-size video:

Dimensions: 1920 by 1080 pixels

Space requirement: 40 GB per hour of video

Use for: exporting to Final Cut Pro, broadcasting on TV

Large-size video:

Dimensions: 960 by 540 pixels

Space requirement: 13 GB per hour of video

Use for: viewing on your computer, publishing on the web, watching on HDTV

If you don’t know if your camcorder records video in HD format, check the documentation that came with it. Some

camcorders are labeled as recording HD-format video but don’t actually record at 1920 by 1080 pixels. In this case,

there’s little advantage to importing your movie in full size.

To change the size preference for importing HD-format video:

About importing high-definition (HD) video



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1. Choose iMovie > Preferences, and then click Video.

The iMovie menu appears in a light gray bar across the top of your computer screen.

2. Choose an option from the “Import HD video as” pop-up menu.


To import video from your recording device to your computer, you need to connect your device to the computer using

either a USB or FireWire cable. The kind of cable you need depends on the kind of device you’re using:

USB device: For camcorders that record to DVD or hard disk drive (HDD), or for flash-based camcorders and

digital still cameras that record video, you use a USB cable. Your device most likely came with a USB cable, but

you can use any other USB cable as well. The USB cable should have at least one connector that plugs into yourMac and looks like the connector on the left (A, below). The other end of the USB cable, which plugs into your

recording device, might look different (as shown in B, below).

FireWire device: For most camcorders that record to tape, you use a FireWire cable, with a 6-pin connector that

plugs into your Mac (A, below) on one end and a 4-pin connector that plugs into your camcorder (B, below) on the

other end. Your device most likely came with a FireWire cable, but you can use any other FireWire cable as well.

Or you might have a FireWire 800 cable, with a different end that plugs into your camcorder:

About video cable connectors



5/5/13 5:57 PM


If your device didn’t come with a cable and you’re not sure what kind of device you have, you can check the logo near

the cable ports on your device to see if it matches the FireWire or USB logo, both shown above. Otherwise, check the

documentation that came with your device.

Note: Not all Mac computers include a FireWire port. Check your system configuration to confirm that your Mac

includes FireWire support before attempting to connect a standard (DV) or HDV camcorder.

If you’re unsure whether your camera is compatible with iMovie, go to the following support page:

iMovie ’11 Supported Cameras

Browse Help ! Import video into iMovie ! Import from a camera or camcorder

To watch your recorded video or create a project with it in iMovie, you first need to transfer the video—import it—from

your camcorder into iMovie. This topic explains how to import video from USB devices, which record to DVD, hard

disk drive (HDD), or flash-based storage media.

If your camcorder records to tape, go to this topic instead: Import video from a tape-based (FireWire-equipped)

camcorder.

Note: To import AVCHD video (a video format that’s used in the majority of consumer camcorders), you must use aMac that has an Intel Core Duo processor or better. You can check which type of processor your Mac has by

choosing Apple menu > About This Mac. The Apple menu is on the left side of the light gray bar that appears across

the top of your computer screen.

To check whether your camera is compatible with iMovie, go to the following support page:


To import video from a USB recording device:

1. Turn on your camcorder or other device, and connect the camcorder to your computer with the cable that

came with it or any other USB cable.

Note: If you’re connecting a DVD camcorder, plugging it into your Mac can cause the application DVD

Player to open. If that happens, simply close DVD Player.

2. Set the camcorder to PC Connect mode.

The name for this transfer mode may be different on your device. For some digital still cameras that shoot

video, for example, you need to set the camera to Browse mode. Your camera may automatically go into

“connect” mode if you turn it on in playback mode while it’s connected to your computer.

3. If this is the first time you’re importing from a device that records high-definition (HD) video, an HD Import

Setting dialog appears. Even if you aren’t importing HD video now, select Large or Full, and then click OK.

Import video from a USB camcorder or camera



5/5/13 5:57 PM


You can change this preference later if you do import HD video.



window to review the contents of the clips.

5. To select which video clips you want to import, do one of the following:

To import all clips, make sure the Automatic/Manual switch is set to Automatic, and then click Import

All.

To import most of the clips, set the Automatic/Manual switch to Manual. Deselect the clips you don’t

want to import, and then click Import Checked.

To import only a few of the clips, set the Automatic/Manual switch to Manual, and then click Uncheck

All. Select the clips you want, and then click Import Checked.

6. Choose the disk where you want to store the video from the “Save to” pop-up menu.

You can choose any hard disk that’s connected to your computer. It takes 13 gigabytes (GB) of space to

store about one hour of video in standard (DV) format and 40 GB for video in high-definition (HD) format,

so make sure your disk has enough available storage space for the video you’re importing. The amount of

free space on each available disk is shown in parentheses next to the disk’s name in the pop-up menu.


To add the imported video to an existing Event, select “Add to Existing Event,” and then choose its

name from the pop-up menu.


field. If you want to create a new Event for each day on which the video was recorded, select “Split

days into new Events.”

8. To have iMovie analyze your video for stabilization, or to analyze it for the presence of people, select

“After import analyze for,” and then choose an option from the pop-up menu:

Stabilization: Analyzes the camera motion in your video so that any shaky parts can be played back

more smoothly. It can be time consuming, so if you have over an hour’s worth of video to analyze, you

might want to let iMovie do it overnight or while you’re going to be away from your computer.

Stabilization and People: Analyzes the camera motion in your video so that any shaky parts can be

played back more smoothly; also analyzes video for people so that you can later sort your video to see

just the footage that contains people.

People: Analyzes video for the presence of people so that you can later sort your video to see just the

footage that contains people.

If you don’t set iMovie to analyze video for stabilization at this point, you can always do it later. You can

also analyze it for people later as well. Refer to the “See also” topics below for more information.




5/5/13 5:57 PM


The option you choose overrides what you chose in the HD Import Setting dialog the first time you

imported from a device that records HD video (see step 3).

10. Click OK.

iMovie can take several minutes to more than an hour to import the video and generate thumbnail images

of each clip, depending on how much video you have. The progress indicator in the Import window shows

you how long it might take.

SEE ALSO

Stabilize video motion

Analyze video for the presence of people

Filter for video clips that feature images of people


To watch your recorded video or create a project with it in iMovie, you first need to transfer the video—import it—from

your camcorder into iMovie.

This topic explains how to import from a tape-based camera. For best results, import the video using the same

camcorder that you used to record it, and close all other open applications on your computer while your video is being

imported.

If your camcorder records to DVD or hard disk drive (HDD), or if it ’s a flash-based camcorder or digital still camera

that records video, go to this topic instead: Import video from a USB camcorder or camera.

To check whether your camera is compatible with iMovie, go to the following support page:


To import video from a tape-based camcorder to your computer:

1. Turn on the camcorder and set it to VTR or VCR mode (this mode may have a different name on your

camera).

2. Connect the camcorder to your computer using a FireWire cable (the one that came with your camcorder

or any other FireWire cable).

3. If this is the first time you’re importing from a device that records high-definition (HD) video, an HD Import

Setting dialog appears. Even if you aren’t importing HD video now, select Large or Full, and then click OK.

You can change this preference later if you do import HD video.


5. If you have multiple devices connected to your computer, choose the device you want to import from the

Camera pop-up menu.

6. Set the switch on the lower-left side of the window to one of the following:

Import video from a tape-based (FireWire-equipped) camcorder



5/5/13 5:57 PM


Automatic: Automatically rewinds the tape, imports all of the tape contents, and rewinds the tape

again.

Manual: Lets you rewind and fast-forward the tape so that you can import only the footage you want.

Use the controls to set your tape to the point where you want to begin importing.

7. Click Import.


You can choose any hard disk that’s connected to your computer. It takes 13 gigabytes (GB) of space to

store about one hour of video in standard (DV) format and 40 GB for video in high-definition (HD) format,

so make sure your disk has enough available storage space for the video you’re importing. The amount of









“Analyze for stabilization after import,” and then choose an option from the pop-up menu:










also analyze it for people later as well.


The option you choose overrides what you chose in the HD Import Setting dialog the first time you

imported from a device that records HD video (see step 3).

12. Click Import, and then do one of the following:

If you’re importing automatically, you can leave your computer and come back when the import is

complete.

If you’re importing manually, click Stop (in the lower-right corner of the Import window) when the section of



5/5/13 5:57 PM


video you want has been imported. Then use the import controls to set your video to a point where you

want to begin importing again, and repeat steps 7 through 11. Continue in this manner until you have

imported all the video you want.

The video plays as it’s importing. It takes as long to import the video as it takes to watch it at normal speed; it might

take longer to import HD video.

SEE ALSO





If you have an AVCHD-based camcorder with a hard disk or a memory card, you can make a backup copy, or an

archive, of the camera’s contents on your computer or an external hard disk.

Because you can import video into iMovie from an archive, archiving the video on your camcorder can be useful if you

want to do the following:

Quickly empty the contents of your camcorder so that you can record more video right away (rather than waiting

for it to import into iMovie, which can take time).

Import the archived video on multiple computers without having to keep it on the camcorder.

To archive your camcorder’s video:

1. If you want to save the archive to an external hard disk, connect the external hard disk to your computer.

2. Turn on your camcorder, connect it to your computer, and then set it to PC Connect mode.

(The name for this transfer mode may be different on your device. For some digital still cameras that shoot

video, for example, you need to set the camera to Browse mode.) Your camera may automatically go into

“connect” mode if you turn it on in playback mode while it’s connected to your computer.

3. Click Archive All at the bottom of the Import window that opens.

If the Import window doesn’t open, choose File > “Import from Camera.”

4. In the Save As field, type a name for the archive.

5. Choose where you want to save the archive, and then click Create.

Don’t save the archive inside the iMovie Events or iMovie Projects folder. This could make iMovie operate

more slowly.

Archived video is stored on your hard disk and doesn’t appear in iMovie until you import it: Import video from a

camera archive into iMovie.

Make a backup copy (archive) of the contents of your camcorder



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If you’ve connected your camcorder to your computer but the Import window doesn’t open, or iMovie can’t control

your device, there are several things you can try to establish the connection.

Here are some things to check:

1. Make sure that you’re using the correct equipment configuration:

Your camcorder must be compatible with iMovie. For a list of compatible camcorders, go to the

following support page:


Your camcorder must be connected properly to your computer.

Your camcorder must be set to the correct output mode. On some camcorders, this is called VTR or

VCR mode, but not all camcorders use the same terminology, so check the documentation that came

with your device. On some camcorders you must set the output to DV mode or HDV mode, depending

on whether the content is standard (DV) or high definition (HDV).

If you’re connecting a tape-based camcorder to your computer, you should be using a FireWire cable

(also called IEEE 1394 , or i.LINK ), not a USB cable.

If you’re connecting to a device that records to flash memory, hard disk drive (HDD), or DVD media,

you should be using a USB cable, not a FireWire cable.

If you’re importing video from a camera or other flash memory device, make sure the file format of your

video is MPEG-2 or MPEG-4, which are compatible with iMovie.

If you’re importing from an AVCHD camcorder, make sure you’re using a Mac with an Intel Core Duo

processor or better.

If you’re importing from an AVCHD DVD camcorder, make sure your computer has the latest version

of Mac OS X installed.

If you’ve enabled Fast User Switching, make sure no one else is trying to use the camcorder from a

different account at the same time.

2. If you still can’t import video after checking the items above, try the following:

Turn the camcorder off and on again.

Disconnect the cable from both the camcorder and the computer, and then reconnect it.

Quit and then reopen iMovie.

Restart your computer.

Try using a different cable.

Try using a different computer with iMovie installed.

If iMovie doesn’t recognize your camcorder



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Browse Help ! Import video into iMovie ! Import from other sources

If your digital still camera or digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) is compatible with iMovie ‘11, you can import

video into iMovie and then use the footage just as you would any other video footage you import.

If your digital still camera isn’t compatible with iMovie '11, you may be able to import video into iPhoto. After it’s

imported into iPhoto, footage on your computer that’s in a video format compatible with iMovie automatically appearsin your iMovie Event Library after iMovie generates thumbnails of the video. To learn about importing video into

iPhoto, open iPhoto and choose Help > iPhoto Help.

To check whether your camera is compatible with iMovie, click the link below:


To import video from a compatible digital still camera:

1. Turn on your camera and set it to import mode.

2. Connect the camera to your computer.

3. If iPhoto opens, close it.

4. In iMovie, if the Import window doesn’t open, click the Import button in the iMovie toolbar.


window to review selected clips.



All. iMovie remembers which clips you’ve already imported and won’t reimport these clips.











Import video from your digital still camera or DSLR



5/5/13 5:57 PM




“Analyze for stabilization after import” and then choose an option from the pop-up menu:











9. Click Import.

iMovie can take a while to import the video and generate thumbnail images of each clip, depending on

how much video you have. The progress indicator in the Import From window shows you how long it might

take.

To import video from a compatible DSLR:

1. Turn on your camera and set it to import mode.

2. Connect the camera to your computer.


4. In iMovie, choose File > Import > Movies.


5. In the window that opens, click the name of your device on the left side of the window below the Devices

heading, and then click the appropriate folders to navigate to the movies located on your camera.

6. Select the movies you want to import

Note: Movie file names have a .MOV extension. Each type of camera has a different file structure andnaming convention. Check your camera’s documentation if you’re unsure of where your movie files are

stored.






field. If you want to create a new Event for each day on which the video was recorded, select “Splitdays into new Events.”



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9. Click Import.

iMovie can take a while to import the video and generate thumbnail images of each clip, depending on

how much video you have. The progress indicator in the Import From window shows you how long it might

take.

To access iPhoto video in iMovie:

1. In iMovie, click the Event Library button in the lower-left corner of the iMovie window, or choose

Window > Show Event Library.

The Window menu appears in a light gray bar across the top of your computer screen.

2. Click the iPhoto Videos subhead in the Event Library.

All of your iPhoto video appears in the Event browser on the right.

SEE ALSO





Importing video from iPhone is the same as importing from a USB device or camera.

To import video from iPhone:

1. Turn on iPhone and connect it to your computer.


3. In iMovie, if the Import window doesn’t open, click the Import button in the iMovie toolbar.


window to review selected clips.


Import video from iPhone



5/5/13 5:57 PM



All. iMovie remembers which clips you’ve already imported and won’t reimport these clips.













“Analyze for stabilization after import” and then choose an option from the pop-up menu:





played back more smoothly; also analyzes video for people so that you can later sort your video to see just the footage that contains people.





8. Click Import.


of each clip, depending on how much video you have. The progress indicator in the Import From windowshows you how long it might take.

SEE ALSO







5/5/13 5:57 PM


After you make an archive (backup copy) of your camera’s contents on your computer or on an external hard disk,

you can import the footage into iMovie from the archive.

To import video from an archive:

1. In iMovie, choose File > Import > Camera Archive.


2. In the Finder window, navigate to the folder of the archive you want to import, and then click Import.

3. Follow the instructions for importing video from a camcorder: Import video from a USB camcorder or

camera.


When you import video into iMovie the first time, iMovie creates a folder on your hard disk called iMovie Drop Box.

You can copy or save video files to this drop box without opening iMovie. To find the drop box folder on your hard

disk, go to your home folder/Movies/iMovie Events. In the Finder window, the home folder has the house icon to the

left of its name.

Every time you launch iMovie, it checks if there are new files in the drop box and if so, it asks you if you want to import

them into iMovie. The drop box is a convenient way to save files to your computer quickly without having to import

them into iMovie right away.

To import files from iMovie Drop Box:

1. Open iMovie.

iMovie detects if you have new items in the drop box that haven’t yet been imported.

2. In the dialog that opens, do any of the following:

To add the files to an exisiting Event, select “Add to existing Event” and then choose an options from

the pop-up menu.

To create a new Event with the files, select “Create new Event” and then type a name in the text field.

If you’re importing HD video, select “Optimize video,” and then choose Full or Large from the pop-up

menu.

3. Click Import.

The files now appear in iMovie, within the Event you specified at the time the files were imported.

Import video from a camera archive into iMovie

Import video from iMovie Drop Box



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You can import video from existing iMovie HD projects to create new Events and projects. Only the original source

video is imported; any changes you’ve made to the video and anything you’ve added to it—such as music, titles, and

special effects—aren’t imported.

When you import video from iMovie HD projects:

All clips from the clip viewer in iMovie HD are added to a new Event in iMovie.

All clips from the timeline in iMovie HD are added to a new project in iMovie.

Any clip that was dragged into the project from the Finder isn’t imported; only video clips that were imported from

a camcorder into the original iMovie HD project are imported into the new project.

All transitions are replaced by cross-dissolve transitions.

No titles or effects that were applied to the video are transferred to the new project.

No music is transferred to the new project.

To import video from a project made in iMovie HD:

1. In iMovie, choose File > Import > Import iMovie HD Project, and then locate your existing iMovie HD

project, typically found in the Movies folder on your hard disk.


2. If the HD Import Setting dialog appears, select Large or Full, even if you aren’t importing high-definition

(HD) video now, and then click OK.

3. Choose a disk where you want to save the project from the “Save to” pop-up menu.

You can choose any supported hard disk that’s connected to your computer. It takes about 13 GB to store

an hour of standard (DV) video and 40 GB to store an hour of HD video, so make sure you have enough

space on the disk you choose. The amount of free space on each available disk is shown in parentheses

next to the disk’s name in the pop-up menu.


The option you choose overrides what you chose in the HD Import Setting dialog in step 2.

5. Click Import.





You can import movie files into iMovie that are stored on your computer or a connected hard disk. These movie files

Import video from iMovie HD projects

Import video from movie files



5/5/13 5:57 PM


can be in a number of formats, including MPEG-4 and standard (DV) file formats and some .mov file formats.

iMovie imports AVCHD video files directly from the camcorder only. See the topics in this section about importing

video from the type of camcorder you use.

To import video from a movie file:

1. In iMovie, choose File > Import > Movies, and then find the file you want in the Finder window.


2. If the HD Import Setting dialog appears, select Large or Full, even if you aren’t importing high-definition

(HD) video now, and then click OK.


You can choose any supported hard disk that’s connected to your computer. It takes 13 gigabytes (GB) of

space to store about one hour of video in standard (DV) format and 40 GB for video in HD format, so

make sure your disk has enough available storage space for the video you’re importing. The amount of



To add the imported video to an existing Event, select “Add to existing Event,” and then choose its



field.

5. If you’re importing high-definition video, choose a size from the “Optimize video” pop-up menu.

The option you choose overrides what you chose in the HD Import Setting dialog in step 2.

6. Choose what to do with the original files:

To retain the original files intact after copying them into iMovie, select “Copy files.”

To delete the original files after copying them into iMovie, select “Move files.”

7. Click Import.




SEE ALSO





You can import a project created with iMovie on your iOS device—iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch—into iMovie on your

Import an iMovie project from an iOS device



5/5/13 5:57 PM


Mac. Using iMovie on your computer, you can then edit the project just as you would any other project.

To import a project created using iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch:

1. Connect your device to your computer.

2. On your device, in the iMovie Projects screen, scroll to center the thumbnail for the project you want to

import into iMovie on your computer.

3. Tap the Share button , and then tap “Send Project to iTunes.”

4. Open iTunes on your Mac, and select the device on the left side of the iTunes window, below Devices.

5. Tap Apps at the top of the iTunes window, and then tap iMovie in the Apps pane on the left, below File

Sharing.

The shared project appears on the right in the iMovie Documents pane.

6. To copy the project from your device, drag it from the pane to your computer—onto your desktop, into

your Movies folder, or another convenient location.

7. Open iMovie on your Mac, and choose File > Import > iMovie for iOS Project.

8. In the window that appears, locate the iOS project on your computer, and then select it.

9. In the window that appears, select to create a new Event with the project or add the video to an existing

Event.

If you create a new Event, the project is added to your Project Library and a new Event is added to your

Event Library. Both have the same name as your iOS project.

If you add the video to an existing Event, the project is added to your Project Library and the video isadded to the Event you specify. The Event retains its original name.

To facilitate further editing, the imported Event video includes the entirety of the video clips used in your

iOS project, not just the specific portions you used. For example, if a video clip included 25 frames but you

used just 12 of those frames in your iOS project, all 25 frames of the original clip are imported.

10. Click Import.

The iOS project retains all audio and video edits and can now be further edited like any other iMovie

project. If the iOS project had a theme, the theme titles and transitions are retained, and you can add new

ones based on this original theme.

If you want to change the project’s theme, only the themes in iMovie for Mac are available. If you change

to one of these themes, you can’t change back to the original iOS theme, or any other iOS theme.

If your project contained photos, these images are retained in your project but aren’t available from the

iMovie Photo browser.


Record video directly into iMovie



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You can record video directly into iMovie using your computer’s built-in iSight camera or a tape-based camera or

camcorder.

To record video into iMovie:

1. Do one of the following:

If your computer has a built-in iSight camera, click the Import button to open the Import window.

If your computer doesn’t come with a built-in iSight camera, connect a tape-based camera or

camcorder, set it to VTR mode (this mode may have a different name on your device), and then

choose the camera you want to use from the Import From pop-up menu.

2. Click Capture.

3. Choose the disk where you want to store the video you’re about to record from the “Save to” pop-up

menu.

You can choose any hard disk that’s connected to your computer. Make sure the disk has enough

available storage space for the video you’re recording. It takes about 13 GB to store an hour of standard

(DV) video and 40 GB to store an hour of high-definition (HD) video. The amount of free space on each

available disk is shown in parentheses next to the disk’s name in the pop-up menu.


To add the imported video to an existing Event, select “Add to existing Event,” and then choose its






“Analyze for stabilization after import,” and then choose an option from the pop-up menu:


more smoothly. It can be time consuming, so if you have over an hour’s worth of video to analyze, youmight want to let iMovie do it overnight or while you’re going to be away from your computer.







also analyze it for people later as well.

6. When you’re ready to begin recording, click Capture.



5/5/13 5:57 PM


The camera begins recording immediately.

7. When you want to stop recording, click Stop.

A new video clip is created. You can click Capture to begin recording again. Choose whether to add the

video to an existing Event or to create a new one, and then click Capture. You can repeat this process as

many times as you want.

8. When you’re finished recording, click Done.

SEE ALSO




Browse Help ! Import video into iMovie ! Stabilize shaky video

Sometimes your camera moves a bit while you’re recording, making your video footage appear shaky. iMovie can

smooth out playback in shaky video clips by analyzing them and then stabilizing the video when it’s added to a

project. This analysis can happen either while you’re importing or anytime after you import. Once a clip is analyzed for

stabilization, it never needs to be analyzed again.

Analyzed video plays smoothly in any project that includes it (though you can turn off stabilization for any clip, so that

it plays as originally recorded).

Analyzing video for stabilization can take a while, so if you have over an hour’s worth of video to analyze, you might

want to let iMovie analyze it overnight or while you’re going to be away from your computer.

To analyze the camera motion in your video:

Do one of the following:

When you’re completing the steps to import video, select “Analyze for stabilization after import” in the

Import dialog.

In the Project browser or Event browser, select one or more video clips you’ve already imported, and then

choose File > Analyze Video > Stabilization.


Double-click a clip in the Project browser to open the Clip inspector, and then select the “Smooth clip

motion” checkbox.

After iMovie has stabilized the camera motion in a video clip, to watch the video play smoothly, you can add it

to a project and play it from the Project browser. If you want to preview the stabilized footage in the Event

browser, select a range of footage, and then Control-click the selection and choose "Play with Stabilization

Preview.”

A red squiggly line underlines any video in the Project browser or Event browser that has high levels of shake,

as shown below.




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When you move the pointer over a video clip in a project that has been analyzed for stabilization, an icon in the

upper-left corner of the clip shows the level of stabilization:

Hand with black background: The clip is fully stabilized and required little to no zooming.

Hand with orange background: The clip is partially stabilized and required extra zooming, so some areas

of your video may be cropped out.

Hand with red background: The clip is partially stabilized and required extensive zooming, so more of your

video might be cropped out.

Hand with red background, with a slash through it: The clip couldn’t be stabilized.

To turn off stabilization of a video clip in a project:

By default, video with camera motion that has been analyzed for stabilization plays smoothly when played

within a project, but you can turn off stabilization so that the video plays back as it was originally recorded.

1. In the Project browser, double-click a video clip with camera motion that has been analyzed for

stabilization.

2. In the inspector that opens, deselect the “Smooth clip motion” checkbox.

If you turn off stabilization for a clip, you can turn it back on in the inspector; iMovie doesn’t have to reanalyze

the camera motion in that clip.You can also set iMovie so that by default, analyzed video is not played back

stabilized. Choose iMovie > Preferences, click Browser, and then deselect “Automatically stabilize clips that

have been analyzed.” The iMovie menu appears in a light gray bar across the top of your computer screen.

SEE ALSO

Correct rolling shutter distortion in a video clip


iMovie stabilizes video by analyzing the camera motion in the video and then moving the picture the opposite way to

steady it onscreen. In this process, iMovie zooms in on the picture slightly. The amount of unstable motion in the clip

Adjust the zoom level in stabilized video



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determines how much zooming is necessary.

Zooming in crops out some of the picture, but you can fine-tune the level of stabilization to strike the right balance

between keeping the video steady and retaining as much of the picture as possible.

When you move the pointer over a video clip in a project that has been analyzed for stabilization, an icon in the upper-

left corner of the clip shows the level of stabilization:

Hand with black background: The clip is fully stabilized and required little to no zooming.

Hand with orange background: The clip is partially stabilized and required extra zooming, so some areas of your

video may be cropped out.

Hand with red background: The clip is partially stabilized and required extensive zooming, so more of your video

might be cropped out.

Hand with red background, with a slash through it: The clip couldn’t be stabilized.

To adjust the zoom level in stabilized video:

1. In the Project browser, double-click a video clip in a project that has been analyzed for stabilization.

Note: You can’t adjust the stabilization level of video clips in the Event browser.

2. At the top of the inspector that opens, click Clip, and then drag the Maximum Zoom slider.

Zoom in (move the slider to the right) for greater stabilization. Zoom out (move the slider to the left) to

show more of the picture.

3. Click Done.

SEE ALSO



Depending on how your footage was shot, video can still look blurry or erratic even after it has been stabilized.

For example, if the camera made fast movements while recording at a low shutter speed, stabilized video might still

appear blurred.

Large objects moving across the screen can also cause stabilized video to look erratic.

For best results with stabilizing video, record footage using a high shutter speed. Also, use a wider angle with the

If stabilized video looks blurry or erratic



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camera farther away from the subject, so that when your video is stabilized, iMovie can zoom in to the center of your

video without cropping out the subject matter.

Note: Some video, such as footage shot with camcorders that use CMOS image sensors, may appear distorted after

stabilization. These camcorders often use a technology called a “rolling shutter,” which exposes different parts of the

frame at different times until the entire frame is fully exposed. If the camcorder is moved before the entire frame is

fully exposed, the resulting image may appear distorted. Applying video stabilization to this video may make this

distortion more apparent.

SEE ALSO


Browse Help ! Watch footage and projects

iMovie is a multipurpose application. You can use it to create original video projects, but you can also use it to store

and organize your video footage and to watch video—the projects you create and your raw footage (which, in iMovie,is organized into Events). When you watch projects or Events, you can play them from the beginning or from any

other point. You can also play just an individual clip in a project or Event.

To play your video:

Do any of the following:

To play an Event or project from the beginning, click any clip in a project or Event, and then click the Play

button (shown below) below the Project browser or Event browser. You can also choose View > “Play

from Beginning” or press the Backslash (\) key.

The View menu appears in a light gray bar across the top of your computer screen.

To play your project or Event from a specific point, in the Project browser or Event browser move your

pointer over the frame where you want to begin, and then press the Space bar.

To play any frame range or clip, select it in the Project browser or Event browser (so that it has a yellow

border around it) and then press the Slash (/) key or choose View > Play Selection.

To play any frame range or clip in a loop, select it in the Project browser or Event browser (so that it has a

yellow border around it) and then choose View > Loop Selection. Press the Space bar to stop.

To play a project in full-screen playback mode from the beginning, choose View > “Play in Full-Screen

Playback Mode” while the project is open in the Project browser, or press Command-G to play the project

from the playhead.


Play your video

Play your video in full-screen playback mode



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You can play back video from your projects and Events (source video) in full-screen playback mode, which uses your

entire display. If you don’t use full-screen playback mode, your projects and Events play back in the viewer.

To set your full-screen playback size:

iMovie offers four options for full-screen playback size, which you set in iMovie preferences.

Choose iMovie > Preferences, click General, and then make a choice from the “Full-screen playback” pop-

up menu, listed below.

(The iMovie menu appears in a light gray bar across the top of your computer screen.)

Entire Screen: Fills your viewing screen with the movie.

Entire Screen - Reduced Resolution: Plays the movie at a lower resolution for increased performance.

Actual Size: Plays the movie at the size of the original video.

Half Size: Plays the movie at half the size of the original video.

If you’re viewing high-definition (HD) video, you may not see differences among the largest three settings,

unless you’re viewing your video on a very large display.

To play your video in full-screen playback mode:

1. Click to select a project in the Project Library or an Event in the Event Library, or open a project so that it’s

showing in the Project browser.


To play a project or Event from the beginning, click the Play Full-Screen Playback Mode button (shown

below) below the Project Library or Event Library, or choose View > “Play in Full-Screen Playback

Mode.”

To play the project or Event from where the playhead (the red vertical line) appears in the Project

browser or Event browser, press Command-G.

3. Move your pointer to reveal a filmstrip and buttons at the bottom of the screen; use these buttons to

browse and play video as follows:

To play the project or Event, click the Play button. Click it again to pause playback.

To show only the filmstrip for the project or Event you’re watching and hide thumbnails for other videos

(which appear on either side of the filmstrip) click the Cover Flow button.



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To switch between browsing Events and projects, click the Events/Projects button.

To have the filmstrip and controls show at all times, click the Filmstrip button (so that it’s gray, not

blue). If the button isn’t selected (so that it’s blue), the filmstrip and controls disappear a few moments

after you stop moving the pointer.

4. To leave full-screen playback mode, press the Escape key.


You can quickly skim through your video to preview it or to find the exact footage you’re looking for. If you find it

distracting to hear the video’s audio track as you skim, you can turn it off.

To skim through your video:

In the Project browser or Event browser, simply move the pointer forward or backward over a filmstrip. A

vertical red line (the playhead) indicates exactly where the pointer is as you skim.

Note: When a filmstrip breaks into two lines in the Project browser or Event browser, you can skim over

the break by holding down the Shift key as you move the pointer, or by pressing the Caps Lock key and

then moving the pointer. When you reach the edge of the break, the pointer jumps to the next line. In

addition, you can hold down the Option and Shift keys together while skimming to keep the cursor in the

middle of the line and avoid accidentally jumping between lines.

To silence the audio during skimming:

Choose View > Audio Skimming (make sure the command is deselected, without a checkmark, in the

menu), or click the Audio Skimming button, below the viewer, to turn audio skimming off and on.

Skim video



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As you move the pointer over a video clip to skim it, the iMovie viewer displays the frame that’s currently under the

pointer. You can pause skimming so that the viewer continues to show the same frame of video even as you move

the pointer around.

To pause video skimming:

In the Project browser or Event browser, position the pointer, without clicking, over the frame in a video clip you

want to show in the iMovie viewer, and then hold down the Control key.

You can now move your pointer anywhere without changing the image showing in the viewer.

After you release the Control key, you can continue skimming video as usual.

Browse Help!

Watch footage and projects

If you have a second display connected to your computer, you can use it to play video. When you do so, the iMovie

viewer appears on the second display only, thereby expanding your workspace in the iMovie window.

To set iMovie to show video on a second display:

1. Connect a second display to your computer.

For instructions about how to connect a second display, choose Help > Mac Help and enter “connectingmultiple displays” in the search field. To view the Help menu, click your desktop so that the “Finder” is

active (you’ll see the word Finder in the upper-left corner of your screen), and then click Help in the light

gray bar at the top of your screen.

2. Make sure Advanced Tools are turned on in iMovie preferences.

3. In iMovie, choose Window > “Viewer on Other Display.”


To return the viewer to the iMovie window, choose Window, and then deselect “Viewer on Other Display.”

Pause video skimming as you work

View playback on a second display



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Browse Help ! Watch footage and projects ! Watch video on other devices

To view an iMovie project on your Apple TV, you first need to send the project to iTunes. When you do so, iMovie

allows you to create one or more movies of different sizes, depending on the size of the original media in your project.

The large-size movie is best for viewing on Apple TV.


To view an iMovie project in Front Row, you first need to send the project to iTunes. When you do so, iMovie allows

you to create one or more movies of different sizes, depending on the size of the original media in your project. You

can use any of these sizes in Front Row.


If you want to sync and view one of your iMovie projects on your iPod, iPhone, or iPad, you first need to send the

project to iTunes. When you do so, iMovie allows you to create one or more movies of different sizes, depending on

the size of the original media in your project. The medium-size movie is best for viewing on a range of iPod or iPhone

devices, or on iPad, but you may want to choose a larger compatible size for improved video quality.


You can view movies you have published to your MobileMe Gallery on iPod touch, iPhone, or iPad.

To view a movie on your iPod touch, iPhone, or iPad:

1. Share your movie to your MobileMe Gallery.

You must have an active MobileMe account to do this. You can sign up for one at the MobileMe website.

MobileMe website

2. After the movie is published, click Visit to find out its web address; make a note of it.

3. Using Safari (Apple’s web browser) on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, navigate to your movie’s web

address.

Browse Help ! Create an iMovie project ! Start a project

Watch your movie on Apple TV

Watch your movies in Front Row

Sync your movies to your iPod, iPhone, or iPad

Make MobileMe Gallery movies viewable on iPod touch, iPhone, or iPad

Start a new video project



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To work on a new video project in iMovie, you first create the project by giving it a name and defining other

parameters for it, including whether or not your project will have a theme. Then you add video to the project from your

Event Library. If there is no video in your Event Library, you must first import some video from a camcorder or other

recording device, or from another source, such as from a camera archive or an iMovie HD project. To learn how to

import video, go to the Import section of iMovie Help.

iMovie comes with a selection of themes you can use in your movie. Each theme comes with its own title styles (titles

are text that appears onscreen) and transitions, which play between clips and give your movie a professional touch.You can have a clip fade in or out, dissolve into another clip, zoom into another clip, and so on. You can have iMovie

automatically add these transitions when you create a new project; you can always change or delete them later.

This topic describes how to create a standard movie project. To learn how to create a trailer, go to this topic instead:

Create a trailer.

To start a new video project:

1. In iMovie, choose File > New Project or click the Create Project button (shown below) in the lower-right

corner of the Project Library.



To include titles and transitions styled after Apple-designed themes in your project, select one of thethemes presented below Project Themes. Click a theme thumbnail to preview it.

If you choose a theme, iMovie automatically inserts cross-dissolve transitions and transitions based on

the theme between clips, as well as a theme-styled introductory title over the first clip in your project,

and a theme-styled credits title over the last clip. To learn more about themes, go to this topic:

Overview: iMovie themes.

Select No Theme if you don’t want to add any theme-based elements to your project.

3. Type a name for the project in the Name field.

4. Choose a screen format from the Aspect Ratio pop-up menu:








5. Choose an option from the Frame Rate pop-up menu.

You should choose the frame rate that you used to shoot the video.



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You can’t change this setting later, but you can view it by choosing File > Project Properties. The File

menu appears in a light gray bar across the top of your computer screen.


If you didn’t choose a theme in step 2, and you want iMovie to automatically include transitions

between video clips as you add them, select “Automatically add,” and then choose a transition style

from the pop-up menu.

If you did choose a theme for your project but don’t want iMovie to add themed elements

automatically, deselect “Automatically add transitions and titles.”

7. Click Create.

You can now add video to a project from the Event browser and begin to embellish your project in other

ways, adding titles, special effects, background music and sound effects, and more.

If you don’t set a theme for your project when you first create it, you can always apply one later. You can also change

a theme at any time. Go to this topic to learn how: Set or change a project’s theme.

Browse Help ! Create an iMovie project ! Start a project

NTSC, PAL, and Cinema are video format standards that refer to the number of frames per second (fps) your

recorded video contains. In general, video cameras purchased in North America use the NTSC format (30 fps), and

cameras purchased in Europe use the PAL format (25 fps).

Cinema format video has a frame rate of 24 fps. This is the frame rate at which traditional film cameras shoot, and

many people think this unique frame rate provides the resulting footage with a special “film-like” look. Therefore, many

newer digital cameras, no matter which country they’re purchased in, have a 24 fps “Cinema” mode. You can set your

camera to this mode to help give your footage that film-like appearance.

In general, when you create a new project, you should select the frame rate that you used to shoot the video. While

you can mix footage with different frame rates within the same project, it can lead to poor playback performance.

After you set the frame rate for a project, you can’t change it manually. However, if the first clip you add to the project

has a different frame rate from the project, iMovie prompts you to adjust the project frame rate to match.

When a video clip in your Event or project has a frame rate that doesn’t match that of the project, iMovie displays a

small symbol, which shows the frame rate of the video clip, in the lower left corner of the clip. This symbol indicatesthat you may experience poor playback performance.

You can view your project frame rate in the Project Properties window. Choose File > Project Properties. The File

menu appears in a light gray bar across the top of your computer screen.

Browse Help ! Create an iMovie project

In iMovie, you can create a storyboard (a draft layout) for your project before adding video clips to it. Storyboarding

lets you plan a project and experiment with timing and mixing types of shots (for example, close-ups, wide angles,

landscapes, and so on) so that there’s less trial and error when you start adding video clips.

Overview: NTSC, PAL, and Cinema format video

Plan your project with a storyboard



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You can storyboard as your first step in creating a project, or you can use the storyboarding placeholder images

(called animatics ) in a project that’s already in process.

To storyboard a project:

1. Create a new project, or open an existing project.

2. Click the “Map, Background, and Animatic” button (shown below) in the toolbar below the viewer.

The “Map, Background, and Animatic” browser appears. Scroll to the bottom to view the animatics

(placeholder images).

3. Drag an animatic to the Project browser, before, after, or between existing video clips or other animatics.

Continue adding animatics to lay out the story of your project, mixing styles and types of shots to build an

interesting narrative or visual flow.

4. To change the duration of an animatic (how long it remains onscreen), double-click it, and then enter a

new value (in seconds) in the Duration field.

5. To play back the storyboard, or the portion of a project that is storyboarded, in the Project browser, place

the playhead (the red vertical line) in front of the clip or animatic where you want to start playback, and

then press the Space bar; press the Space bar again to stop playback.

You can treat the storyboard just as you would any other project, adding music, sound effects, transitions, titles,

and so on. When you later replace the animatics with actual video clips, these elements remain in place.

To replace animatics with video:

When you’re ready to add video to your storyboard, you must replace the animatics with video from the

Event browser. Go to this topic to learn how to replace video clips: Replace a video clip in your project.

Browse Help ! Create an iMovie project ! Work with a project

All your iMovie video projects are listed in your Project Library, where you can preview them and open the one you

want to work on.

To preview and open a project:

1. Do one of the following to preview the project:

Open an existing project



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Click to select it in the Project Library, and then move the pointer over the filmstrip, to the right of the

project’s name, to skim the project.

To play the project from the playhead (the red vertical line), press the Space bar; press it again to stop

playing the project.

2. To open a project to work on, double-click it in the Project Library, or select it and then click the Edit

Project button in the upper-left corner of the Project Library.


When you create a new project in iMovie, you’re asked to set an aspect ratio. This determines the final dimensions of

the movie after you export it, but you can change the aspect ratio at any time before you export.

When you change a project’s aspect ratio, iMovie may zoom in or crop the footage a bit so that the video fills the

screen without letterboxing (adding black bands to the top and bottom of the video) or pillarboxing (adding black

bands to the sides of the video).

To change a project’s aspect ratio:

1. Click to select a project in the Project Library, or open a project so that it ’s showing in the Project browser,

and then choose File > Project Properties.


2. Choose an option from the Aspect Ratio pop-up menu.









You can rename a project when the Project Library is showing.

Change the aspect ratio for your project

Change the name of a project



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To change the name of a project:

1. In the Project Library, slowly double-click directly on the project’s name; the name becomes highlighted

and is now editable.

2. Type a new name, and then press Return.

Depending on how you have the Project Library organized, the project’s position in the project list may change after

you rename it.


Duplicating a project is useful if you want to edit the project but retain a copy of the original version.

To duplicate a project:

1. In the Project Library, click to select the project you want to duplicate, and then choose File > Duplicate

Project.


A new project is created and is listed above the original project. It has the same filename as the original,

appended with a number.

2. Double-click the name and type a new one, if you want.


iMovie automatically saves all the changes you make as you work on a project, which means you never have to save

changes manually. Also, you can undo all of your changes up to the last time you quit and reopened iMovie.

Changes you make in a project don’t affect the source media (photos, and video from your Events) because iMoviedoesn’t alter the originals. As a result, you can restore a video clip or photo to its original state at any time.

SEE ALSO

Undo changes you’ve made to a project, photos, or Events


When you’re finished creating a project, you can finalize it. With this process, iMovie prepares (renders) your movie inall of the possible sizes—mobile, medium, large, HD 720p, and HD 1080p—that your project’s media supports.

Duplicate a project

Save changes to a project

Finalize a project



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(Sometimes, the original project media isn’t large enough to render in the largest sizes.) You don’t see the finalized

files in iMovie; rather, iMovie uses the files when you share a project to MobileMe or a social media website such as

Facebook or YouTube. When you finalize a project in advance, the process of sharing a movie takes less time.

Finalizing a project also improves full-screen playback because iMovie also uses the rendered files when you play a

project in full-screen mode.

To learn about sharing your movie projects, go to the “Share your video project” section of iMovie Help.

To finalize a project:

1. Click to select a project in the Project Library, or open a project so that it ’s showing in the Project browser.

You should finalize only projects you consider to be complete because if you make further changes to a

movie you’ve finalized, iMovie discards the finalized versions.

2. Choose File > Finalize Project.


Depending on the size of your project, it can take a while to render all of the sizes. You might want to

finalize your project when you’ll be away from your computer.

The process is complete when the finalizing dialog disappears.


To delete an entire iMovie project or project folder:

1. In the Project Library, click to select the project or project folder.

2. Choose File > “Move Project to Trash” or File > “Move Folder to Trash.”


Deleting a project folder deletes the folder itself and all of the projects it contains.

3. To save space on your hard disk, click the desktop outside of the iMovie window to see the Finder menus

at the top of your computer screen, and then choose Finder > Empty Trash.

The video is permanently removed from your hard disk.

SEE ALSO

Delete an Event

Browse Help ! Create an iMovie project ! Use project themes

Delete a project or project folder



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iMovie includes a number of Apple-designed themes that make it easy to give your movie projects professional polish

and stylistic flair.

You can choose a theme for your project when you first create the project, or you can apply one at any time

thereafter. You can also easily switch themes at any time.

All themes consist of the following elements:

An opening title, automatically added to your project, that consists of graphics that set the tone for the theme.

An end title, which is automatically applied to the last clip in your project.

Transitions between clips. By default, when you apply a theme to a project, iMovie inserts standard cross-dissolve

transitions with occasional theme-styled transitions between most of the clips in your project. You can change this

default setting to allow you to add transitions manually instead.

Special theme-styled titles and transitions that you can add to your project.

The Sports theme has some special features. It is meant to be used with projects with sports as the subject. For

example, if you take video of your child’s soccer games, you can use the Sports theme to create movies with

onscreen graphics that make ordinary footage look like professionally produced sportscasts. To use the Sports theme

to its fullest effect, you need to use the Sports Team Editor to specify the team—create a list of players and their

positions, upload player photos and a team logo, and so on.


iMovie includes a number of Apple-designed themes that make it easy to give the titles and transitions in your movie

projects professional polish and stylistic flair.

You can choose a theme for your project when you first create the project, or you can apply one at any time

thereafter. You can also easily switch themes at any time.

By default, when you set or change the theme, iMovie inserts transitions automatically. iMovie inserts standard cross-

dissolve transitions with occasional theme-styled transitions between many of the clips in your project. iMovie also

adds a theme-styled opening title to the first clip in your project, and an end title to the last clip.

When you set or change the theme, you can also set iMovie to let you insert and edit transitions manually.

To set or change a project’s theme:

1. With your project open, choose File > Project Theme.



To choose a theme, select it by clicking its thumbnail once; the theme previews automatically in the

viewer on the right.

You can continue to click theme thumbnails to preview them.

To remove a theme, click No Theme.

Overview: iMovie themes

Set or change a project’s theme



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3. If you want to turn off automatic transitions and titles (or just automatic transitions if your project has no

theme) so that iMovie doesn’t replace transitions already in your project, deselect “Automatically add

transitions and titles” or “Automatically add.”

As long as iMovie is set to add transitions automatically, you can’t add, edit, or delete them individually in

your project.

If you want to quickly add transitions to your project and then edit or change them individually, set iMovieto add transitions automatically when you choose the theme. Then, add a new transition to your project

and click Disable Automatic Transitions in the dialog that appears. This action turns off automatic

transitions, which means you can add, edit, and delete transitions individually.

4. Click OK.

You can also set the theme when your project is open by clicking the Title button (A, below) or the Transition button

(B, below) in the iMovie toolbar, shown below. Then click the Set Theme button in the upper-left corner of the browser

and follow steps 2 and 3, above.

SEE ALSO

Add transitions between video clips

Change the style of transitions in a project

Change still frames in theme-styled transitions


To get the best results with the Sports theme, use the Sports Team Editor to enter team information—including player

names and statistics, player photos, and team logos—for any team you plan to feature in a movie project. iMovie then

incorporates this information into Sports theme tit les and transitions to give your projects professional polish.

To enter sports team information:

1. In iMovie, choose Window > Sports Team Editor.

Specify team information for the Sports theme



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2. Add a new team by clicking the Add (+) button in the lower-left corner of the Teams pane (A, below).

You can delete the placeholder team, or any other team, by selecting its name and then clicking the

Delete (-) button (B, below).

3. Type a descriptor for the season (which is already selected for editing), and then double-click the

placeholder team name (some version of Leopards ) and type a new name.

4. Click Baseball and choose a team type from the pop-up menu that appears.

5. If the team type you need isn’t listed, see “To add a new team type” below for instructions.

6. To enter player information for a team, select the team in the Teams pane by clicking it once.

The header for the Players pane changes to show the name of the selected team.

7. To add a player, click the Add (+) button (C, below) in the lower left of the Players pane, and then enter

player information:

Type a player number in the number field, which is already selected for editing, and then click New

Player and type a name.

In the blue area (E, above), double-click below each column header (Position, Age, and so on) to

make a text field appear, and then type the required information. In the graphic above, the Position

field is selected for entering text.



5/5/13 5:57 PM


To add a player’s photo, drag the file to the Player Photo well. Or, click the Add (+) button in the lower-

right corner of the Player Photo well, and browse your computer to find the file you want. Select the file

and click Open. The photo appears in the Player Photo well. Modify the zoom level by moving the

slider below the well.

iMovie supports most common image formats, including JPEG, PNG, TIFF, BMP, and GIF. iMovie also

accepts any file size and scales down larger images when necessary.

If you have a text file that includes a team roster (names, positions, and so on), you can import it into

the Sports Team Editor so that you don’t have to enter each player’s information individually. Go to the

topic “To import a player list” below for more information.

8. Repeat the process in step 7 until you’ve entered information for all players. To delete a player, click the

name to select it, and then click the Delete (-) button (D, above) in the lower-left corner of the Players

pane.

9. To add a team logo, drag the logo file to the Team Logo well. Or, click the Add (+) button in the lower-right

corner of the Team Logo well, and browse your computer to find the file you want. Select the file and click

Open.

iMovie supports most common image formats, including JPEG, PNG, TIFF, BMP, and GIF. iMovie also

accepts any file size and scales down larger files when necessary.

The logo appears in the Team Logo well. Set it to the correct zoom level by moving the slider below the

well.

10. Click Done.

You can edit team information at any time by returning to the Sports Team Editor and repeating the steps

described above. If you already have an iMovie project featuring the team whose information you edited,

click Update Project so that the project incorporates the edited information.

To add a new team type:

1. Choose Window > Sports Team Editor.

2. In the Sports Team Editor, click the disclosure triangle (A, below) next to the Sports subhead at the

bottom of the window to reveal the current list of sports available.

3. Click the Add (+) button (B, above) in the lower-left corner of the Sports pane.

4. Type the sport name in the New Sport field (C, above), which is already selected for editing.

5. In the blue area, double-click Label 1 and type a parameter that you want to be able to define for players

on that team. For example, for most sports, you want to be able to indicate a player’s position, age, and so

on. But for gymnastics, for example, a parameter might be “specialty,” so that you can indicate that a

gymnast focuses on balance beam or tumbling; another parameter might be “event medals.” You can

define up to four parameters using the Label fields.



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The new team type appears in the Sport pop-up menu in the Teams pane.

To import or export a team:

After you create a team in iMovie, you can export the team information (including logos, player photos, and

other player data) to a file. Exporting is useful in two significant ways: It’s a great way to archive the team data.Also, if you have iMovie on another computer, you can move the exported file to that computer and then import

it into iMovie so that you can work on team videos from there.

Do the following:

To import a team, click Import Teams (A, below) at the bottom of the Teams section of the Sports Team

Editor. Browse for the team file in the Finder window that opens, select it, and then click Open.

The team you just imported appears immediately in the Teams list.

To export a team, select it in the Teams section of the Sports Team Editor by clicking its name, and then

click Export Teams (B, below). In the dialog that appears, type a name for the exported file in the Save

Team field, choose where you want to save the file from the Where pop-up menu, and then click Save.

Team files have a “.imovieteams” extension.

You can export more than one team at a time by Command-clicking as you select teams.

To import a player list:

If you already have team information stored in a tab-delimited text file, you can import it into the Sports Team

Editor to save yourself the time of having to enter player information manually.

1. In the Sports Team Editor, select a team to import the player list to by clicking its name once in the Teams

list.

If you don’t yet have a team, you need to add one first by clicking the Add (+) button in the lower-left

corner of the Teams pane.

2. Click Import Player List at the bottom of the Players section of the Sports Team Editor.

3. Browse for the player list text file in the Finder window that opens, select it, and then click Open.



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The file must follow these parameters:

It must be a simple text file. Most file types that can be opened with TextEdit will work, including plain

text (.txt), Rich Text Format (.rtf), Word 97 (.doc), Word 2003 (.xml), and Word 2007 (.docx).

Each line in the fi le should have information about a single player only.

Each piece of information in a line should be separated by tabs.

Each line should include, in this order, the player number, player name, and up to four player statistics

(additional player statistics are ignored).

The players appear immediately in the Players list.

Browse Help ! Create an iMovie project ! Select video clips and video frames

iMovie displays your video footage in the Project browser (where you build projects) and Event browser (where your

source video is displayed) as filmstrips, which are connected series of “thumbnail” images. Unlike in an actual movie

reel, where each thumbnail is a single frame of the movie, in iMovie, each thumbnail can represent several seconds of

video encompassing hundreds of video frames (individual images).

You can use the thumbnail slider (shown below) to expand filmstrips to see more thumbnails in each clip, or contract

them to see fewer, depending on how you like to work, how long your project is, and so on. The number that appears

to the right of the slider indicates how many seconds of video are represented by each thumbnail image.

When you add video from the Event browser to a project, you can add one or more entire clips, or you can select a

range of frames within a clip to add. When you add clips or a range of frames to your project, they appear as their

own series of thumbnails, unconnected from other clips. This lets you fine-tune the clips individually, adding special

effects or sound effects to them, for example, or inserting transitions between them.

SEE ALSO

Resize thumbnail images


Each video clip in iMovie (whether in a project or an Event) is represented by thumbnail images grouped together in a

filmstrip. Each thumbnail in a filmstrip can represent hundreds of video frames (individual images).

To make it easier to find specific frames in a filmstrip, you can step through the filmstrip frame by frame, rather than

skimming it.

To step through video frame by frame:

About filmstrips in the Project browser and Event browser

Step through video frame by frame



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1. In the Project browser or the Event browser, move your pointer over a filmstrip without clicking.

2. Press the Left Arrow or Right Arrow key to move backward or forward in the clip in one-frame increments.

If an entire video clip is selected (appears with a yellow frame around it), you can’t step through it using the arrow

keys. If a portion of a clip is selected, pressing the arrow keys moves the selection border in one-frame increments.


You can select a single clip or multiple clips at a time in a project or an Event, and you can also select just the

transitions, photos, maps, backgrounds, or animatics (animated gray-tone imagery used to create storyboards) in a

project.

Selecting multiple clips allows you to move them as a group within your project, or from one Event to another. It’s also

useful if you’ve made adjustments to a clip and you want to paste the same adjustments onto several other clips.

Refer to the “See also” topics below for information about how to use the same clip adjustments multiple times.

To select a single clip:

The methods for selecting an entire clip in an Event or a project differ.

To select a clip in the Project browser, click the clip once so that a yellow border appears around it.

To select a clip in the Event browser, hold down the Shift key and click the clip.

When you click a video clip in an Event without holding down the Shift key, by default iMovie selects a

four-second clip of video. However, in iMovie preferences, you can set iMovie to select an entire clip in the

Event browser whenever you click in an Event.

To select multiple clips:

In the Project browser or Event browser, do the following:

To select a contiguous range of clips, hold down the Shift key as you click the first and last clips in the

range.

To select a number of individual clips, hold down the Command key as you click the clips you want to

select.

To select all clips, select one of the project or Event clips and then choose Edit > Select All.

The Edit menu appears in a light gray bar across the top of your computer screen.

To deselect clips:

In the Project browser or Event browser, do the following:

If you have only one clip selected, to deselect it, select a different clip or click outside of the clip. Clicking

Select one or more video clips, or specific project elements



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in the horizontal gray area that separates the Project browser from the Event browser ensures that you

don’t accidentally select another project element.

If you have many clips selected, hold down the Command key and click the clips you don’t want selected.

To deselect all clips, choose Edit > Select > None.


To select just transitions, photos, maps, backgrounds, or animatics:

To select just the transitions, photos, maps, backgrounds, or animatics in an open project, choose Edit >

Select, and then choose Transitions, Photos, Maps, Backgrounds, or Animatics.

SEE ALSO

Apply the same adjustments to multiple clips


You can select a range of video frames from any clip in an Event or a project. These selected frames can then be

trimmed, marked with keywords, marked as favorite or rejected, or modified in other ways.

To select a frame range:


In the Project browser or Event browser, drag across the thumbnails of any clip to select a frame range. A

yellow border appears around the range you’ve selected.

When a filmstrip breaks onto two lines, you can select a frame range extending over the break simply by

continuing to drag across the break. When you reach the edge, the pointer jumps to the next line.

Click a clip in the Event browser. By default, a frame range of four seconds of video, starting at the point

where you clicked, is automatically selected.

In iMovie preferences, you can change this default setting so that clicking an Event clip selects a minimumof one second of video or a maximum of ten seconds of video.

To extend or shorten the frame range selection:


Drag the handles on either side of the yellow selection border to adjust where the selection starts or ends.

Select a range of video frames within a clip



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Within the same clip, move the pointer to any frame that you want the selection to begin or end with, and

then hold down the Shift key and click. The frame range is lengthened or shortened accordingly.

To move the entire frame range selection:


Drag the top or bottom of the yellow selection border to the left or right to relocate it over a new set of

frames in the same clip.

Press the Left Arrow or Right Arrow key to move the entire selection to the left or right by one-frame

increments.

To deselect a range:

Click outside of it or select a different range.


When you click a video clip in an Event (source video), iMovie automatically selects a preset range of video frames.

This automatic range selection can be useful, for example, when you want to create video clips of precisely equal size

to time them to correspond with the rhythm of a musical soundtrack.

By default, the length of the automatic selection is four seconds of video. In iMovie preferences, you can change this

default setting so that clicking an Event clip selects a minimum of one second of video or a maximum of ten seconds

of video. You can also set preferences so that clicking in an Event selects entire clips.

To set the automatic frame range selection in source video:

Choose iMovie > Preferences, click Browser, and then do one of the following:

To change the length of the selection, select “Clicking in Event Browser selects,” and then drag the slider

to set how many seconds you want to select.

To set the automatic selection to entire clips, select “Clicking in Event Browser selects entire clip.”

To turn off automatic selection, select “Clicking in Event Browser deselects all.”

Set automatic frame range selection in Event video



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You can quickly find the source video (Event) for any video clips you’re using in your project. This is particularly useful

if you want to duplicate video in your project or add the same video clip to a different project.

To find the source video for a clip in your project:

1. In the Project browser, select the video clip whose source you want to locate.

2. Choose View > “Reveal in Event Browser”; the View menu appears in a light gray bar across the top of

your computer screen.

The source video for the selected video clip in your project is outlined in yellow.

Browse Help ! Create an iMovie project ! Add and delete video and photos in a project

You build a movie project by adding video clips to it from your Event Library, which contains your source video

(Events). You can use video from multiple Events in a single project.

To add video to a project:

1. Create a new project or open an existing one by double-clicking it in the Project Library.

2. In the Event Library, select an Event (click its name) whose footage you want to add to your project.

The Event footage appears in the Event browser on the right. You can use video from more than one

Event for any project. Simply select another Event in the Event Library when you want access to its

footage.

3. In the Event browser, select a range of video frames or an entire video clip.


Drag your video selection to the Project browser. You can drag it anywhere: to the beginning or end of

the project, or between clips you’ve already added.

To split a clip in your project and insert the video between the two segments, drag the video on top of

a clip, and then choose Insert from the menu that appears. If automatic transitions are enabled for your

project, a transition is added before and after the inserted clip.

Click the “Add to Project” button, or press the E key, to add the clip after all other clips in the project.

See the task below to learn how to use the “Add to Project” tool to add selected clips to your project

quickly.

Locate source video for your project clips




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If you have a Mac whose trackpad supports Multi-Touch gestures, swipe up using three fingers.

To use the “Add to Project” tool to add video:

If you want to add a lot of video to a project quickly and then fine-tune your selections later, use the “Add to

Project” tool.

1. Open a project, and then make sure Advanced Tools are enabled in iMovie.

2. In the Event Library, select an Event whose footage you want to add to your project.

3. Click the “Add to Project” button, shown below.

The pointer’s appearance changes, when you move the pointer over a video clip, indicating that it’s in toolmode.

4. Do either of the following:

Click some video in the Event that you want to add to your project.

By default, iMovie selects four seconds of video, starting from the point where you clicked, and adds itto your project. You can change this default setting so that clicking automatically selects more or less

video.

Drag to select a frame range in the Event.

When you click video or select a frame range, the video is immediately added to the end of the project.

Continue selecting video to add to the end of your project.

5. When you’re finished adding video to your current project, click the Pointer button to leave tool mode.

Event video that’s been added to a project is marked along the bottom with an orange stripe in the Event browser, so

you can see at a glance which video you’ve used. You can add the same video to multiple projects.

If you’re adding video from multiple sources and it doesn’t all fit within the aspect ratio you’ve set for the project,

iMovie can automatically crop it to fit your aspect ratio as you add it.




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You can drag clips in the Project browser to rearrange them however you want in your project.

To move a clip in your project:

In the Project browser, select one or more clips, and drag them to a new location in the project. A vertical green

line appears in places where it’s OK to place the clip.

If you have a Mac with a trackpad that supports Multi-Touch technology, you can move a clip to the right or left of the

clip next to it by selecting it and swiping three fingers right or left on the trackpad. You can’t swipe a clip past a

transition.


If you’ve imported video from your digital camera into iPhoto, it appears automatically in your iMovie Event Library (as

long as the video is in a compatible format).

To use iPhoto video in iMovie:

Click iPhoto Videos in the Event Library.

The videos appear in the Event browser on the right. You can select and use the video just as you would

any other footage.

To learn about importing video into iPhoto, open iPhoto and choose Help > iPhoto Help.


Most consumer camcorders and still cameras include CMOS image sensors that expose the picture they’re recording

progressively, instead of all at once. As a result, if the camera moves a lot during recording, or if the camera isrecording fast motion, image distortion can occur. This causes the picture to appear wobbly or skewed. iMovie has a

rolling shutter feature that can reduce this motion distortion.

To correct distortion caused by rolling shutter:

1. In the Project browser, double-click a video clip, or select more than one video clip and then double-click.

2. In the inspector that opens, select the “Reduce motion distortion” checkbox, and then choose a level of

correction from the Amount pop-up menu.

Choose Medium for footage shot with a consumer camcorder. Choose High or Extra High for footage shot

with a Flip camcorder or a mobile phone that records video.

Rearrange clips within your project

Use video from your iPhoto library




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If the selected clips haven’t yet been analyzed for stabilization, iMovie analyzes them first and then

corrects for rolling shutter distortion.

3. Click Done.

4. To review the level of correction, play back the clip by placing the playhead (the red vertical line) in front of

the clip in the Project browser and then pressing the Space bar; press the Space bar again to stop

playback.

5. If the clip needs more correction, follow steps 1 through 3, this time choosing a higher level of correction

from the Amount pop-up menu.

For information about analyzing video for stabilization, a process that corrects shaky motion in video, go to this topic:

Stabilize video motion.


There are two ways you can replace any video clip already in your project with a different video clip from an Event,

depending on whether or not you want to retain the current duration of your project.

To replace video in your project with video from an Event:

1. Open the project you want to work on.

2. In the Event browser, select the video you want to add to your project.

3. Drag the selected video over the clip in your project you want to replace, and click Replace in the menu

that appears when you release the mouse button.

The entire clip in your project is replaced with the selected video. If your selection is longer or shorter than

the clip it replaced, the total duration of your project lengthens or shortens.

To replace video in your project with video of equal length from an Event:

With Advanced Tools turned on, you can quickly replace a clip in a project with a clip from an Event without

changing the duration of your project. iMovie ensures that the clip from your Event is the same length as the

clip it’s replacing, no matter how much video you’ve selected.

1. Choose iMovie > Preferences, click General, and then make sure Show Advanced Tools is selected.


2. Open the project you want to work on.

3. In the Event browser, select the video you want to add to your project, and drag it over the clip in your

project that you want to replace.

Select one of the following from the menu that appears when you release the mouse button:

Replace: Replaces the project clip with the new clip, without preserving the current duration of the

Replace a video clip in your project



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project.

Replace from Start: Replaces video in the project with video of an equal length from the Event,

starting from the beginning of your selected Event clip.

Replace from End: Replaces video in the project with video of an equal length from the Event, working

backward from the end of your selected Event clip.

Replace at Playhead: Replaces video in the project with video of an equal length from the Event,placing the beginning of the selected Event clip where the playhead appears in the project. iMovie

shortens or lengthens the Event clip, in both directions if necessary, to fill the space used by the clip

it’s replacing.

If there isn’t enough of the Event clip to equal the duration of the clip it’s replacing, a warning appears

asking if you want to continue. If you continue, the clip is replaced and the overall project duration

shortens.


You can split a clip you’ve added to a project into two or three parts. This is useful when you want to insert a transition

or when you want to apply video effects or audio adjustments to just part of the clip.

You can’t split a clip in the Event browser.

To split a video clip into two parts:

Open a project so that it’s showing in the Project browser, and then do one of the following:

Rest the playhead (the red vertical line) at the point where you want to split the clip, and then press

Command-Shift-S.

Hold down the Control key, and then click where you want to split the clip. Choose Split Clip from the

shortcut menu that appears.

Select a region of the clip beginning at one end up to the point where you want to split the clip, and then

choose Clip > Split Clip.

The Clip menu appears in a light gray bar across the top of your computer screen.

To split a video clip into three parts:

1. Open a project so that it’s showing in the Project browser.

2. Select a frame range that begins and ends in the middle of the clip (don’t select all the way to either end).

3. Do either of the following:

Choose Clip > Split Clip.


Split a video clip in a project



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Press Command-Shift-S, only if you’ve selected more than five frames.

If you change your mind about splitting a clip, press Command-Z to undo the split. If you’ve already moved a piece of

the clip, place the pieces next to each other in their original positions, select one of the clips, and then choose

Clip > Join Clip.


You can use the same video in a project as many times as you want.

By copying and pasting video:

1. In the Project browser, select video (one or more clips or a frame range) you want to use again, and then

choose Edit > Copy, or press Command-C.


2. Move the playhead (the vertical red line) to where you want to add a copy of the video you selected, and

then press Command-V to paste the video.

If the playhead is over another video clip, the clip is split in two and the copied clip is pasted in between.

3. Repeat step 2 to add more copies of the video.

By Option-clicking a video clip:

In the Project browser, Option-click a video clip and drag it where you want the copy to appear in the

project.

You can drop it before, after, or between other video clips. You can also drop it on top of another clip.

Release the mouse button when you see the green Add (+) symbol, and then choose an option from the

menu that appears.

You can also add the same video by selecting it in the Event browser and dragging it to your project again.

When you use the same video more than once in a project, the space used by the project on your hard disk doesn’t

increase. The project simply contains multiple references to the same source video, rather than including actual

duplicates of the video.

SEE ALSO

Locate source video for your project clips

Browse Help!

Create an iMovie project!

Add and delete video and photos in a project

Include the same video more than once in a project

Delete video from your project



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When you delete video from a project, the video isn’t deleted from the source video (the Event) the video originates

from.

To delete video from your project:

Select the clip or frame range you want to delete, and then either press the Delete key or choose Edit >

Delete Selection or Edit > Delete Entire Clip.


To undo the deletion immediately, choose Edit > Undo Delete Selection, or press Command-Z.

SEE ALSO

Delete unwanted video clips from an Event


You can add photos to your iMovie projects. All the photos in your iPhoto library are automatically available for use in

iMovie, via the Media Browser. Simply click the Photo button, and all of the photos you’ve already imported into

iPhoto appear, ready to be added to your projects.

To add a photo from your iPhoto library:

1. With your project open in the Project browser, click the Photo button in the toolbar below the viewer, orchoose Window > Photos.



To browse photos, choose iPhoto from the pop-up menu at the top of the Photo browser, and then

scroll through the thumbnails of all your photos. Or, choose an iPhoto album from the pop-up menu to

focus your search.

If you don’t see the pop-up menu, drag the gray dot (shown below) upward to reveal it.

To find a photo by its filename or keywords, use the search field below the Photo browser. Keywords

are case-sensitive.

Add photos from iPhoto to a project



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To browse photos taken at or near the same time as an Event in your video library, click to select an

Event in the Event Library, select the “Show photos” checkbox below the Photo browser, and then

choose a time range from the pop-up menu.

3. After you find the photo you want to use, click the photo to see a preview in the viewer. Then do one of the

following to add it to your project:

Drag it between clips or between a clip and a transition. As you drag, a vertical green line appears

anyplace you can add the photo.

When you add a photo, by default it is set to remain onscreen for four seconds, but you can change

this duration if you want. Also, the Ken Burns effect is applied to the photo, which makes it appear as

though the camera is panning across and zooming in on the image. You can modify this effect if you

choose. Refer to the “See also” topics below for more information.

Drag the photo to a video clip; a green Add (+) symbol appears where you can drop it. From the menu

that appears, you can choose to replace the video clip with the photo or insert the photo. If Advanced

Tools are turned on, you can add the photo as a picture-in-picture clip, and more.

4. To change how long the photo stays onscreen, double-click the photo in your project to open the

inspector, and then type a new value, in seconds, in the Duration field.

If you want all the photos in your project to have the same duration, select “Applies to all stills.”

The setting applies to all images you’ve already added and to all images you add from now on.

5. Click Done.

After you add a photo to your project, you can crop it and add effects to it to make it look grainy or aged, for example.

Refer to the “See also” topics below for more information.

SEE ALSO

Modify the motion (Ken Burns) effect applied to a photo

Enhance the look of video or photos with video effects


You can extract any video frame in a project or an Event and use it as a still image in a project.

When you extract a frame from video in your project, it’s added as a four-second freeze-frame clip at the location

where you extracted it, so that it looks as if time has stopped in your video.

When you extract a frame from video in an Event, it’s added to the end of the project that’s currently open as a

standard still frame with the Ken Burns effect, so that the camera seems to sweep across the picture.

Add still frames and freeze frames extracted from video



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To extract a freeze frame from a project:

1. In the Project browser, move the playhead (the red vertical line) over the frame you want to freeze, and

then hold down the Control key as you click.

2. In the menu that appears, choose Add Freeze Frame.

A four-second freeze-frame clip is inserted at the playhead. You can drag it to a new location in the project andchange its duration. To remove it from your project, select it and then press Delete.

To add a still frame from an Event:

1. Move the playhead (the red vertical line) over a frame in the Event browser, and then hold down the

Control key as you click.

2. In the menu that appears, choose “Add Still Frame to Project.”

A four-second still-frame clip, with the Ken Burns effect applied to it, is added to the end of the project that’s

open in the Project browser. You can drag it to a new location in the project and change its duration. To

remove it from your project, select it and then press Delete.

To move a freeze-frame or a still-frame clip:

Drag the image to a new location in the Project browser. If you drag it over a video clip, iMovie adds the

image before or after that clip, where the vertical green line appears.

After you’ve added a still frame or a freeze frame to your project, you can change its duration. You can also edit it just

as you would any photo or still image, by cropping it, adding or adjusting the Ken Burns motion effect, and adding

special effects.

SEE ALSO

Crop video clips or still images



When you add a background clip or an image—either a photo or a still image extracted from video—to your project,

iMovie creates a clip with it that by default appears onscreen for four seconds when you play your movie. You can

adjust the duration of this clip, making its appearance in your movie longer or shorter.

To adjust the duration of a photo, still frame, or background clip:

1. In the Project browser, double-click the clip whose duration you want to change.

Adjust the duration of a photo, still frame, or background clip



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2. In the inspector that opens, type the number of seconds you want the clip to last in the Duration field.

3. If you want this to be the default duration for all such clips added to your project, select “Applies to all

stills.”

The setting applies to all images you’ve already added and to all images you add from now on. You can

set the default duration only for still images and photos, not for background clips.

4. Click Done.

SEE ALSO

Add solid-color, graphic, and animated background clips

Browse Help ! Create an iMovie project ! Trim video clips

You can fine-tune the location and duration of a clip in your project by moving the clip’s startpoint or endpoint, or an

entire frame-range selection, in small increments at once. Choose one of the following methods, depending on how

you like to work.

Using the fine-tuning controls:

Using this method extends or shortens a clip in one-frame increments.

1. Choose iMovie > Preferences, and then click Browser at the top of the preferences pane.


2. Select “Show Fine Tuning controls.”

3. In the Project browser, move the pointer over a clip, and then click one of the blue fine-tuning (double-

headed arrow) buttons that appear at either end of the clip.

An orange selection handle appears.

4. Drag the selection handle to increase or decrease the clip’s duration one frame at a time.

As you drag, an indicator (+1, +2, -1, and so on) appears to show you how many frames have been added

or removed.

You can extend or shorten a maximum of one second at a time, which means up to 30 frames for 30 fps

projects and up to 24 frames for 24 fps projects. To shorten or lengthen a clip by more than one second,

repeat steps 3 and 4.

Extend or shorten a clip



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Using the Clip Trimmer:

Using this method extends or shortens a clip in intervals of one-tenth of a second.

1. In the Project browser, move the pointer over a video clip, and then choose Clip Trimmer from the Action

pop-up menu (looks like a gear) that appears in the lower-left corner of the clip.

The Clip Trimmer appears, with the selected clip outlined in yellow. The dimmed frames are those from

the original video clip that aren’t currently used in your project.

2. In the Clip Trimmer, do either of the following:

Drag the handles at either end of the yellow clip selection to set a new startpoint and endpoint.

Move the handles one frame at a time by placing the pointer near the handle that you want to adjust,

and then holding down the Option key as you press the Left Arrow or Right Arrow key.

Move the entire yellow selection box to the left or right by pressing the Left Arrow or Right Arrow key,

or by clicking within the box and dragging. Using this technique, you can change which video frames

are selected without changing the duration of the selection.

3. Click Done.

Using fine-tuning on the fly:

In the Project browser, do any of the following to extend or shorten a clip. To extend a clip, there must be

unused portions of the clip available:

Move the pointer near the end of the clip you want to adjust, and then hold down the Command and

Option keys. When an orange selection handle appears, drag it.

Move the pointer near the end of the clip you want to adjust, and then hold down the Option key as

you press the Right Arrow or Left Arrow key.

To move a selected frame range, press the Right Arrow or Left Arrow key to slide the frame range to

the right or left.




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Some of your video clips might have frames that you don’t want to include in your project. You can easily remove

these frames by trimming the clips.

To trim a video clip:

1. In the Project browser, select the frames of a video clip that you want to keep.

2. Choose Clip > “Trim to Selection”; the unwanted frames are removed from the project.


The deleted frames are removed from your project only, not from the source video in your Event Library. Therefore, at

any time, you can restore any of the trimmed frames to the clip in your project. You can press Command-Z

immediately after you trim the frames to restore them all. Or, you can find the source video in the Event Library and

add the trimmed frames back to your project.


To have finer control over how one video clip flows into the next, you can use the Precision Editor.

The Precision Editor is an editing tool that allows you to modify the point at which one clip transitions into the next,

trimming or extending frames at the end of one clip and at the beginning of the next clip in the same magnified view.

In the Precision Editor, you can see both clips on either side of a transition, and you can see and work with the

unused frames from both clips. As you make changes, you can instantly watch to see how your edits affect the

transition from one clip to the next.

The Precision Editor also lets you reposition and trim other project elements, including transitions you’ve added

between clips, audio and sound effects, titles, chapter and comment markers, cutaways, picture-in-picture clips, side-

by-side (split screen) clips, and green-screen and blue-screen clips, all in the same magnified view.

To edit the transition point between two clips:

1. In the Project browser, move the pointer over a clip, and then choose Precision Editor from the blue Action

pop-up menu (looks like a gear) that appears.

Or, double-click the gap between two clips with no transition between them.

The Precision Editor opens. In the bottom portion, it shows the clip you started from (A, below), and in the

Trim unwanted frames from a video clip

Edit the transition point between clips



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top portion it shows the clip before it (B, below). Or it shows the clips on either side of the gap you clicked.

The transition point between the two clips is represented by a vertical blue line (C, below). The non-

shaded frames on either side of the line are the video that plays before and after the transition point (A

and B, below). The shaded frames are video that you didn’t use in your project (D, below).

2. To change where the transition point is, do any of the following:

Change the frame before the transition point: Move your pointer over the clip in the top portion of

the Precision Editor, on either side of the vertical blue line. The viewer plays the video as your pointer

moves. Click when you see the frame where you want the transition to start. The clip in the Precision

Editor shifts so that the frame you clicked is at the “cut point” where one clip ends and the next begins.This action either extends or shortens the clip, depending on where you set the new cut point.

You can also drag the clip, stopping when the viewer shows the frame you want at the cut point.

Change the frame after the transition point: Move your pointer over the clip in the bottom portion of

the Precision Editor, on either side of the vertical blue line. The viewer plays the video as your pointer

moves. Click when you see the frame you want after the transition. The clip in the Precision Editor

shifts so that the frame you clicked is at the “cut point” where one clip ends and the next begins. This

action either extends or shortens the clip, depending on where you set the new cut point.

You can also drag the clip, stopping when the viewer shows the frame you want at the cut point.

Reposition the transition point between the two clips: Drag the transition point handle (the blue

dot on the vertical blue line) to the left or right. This action trims frames from a clip on one side of the

transition while extending the clip on the other side. The total duration of your project stays the same.

As you reposition a transition point, the viewer shows the endpoint of the clip before the transition. To

make the viewer show the startpoint of the clip following the transition instead, hold down the Option

key as you drag the transition point handle.

3. To preview your work at any time, move the pointer over the horizontal gray divider between the upper

and lower clips. The playhead (the red vertical line) should be to the left of the blue transition line.

Skim the transition by moving the pointer along the divider; play it by pressing the Space bar. Press theSpace bar again to stop playing it.

You can also skim any element in the Precision Editor, such as the unused portion of a clip, by moving the

pointer over it.

4. Click Done in the upper-right corner of the Precision Editor.

To edit a transition between two clips:

Editing or repositioning a transition trims frames from one clip while extending the other.



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1. In the Project browser, move the pointer over a transition icon, and then choose Precision Editor from the

Action pop-up menu (looks like a gear) that appears below it.

The Precision Editor opens. The top portion shows the clip before the transition, and the bottom portion

shows the clip after it.

The transition itself, represented by a horizontal blue bar, appears between the two vertical blue lines.


Extend or shorten the transition: Position your pointer over either end of the horizontal blue bar,

shown below, and drag right or left.

If you can’t extend a transition, it means there aren’t any unused video frames available on the end of

the clip you’re working with.

Reposition the transition without changing its length: Position the pointer over the blue bar until it

turns into a hand, and then drag right or left. You can also simply drag the video clip before or after the

transition to change where it starts and ends.

3. To preview your work at any time, move the pointer over the horizontal gray divider between the upper

and lower clips. The playhead (the red vertical line) should be to the left of the transition.

Skim the transition by moving the pointer along the divider; play it by pressing the Space bar. Press the

Space bar again to stop playing it.

You can also skim any element in the Precision Editor, such as the unused portion of a clip, by moving the

pointer over it.

4. Click Done in the upper-right corner of the Precision Editor.

To edit other project elements using the Precision Editor:

1. With the Precision Editor open, click the Extras button at the top.



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Colored bars appear above and below the clips to represent the sound effects, titles, chapter and

comment markers, cutaways, picture-in-picture clips, and blue- and green-screen clips you’ve added to

your project.

2. Drag any element from the center to reposition it, or drag either end to shorten or lengthen it (you can’t

change the length of some elements).

You can also use the Precision Editor to extend the audio from one clip so that it overlaps the next clip.


After you’ve made a change to your project, you may want to preview it by playing just a few seconds of video and

then make further adjustments. iMovie provides keyboard shortcuts to make this quick preview easier.

To see a quick preview of your edit:

In the Project browser, make sure the playhead (the red vertical line) is placed at the point where you made the

edit, and then do one of the following:

Press the Left Bracket key ([) to play one second of video, starting from 0.5 seconds before where the

playhead is resting.

If the playhead is resting within a frame range that’s selected (has a yellow border around it), pressing the

Left Bracket key plays only 0.5 seconds of video, either starting at the beginning of the selection or

finishing at the end of the selection, depending on which side of the selection the playhead is nearer to.

Press the Right Bracket key (]) to play three seconds of video, starting from 1.5 seconds before where the

playhead is resting.

If the pointer is resting within a frame range that is selected (has a yellow border around it), pressing the

Right Bracket key plays only 1.5 seconds of video, either starting at the beginning of the selection or

finishing at the end of the selection, depending on which side of the selection the playhead is nearer to.

iMovie also provides other keyboard shortcuts to help you work more efficiently. Go to this topic to see a list of all

shortcuts: Keyboard shortcuts and shortcut menus.

Browse Help ! Create an iMovie project ! Add and edit screen titles

You can add title text to any video in your project using one of the many title styles available in iMovie.

You can place titles directly over your video, over a solid-color background clip, or over an Apple-designed graphic

Preview edits quickly

Add titles over video



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background or animated background clip.

To add titles to a video project:

1. With your project open in the Project browser, click the Title button in the toolbar below the viewer, or

choose Window > Titles.


2. Browse the title styles to find the one you want to use.

Many title styles are animated, which means they move onto the screen in an interesting way. Move the

pointer over the title thumbnails in the Titles browser to see how they animate. If you’ve set a theme for

your project, a set of theme-styled titles appears above the standard titles in the browser.

3. Add a title to your project by doing one of the following:

If you want the title to appear over video, drag it to the Project browser over the clip where you want it

to appear.

When you drag a title to the middle of a clip, the title spans the entire clip. If you drag a title toward the

end of a clip, the title aligns with that end of the clip.

If you want the title to appear over a solid-color background or an Apple-designed animated or graphic

background, drag it between clips in the Project browser, or to the beginning or end of your project,

and then choose a background in the window that appears. The first four backgrounds are animated,

the next eight are graphic, and the last eight are simple colored backgrounds.

When you add a title, a blue bar (for standard titles) or gold bar (for themed titles) appears above the

video clip to show where the title appears in your video and its duration, in seconds.

If “Snap to Ends” is turned on (choose View > “Snap to Ends” and make sure it has a checkmark next

to it), as you drag a title in the Project browser, its ends align with the ends of video clips. A vertical

yellow line appears when either end of a title has aligned with either end of a video clip.

4. Select the placeholder text in the viewer (shown below) by clicking it until it is all highlighted, and then type

the text you want to appear.

Some title styles in the Sports theme appear in the viewer with pop-up menus, which you use to choose



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the team and player you want to appear in that title.

5. To change the title’s appearance (its font, color, size, style, or alignment), click the Show Fonts button in

the upper-left corner of the viewer and make adjustments. Go to this topic for more details: Edit the text

and appearance of a title.

Note: You can’t change the font in theme-styled titles and some animated titles.

6. To see how the title looks, click the Play button in the upper-right corner of the viewer.

7. Click Done.

To delete a title:

1. In the Project browser, select the blue or gold title bar by clicking it once. A yellow border appears around

it.

2. Press Delete, or choose Edit > Delete Selection.


To change the title’s text at any time, click the title icon and make your changes in the viewer.

If you add your title over a background, you can adjust the background clip’s duration just as you would adjust the

duration of a photo in your project.

SEE ALSO

Adjust the duration of a photo, still frame, or background clip


You can edit a title’s text, font, size, color, alignment, and background color. You can also preview other title styles

and change the title to a style you like better.

To change title text:

1. In the Project browser, select the title you want to change by clicking the blue or gold title bar.

2. Select the title text in the viewer on the right and type a new title.

Edit the text and appearance of a title



5/5/13 5:57 PM


To change the font, color, size, text style, or alignment:

1. In the Project browser, select the title you want to change by clicking its blue title bar, and then click Show

Fonts in the upper-left corner of the viewer.

Note: You can’t change the style of some animated titles, such as Pixie Dust and Lens Flare, or themedtitles, which are represented by gold title bars.

2. Move your pointer over any font in the window that opens to preview your title in that font. (The viewer

shows the title in whatever font your pointer is hovering over.) Press the Space bar to play the video with

that font.

3. Skim and preview colors and font sizes in the same way you previewed fonts, in step 2 above. Move your

pointer down the column of colors, or the column of font sizes, to preview how the title looks in those

colors and sizes.

4. Click any font, color, or size to select it.

5. Click a style (bold, italic, or outlined) and an alignment to select them.

6. When you’re satisfied, click Done.

You can see more fonts, sizes, styles, colors, and so on by clicking the System Font Panel button in the lower-

left corner of the iMovie fonts window. When you use this fonts panel to preview changes to your title, however,

you must first select the title in the viewer by clicking it once (so that it becomes highlighted), and then click

various font, color, and other choices in the System Font Panel. When you’re satisfied with how your title looks,

click Done. Or, to return to the simplified fonts window, click iMovie Font Panel.

To change the title background color:

Some title styles include a background element whose color you can change. These styles are the following:

Gradient - White, Soft Bar - White, Paper, Formal, Gradient - Black, Soft Bar - Black, Torn Edge - Black, and

Torn Edge - Tan.

1. In the Project browser, select the title you want to change by clicking the blue or gold title bar.

2. In the viewer on the right, click the block of background color, which opens the Colors window.

If you have trouble getting the Colors window to appear, click in the lower-right or lower-left corner of the

viewer below the title.

3. Select a color from the color wheel, and then close the window.

To change the style of a non-themed title:


To change the style of a single title, double-click the blue or gold title bar in the Project browser, and then

click the Title button (which is labeled with the name of the current title style) in the inspector that opens.

In the Choose Title window, skim any of the title styles to see a preview in the iMovie viewer. Press the



5/5/13 5:57 PM


Space bar while your pointer is hovering over a specific style to preview it playing at normal speed.

Click any title style to select it. If you have automatic transitions turned on, click Turn Off Automatic

Transitions in the dialog that appears, and then click Done. If not, simply click Done.

To change the style of multiple titles in your project, open your project so that it’s showing in the Project

browser, and then click the Title button.

In the Title browser, move your pointer over any title style to preview it.

Drag any title style from the Title browser to a clip in the Project browser whose title you want to change.

Release the mouse button when you see the green Add (+) symbol.

In the dialog that appears, choose Replace to change just the selected title, Replace Similar to replace all

similar titles (if applicable), or Replace All to change the style of all titles in your project.

If you have automatic transitions turned on, click Turn Off Automatic Transitions in the dialog that

appears.

To change a theme-styled title:

Your project must have a theme in order to add theme-styled titles to it.

1. With your project open, click the Title button.

2. In the Title browser, move your pointer over any title style to preview it.

3. Drag any title style—a theme or a non-theme style—from the Title browser to the clip in the Project

browser whose title you want to change.


4. In the dialog that appears, choose Replace to change just the selected title, Replace Similar to replace all

similar titles, or Replace All to change the style of all titles in your project.

5. If you have automatic transitions turned on, click Turn Off Automatic Transitions in the dialog that appears.


You can make a title appear over as much or as little video as you want. You set duration individually for each title inAdjust how long a title stays onscreen



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your project.

To adjust title duration:

1. In the Project browser, double-click the blue or gold title bar.

2. In the inspector that opens, type how long you want the title to stay onscreen, in seconds, in the Duration

field.

If iMovie is set to display timecode values for project clips, type the duration using the following

convention: HH:MM:SS:Frames (hours, minutes, seconds, frames).

3. To adjust how quickly the titles in your project fade in and fade out, select Manual and move the slider to

the left to make titles fade in and out more quickly or to the right to make them fade in and out more

slowly. This setting applies to all titles in your project. Animated titles can’t be set to fade in and out.

4. Click Done.

You can also move your pointer over either end of the blue or gold title bar in the Project browser. When it turns into a

resize pointer, drag to the right or left to lengthen or shorten the duration.


You can set how quickly you want the titles in your project to fade in and fade out. Setting the title fade duration

makes the title appear more slowly or quickly over the video; it doesn’t affect the total time the title remains onscreen.

All titles in your project fade in and fade out at the same rate.

To set the title fade:

1. Open a project, and then choose File > Project Properties.


2. Drag the Title Fade Duration slider to the left to make titles fade in and out more quickly, or to the right to

make titles fade in and out more slowly.

3. Click OK.

You can’t set animated titles to fade in or out.

Adjust how quickly titles fade in and out



5/5/13 5:57 PM



You can easily duplicate the last title you created in a project and use it elsewhere in the same project. This

duplication is especially useful when you’ve formatted the title’s font, style, color, and other attributes just as you want

them. You can duplicate the title, and then simply edit its text without having to reset its other attributes. In this way,you can easily have all the titles in your project match.

To reuse the last title you created:

1. In the Project browser, select a video clip or a frame range you want to add the duplicated title to.

If the selected video already has a title, delete it first before moving to step 2.

2. Choose Clip > Duplicate Last Title.


The last title you created is added, represented by a blue title bar above the clip. You can leave the title as

is or modify it any way you want, just as you would any other title.


After you create a title, you can move it to another location in your project.

To move a title:

In the Project browser, drag the blue or gold title bar to wherever you want it to appear in your project.

If “Snap to Ends” is turned on (choose View > “Snap to Ends” and make sure it has a checkmark next to it),

when you move a title, its beginning or end aligns with the beginning or end of clips as you move the title bar. A

vertical yellow line indicates the title has “snapped to” an end.

Browse Help ! Create an iMovie project ! Add and edit transitions between clips

You can add transitions between clips to smooth or blend the change from one scene to another. You can have a clip

fade in or out, dissolve into another clip, zoom in to another clip, and so on.

You can add transitions to your project manually, choosing which effects to add between which clips. Or, you can set

iMovie to add transitions automatically.

By default, iMovie makes all the transitions in your movie the same length. Standard transitions are one-half of a

Reuse the last title you created

Move a title within a project

Add transitions between video clips



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second long and theme-styled transitions (which are available only if you’ve applied a theme to your project) are two

seconds long. You can change these default settings in iMovie preferences, and you can adjust the duration of each

transition individually after you add it to your project.

Note: Because no transition can be longer than half the length of the clip on either side of it, the transitions in your

project may be shorter than the default, depending on the length of the shortest clip adjacent to the effect.

To add transitions between clips manually:

1. With your project open in the Project browser, click the Transition button in the iMovie toolbar, or choose

Window > Transitions.

The Transitions browser opens, showing all the transitions available. If a theme is set for your project, agroup of theme-styled transitions appears above the standard transitions.

To preview the transitions, let the pointer hover over each one in the Transitions browser.

2. Select a transition by clicking it once, and then drag it between two adjacent clips in the Project browser.

The transition is represented by a transition icon in the Project browser. (Several icon styles are shown

below.) The exact appearance of the icon depends on which transition type you added.

To add transitions between clips automatically:

You can set iMovie to automatically insert transitions in your project. When you do so, iMovie adds a transition

almost every time you add a new clip to your project. If you have a theme applied to your project, iMovie adds

some theme-styled transitions and some standard effects. If you already have some transitions in your project,

iMovie replaces them with new ones.

Using automatic transitions is useful when you want to apply transitions throughout your project quickly.

However, with automatic transitions turned on, you can’t add, change, or delete transitions individually.

Therefore, to add transitions quickly and then edit them, set iMovie to add transitions automatically, and then

turn off automatic transitions. You can then select just the ones you want to modify.

1. With your project open, choose File > Project Theme (the File menu appears in a light gray bar across the

top of your computer screen), and then do one of the following:

To include transitions styled after a theme, select a theme by clicking it once, and then select the

“Automatically add transitions and titles” checkbox.

iMovie inserts standard cross-dissolve transitions between clips, with occasional transitions based on

the theme. Not every space between clips gets a transition.

iMovie also adds a theme-styled opening title over the first clip and an end title over the last.



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To include only standard, non-themed transitions in your project, click No Theme, select the

“Automatically add” checkbox, and then choose a transition style from the pop-up menu.

Note: If you already have a theme applied to your project and select No Theme, all theme elements

are removed from the project.

2. Click OK.

With automatic transitions turned on, you can double-click any transition in a project and change its duration inthe inspector that opens. Simply type a new duration in the Duration field, and indicate whether you want it to

apply to all the transitions in the project.

To set how much transitions overlap with adjacent clips:

Whether transitions are added to your project automatically or manually, you can set how much they overlap

with the clips they’re adjacent to. This setting, which applies to all non-themed transitions in your project,

affects the duration of your project.

With your project open, choose Edit > Transition Overlap, and then choose one of the following options:

All - Maintain Clip Range: The two clips are made to overlap by the length of the transition, and the

transition is placed over the overlapping region. In this case, no additional content from clip ends is

added. The total duration of your project decreases by the length of the transition.

Half - Maintain Project Duration: The transition is placed so that it spans the clips; one half of the

transition overlaps each clip. In this case, additional content from the end of each clip is added to fill

out the transition. The total duration of your project remains the same.

To change the overlap setting for a specific transition, double-click any non-themed transition icon in your

project. In the inspector that opens, choose an option from the Overlap pop-up menu.


To disable automatic transitions:

Disable automatic transitions



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With your project open, do one of the following:

Add a transition to your project manually (by dragging a transition from the Transitions window to the

project), and then click Turn Off Automatic Transitions in the dialog that appears. The transitions already

in your project are retained.

Choose File > Project Theme, and then deselect the checkbox for automatic transitions; the File menu

appears in a light gray bar across the top of your computer screen.

Choose one of the following:

Remove transitions (or transitions and titles) and extend clip ends: Removes all transitions from

the project and slightly extends the ends of the clips that were adjacent to the transitions. This option

lengthens the duration of your project a bit.

Remove transitions (or transitions and titles) and maintain clip durations: Removes all

transitions from the project and slightly shortens the ends of the clips that were adjacent to the

transitions. This option maintains the current duration of your project.

Leave transitions (or transitions and titles) in current locations: Retains all current transitions butadds no new ones as you add clips to the project.


You can change the style of a transition that’s already in your project. For example, you might want to change a

cross-dissolve effect to a ripple effect, or you might want to replace a standard transition with one from the theme

that’s applied to your project.

To change the style of a single transition:

1. In the Project browser, double-click the icon for the transition you want to change.

2. In the inspector that opens, click the Transition button, which is labeled with the name of the current

transition style.

3. In the Choose Transition window, move your pointer over any of the transition styles to see a preview in

the viewer.

Press the Space bar while your pointer is hovering over a specific style to preview it playing at normal

speed.

4. Click a transition style to select it.


6. Click Done.

To change the style of multiple transitions:

Change the style of transitions in a project



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1. With your project open, click the Transition button in the iMovie toolbar.

2. In the Transition browser, move your pointer over any transition style to preview it.

3. Drag any transition style from the Transition browser to a transition icon in the Project browser.


4. In the dialog that appears, choose Replace to change just the selected transitions, Replace Similar to

replace all similar transitions, or Replace All to change the style of all transitions in your project.



To delete a single transition:

1. In the Project browser, select the transition icon, and then press Delete, or choose Edit > Delete Selection.

(There are many styles of transition icons; several are shown below.)

2. If automatic transitions are turned on, click Turn Off Automatic Transitions in the dialog that appears.

The selected transition is removed, and you can now add, delete, and change existing transitions in the

project however you want.

To delete all transitions:


If your project has no theme and doesn’t have automatic transitions, choose Edit > Select > Transitions,

and then press Delete.


If your project has no theme but does have automatic transitions, choose File > Project Theme, and

deselect the “Automatically add transitions” checkbox. Then choose one of the following options:

Remove transitions and extend clip ends: Removes all transitions from the project and slightly

extends the ends of the clips that were adjacent to the transitions. This options lengthens the duration

of your project a bit.

Delete transitions



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Remove transitions and maintain clip durations: Removes all transitions from the project and

slightly shortens the ends of the clips that were adjacent to the transitions. This option maintains the

current duration of your project.

If your project has a theme, choose File > Project Theme and deselect the “Automatically add transitions

and titles” checkbox.


By default, iMovie makes all the transitions in your movie the same length. Standard transitions are one-half of a

second long and theme-styled transitions (which are available only if you have set a theme for your project) are two

seconds long. However, you can set the duration for each transition in your project individually, or you can change the

default duration of transitions in your project so that when you add them, they’re already the desired length.

You can also set how much transitions overlap with the clips they’re adjacent to. This setting affects your project’sduration.

To change the duration of individual transitions in a project:

1. In the Project browser, double-click the transition icon. (There are many styles of transition icons; several

are shown below.)

2. In the inspector that opens, type the number of seconds you want the transition to last.

If iMovie is set to display timecode values for project clips, type the duration using the following

convention: HH:MM:SS:Frames (hours, minutes, seconds, frames).

3. If you want this duration to apply to all transitions you’ve already added to the project and all those you

add later, select “Applies to all transitions.”

4. Click Done.

To change the default duration of transitions in a project:

1. With your project open, choose File > Project Properties.


2. Move the Transition Duration slider to set the length, in seconds, of non-themed transitions.

3. Move the Theme Transition Duration slider to set the length, in seconds, of theme-styled transitions.

If this slider is white and can’t be moved, it means your project has no theme.

4. Select one of the following:

“Applies to all transitions,” if you want the settings to apply to all transitions, including all transitions

Adjust the duration of transitions



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you’ve already added and all those you add from now on.

“Applies when added to project,” if you want the settings to apply to just the transitions you add from

now on.

5. Click OK.

To set how much transitions overlap with adjacent clips:

Whether transitions are added to your project automatically or manually, you can set how much they overlap

with the clips they’re adjacent to. This setting, which applies to all transitions in your project, affects the duration

of your project.

Double-click any transition icon in your project. In the inspector that opens, choose an option from the

Overlap pop-up menu:

All - Maintain Clip Range: The two clips are made to overlap by the length of the transition, and the

transition is placed over the overlapping region. In this case, no additional content from clip ends is

added. The total duration of your project decreases by the length of the transition.

Half - Maintain Project Duration: The transition is placed so that it spans the clips; one half of the

transition overlaps each clip. In this case, additional content from the end of each clip is added to fill

out the transition. The total duration of your project remains the same.


Some theme-styled transitions incorporate still frames from video in your project. For example, some of the transitions

for the Photo Album theme feature a photo album that uses still frames as the photos.

You can choose which still frames from your video are shown in these transitions.

To choose the still frames in a theme-styled transition:

1. In the Project browser, click to select the theme-styled transition icon.

Change still frames in theme-styled transitions



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If the transition uses still frames from your video, orange numbers appear above the video frames in your

project, corresponding to the numbered still frames that you see in the viewer on the right.

2. In the Project browser, drag each number to the frame you want to show in the transition.

As you drag the number, you can see in the viewer which still frame from your video is being displayed.

3. Preview the transition at any time by clicking the Play button in the upper-right corner of the viewer.

4. When you’re satisfied, click Done in the upper-right corner of the viewer.

Browse Help ! Create an iMovie project ! Add maps and backgrounds

iMovie includes several styles of maps—both still and animated—that you can add to your projects as video clips.

These maps add graphic interest to travel videos. For example, you could add a globe map that indicates travel from

New York to Paris between video clips recorded in each city.

To add an animated world map to your project:

1. With your project open in the Project browser, click the “Map, Background, and Animatic” button in the

toolbar below the viewer.

The “Map, Background, and Animatic” browser appears. There are three types of maps, each of which

can be rendered in any of four design styles: Old World, Watercolor, Educational, and Blue Marble. All

twelve map choices appear in the first three rows of the window.

2. Drag a globe map from the first row or a flat map from the second row to your project, and release the

mouse button when you see a green Add (+) symbol.

iMovie inserts the map between clips where the vertical green line appears.

Add world maps to a project



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3. In the inspector that appears, type a new duration if you want to change how long the map remains

onscreen.

4. To apply an interesting visual effect to the map, click the Video Effect button (labeled None).

In the window that opens, move your pointer over any effect to preview it in the viewer. You can also

press the Space bar to play the preview in a loop. As the preview loops, you can move the pointer over

other effects to preview them. (Press the Space bar again to stop the preview.) Click the effect you want.

5. To set the start location for the map’s animation, click the Start Location button (labeled with the name of

a city).

In the window that opens, scroll to find a city, or type a location in the field at the top of the window to

narrow your search. iMovie knows the locations of thousands of cities, airports, and points of interest

around the world.

Select a location by clicking it, and then type the name you want to appear on the map in the field at the

bottom of the window. This feature is useful if you want, for example, to use the name of a friend you’re

visiting in that city instead of the name of the city.

6. If you want the map to show travel from one location to another, select the End Location checkbox, and

click the Choose End Location button. Specify a location as described in step 5, above.

When you’re done, click OK.

7. If you added a flat animated map, instead of a globe animated map, click Done.

8. If you want iMovie to show a somewhat magnified view of the map, select the “Zoom in” checkbox.

9. If you want to show an animated route line connecting the two locations, as well as their names, select the

“Show route lines/cities” checkbox.

10. If you added the Blue Marble Globe map, select the “Show clouds” checkbox to add realistic-lookingclouds to your map.

11. If you want to swap the start and end locations for the map (so that the map animates from Paris to New

York instead of New York to Paris, for example), click the Swap button to the right of the location buttons.

12. Click Done.

You can change the start and end locations at any time by double-clicking the map in your project and

entering new locations.

You can treat the animated map just as you would any other video clip, applying the Ken Burns effect to it,

cropping it, adding sound clips to it, and so on.

To add a still map to your project:

The Ken Burns effect is applied to still, or flat, maps. This effect makes it look as if the camera is panning andzooming slightly across the surface of the map while it’s onscreen.



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The “Map, Background, and Animatic” browser appears. There are three types of maps, each of which

can be rendered in any of four design styles: Old World, Watercolor, Educational, and Blue Marble. All 12

map choices appear in the first three rows of the browser.

2. Drag a still map from the third row to your project, and release the mouse button when you see a green

Add (+) symbol.

iMovie inserts the map between clips where the vertical green line appears.

3. Double-click the map in the Project browser to open the inspector.

4. Type a new duration for the map if you want to change how long the map remains onscreen.

5. To apply an interesting visual effect to the map, click the Video Effect button (labeled None).

In the window that opens, move your pointer over any effect to preview it in the viewer. You can also

press the Space bar to play the preview in a loop. As the preview loops, you can move the pointer over

other effects to preview them. (Press the Space bar again to stop the preview.) Click the effect you want.

6. Click Done.

You can remove or adjust the Ken Burns effect applied to a still map and crop a still map just as you would a

photo. If you want to change the style of the still map, first delete the existing map and add a new one in the

desired style.

To change the style of an animated map:

This process works with animated maps only, not with still maps.



2. Drag a different style of animated map from the “Map, Background, and Animatic” browser to the location

of the existing animated map in the Project browser.

The new map replaces the old map but retains its locations, duration, and other specifications.

To delete a map:

1. In the Project browser, select the map so that it has a yellow border around it.



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Browse Help ! Create an iMovie project ! Add maps and backgrounds

You can add video clips to your project to serve as backgrounds for other content, such as screen titles or clips you’ve

shot with a green screen or blue screen. iMovie comes with three types of backgrounds, including solid colors,

stylized graphic backgrounds, and animated backgrounds. To use them, you first add the background clip, and then

you add other content over it.

For example, you could place a green-screen or blue-screen clip of a friend performing magic tricks in front of the

animated background of a stage curtain. Or, if you were creating a movie of a scuba diving vacation, you could place

your intro title or credits over the animated underwater background.

To add a background clip:

1. With your project open, click the “Map, Background, and Animatic” button.

2. Use the scroll bar on the right side of the “Map, Background, and Animatic” browser to scroll through thebackgrounds.

The four animated backgrounds appear first, followed by eight graphic backgrounds and eight solid-color

backgrounds.

3. Drag any background to your project, and release the mouse button when you see a green Add (+)

symbol; iMovie inserts the background between clips where the vertical green line appears.

The background is added as a four-second clip.

4. To change the duration of the background clip, double-click it, type how many seconds you want the clip

to last, and then click Done.

To change the background style:

1. Double-click the background clip in your project, and in the inspector that opens, click the Background

button (which displays the name of the current background).

A window showing all the background styles opens.

2. Move your pointer over any background to preview it in the viewer, or place the playhead (the red vertical

line) in a background, without clicking, and press the Space bar. The background plays in a loop in the

viewer. You can move the pointer over other backgrounds while another background is playing to see




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them play in the viewer instead. Click the Space bar again to stop the preview.

3. Click any background to choose it, and then click Done.

To delete a background clip:

1. In the Project browser, select the background clip so that it has a yellow border around it.



SEE ALSO

Add titles over video

Use a green-screen or blue-screen effect to superimpose video


If you make a mistake or don’t like a change you’ve made to a project, including photos you’ve added, or to an Event

(source video), you can undo it. You can progressively undo all of the actions you’ve performed in a project up to the

last time you quit iMovie and reopened it.

To undo your last action:

Choose Edit > Undo [action ], or press Command-Z.


Browse Help ! Create a movie trailer

iMovie includes a number of templates you can use to create professional-quality movie trailers, with themes that

range from adventure, to romance, to friendship and drama. Each template lets you customize screen text—such as

the movie title and credits—and add clips of your own video to build a visually appealing story. Each template also

comes with a unique musical score that matches the theme of the trailer.

Movie trailers are designed to be complete projects in their own right, but you can convert any trailer to a project,

which you can then edit just as you would any other video.

To create a trailer:

1. In iMovie, click the Create Project button (shown below) in the lower-right corner of the Project Library, or

choose File > New Project.

Undo changes you’ve made to a project, photos, or Events

Create a trailer



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2. In the dialog that appears, click to select a template in the Movie Trailers section.

When you choose a template, a preview appears in the viewer on the right. Click other templates to

preview them.

A brief description of the template and how many cast members it features appear below the viewer. This

information can help you decide which template to use. If you plan to use footage that features just two

people, you need to choose a template that allows for two cast members. Likewise, the description can

help you assess whether a template fits the flavor of trailer you want to create.

You can’t switch templates once you begin creating your project because the required elements from one

template won’t fit with a different template. If you want to use a different template for your project, youneed to create a new trailer from the beginning.

3. Type a name for the trailer project in the Name field.

4. Choose a screen format from the Aspect Ratio pop-up menu:





Standard (4:3): Makes the movie more square in shape. When viewed on a standard-definition TV,these movies can fill the screen. When viewed on an HDTV or widescreen computer monitor, they


5. Choose an option from the Frame Rate pop-up menu.

You should choose the frame rate that you used to shoot the video.

6. Click Create.

A tabbed interface appears. You enter information about your movie in the Outline tab. You add video to

your trailer in the Storyboard and Shot List tabs.

7. Type the requested information in the text fields in the Outline tab.

Simply click the existing name or words and type new text. You can’t leave any fields blank because

iMovie incorporates what you type in the fields into the trailer. The required information varies among

templates. These are the possible categories:

Name and Date: Required details vary from template to template. Type the movie name, its release



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date (for example, “January 2010,” or “1/10/10”), and any other information requested, following the

model of the placeholder text.

Cast: Type the names of the people who are featured as main characters in the footage you plan to

use in the trailer. Some templates have no cast members, and some allow you to delete or add more

cast members by clicking the Delete (-) button or Add (+) button to the right of a field.

Studio: Type a fictitious studio name and choose a logo style from the pop-up menu. You can’t

change the appearance of the name (its font, color, size, and so on) as it appears in the logo.

Credits: Type a name in each of the credits fields.

8. Click the Storyboard tab.

A graphic interface representing the trailer’s storyboard appears. It includes text bars at the top (and at

other intervals) that let you edit onscreen text. There are also wells with placeholder imagery to which you

add video clips to build your project.

The text bars and wells are arranged in the order in which the elements appear in your trailer, but you can

edit or fill them in any order you like.

9. To edit any onscreen text, click the word or words in a text bar, type new text, and then press Return.

You can mimic the wording style of the placeholder text to preserve the templated flow and flavor of the

trailer. New text appears in the bar in italics to indicate you’ve edited it from the original.

To revert to the placeholder text, click the Revert button at the right end of the text bar.

10. Add video clips to placeholder wells simply by clicking video in the Event browser, or by selecting a frame

range.

When you add video by clicking it in the Event browser, starting from the point where you clicked, the

correct length of video is added to fill the active placeholder well. (The time stamp on the left edge of each

well indicates the length of video it requires.) When you fill a placeholder well with video, iMovie

automatically makes the next well active in the storyboard. If you want to fill wells out of order, simply click

one to select it.

The video you click or select should conform to the style of shot illustrated by the placeholder image. Forexample, if the active placeholder shows a headshot, you should add a tight close-up shot of the cast

member in question. If the image shows a character running, you should add footage of that character in



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action mode.

11. To view your project’s clips organized by type of shot (for example, landscape, medium range, action) and

by cast member, click the Shot List tab.

This project view is helpful for planning for the types of shots you need for the trailer. In this view, you can

also assess just the video in your projects. For example, you can see at a glance whether you’ve

misplaced a landscape shot in a well meant for a cast member, or whether the action shots are varied

enough.

You can add, change, and delete video clips in this view.

12. To delete a clip in Storyboard or Shot List view, select it and press Delete, or move your pointer over it

and click the circular arrow icon in the upper-right corner. (This icon is visible in the image below.)

You can also simply drag a new video clip from the Event browser over the existing clip to replace it. If you

have the “Add to Project” tool enabled, click to select the clip you want to replace in the template (so that

its border turns yellow), and then click the clip you want to replace it with in the Event browser.

13. Play back your trailer at any time by clicking the “Play full-screen”) button (A, below) or Play button (B,

below) in the upper-right corner of the template.

14. When you’ve completed your trailer by filling all the placeholder wells with video, a dialog appears. Click

Watch Trailer to play the trailer, or click Done.

In the Project Library, trailer projects appear with a small ticket icon to the left of their names.

Small blue icons appear in the corners of a clip when you move the pointer over it. The circular arrow in the

upper right deletes the clip from the well. The double arrows in the lower left open the Clip Trimmer. And the

speaker icon in the upper left turns the clip’s audio (not the trailer’s theme music) on and off.

To quickly find video clips that fit the style of a placeholder image:

If your Event video has been analyzed for the presence of people, you can sort the video based on the image

style of a selected placeholder well in the trailer template.

1. Open the Keyword Filtering pane by clicking the Keyword Filter button.



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2. Click to select an empty placeholder well that features footage containing people, in either Storyboard or

Shot List view.

The Keyword Filtering pane shows the associated keyword as highlighted, and your Event video is filtered

to show just the corresponding footage. For example, if you select a placeholder well that’s labeled

“Medium,” the Keyword Filtering pane shows that keyword as selected, and the Event browser sorts to

show just footage containing people that is shot at medium range. If you select a placeholder well that’s

labeled with a character’s name, the Keyword Filtering pane shows the keyword “closeup,” “medium,” or

“wide” as selected (depending on the range of the placeholder image), and the Event browser sorts to

show just footage containing that character shot at the corresponding range.

To edit a trailer:


To edit a trailer you’ve already created, open the Project Library and double-click the trailer project to

open it. Now you can edit any of the screen text or change video clips as described in the task above.

To edit the trailer just as you would edit a regular project, first convert the trailer to a project.


You can convert a trailer to a standard project, which lets you edit it in any way you want: adding and deleting video

clips; changing the font, color, and style of onscreen text; adding transitions; recording a voiceover; applying special

effects to video clips; replacing the trailer’s background music; and so on.

You can convert a trailer to a project at any time, whether or not it’s complete. When you convert a trailer, its name

doesn’t change in the Project Library.

Note: After you’ve converted a trailer to a project, you can’t convert it back to a trailer. If you want to keep a copy of

your trailer, duplicate it first, and then convert it.

To convert a trailer to a standard project:

1. Click to select a trailer project in the Project Library, or open a trailer project so that it’s showing in the

Project browser.

2. Choose File > “Convert to Project.”


If you converted the trailer before you filled all the placeholder wells with video clips, you see animatic

clips (gray-tone images) in the Project browser. You can replace these clips with video clips.

Convert a trailer to a project



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3. Edit the project just as you would any standard project, keeping the following in mind:

The required pacing of the trailer no longer applies to the converted project. Therefore, you can

replace the animatic clips with video clips of any length, extend or shorten any video clips, delete

animatic clips, and so on.

To learn how to replace video, go to this topic: Replace a video clip in your project.

If you want to preserve the pacing of the trailer, replace animatic clips with video clips of the same

length. Move your pointer over the left edge of the animatic clip to see its time stamp, and then select

a frame range of that length to replace the animatic clip with.


To print a trailer:

1. In the Project browser, click the tab for the trailer format you want to print: outline, storyboard, or shot list.

2. Choose File > Print Trailer.


Browse Help ! Crop and apply effects to video and photos ! Crop and rotate video clips and photos

Print the trailer outline, storyboard, and shot list

Crop video clips or still images



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You can crop still images and video in your projects to get a close-up of a subject of interest or to eliminate

undesirable parts.

Cropping is also useful if you have photos or video clips that don’t fit within your project’s aspect ratio. In such a case,

you can crop them so that they fit.

The maximum crop is 50 percent of the image’s original size. If your video is high definition (or your photo is high

resolution), you can get in quite close without much noticeable loss of image quality.

You can also crop video in an Event (source video). If you make a change in your source video, the change is

reflected in any future project to which you add the altered video, but it won’t affect projects that already use that

source video.

To crop a video clip or still image:

1. In the Project browser, select a video clip or photo, and then press the C key or click the Crop button.

2. Click Allow Black if there are black borders on the image that you want to be able to include in your crop.

Allow Black applies to photos only, not to video.

3. In the viewer, click Crop, and then drag to resize and reposition the green cropping rectangle to focus on

the part of the image you want.

To resize the cropping rectangle, move the pointer to a corner of it until the pointer turns into a plus sign,

and then drag.

4. Click the Play button in the viewer to preview your work.

5. When you’re satisfied with the crop, click Done.

Whether you crop media in a project or an Event, you can change or remove the crop at any time by selecting the

cropped photo or video, clicking the Crop button, and then making whatever changes you want.


Sometimes when you add video from multiple sources to a project, all the video doesn’t fit within the aspect ratio that

you’ve assigned to the project. To address this issue, you can set iMovie to automatically crop added video to fit the

aspect ratio, or to fit added video within the frame, even if it causes letterboxing (black bands on the top and bottom of

the video frame) or pillarboxing (black bands on the sides of the video frame).

To automate cropping:

1. Select a project in the Project Library, or open a project, and then choose File > Project Properties.


Crop video automatically when adding it to a project



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2. Choose one of the following from the Initial Video Placement pop-up menu at the bottom of the pane:

Crop: Fills the frame with as much video as possible, though the entire video image may not fit within

the aspect ratio you’ve set for the project.

Fit in Frame: Fits the whole video into the project’s aspect ratio, even if it causes letterboxing or

pillarboxing.

SEE ALSO

Change the aspect ratio for your project


You can rotate photos or video clips in your Events (source video) or projects. Rotating is especially useful for

reorienting images you’ve taken with your camera held sideways.

If you make a change in your source video, the change is reflected in any future project to which you add the altered

video.

To rotate a photo or video:

1. In the Project browser, click a photo or video clip in your project, and then press the C key or click the

Crop button.

For video clips, a crop (or rotation) applies to the entire clip, even if you select just a part of the clip to

modify.

2. Click the right or left rotation buttons at the top of the viewer.

Each click turns the image 90 degrees. With the new orientation, the image might no longer fit the

project’s aspect ratio, and black bars might appear at the top and bottom of the image (letterbox) or on its

left and right sides (pillarbox).

3. To crop the image so that it fits the aspect ratio, click Crop in the upper-left corner of the viewer.

Adjust the green cropping rectangle by dragging its corners or edges to show the part of the image you

want. If you’re working with a photo, click Allow Black if you want to be able to keep black borders in the

image when you crop.

If you want the entire image to show, click Fit instead. Some black borders might appear on the sides or

on the top and bottom of the image.

4. Click the Play button in the upper-right corner of the viewer to preview the image.

5. When you’re satisfied with the image, click Done.

Rotate video or photos



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If you don’t like the way you’ve cropped or rotated a video clip or photo, or the way you’ve applied the Ken Burns

effect, you can change the effect or restore the video or photo to its original state.

To reverse or make more changes to an image or video:

1. Select the photo or video clip, and then press the C key or click the Crop button.

2. Do any of the following in the viewer:

To change the image orientation, click the rotate buttons until you get the orientation you want.

To include the entire image in the frame regardless of its aspect ratio, click Fit.

To change a crop, click Crop, and then drag to reposition and resize the green crop rectangle.

To undo the Ken Burns effect, click Fit.

To change the Ken Burns effect, click Ken Burns, and then drag to reposition and resize the red and

green crop rectangles.

Browse Help ! Crop and apply effects to video and photos ! Enhance video and photos

iMovie includes several tools for adding special effects to video and photos in your projects.

Video effects

Video effects apply a stylized filter to still images and video to modify their appearance. Examples of video effects

include dream, sepia, negative, and x-ray.

Audio effects

Audio effects apply a filter to any type of audio clip—including the audio that was recorded with your video—modifying

the sound in interesting ways. Examples of audio effects include robot, cosmic, and echo. You can also change thepitch of audio clips or make them sound as though they were recorded in specific locations, such as a small room or

cathedral.

Effects that use two images

You create these two-image effects by dragging a video clip over another video clip in a project. To apply these

effects, you must have Advanced Tools turned on in iMovie preferences.

Picture-in-picture: A picture-in-picture clip is a clip of video that plays in a small window on top of another video

clip.

Cutaway: A cutaway clip is a video clip you insert into another, usually related, clip in order to show two differentelements of a single event. The two clips play sequentially, not at the same time: the original clip “cuts away” to

the added clip and then returns to the original clip.

Edit or revert cropping, rotating, or the Ken Burns effect

Types of special effects you can apply to video and photos



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Green-screen and blue-screen: You can record video in front of a green or blue backdrop and then “cut out” the

subject and place it into another video clip.

Side-by-side: A side-by-side clip creates a split-screen effect, showing two different video clips playing next to

each other in the same frame, with each clip taking up half of the frame.

Speed and motion effects

There are several ways to modify how video clips play in your projects.

Fast forward and slow motion: Speeds up or slows down the video.

Reverse: Plays the video in reverse. For example, if you apply the reverse effect to footage of a person running

down a football field, reversing it makes the person look as if he’s running backward.

Instant replay: Replays the selected video at a percentage of the speed of the original video—50 percent, 25

percent, or 10 percent. An Instant Replay title appears on the screen; you can edit it or delete it if you want.

Rewind: Rewinds the selected clip and plays it back after the original clip. So, you end up with a total of three

clips: the original clip at normal speed, followed by the selected section backward and sped up (that is, rewound),

and finally the selected section at normal speed.

Effects that use beat markers

If you’ve added beat markers to background music in your project, you can apply interesting effects to any video clip

overlaying that background music.

Jump Cut at Beat Markers: Jumps the video ahead by the number of frames you choose, from 5 to 30.

Split at Beat Markers: Splits the video at every beat marker. You can then apply different effects to each section

of video to create a visually striking movie project. You can also rearrange clips and add new ones while retaining

the “cut-on-the-beat” pattern.

Flip at Beat Markers: Flips the video at every beat marker, which makes the video appear as if you’re viewing it

from the other side.

Additional visual effects

Flash and hold last frame: Adds a brief flash transition between the selected portion of the clip or frame range

and its last frame. The last frame is then turned into a still image that remains onscreen for three seconds, but you

can change this duration if you want.

Fade to: Adds transitions before and after a portion of a video clip, fading it into and out of a special visual

treatment: black and white, sepia, or dream.


With the tools in iMovie you can adjust the image quality—including levels of black and white, exposure, brightness,

contrast, saturation, and white point settings—of any video clip or photo you’ve added to a project.

If you change image quality in an Event (source video), the change is reflected in any future project to which you add

the altered video.

Adjust colors, brightness, contrast, and other image qualities in photos and

video



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To adjust image quality:

1. In the Project browser, double-click the video clip or photo you want to adjust, and then click Video at the

top of the inspector that opens.

You can also select multiple clips to adjust at once.

The graph at the top of the Video Adjustments window, shown below, indicates the levels of red, blue, andgreen in the image’s shadows and highlights.

2. To have iMovie optimize the image’s levels, click Auto at the bottom of the inspector.

3. To create the effect you want, drag any of the following sliders:

Levels: Adjusts the black and white levels in the image. Dragging the left slider to the right increases

black; dragging the right slider to the left increases white.

Exposure: Changes the shadows and highlights; dragging to the right intensifies the highlights.

Brightness: Changes the overall light level; dragging to the right makes the image lighter.

Contrast: Changes the relative contrast of light and dark tones; dragging to the right makes edges

between light and dark areas more stark.

Saturation: Changes the color intensity. Dragging to the right makes the colors richer; dragging all the

way to the left makes the image black and white.

Red Gain, Green Gain, and Blue Gain: Changes the amount of red, green, and blue coloring;

dragging to the right increases the intensity of each color. (These sliders are visible only if you’ve

turned on Advanced Tools.

White Point: Changes the color range by resetting the color white; click in the circle and drag around

to maximize the white tones. Or, move your pointer over the image in the viewer; it changes to an

eyedropper. Click a white or gray area in the image to reset the white point.

4. When you achieve the look you want, click Done.

If you change your mind about the changes you’ve made, you can undo your changes at any time by selecting the

video clip or photo again and returning the sliders to their original positions. You can also restore the image to its

original state by opening the inspector and clicking “Revert to Original” at any time, even after you’ve closed andreopened iMovie.


Using the inspector:

1. In the Project browser, double-click a video clip, or select more than one video clip or a frame range and

then double-click.

Slow down or speed up video



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In the Clip inspector that opens, drag the Speed slider to the left to make the video play slower or to

the right to make it play faster. The farther you drag the slider, the more extreme the speed change.

To set the percentage of the clip’s normal speed you want to apply, or to set the clip’s duration in

seconds, type values in the fields to the right of the Speed slider.

If you see a Convert Entire Clip button instead of the Speed slider, click it. Certain types of video—including video shot with the iPhone and H.264 video shot on the Flip camcorder—must be converted

before making a speed change. After the video is converted, you can drag the Speed slider or set the

percentage of the clip’s normal speed as described above.

If you change your mind later and want to undo the changes you’ve made, you can always open the inspector

again and reset the speed or direction of the clip. Click Done when you’re finished.

From the Clip menu:

1. In the Project browser, select one or more video clips or a frame range.


To slow down the selected video, choose Clip > Slow Motion, and then choose a percentage to slow

the clip: 50%, 25%, or 10%.


To speed up the selected video, choose Clip > Fast Forward, and then choose a multiple: 2x, 4x, 8x,

or 20x.

If an option can’t be selected, it means the video clip isn’t long enough to accommodate that increase

of speed. Or, it may mean you need to convert your video. Certain types of video—including video

shot with the iPhone and H.264 video shot on the Flip camcorder—must be converted before making a

speed change. Double-click the clip in the Project browser. In the inspector that opens, if you see a

Convert Entire Clip button, click it. Then choose Clip > Slow Motion or Clip > Fast Forward again.

If you change your mind later and want to undo the changes you’ve made, double-click a video clip, or select

one or more video clips or a frame range you want to restore. In the inspector that opens, move the Speed

slider to reset the speed of the clip, and then click Done.

In the Project browser, when you move the pointer over a video clip that has had its speed changed, an icon near the

left edge of the clip (see examples below) indicates the following:

Rabbit facing to the right: The clip is sped up.

Turtle facing to the right: The clip is slowed down.

Rabbit facing to the left: The clip is reversed, or both sped up and reversed.

Turtle facing to the left: The clip is reversed and slowed down.



5/5/13 5:57 PM



To reverse video:

When you reverse video, its length stays the same; it plays at the same speed, only backward.

1. In the Project browser, double-click a video clip you want to reverse, or select one or more video clips and

then double-click.

2. In the Clip inspector that opens, select the Reverse checkbox, and then click Done.

This makes the clip play backward in your project.

If you see a Convert Entire Clip button instead of the Speed slider and other speed controls, click it.

Certain types of video—including video shot with the iPhone and H.264 video shot on the Flip camcorder

—must be converted before making a speed change. After the video is converted, you can select the

Reverse checkbox.

3. Click Done.

In the Project browser, when you move the pointer over a video clip that has been reversed, an icon near the

left edge of the clip (see examples below) indicates the following:

Rabbit facing to the left: The clip is reversed, or both sped up and reversed.

Turtle facing to the left: The clip is reversed and slowed down.

If you change your mind later and want to undo the changes you’ve made, you can always select the reversedvideo in the Project browser, open the inspector, and deselect the Reverse checkbox.

To apply the instant replay effect to video:

Applying the Instant Replay effect lengthens your project somewhat because the replay plays in addition to the

original clip.

1. In the Project browser, select a single video clip or a frame range you want to replay.

2. Choose Clip > Instant Replay > [percentage ]; the Clip menu appears in a light gray bar across the top of

your computer screen.

The percentages refer to the speed of the replay. For example, choosing 50% means the replay plays at

half the speed of the original clip. The replay clip appears in the Project browser after the original clip.

If you have automatic transitions and titles turned on, you need to turn them off. Click the Turn Off

Automatic Transitions button in the dialog that appears. You can turn them on again later by choosing

File > Project Theme, and then selecting “Automatically add transitions and titles.”

If the Instant Replay option is dimmed, you may need to convert your video. Certain types of video—

including video shot with the iPhone and H.264 video shot on the Flip camcorder—must be converted

before making a speed change. Double-click the clip in the Project browser, and then click Convert Entire

Clip. Then choose Clip > Instant Replay > [percentage ] again.

Reverse video or apply a rewind or instant replay effect



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3. In the viewer, double-click the Instant Replay title that appears onscreen, and type a new title if you want.

To delete the title, select the Instant Replay title bar in the Project browser (so that it has a yellow outline),


4. Play back the effect by placing the playhead (the red vertical line) anywhere before where the effect

begins in the Project browser and then pressing the Space bar.

Press the Space bar again to stop playback.

To undo the Instant Replay effect, select the replayed clip in the Project browser and press Delete.

To apply the rewind effect to video:

Applying the Rewind effect lengthens your project somewhat because the rewound clip plays in addition to the

original clip, though at a faster speed.

1. In the Project browser, select a single video clip or a frame range you want to rewind.

2. Choose Clip > Rewind.

This feature inserts a reverse clip (at 400 percent speed) after the original clip, and also another copy of

the original clip.


Automatic Transitions button in the dialog that appears. You can turn them on again later by choosing File

> Project Theme, and then selecting “Automatically add transitions and titles.”

If the Rewind option is dimmed, you may need to convert your video. Certain types of video—including

video shot with the iPhone and H.264 video shot on the Flip camcorder—must be converted before

making a speed change. Double-click the clip in the Project browser, and then click Convert Entire Clip.

Then choose Clip > Rewind again.


begins in the Project browser and then pressing the Space bar; press the Space bar again to stop

playback.

To undo the Rewind effect, select the rewound clip and the copy of the original clip in the Project browser, and

then press Delete.


iMovie has several video effects you can apply to instantly change the look of video or still images in your projects.

You can give video clips or photos a grainy or high-contrast appearance, an aged or old-fashioned look, a dreamy

look, and more.

To apply a video effect to video or photos:

1. In the Project browser, double-click a video clip or a photo.

Enhance the look of video or photos with video effects



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2. In the Clip inspector that opens, click the Video Effect button.

Unless the clip already has an effect applied to it, the button is labeled None.

3. In the window that opens, move your pointer over any effect to preview it in the viewer.

You can also press the Space bar to play the preview in a loop. As the preview loops, you can move the

pointer over other effects to preview them.

Press the Space bar again to stop the preview.

4. Click an effect to apply it to the clip, and then click Done.

Note: Applying an effect doesn’t change the appearance of the video clip in the Project browser; the effect

is apparent only when you see the video in the viewer.

To remove a video effect from a clip or photo:

1. In the Project browser, double-click a video clip or photo.

2. In the Clip inspector, click the Video Effect button.

3. Click None, and then click Done.


A cutaway clip is a video clip you paste over another, usually related, clip in order to show two different elements of a

single event. You could show someone about to enter a surprise party, and then cut away to a view of the people

waiting inside, for example. Cutaway clips are also useful for covering portions of a clip that aren’t very good.

When you add a cutaway clip, it covers an equal portion of the video clip you added it to, so that the entire duration of

the final clip doesn’t change.

To add a cutaway clip:

1. Make sure Advanced Tools are turned on.

2. Open the project you want to add the cutaway clip to so that it’s showing in the Project browser.

3. In the Event browser, select a video clip or a frame range that you want to use as a cutaway and drag it

over a clip in your project.

When you see the green Add (+) symbol, release the mouse button.

4. In the contextual menu that appears, choose Cutaway.

In the Project browser, the cutaway clip appears with a gray border around it above the video clip in your

project, and the portion of the clip it covers is shaded in gray.

Add a cutaway clip



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Depending on the length of the cutaway clip you added, it may extend beyond the clip you added it to

(only if there’s another clip after the clip you added the cutaway clip to). To reposition the cutaway clip,

drag it to a different spot within the clip or to a different clip. You can also drag the ends to lengthen or

shorten the cutaway clip. To drag an end, move the pointer over it until the pointer changes to a resize

pointer, and then drag.

5. Play back the effect by placing the playhead (the red vertical line) anywhere before where the cutaway clip

appears in the Project browser and then pressing the Space bar.


To adjust the fade or opacity in a cutaway clip:

To soften the transition between the original clip and the cutaway clip, you can make the cutaway clip fade in

and out. You can also adjust the opacity of the cutaway, so that you can still see the original video underneath.

To adjust fade or opacity, double-click the cutaway clip in your project to open the inspector, and then do one

of the following:

To make the cutaway fade in and out, click Manual (appears to the right of Cutaway Fade). Drag the slider

to adjust how long the fade lasts.

To make the clip translucent, drag the Opacity slider to the left. The more you drag to the left, the more

translucent the clip.

To delete a cutaway clip:

Select the cutaway clip in the Project browser by clicking it once (so that its border turns yellow), and then

press Delete.

The sound from the original clip and the sound from the cutaway play simultaneously. You can reduce the volume of

either clip so that sound from the other clip stands out. Go to this topic to learn how: Reduce the volume of competing

audio clips.

You can edit cutaway clips the same way you edit standard clips in your projects. For example, you can trim them

using the Clip Trimmer, adjust their audio, crop them, add video effects, and so on.

If a cutaway covers a transition in your project, the transition is overridden and doesn’t play.


A picture-in-picture clip is a clip of video that plays in a small window on top of another video clip. These clips are

useful for showing someone narrating the action happening in the main clip. You could also create narrative, for

example, by showing a groom “peeking in” on his bride as she gets ready for her wedding.

To insert a picture-in-picture clip:

Add a picture-in-picture clip



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2. Open the project you want to add the picture-in-picture clip to so that it’s showing in the Project browser.

3. In the Event browser, select a video clip or a frame range that you want to use as a picture in picture, and

then drag it over a clip in your project.


4. In the contextual menu that appears, choose “Picture in Picture.”

In the Project browser, the picture-in-picture clip appears with a blue border around it above the video clip

in your project, and the portion of the clip it appears in is shaded in gray.

Depending on the length of the picture-in-picture clip you added, it may extend beyond the clip you added

it to (only if there’s another clip after the clip you added the picture-in-picture clip to). To reposition where

the picture-in-picture clip appears in the project, drag it to a different spot within the same clip or to a

different clip. You can also drag the ends to lengthen or shorten it. To drag an end, move the pointer over

it until the pointer changes to a resize pointer, and then drag.

5. Play back the effect by placing the playhead (the red vertical line) anywhere before the picture-in-picture

clip in the Project browser and then pressing the Space bar.


To adjust the picture-in-picture clip:

You can position the picture-in-picture clip anywhere you want within the main clip, and you can resize it, makea border around it, and set it to appear with a zoom or dissolve effect. You can even set it so that the original

video shrinks into the picture-in-picture window while the new video plays in the background.


To change the part of the frame where the picture-in-picture clip appears, click to select the clip in the

Project browser (so that its border turns yellow), and then drag the picture-in-picture window in the viewer.

Yellow guidelines appear to help you align it. Click Done when you’re happy with the placement.

To resize the picture-in-picture window, select the picture-in-picture clip in the Project browser (click it sothat a yellow border appears around it), and then drag any of the clip window’s corners in the viewer. Click

Done when you’re happy with the size.

To apply an effect to the picture-in-picture clip, double-click the clip in the Project browser to open the

inspector, and then choose Zoom, Dissolve, or Swap from the pop-up menu that appears below the PIP

Effect subhead.

Choosing Swap makes the main clip shrink into the picture-in-picture window while the new clip plays at

full size in the background.

To give the picture-in-picture clip a drop shadow or a border, or to set the border color, double-click the

picture-in-picture clip in the Project browser to open the inspector, and then select Visible next to Drop

Shadow, or click the Border Width or Border Color button below the PIP Effect section of the inspector.



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To delete a picture-in-picture clip:

Click to select the picture-in-picture clip in the Project browser (so that its border turns yellow), and then

press Delete.

The sound from the original clip and the sound from the picture-in-picture clip play simultaneously. You can reduce

the volume of either clip so that sound from the other clip stands out. Go to this topic to learn how: Reduce the volume

of competing audio clips.

You can edit picture-in-picture clips the same way you edit standard clips in your projects. For example, you can trim

them using the Clip Trimmer, adjust their audio, crop them, add video effects, and so on.

If a picture-in-picture clip covers a transition in your project, the transition is overridden and doesn’t play.


A side-by-side clip creates a split-screen effect, showing two different video clips playing next to each other in the

same frame, with each clip taking up half of the frame. Side-by-side clips are useful for showing two people or groups

of people engaged in a different aspect of the same situation. For example, you could show a person arriving at a

surprise party in one side of the clip and the group awaiting the arrival in the other.

To add a side-by-side clip:


2. Open the project you want to add the side-by-side clip to so that it’s showing in the Project browser.

3. In the Event browser, select a video clip or a frame range that you want to use as a side-by-side clip, and

then drag it over a clip in your project.


4. In the contextual menu that appears, choose “Side by Side.”

In the Project browser, the side-by-side clip appears with a blue border around it above the video clip youadded it to, at roughly the spot where you added it (toward the beginning, middle, or end of the clip).

Depending on the length of the side-by-side clip you added, it may extend beyond the clip you added it to

(only if there’s another clip after the clip you added the side-by-side clip to). You can drag the split-screen

clip so that it begins at a different point in the main clip. To reposition where the split-screen clip appears

in the project, drag it to a different clip.

5. Play back the effect by placing the playhead (the red vertical line) anywhere before the side-by-side clip in

the Project browser, and then pressing the Space bar.


Add a side-by-side clip



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To adjust the side-by-side clip:

You can position the side-by-side clip so that it begins exactly where you want it to, and you can switch which

side of the frame it appears on. You can also set it to slide onscreen when it begins and then slide offscreen

when it ends.

To adjust the side-by-side clip, do any of the following:

To reposition the clip, click to select it in the Project browser (so that its border turns yellow), and then

drag it to a new position above the same clip.

To switch the side of the frame where the clip appears, double-click the clip in the Project browser to open

the inspector. Choose Left or Right from the “Side by Side” pop-up menu, and then click Done.

To apply a slide effect, double-click the clip in the Project browser to open the inspector. Select Manual

(below the Slide heading), and then drag the slider to set the duration of the slide. Then click Done.

To delete a side-by-side clip:

Click to select the side-by-side clip in the Project browser (so that its border turns yellow), and then press

Delete.

The sound from the original clip and the sound from the side-by-side clip play simultaneously. You can reduce the

volume of either clip so that sound from the other clip stands out. Go to this topic to learn how: Reduce the volume of

competing audio clips.

You can edit side-by-side clips the same way you edit standard clips in your projects. For example, you can trim them

using the Clip Trimmer, adjust their audio, crop them, add video effects, and so on.

If a side-by-side clip covers a transition in your project, the transition is overridden and doesn’t play.


You can record video in front of a green or blue backdrop, and then “cut out” the subject and superimpose it intoanother video clip. This is called a “green-screen” or “blue-screen” effect. For example, you could record a friend

acting scared in front of a green or blue backdrop, and then place that video into a video clip showing an angry bear,

so that your friend appears to be standing, terrified, next to the bear.

You can also drag the green-screen or blue-screen clip over a solid-color or animated background clip.

If the subject of your video is green or is wearing green, you should record in front of a blue background. Likewise, if

the subject of your video contains blue or is wearing blue, you should record in front of a green background.

To use the green-screen or blue-screen effect:

1. Record video in front of an evenly lit, solid bright green or blue backdrop, and then import it into iMovie.




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When you record, do the following for best results:

Use a pure, highly saturated color of green or blue for the backdrop. For paint and cloth, the best

green to use is often called “chroma key green.” The best blue is “chroma key blue.”

Make sure the subject of the video isn’t wearing anything green if you’re shooting against green, and

don’t include anything green in the shot other than the backdrop. The same applies if you’re shooting

against blue: the subject of the video shouldn’t be wearing anything blue, and there should be nothing

blue in the shot other than the backdrop.

If possible, use multiple lighting sources to eliminate shadows on the subject being recorded.

Record a moment at the end with the subject out of the frame. This indicates to iMovie what should be

cut out when the video is superimposed.


3. Open the project you want to add the green-screen or blue-screen effect to.

4. In the Event browser, select video (a frame range or an entire clip) that you recorded in front of the green

or blue backdrop.

5. Drag the selection directly over a clip in your project—it can be video, a solid-color clip, or an animated

background clip—and release the mouse button when you see a green Add (+) symbol.

6. In the contextual menu that appears, choose Green Screen or Blue Screen.

The green-screen or blue-screen clip appears above the video clip in your project, as shown below.

You can drag it to a different spot within the clip, or to a different clip, to reposition it. You can also drag

the ends to lengthen or shorten it. To drag an end, move the pointer over it until the pointer changes to a

resize pointer, and then drag.

7. To more effectively mask areas of the green-screen or blue-screen clip, click to select the clip in your

project (so that its border turns yellow). In the viewer click Cropped, and then drag the handles at the top

or bottom of the viewer to more tightly enclose the subject of the video.

Anything outside the highlighted area in the green-screen or blue-screen clip is removed from the picture.

Be sure not to crop out areas that the subject moves into at any point during the green-screen or blue-

screen clip.

8. To produce a better-quality effect, double-click the green-screen or blue-screen clip in the Project browser

to open the inspector, and then select “Subtract last frame.”

This action works only if you’ve included a moment at the end of the green-screen or blue-screen footage

with the subject completely out of the frame.

9. Play back the effect by placing the playhead (the red vertical line) anywhere before the blue- or green-

screen clip in the Project browser and then pressing the Space bar.


To delete a green-screen or blue-screen clip:



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Click to select the green-screen or blue-screen clip in the Project browser (so that its border turns yellow),


Sound from the original clip and the sound from the green-screen or blue-screen clip play simultaneously. You can

reduce the volume of either clip so that sound from the other clip stands out. Go to this topic to learn how: Reduce the

volume of competing audio clips.

You can edit green-screen or blue-screen clips the same way you edit standard clips in your projects. For example,

you can trim them using the Clip Trimmer, adjust their audio and video, crop them, and add video effects to them. You

can also reposition or trim them using the Precision Editor.

If a green-screen or blue-screen clip covers a transition in your project, the transition doesn’t play.

SEE ALSO



To “flash and hold” the last frame of a clip or frame range:

This special effect adds a brief flash transition between the selected portion of the clip or frame range and its

last frame. The last frame is then turned into a still image that remains onscreen for three seconds, but you can

change this duration if you want.

1. In the Project browser, select a single video clip or a frame range.

2. Choose Clip > Special Effect > “Flash and Hold Last Frame.”



Automatic Transitions button in the dialog that appears. You can turn them on again later by choosing File


In the Project browser, the video clip is split before the last frame, and a fade-to-white transition icon

appears between the two portions of the clip.

3. To change how long the still image remains onscreen, double-click the image (the frame that appears

after the transition icon in the Project browser).

In the inspector that opens, type a new duration in the Duration field, and then click Done.




You can also change the style of the transition that iMovie added before the still frame. Go to this topic to learn

Add interesting visual treatments to the ends of video clips



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how: Change the style of transitions in a project.

To make part of a clip fade to a visual effect and then fade back to its original state:

1. In the Project browser, select a frame range.

2. Choose Clip > “Fade to” > [option ].


In the Project browser, the video clip is split into multiple pieces with cross-dissolve transitions between

them. The chosen effect (black and white, sepia, dream, and so on) is applied to the frame range you

originally selected.




You can change the style of the transitions that iMovie added to your project. Go to this topic to learn how:

Change the style of transitions in a project.


If your project has a background music track to which you’ve added beat markers, you can apply special effects to thevideo in your project that synchronize with the music.

Jump Cut at Beat Markers: Jumps the video ahead by the number of frames you choose, from 3 to 30.

Split at Beat Markers: Splits the video at every beat marker. You can then apply different effects to each section

of video to create a visually striking movie project. You can also rearrange clips and add new ones while retaining

the “cut-on-the-beat” pattern.

Flip at Beat Markers: Flips the video at every beat marker, which makes the video appear as if you’re viewing it

from the other side.

These effects don’t alter how the background music plays.

To add jump cuts at beat markers:

1. Make sure your project has a background music track to which you’ve added beat markers.


3. Choose Clip > “Jump Cut at Beat Markers” > [number of frames ]; the Clip menu appears in a light gray bar

across the top of your computer screen.

If you have automatic transitions and titles turned on, you need to turn them off. Click the Turn OffAutomatic Transitions button in the dialog that appears. You can turn them on again later by choosing File


Add video effects that synchronize with background music



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In the Project browser, the selected video is split into smaller clips, with each clip jumping ahead by the

number of frames you chose in the submenu.




Applying this effect shortens the total playing time of the clip a bit.

To split video at beat markers:



3. Choose Clip > Special Effect > “Split at Beat Markers.”


In the Project browser, the video clip is split at every beat marker.

To flip video at beat markers:



3. Choose Clip > Special Effect > “Flip at Beat Markers.”


In the Project browser, the video clip is split at every beat marker, and every other clip is flipped

horizontally.





By default, a motion effect is applied to any photo or still image you add to a project. This effect, called “the Ken Burns

effect,” makes it appear as if the camera is sweeping across (panning) the photo or drawing nearer or farther away

(zooming). You can modify this effect to change where the sweeping motion starts and ends, to set whether the

motion zooms in or out, and so on. You can also remove the effect altogether.

To modify the Ken Burns effect:




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1. In the Project browser, select a still image by clicking it, and then press the C key or click the Crop button.

2. In the viewer, click the Ken Burns button (A, below).

A green rectangle (which shows the portion of the image that’s showing when the effect starts) and a red

rectangle (which shows the portion showing when the effect ends) appear over the image.

Clicking the double arrow button (B, below) causes the Start and End rectangles to swap locations.

Clicking a rectangle makes it active so that you can adjust its size and location.

3. Drag to resize and reposition the green rectangle over the portion of the image where the Ken Burns

effect starts.

4. Drag to resize and reposition the red rectangle over the portion of the image where the Ken Burns effect

ends.

5. To preview your work, click the Play button (C, above) in the viewer.

6. When you’re satisfied with the effect, click Done.

To standardize the Ken Burns effect and other photo settings:

You can adjust the default settings for the crop, duration, and the Ken Burns effect applied to photos you add to

your project. As you add photos, these standard settings are applied automatically.

1. Select a project in the Project Library, or open a project, and then choose File > Project Properties.


2. Drag the Photo Duration slider to set how many seconds you want each photo to remain onscreen in your

project.


To apply the settings to all photos already in your project and to all images you add later, select

“Applies to all photos.”

To apply the settings to photos as they’re added to your project, select “Applies when added to

project.” No photos already in the project are affected.

4. Choose one of the following from the Initial Photo Placement pop-up menu:

Fit in Frame: Adjusts the photo size to fully fit within the aspect ratio you’ve set for the project.

Crop: Fills the frame with as much of the photo as possible, though the entire photo may not fit within

the aspect ratio you’ve set for the project.

Ken Burns: Randomly assigns a motion effect to the photo, so that it appears as if the camera is

panning and zooming across the photo.

You can change or remove the Ken Burns effect at any time. Go to this topic to learn how: Edit or revert cropping,



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rotating, or the Ken Burns effect.


You can apply “the Ken Burns effect” to any video in iMovie. This effect makes it appear as if the camera is sweeping

across (panning) the video or drawing nearer or farther away (zooming). When you apply the effect, you can set

where the sweeping motion starts and ends, and set whether the motion zooms in or out.

To apply the Ken Burns effect:

1. In the Project browser or Event browser, select a video clip that you want to apply the Ken Burns effect to,

and then press the C key or click the Crop button, shown below.

2. In the viewer, click the Ken Burns button (A, below).

A green rectangle (which shows the portion of the image that’s showing when the effect starts) and a red

rectangle (which shows the portion showing when the effect ends) appear over the image.

Clicking the double arrow button (B, below) causes the Start and End rectangles to swap locations.

3. Drag to resize and reposition the green rectangle over the portion of the image where the Ken Burns

effect starts.

4. Drag to resize and reposition the red rectangle over the portion of the image where the Ken Burns effect

ends.

5. To preview your work, click the Play button (C, above) in the viewer.

6. When you’re satisfied with the effect, click Done.

You can change or remove the Ken Burns effect at any time. Go to this topic to learn how: Edit or revert cropping,

rotating, or the Ken Burns effect.

Browse Help ! Crop and apply effects to video and photos

After you’ve altered a video clip or still image, you can apply some or all of those edits to other clips and images by

copying and pasting your adjustments.

For example, if you set a clip to play in slow motion, you can copy the clip’s speed adjustment and then apply it to

another clip, making both clips play at the same slow speed.

To copy and paste video clip edits:

Apply panning and zooming (the Ken Burns effect) to video

Apply the same adjustments to multiple clips



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1. In the Project browser, select the clip whose alterations you want to copy, and then choose Edit > Copy;

the Edit menu appears in a light gray bar across the top of your computer screen.

If you want to copy alterations made to a side-by-side, cutaway, picture-in-picture, or green- or blue-

screen clip, select those clips, not the main clip with which they’re associated.

2. Select the clip or clips to which you want to apply the edits.

The clips don’t have to be in the project that’s currently open. To open a different project, click the Project

Library button in the upper-left corner of the Project browser, and then open the project you want to apply

the edits to.

3. Choose Edit > Paste Adjustments, and then choose one of the following from the menu that appears:

All: Applies all adjustments you’ve made to the elements listed below.

Video: Applies only video adjustments, such as exposure, brightness, and contrast.

Audio: Applies only audio adjustments, such as volume level, ducking, and fade.

Crop: Applies only crop positioning. This is useful if you have several clips with the same subjectappearing in the same portion of the screen.

Cutaway: Applies only fade and opacity adjustments to cutaway clips.

Side by Side: Applies only position and slide type to side-by-side clips.

Picture in Picture: Applies border, position, drop shadow, and dissolve settings to picture-in-picture

clips.

Green Screen/Blue Screen: Applies mask adjustments, and background subtraction and background

crop adjustments to green-screen or blue-screen clips. Adjustments made to green-screen clips can’t

be applied to blue-screen clips, and vice versa.

Video Effect: Applies the copied video effect (such as aged film, sepia, cartoon, and so on) to selected

video.

Audio Effect: Applies the copied audio effect (such as large room, robot, echo, and so on) to selected

video.

Stabilization: Applies only stabilization adjustments (that is, the zoom level of stabilized video).

Rolling Shutter: Applies the state of rolling shutter correction (enabled or disabled) and the amount of

rolling shutter correction to selected video.

Speed: Applies only adjustments you’ve made to the speed of the video clip.

Map Style: Applies the copied map style to selected maps.

Browse Help ! Work with audio and music ! Add audio and music

You can add any audio file as background music to your project. Background music plays behind the audio recorded

with your video and any sound effects or voiceovers you add to video clips.

Add background music to a project



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If you want to add music to just a specific clip in your project, go to this topic: Add a sound clip to your project.

To add background music:

1. With your project open in the Project browser, click the “Music and Sound Effect” button in the toolbar

below the viewer, or choose Window > “Music and Sound Effects.”


2. Choose one of the music options from the pop-up menu at the top of the browser—Music, iTunes, and so

on—and then browse to find the music you want to use in your project.

If you don’t see the pop-up menu, drag the gray dot (shown below) upward to reveal it. You can also use

the search field at the bottom of the browser to find an audio file by name.

3. Drag one or more audio files to the dark gray area to the right of the last clip in your project, making sure

you don’t drag them over a clip.

Release the mouse button when you see a green Add (+) symbol.

The background music well of your project is then shaded with green, representing the background music

clip. The music begins at the start of your project and ends with your video, even if the song is longer than

your video.

If the song is longer than your video, a music indicator (a musical note symbol) appears above the last

element in the Project browser. If you add more video clips to your project, the background music extends

to encompass them, until you’ve reached the duration of the music.

If the music doesn’t cover your entire video, you can add more music by dragging it to the background

music well of your project. When you add two or more background music clips to your project, iMovie

automatically adds a one-second cross-fade between the clips where they meet.

If you want the music to begin somewhere in the middle of the song, or if you want the music to end before the

end of your video, you can set the startpoint and endpoint of the background music using the Clip Trimmer.

If you want the song to begin playing somewhere in the middle of your movie, you can pin it to any video frame.



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To adjust the volume of background music:

1. Click the Action menu (looks like a gear) in the upper-left corner of the green background music well, and

choose Audio Adjustments from the menu that appears.

2. In the inspector that opens, drag the volume slider, which appears at the top, to the right or left to increase

or decrease volume, and then click Done.

To delete background music:

1. In the Project browser, click to select the background music well; it becomes outlined in yellow.

2. Press the Delete key, or choose Edit > Delete Selection.



If your project has two or more background music clips, you can change the order in which they play in your project.

To change the order of background music clips:

1. With your project open in the Project browser, choose Clip > Arrange Music Tracks.


2. In the Floating Music Tracks field, drag the song titles to change their order.

Floating music includes any background music that isn’t pinned (attached) to video in your project.

3. If you want to rearrange a track that you’ve pinned to video, select its title in the Pinned Music Tracks field

and click Unpin Track.

The unpinned track reappears in the list of floating music, where you can drag to set its order in the list.

After the track is unpinned, it no longer moves with the video it was pinned to.

4. When you’re satisfied with the arrangement of songs, click OK.

Change the order of background music



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SEE ALSO

Pin the start of a background music clip to a video frame


To enhance your project, you can record your own narration or other voiceover to accompany the video.

To record a voiceover:

1. With your project open in the Project browser, click the Voiceover button, or press the O key.

2. In the Voiceover window that opens, choose a microphone (or other sound input device) from the Record

From pop-up menu.

If you have no externally attached microphone, choose Built-in Microphone.

3. Drag the Input slider to set the baseline volume of your recording.

If you’ll be speaking softly, drag the slider farther to the right to increase the recording volume.

4. Drag the Noise Reduction slider to the right to prevent background noises (ambient noise) from intruding

on your recording.

If you want the ambient noise to be heard in the recording, drag the slider to the left.

5. If you want your voice to be electronically altered to sound more smooth, select the Voice Enhancement

checkbox.

6. If you need to listen to audio cues in your video while you record your voiceover, select the checkbox

labeled “Play project audio while recording,” and wear headphones while recording so that the

microphone doesn’t pick up the project audio while you’re recording your voiceover.

7. In the Project browser, click the video frame where you want the voiceover to begin.

iMovie beeps three times to give you time to prepare to speak.

8. When the beeping stops, begin speaking clearly into the microphone.

9. Click anywhere in the project to stop recording.

A purple voiceover soundtrack bar appears below the video the voiceover is attached to.

10. Click the close (X) button in the Voiceover window to close the window before clicking again in your

project.

Clicking in the project again without closing the Voiceover window initiates a new voiceover recording.

To move a voiceover to a different video clip in your project:

Record a voiceover



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In the Project browser, drag the purple voiceover bar (shown below) to any other video frame or still image

in the project.

To delete a voiceover:

1. In the Project browser, select the purple voiceover bar (shown below) so that it’s outlined in yellow.




You can add sound effects and music to video clips in your project. iMovie provides several sound effects to choose

from, and you can also use audio recordings from your GarageBand or iTunes libraries.

To attach a sound clip to video:

1. With your project open in the Project browser, click the “Music and Sound Effect” button in the toolbarbelow the viewer, or choose Window > “Music and Sound Effects.”


2. Choose one of the options from the pop-up menu at the top of the Music and Sound Effect browser to

focus your search for the music or sound file you want to add. If you don’t see the pop-up menu, drag thegray dot upwards to reveal it.

3. Browse to find the music you want to use in your project, or use the search field at the bottom of the

browser to find an audio file by name.

4. In the Project browser, drag the audio file over the video frame where you want it to begin playing.

A green bar appears below the video where the sound effect is applied.

Add a sound clip to your project



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To move a sound clip to a different video clip in your project:

In the Project browser, drag the green bar to any other video frame or still image in the project.

If “Snap to Ends” is turned on (choose View > “Snap to Ends” and make sure it has a checkmark next to

it), as you drag an audio clip in the Project browser, its anchor aligns with the beginning of video clips. A

vertical yellow line appears when alignment has occurred.

The anchor of an audio clip is the point at which you “grabbed” the clip with the pointer to drag it. Because

you can grab anywhere in the audio clip, this feature allows you to align specific parts of audio clips with

video clips.

To delete a sound clip from a project:

1. In the Project browser, select the green bar that appears below the video clip; it becomes outlined in

yellow.



If the sound effect or music clip is too long, you can trim it. Go to this topic to learn how: Set the beginning and end of

a sound or music clip.

If the sound effect is difficult to hear over the background music, you can make the volume of the background musicautomatically lower (or “duck”) when the sound effect plays, giving priority to the audio in the sound effect: Reduce the

volume of competing audio clips.


There are several ways to extract just the audio from a video clip in a project or Event and add it to another clip in a

project. The extracted audio clip behaves just like any other audio clip in iMovie. You can move it within the project,

trim it, apply an audio effect to it, and so on.

To add just audio from one video clip to another:

1. In the Project browser, select a video clip or a frame range, and then choose Clip > Detach Audio.


The now-detached audio track appears as a purple bar below the video clip.

2. Drag the purple bar and position it below any video clip in your project.

When you move the audio clip, the video clip where it originated no longer has an audio track.

Add just the audio from a video clip



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To add just audio from an Event clip to a project clip:

1. Open the project you want to add audio to so that it’s showing in the Project browser.

2. In the Event browser, select a video clip or a frame range that has the audio you want to use in your

project, and drag it directly over a clip in your project.


3. In the menu that appears, choose Audio Only.

This action copies the audio in the Event clip to the selected project clip; it doesn’t remove the audio from

the Event clip.

If you see several more options in the menu, it means Advanced Tools are turned on.

You can also add just the audio from an Event clip by holding down the Command and Shift keys as you drag

the clip to your project.

If you add audio to a clip that already has sound, you can reduce the volume of competing clips so that just one clip’s

audio has prominence. Go to this topic to learn how: Reduce the volume of competing audio clips.

Browse Help ! Work with audio and music ! Adjust audio position and duration

After you’ve added a sound effect, a music clip, or a voiceover to a project, you can trim it to begin and end wherever

you want.

In the Project browser:

If you don’t need the precision of the Clip Trimmer, you can quickly trim sound and music clips directly in the

Project browser. These instructions don’t apply to background music.

1. In the Project browser, move your pointer over either end of the green or purple bar that represents thesound or music clip you want to trim.

The pointer turns into a resize pointer, as shown below.


To set where the clip starts playing, drag its left edge to the right or left.

To set where the sound clip stops playing, drag its right edge to the right or left.

3. To play back your work, in the Project browser, move the playhead (the red vertical line) to the left of

where you want to begin previewing, and then click the Space bar.

Set the beginning and end of a sound or music clip



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Using the Clip Trimmer:

The Clip Trimmer lets you trim the sound elements in your project one at a time, so it’s especially useful if

there’s just one sound element you want to change (the background music or a sound effect, for example). TheClip Trimmer also gives you access to the unused portions of the clip you’re editing, which can help you fine-

tune your trimming.

1. In the Project browser, move your pointer over the audio clip you want to trim, and then choose Clip

Trimmer from the Action pop-up menu (looks like a gear) that appears.

The Action menu icon appears at the left end of the green or purple sound clip bar, or in the upper-left

corner of the background music well in your project.

The Clip Trimmer opens, showing a magnified waveform view of the sound or music. The light blue orgreen portion of the waveform represents the part of the song or audio clip that’s used in the project. Any

dark blue or green portion of the waveform represents the part of the song or audio clip not currently used

in the project.

2. To set where the clip starts playing, drag the yellow handle near the start of the clip.

Yellow handles appear on both sides of the clip, as shown below.

3. To set where the sound clip stops playing, drag the yellow handle at the end of the clip.

Depending on which type of clip you’re trimming, the duration of the sound clip (the time stamp) appears

next to the handle. This makes it easy for you to adjust the sound clip to the exact length of the video clip

or project it applies to.

4. To preview your work, click the Play button in the Clip Trimmer; click the button again to stop the preview.

5. Click Done when you’re satisfied with the result.

When you trim a background music clip, iMovie applies a one-second fade-out to the end of the music clip so

that the music doesn’t end abruptly.

You can pin the beginning of a background music clip to a specific video clip, so that if you move the clip, the

music moves with it: Pin the start of a background music clip to a video frame.

Using audio waveforms:

With audio waveforms visible in the Project browser, you can modify aspects of all the sound elements in your

project in the same window. This feature is especially useful if you have many changes to make to your

project’s audio.

These instructions apply to modifying the startpoints and endpoints of audio you’ve added to your project, or



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audio you’ve detached from video. These instructions don’t apply to modifying the audio recorded with, and still

attached to, your video, or to modifying background music you’ve added.

1. With your project open, click the Audio Waveform button below the Project browser.

Waveforms for each of the sound elements in your project appear in green, blue, or purple bands below

the video clips. Blue waveforms represent the sound that was recorded with your video. Green waveforms

represent sounds and music you’ve added to your project. Purple waveforms represent voiceovers or

audio that was detached from a video clip. Names appear in the top-left corner of each green or purple

waveform to make it easy to identify them.

2. Select the sound clip you want to trim by clicking its name at the top of its waveform; the clip becomes

outlined in yellow.

3. Move your pointer over either end of the clip so that it turns into a resize pointer (if the clip has a jagged

edge, it means the clip is split onto two lines), and then do one or both of the following:

To set where the sound clip starts playing, drag its left edge to the right or left.

To set where the sound clip stops playing, drag its right edge to the right or left.


After you’ve added a background music clip to your project, you can move it so that it begins playing at whatever point

in your video you’d like. This is called “pinning” the music clip to a video frame.

To pin background music to video:

1. In the Project browser, move the pointer along the upper-left edge of the background music well until it

turns into a hand, and then drag the top-left corner of the background music well slowly to the right.

A pin icon appears in the corner of the background music well, and the background color changes from

green to purple.

2. Continue dragging the pin until it’s positioned above the video frame where you want the music to begin

playing.

The background music well turns to purple, indicating it’s been pinned to a video frame.

After you pin music to a video frame, unless you “unpin” it, the music stays with that frame even if you

rearrange the order of your video clips.

To unpin background music:

If you’ve pinned background music to a video frame and now you want to rearrange the background music

Pin the start of a background music clip to a video frame



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clips in your movie, you can unpin it.

In the Project browser, click to select the background music well (it becomes outlined in yellow), and then

choose Clip > Unpin Music Track.



You can extend the audio from one clip so that it plays over the beginning of the following clip (L-cut), or so that it

plays over part of the preceding clip (J-cut). Modifying sound in this way can be used to artistic effect, to punctuate

transitions between clips, and so on.

To extend or shorten a video clip’s audio:

1. In the Project browser, move the pointer over a video clip and choose Precision Editor from the Action

pop-up menu (looks like a gear) that appears in the lower-left corner.

You can also double-click the gap between two clips with no transition (indicated with a transition icon),

between them. The graphic below shows several styles of transition icons.

The Precision Editor opens. It shows the clip you started from (A, below) at the bottom and the one before

it (B, below) at the top, or it shows the clips on either side of the gap you clicked. The transition point

between the two clips is represented by a vertical blue line (C, below). The shaded areas of the clip (D,

below) to the right and left of this line represent portions of the clip that you didn’t use in your project.

2. Click the Audio Waveform button (shown below) at the top of the Precision Editor.

Blue audio waveforms appear below the clips.

Extend a video clip’s audio over the next clip



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To adjust where audio from the clip before the transition point ends, move your pointer over the portion

of the vertical blue line that’s in the waveform at the top of the Precision Editor; when the pointer turns

into a resize pointer, drag the line to the right or left.

Dragging to the left makes the clip’s audio end before the video clip. Dragging to the right makes the

clip’s audio keep playing while video from the next clip plays (it overlaps the next clip).

As you drag, the vertical blue line fractures, as shown below; just the portion in the blue waveform

should move.

To adjust where the audio from the clip after the transition point starts, move your pointer over the

portion of the vertical blue line that’s in the waveform at the bottom of the Precision Editor. When the

pointer turns into a resize pointer, drag the line to the right or left.

Dragging to the left makes the clip’s audio start while video from the preceding clip is playing (it

overlaps the previous clip). Dragging to the right makes the clip’s audio start playing after the video

has started.

As you drag, the vertical blue line fractures, as shown above; just the portion in the blue waveform

should move.

To simultaneously adjust audio from both the clip preceding the transition point and the clip following it,

move your pointer over the vertical blue line in the waveform at the top or bottom (either one is OK) of

the Precision Editor. Hold down the Shift key, and when the pointer turns into a resize pointer, drag the

line to the right or left.

The line doesn’t fracture. Using this method, audio from one clip ends just as audio from the next clip

begins, with no audio overlap.

SEE ALSO

Edit the transition point between clips

Browse Help ! Work with audio and music ! Synchronize video with music and other audio

Adding beat markers to music and other audio clips in your project is the necessary first step in synchronizing them

with the visual elements of your project: video clips, still images, titles, and so on. You can also synchronize certain

audio clips with each other. For example, you might want a voiceover to begin at a specific low or high note in your

background music. Adding beat markers lets you do this.

After you add beat markers, you can align video clips, still images, titles, and so on, to them.

To add beat markers:

1. In the Project browser, choose Clip Trimmer from the Action pop-up menu (looks like a gear) for the audio

clip you want to add beat markers to.

Add beat markers to music and other audio clips



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The Action pop-up menu appears at the left end (next to the time stamp and name) of the colored bar that

represents the audio clip. For background music, it appears at the top-left corner of the colored

background music well.

The Clip Trimmer opens, showing a magnified view of the audio clip as a waveform.


Drag a beat marker (the note symbol, shown below) to the audio waveform.

If you’re adding beat markers to a background music track with this method, and you’ve already added

video clips to your project, iMovie splits the video clip at the beat marker. This splitting doesn’t visually

affect your movie; rather, it makes it easy for you to replace just the portion of the clip between beats

with new video of the same duration. If you deselect “Snap to Beats” in the View menu (which is in a

gray bar at the top of your computer screen), adding beat markers in the Clip Trimmer won’t split video

clips in the Project browser.

As you add beat markers, they appear in the Project browser (below, left) and the Clip Trimmer

(below, right) as thin vertical lines with a small dot at the bottom.

In the Clip Trimmer, move the playhead (the red vertical line) to the point in the waveform where you

want to add a beat marker, and then press the M key.

This method is especially useful for tapping out the beats of a background music track. Play the audio

clip, and press the M key whenever you hear a beat you want to mark. To play the audio, move the

playhead to the point in the music track where you want to start, and then press the Space bar. Press

the Space bar again to stop playing.

With this method, if you’ve already added video to your project, iMovie doesn’t split video clips where

you add beat markers.

If you want to make a music-video-style project, use this method to add beat markers. Go to this topic

to learn more: Synchronize video clips with background music using “Snap to Beats”.

3. To reposition a beat marker, drag it to a new position in the Clip Trimmer.


To reposition a beat marker:


clip you want to work on.

2. In the Clip Trimmer, drag the beat marker to a new position.

Reposition or remove beat markers



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If you’re working with a background music track and “Snap to Beats” is turned on, when you reposition the

beat marker, iMovie preserves the pacing of the markers because video is “pinned” to them. Therefore, if

you move the marker to the left in a video clip, iMovie automatically lengthens the video clip that’s pinned

to that marker and shortens the preceding clip by the same amount. If you move the marker to the right,

iMovie automatically shortens the video clip that’s pinned to that marker and lengthens the preceding clip

by the same amount.

To remove beat markers:


clip you want to work on.


Remove a single beat marker by dragging it to the top edge of the Clip Trimmer, outside of the green

waveform area.

It disappears in an animated puff of smoke.

Delete all the beat markers from any type of audio clip by holding down the Control key as you click

anywhere in the audio clip in the Clip Trimmer, and then choosing Remove All Beat Markers from the

menu that appears.


Synchronizing video with audio lets you create exciting, memorable moments in your projects. It also lets you create

types of projects that pair music and video together to their fullest effect. For example, you could add a beat marker at

a powerful moment near the beginning of your favorite song, and then set the title of your movie to appear at exactly

that moment.

If you want to pace video in your project with beats in the background music track, go to this topic instead:

Synchronize video clips with background music using “Snap to Beats”.

To synchronize project elements with beat markers:

Beat markers appear in the Clip Trimmer and in the Project browser as thin vertical lines with a small dot.


In the Project browser, drag an element in your project, such as a title, a cutaway clip, or a voiceover, so

that its beginning aligns with a beat marker.

You drag the colored bar that represents the element you’re moving and align its left edge to the beat

marker.

Synchronize video and other project elements with beat markers



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In the Project browser, move your pointer over a video clip that has elements you want to align with a beat

marker, and then choose Precision Editor from the Action pop-up menu (looks like a gear) that appears in

the lower-left corner of the clip.

Click the Extras button, shown below. The other elements attached to the clip, such as titles, voiceover

clips, and so on, appear. Drag the colored bar for any element to align its left edge with a beat marker.

You can play back your work at any time by moving the playhead (the red vertical line) to the left of the clip you want

to see and then pressing the Space bar. Press it again to stop playback.


iMovie has a “Snap to Beats” feature (turned on by default) that lets you easily align video clips and still images tobeat markers added to background music. With this feature on, when you drag a video clip near a beat marker, the

clip snaps to alignment with the marker and stays “pinned” to that marker (as long as you don’t move the video clip

elsewhere).

As a result of pinning, if you move a beat marker, the clip that is pinned to the beat marker moves with it. Therefore, if

you move the marker to the left, iMovie automatically lengthens the video clip that’s pinned to that marker and

shortens the preceding clip by the same amount. If you move the marker to the right, iMovie automatically shortens

the video clip that’s pinned to that marker and lengthens the preceding clip by the same amount.

“Snap to Beats” applies only when you’ve added beat markers to a background music track following the steps

described below. It’s a useful feature if you want to create a project with a music video feel because it lets you add

video and photos so that they appear in time with the music.

To synchronize using “Snap to Beats”:

1. Create a new project.

2. Add a background music track to the project.

The colored well that represents the track starts out as a small square, but it grows as you add video clips

to it.

3. Add beat markers to the background track.

Synchronize video clips with background music using “Snap to Beats”



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4. Add video clips to the project.

The clips are automatically added at beat markers, starting from the beginning of the music track.

iMovie automatically trims or extends each clip (from its end) to fit between the beat markers, so it’s

unnecessary to be exacting when you select video to add. The portion of the selected Event clip that

iMovie actually adds to the project is underlined in orange in the Event browser.

When you add other elements to your project—titles, sound effects, voiceover tracks, and so on—they alsosnap to the beat markers as you drag them in the Project browser. A vertical yellow line appears when they

have “snapped.”

You can add a transition effect to the project between two existing video clips, but it causes the rest of the

project after the transition to be out of sync with the beat markers. However, if you add a transition after the last

clip in the project, iMovie makes the preceding video clip and the transition fit in the space between beat

markers by shortening the video clip. You can then continue adding video clips that snap to the beats.

In the Clip Trimmer, you can add other beat markers to the music track wherever you want. When you do so,

iMovie splits the clip where you added the marker.

To turn off “Snap to Beats”:

You can turn off “Snap to Beats” at any time during the creation of a project. That means you can start the

project with it on and then turn it off to give yourself more leeway to move and edit elements of the project.

Choose View > “Snap to Beats” (make sure the command is deselected in the menu).


When “Snap to Beats” is off, you can still add beat markers and use them to manually align elements to the

beat. When you add a marker to a portion of the music that already has video, the video clip isn’t split at the

marker. You can also move any existing beat markers without shortening or lengthening the video clips on

either side.

To replace video clips in your project, keeping existing beat markers aligned:

After you’ve synchronized video with beat markers added to background music clips, you can replace a video

clip in your project so that the new clip is the same duration as the one it’s replacing. That way, all the

subsequent clips in the project stay aligned with the beat markers.


2. Make sure “Snap to Beats” is turned on; choose View > “Snap to Beats” (make sure the command is

selected in the menu).

3. Open the project you want to work on so that it’s showing in the Project browser.

4. In the Event browser, select a clip or a frame range you want to add to your project, and then drag it over

the clip in the Project browser you want to replace.


5. In the menu that appears, choose one of the following options:



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Replace: Replaces the existing clip with the new clip from the beginning of the new clip. If the new clip

isn’t precisely the correct length, iMovie automatically shortens or extends it from the end so that its

length is equal to that of the clip it’s replacing.

Replace from End: Replaces the existing clip with the new clip from the end of the new clip (meaning

that the end of the new clip aligns with the end of the existing clip). If the new clip isn’t precisely the

correct length, iMovie automatically shortens or extends it from the beginning so that its length is equal

to that of the clip it’s replacing, and so that the endpoint isn’t modified.

Replace at Playhead: Replaces video in the project with video of an equal length from the Event,

placing the beginning of the selected Event clip where the playhead appears in the project. iMovie

shortens or lengthens the Event clip, in both directions if necessary, to fill the space used by the clip

it’s replacing.

Browse Help ! Work with audio and music ! Adjust volume

In iMovie, there are several ways to adjust the volume of video and audio clips.

Using the Audio inspector, you can increase or decrease the volume of entire audio or video clips in a project or of

any video clip in an Event. You can also select several clips at once and change their volume at the same time. If the

sound levels of the video clips in your project vary widely, you can also “normalize” their volume.

After clicking the Audio Waveform button in the Project browser or Event browser, you can modify the volume of audio

and video clips in a project, or video clips in an Event, and you can also modify the volume of specific portions of

clips. This gives you fine-tuned control over audio, letting you add nuance to the sound of your entire project.

Using the Audio inspector:

1. In the Project browser or Event browser, move the pointer over a video clip whose volume you want to

adjust, and then choose Audio Adjustments from the Action pop-up menu (looks like a gear) that appears

in the lower-left corner.

In the Project browser, you can also do this with an audio clip. Audio clips are represented by a purple or

green bar below a video clip, as shown below. Background music is represented by a purple or green

shaded area that appears behind your project clips.

You can select multiple video clips and then choose Audio Adjustments from the Action pop-up menu of

just one of the clips to make volume adjustments to all of the clips at once.

2. In the inspector that opens, do any of the following:

To increase or decrease clip volume, drag the volume slider.

To mute clip volume, move the slider all the way to the left.

Later, to unmute clip volume, select the clip and then choose Clip > Unmute Clip.


Adjust the volume of an entire audio or video clip



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To give the sound in the selected clip priority over other tracks, such as background music, select the

checkbox next to Ducking, and then move the slider to set a volume percentage.

Selecting this checkbox causes the volume in other audio clips to decrease when the clip plays.

To restore all audio to its original levels, click “Revert to Original.”

3. Click Done.

If you make a change to an Event clip (source video), the change is reflected in any future project to which you

add the altered video. This includes ducking. If you duck clip volume in an Event clip, the ducking effect applies

in any future project you add that clip to.

You can remove any audio adjustments at any time by double-clicking the clip, clicking Audio in the inspector

that opens, and then clicking “Revert to Original.”

In the Project browser or Event browser:

1. With your project open, click the Audio Waveform button at the bottom of the Project browser, or select an

Event and then click the Audio Waveform button at the bottom of the Event browser.

In the Project browser and Event browser, blue waveforms represent the sound that was recorded with

your video. In the Project browser, green or purple waveforms represent sounds and music you’ve added

to your project. Names appear in the top-left corner of purple or green waveforms to make it easy to

identify them.

2. Move your pointer over any volume bar (a thin black horizontal line) in a clip, and then drag up or down

when the pointer changes to a resize pointer, as shown below.

This action changes the volume of the entire clip. To mute a clip, drag the bar all the way to the bottom of

the clip.

3. To play back the selected clip at any time, move the playhead (the red vertical line) before the clip and

then press the Space bar; press it again to stop playback.

To preview in an automatic loop as you’re making changes, choose View > Loop Selection. To stop the

loop, press the Space bar.


There are several other ways to use audio waveforms to fine-tune the audio in your project. You can:

Modify the volume of just a selected portion of any audio or video clip.

Adjust the rate at which the audio in a clip fades in and fades out.

To learn other ways to use audio waveforms to fine-tune audio, go to this topic: Adjust the volume of a portion

of an audio or a video clip.



5/5/13 5:57 PM



You can select specific portions of a single audio or video clip and adjust the volume separately from that of the restof the clip. Such fine-tuned control over the audio in your project lets you correct for small imperfections (for example,

a brief loud noise that mars an otherwise good audio track) and add artistic flair by layering sounds in interesting

ways.

To adjust the volume of a portion of a clip:

1. With your project open, click the Audio Waveform button at the bottom of the Project browser, or select an

Event and then click the Audio Waveform button at the bottom of the Event browser.

In the Project browser and Event browser, blue waveforms represent the sound that was recorded with

your video. In the Project browser, green or purple waveforms represent sounds and music you’ve added

to your project. Names appear in the top-left corner of purple or green waveforms to make it easy to

identify them.

If you can’t see a waveform below a clip, the volume bar may be all the way at the bottom of the blue,

green, or purple band. Simply drag it up so that you can see the waveform.

2. In the waveform band, move your pointer over the beginning of the portion of audio you want to modify,

and then drag right or left to select the entire part you want to change.

As you drag, a yellow outline delineates the area you’re selecting.

You can also simply click the waveform band, which selects a portion of the waveform. Then move your

pointer over either end of the yellow outline (the pointer changes to a resize pointer) and drag right or left

to modify the selection range.

3. Move your pointer over the volume bar (the thin black horizontal line) of the selected portion of the clip,

and then drag up (to increase volume) or down (to decrease volume) when the pointer changes to a

resize pointer.

4. To modify the transition into and out of the modified portion (for example, to make the transition shorter or

longer), move the yellow dots that appear on the volume bar.

Move the pointer over a dot until it changes to a hand, and then drag to lengthen or shorten the transition.

5. To play back changes to the selected clip, move the playhead (the red vertical line) to the left of the clip

and then press the Space bar; press it again to stop playback.

To play back in an automatic loop as you’re making changes, choose View > Loop Selection. To stop the

loop, press the Space bar.


6. To make further changes to a previously modified portion, click the adjusted audio range to select it; thendrag the volume bar to adjust the volume, or press the delete key to reset the volume to its original level.

Adjust the volume of a portion of an audio or a video clip



5/5/13 5:57 PM


If the volume is already at the original level, pressing the delete key mutes the selected area.


You can reduce the volume of audio or video clips that are playing simultaneously, giving priority to the audio you

want to hear. For example, you may have added background music and sound effects to your project, but you want

the sound effects to dominate. In such a case, you can set all other audio tracks to automatically fade, or “duck,”

when the sound effects play.

To duck the volume of competing audio:

1. In the Project browser, move your pointer over the audio clip (not including background music) or video

clip whose audio you want to give priority to, and then choose Audio Adjustments from the Action pop-up

menu (looks like a gear) in the lower-left corner.

The track you select here won’t have its volume changed. Rather, the volume will be reduced for any

other audio tracks that play simultaneously with the selected clip.

2. In the inspector that opens, select Ducking.

By default, the volume of ducked tracks is reduced to 15 percent of their original volume.

3. Drag the ducking slider to the right if you want the ducked tracks to be louder than 15 percent of their

original volume, or to the left if you want their volume to be softer than 15 percent of their original volume.

4. Click Done.

To turn off ducking, double-click the clip, click Audio at the top of the inspector, and then deselect the Ducking

checkbox.


You can adjust the rate at which the volume of video or audio clips fades in and out.

Using the Audio inspector:

1. In the Project browser, double-click a video clip, the green or purple bar that represents an audio clip, or

the green or purple background music well, and then click Audio at the top of the inspector that opens.

2. To set the rate at which the audio fades in, select Fade In: Manual, and then drag the slider to the left to

make the audio fade in faster, or to the right to make it fade in more slowly.

3. To set the rate at which the audio fades out, select Fade Out: Manual, and then drag the slider to the left

Reduce the volume of competing audio clips

Adjust the rate of audio fade-in and fade-out



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to make the audio fade out faster, or to the right to make it fade out more slowly.

4. Click Done.

Using fade handles:

1. With your project open, click the Audio Waveform button at the bottom of the Project browser.

Waveforms for each of the sound elements in your project appear in green, purple, or blue bands below

the video clips. Blue waveforms represent the sound recorded with your video clips; green and purple

waveforms represent sounds and music you’ve added to your project. Names appear in the top-left corner

of waveforms to make it easy to identify them.

When you move your pointer over a waveform, small gray fade handles appear at each end, above the

volume bar.

2. To adjust the rate at which audio fades in, drag the clip’s left fade handle; the waveform adjusts

accordingly.

3. To adjust the rate at which audio fades out, drag the clip’s right fade handle; the waveform adjusts

accordingly.

4. To play back your changes, move the playhead (the vertical red line) to the left of the clip you changed,

and then press the Space bar.


5. Click the Audio Waveform button again to hide the waveforms.


Audio normalization is a fast way to adjust clip volume to optimal listening levels. Normalization calculates the volume

change required to bring the loudest part of the selected audio clip to maximum listening levels without distortion.

After this amount is calculated, the volume of the rest of the audio clip is adjusted by the same amount.

To normalize clip volume:

1. In the Project browser, double-click a clip whose volume you want to normalize.

2. Click Audio at the top of the inspector that opens.

3. Click Normalize Clip Volume, and then click Done.

Normalize clip volume



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Browse Help ! Work with audio and music ! Adjust audio quality

You can reduce the background noise in video and audio clips without reducing the overall volume and audio quality

of the clips. For example, if you recorded a birthday party outdoors and a plane flew overhead, the background noise

from the plane could mar an otherwise good audio track. Reducing the background noise can fix the problem.

To reduce background noise in an audio or a video clip:

1. In the Project browser, double-click the video clip or audio clip (the colored bar that represents a

voiceover, a sound effect, or music you’ve added to a clip, shown below) you want to modify.


3. Select the “Reduce background noise by” checkbox in the Enhance section of the inspector, and then

drag the slider to set a percentage of noise reduction.

Depending on the quality and type of audio embedded in your clip, there may be some reduction of overall

volume and audio quality if you set noise reduction to any value above 75 percent.

4. To play back changes to the selected clip, in the Project browser, move the playhead (the red vertical line)

to the left of the clip and then press the Space bar; press it again to stop playback.

You can start and stop playback while the inspector is open, which makes it easy to make a change by

moving the slider, play it back, and then adjust the slider and play back the changes again until you’re

satisfied with the result.

To restore audio to its original state at any time, even after you’ve closed and reopened the project, double-click the

clip, click Audio at the top of the inspector, and then click “Revert to Original.”


iMovie includes an audio equalizer that lets you optimize the quality of sound in your video and audio clips. By

adjusting its controls, you can affect the range of tones, from treble to bass, in any sound clip, including the audiorecorded with a video clip, voiceovers, sound effects, and music.

The equalizer includes several preset options, such as Voice Enhance and Music Enhance, that make it easy to

improve sound quality for specific uses.

To optimize sound quality:

1. Double-click a video clip or an audio clip (the colored bar that represents a voiceover, a sound effect, or

music you’ve added to a clip, shown below) whose sound you want to optimize.

Reduce background noise in an audio or a video clip

Optimize the sound in video and audio clips



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3. Select the Equalizer checkbox, and then do one of the following:

Choose a preset—Flat, Voice Enhance, Bass Boost, Treble Boost, and so on—from the pop-up menu.

Choose Custom from the pop-up menu, and then move the controls to modify the audio.

4. To preview changes to the selected clip, in the Project browser, move the playhead (the red vertical line)

in front of the clip and then press the Space bar. Press it again to stop the preview.

You can start and stop the preview while the inspector is open, which makes it easy to make a change by

moving the controls, preview it, and then adjust the controls and preview again until you’re satisfied with

the result.

To restore audio to its original state at any time, even after you’ve closed and reopened the project, double-click the

clip, click Audio at the top of the inspector, and then click “Revert to Original.”


iMovie has several audio effects you can apply to the sound in your projects. For example, you can give audio a

muffled sound, make it sound as though it were recorded in a cathedral or a small room, and so on.

You can apply audio effects to any audio in your project, including the audio recorded with video, sound effects, music

you add to video clips, voiceovers, background music, and so on.

If you want to add a sound effect—such as an animal noise, a boom, or a honk—to your project, go to this topic

instead: Add a sound clip to your project.

To apply an audio effect to a clip:

1. In the Project browser, double-click a video clip or an audio clip (the colored bar that represents a

voiceover, a sound effect, or music you’ve added to a clip, shown below) you want to add an effect to.

If you choose a video clip, the audio effect you apply modifies the sound that was recorded with the video,

not other sound you’ve added to the video clip.

2. Click the Audio Effect button in the inspector that opens.

Unless the clip already has an effect applied to it, the button is labeled None.

3. In the window that opens, move your pointer over any effect to hear it; leave the pointer in place to

preview the effect in a loop.

Press the Space bar to stop the preview.

4. Click an effect to apply it to the clip, and then click Done.

Add an audio effect to a sound or video clip



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To remove an audio effect from a clip:

1. In the Project browser, double-click a video clip or an audio clip (the colored bar that represents a

voiceover, a sound effect, or music you’ve added to a clip, shown below) whose audio effect you want to

remove.

2. Click the Audio Effect button in the inspector that opens.

3. In the window that opens, click None, and then click Done.

Browse Help ! Share your video project

Image resolution refers to the number of pixels in an image. Resolution can be expressed in terms of the width and

height of the image in pixels (for example, 640 by 360 pixels) and as the total number of pixels in the image. The total

number of pixels is determined by multiplying the width and height of the image. So, an image that is 640 by 360

pixels has 230,400 total pixels.

Your electronic devices (computer, iPhone, iPod, iPad, and so on) also have screen resolution, which plays a role in

how images appear onscreen. For example, if you’re viewing an image with a large resolution on a device whose

screen has a smaller resolution, you have to scroll to see the entire image. If the image you’re viewing has a smaller

resolution than your screen, you’ll see the entire image without scrolling, and there will be space around the image.

When you share or export a project in iMovie, you have the choice to render it in a number of sizes: tiny (in a fewcases only), mobile, medium, large, HD 720p, and HD 1080p. The resolution of the exported movie for each of these

sizes varies depending on the aspect ratio (standard or widescreen) you chose when you created the project.

Listed below are the resolutions for each size, based on the original aspect ratio of your project.

Mobile: 480 by 360 pixels for standard aspect ratio or 480 by 272 pixels for widescreen aspect ratio.

Medium: 640 by 480 pixels for standard aspect ratio or 640 by 360 pixels for widescreen aspect ratio.

Large: 720 by 540 pixels for standard aspect ratio or 960 by 540 pixels for widescreen aspect ratio.

This size can be rendered only if the resolution of your original video is at least 960 by 540 pixels (widescreen

aspect ratio) or 720 by 540 pixels (standard aspect ratio).

HD 720p: 1280 by 720 pixels for widescreen aspect ratio.

This size can be rendered only if the resolution of your original video is at least 960 by 540 pixels and your project

is set to widescreen aspect ratio (16:9).

HD 1080p: 1920 by 1080 pixels for widescreen aspect ratio.

This size can be rendered only if the resolution of your original video is greater than 1280 by 720 pixels and your

project is set to widescreen aspect ratio (16:9).

Browse Help ! Share your video project ! Publish your video project online

About image resolution of shared projects



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To share your iMovie projects over the Internet, you can publish them directly to your MobileMe Gallery. After you

publish a movie, send its Internet address to your friends and family so that they can view it.

To publish to your MobileMe Gallery, you must have an active MobileMe subscription. Click the link below to sign up

for one at the MobileMe website.

MobileMe website

To publish to your MobileMe Gallery:

1. In iMovie, open a project or select it in the Project Library, and then choose Share > MobileMe Gallery.


If you aren’t already logged in to MobileMe, you’re prompted to do so.

2. In the “Publish to MobileMe Gallery” window, type in the fields:

Title: The title of your movie.

Description: Some information about your movie for viewers to read (optional).

3. Select one or more of the sizes that are compatible with MobileMe, as indicated in the “Sizes to publish”

table; versions of your movie in each of the sizes you choose will be available from your MobileMe

Gallery.

The table shows which sizes are compatible with various devices and websites, and the resolution of each

size (how many pixels it contains). The large size is of higher quality than the medium size, but it might

take longer to upload over a slow Internet connection.

The resolution of the exported movie for each size depends on the aspect ratio (standard or widescreen)

you chose when you created the project. This topic explains resolution in more detail: About image

resolution of shared projects.

If you’re unable to select the larger sizes, the original project media isn’t large enough to render in those

sizes. The size of the largest media used in the project determines the final movie sizes you can render.

Holding the pointer over the “i” next to the movie dimensions displays the following information for the

rendered movies:

3GP: The video file format for movies rendered in the “tiny” size.

H.264: The standard video compression used in the movie.

fps: The frame rate of the movie in frames per second.

Kbps or Mbps: The data rate of the movie in kilobits per second or megabits per second.

MB: The size of the movie file in megabytes.

4. Choose an option from the “Viewable by” pop-up menu to set password protection for your movie,

depending on whether you want it to be publicly viewable or accessible only by specific people.

Everyone: Makes the movie publicly accessible by any visitor to your MobileMe Gallery.

Only me: Requires your MobileMe user name and password in order for you to see the movie.

Sharing your user name and password with others isn’t recommended.

Publish directly to your MobileMe Gallery



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Edit Names and Passwords: Allows you to create user names and passwords that you can provide to

others to access the movie. After selecting this option, click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner

of the window and then type a user name. Press the Tab key, and then type the password you want to

associate with the user name. User names and passwords must be between 4 and 20 characters long

and can include only letters (a through z), digits (0 through 9), the underscore (_), and periods (.), but

only a single period can be used at the end. Any MobileMe Gallery movies available to this user are

listed to the right of the password.

5. Select “Hide movie on my Gallery home page” if you don’t want the movie to appear on the homepage of

your MobileMe Gallery.

Hiding the movie also prevents its viewers from seeing other parts of your MobileMe Gallery.

6. Select “Allow movie to be downloaded” if you want viewers to be able to download copies of your movie.

7. Click Publish.

iMovie renders and uploads your movie to your MobileMe Gallery.

8. To watch your movie online, click View, or to notify your friends and family of the new movie you’ve

published, click “Tell a Friend.”

Click OK to do neither and simply close the dialog.

In the Project Library, an icon appears next to the project’s name to indicate which size it has been rendered in.

When the project is open in the Project browser, its title bar also displays a MobileMe icon to indicate that it has

been published to your MobileMe Gallery. Click the icon to take you to the movie online, to notify friends about

it via email, to publish the movie again, or to remove the MobileMe icon from the Project browser.

If you make further edits to your project in iMovie after you’ve published it to your Gallery, a yellow warning

symbol appears near the icon (as shown below), indicating that your project is out of date and needs to be

rendered and published again. With the project open, click the icon and choose “Re-Publish to MobileMe” to

republish.

If you want to change the title or description of your movie later, without republishing it, you can log in to your

MobileMe account and change the information directly in your Gallery.

To remove a movie from your MobileMe Gallery:

Open the project or select it in the Project Library, and then choose Share > “Remove from MobileMe

Gallery.”


You can publish your iMovie project directly to a number of popular sharing websites, including YouTube, Facebook,Publish a movie to YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, or CNN iReport



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Vimeo (an online community for sharing video projects), and CNN iReport. To post to these sites, you must have an

account with them. Accounts are free and easy to set up. You can visit the sites below to set up an account.

www.youtube.com

www.facebook.com

www.vimeo.com

www.ireport.com

You can easily remove a video you’ve uploaded to any of these sites.

To publish to YouTube:

1. In iMovie, open a project or select it in the Project Library, and then choose Share > YouTube.


2. Choose your account in the Account pop-up menu, or click Add to add an existing account.

If you don’t have an account, go to the YouTube website (www.youtube.com) and create one first.

3. Fill in the fields and make selections from pop-up menus:

Password: Your account password.

Category: A category under which the video will be categorized on YouTube.

Title: The name of your movie.

Description: Information about your movie for viewers to read (optional).

Tags: Keywords that viewers can use to search for and find your movie (optional).

4. Select a size for your published movie from the table of options.

The “Sizes to publish” table shows which sizes are compatible with YouTube, and the resolution of each

size (how many pixels it contains).

The mobile and medium sizes are easier to watch with slower Internet connections. The HD sizes take

longer to upload and may take longer to watch, but they offer a higher-quality picture when viewed on the

YouTube website.







rendered movies:

H.264: The standard video compression that’s used in the movie.





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5. To allow your video to be viewable by anyone, deselect “Make this movie personal.”

By default, your video is viewable only by contacts you specify in your YouTube account on the YouTube

website.

6. Click Next.

7. Click Publish.

iMovie uploads your movie to YouTube, but it may take some time for your movie to appear there,

depending on website traffic.

8. To visit your movie’s webpage, click View in the dialog that appears.

It’s also a good idea to write down the URL for your movie for future reference.

9. To notify your friends of the new movie you’ve published, click “Tell a Friend.”


When the project is open in the Project browser, its title bar also displays a YouTube icon. Click the icon to goto the movie online, to notify friends about it via email, to publish the movie again, or to remove the YouTube

icon from the Project browser.

If you make further edits to your project in iMovie after you’ve published it, a yellow warning symbol appears

near the icon (as shown below), indicating that your project is out of date and needs to be rendered and

published again. With the project open, click the icon and then choose “Re-Publish to YouTube” to republish.

To delete the original movie from YouTube, go to your account page on the YouTube website.

To publish to Facebook:

1. In iMovie, open a project or select it in the Project Library, and then choose Share > Facebook.



If you don’t have an account, go to the Facebook website (www.facebook.com) and create one first.



Viewable by: The subset of people who can view your video.




The “Sizes to publish” table shows which sizes are compatible with Facebook, and the resolution of each

size (how many pixels it contains).



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rendered movies:





5. Click Next.

6. Click Publish.

iMovie uploads your movie to Facebook, but it may take some time for your movie to appear there,

depending on website traffic. If your video contains copyrighted material, you may not be able to publish it.


When the project is open in the Project browser, its title bar also displays a Facebook icon. Click the icon to go

to the movie online, to notify friends about it via email, to publish the movie again, or to remove the Facebook

icon from the Project browser.



published again. With the project open, click the icon and then choose “Re-Publish to Facebook” to republish.

To delete the original movie from Facebook, go to your account page on the Facebook website.

To publish to Vimeo:

1. In iMovie, open a project or select it in the Project Library, and then choose Share > Vimeo.



If you don’t have an account, go to the Vimeo website (www.vimeo.com) and create one first.



Viewable by: The subset of people who can view your video.




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Tags: Keywords that viewers can use to search for and find your movie (optional).


The “Sizes to publish” table shows which sizes are compatible with Vimeo, and the resolution of each size

(how many pixels it contains).







rendered movies:





5. Click Next.

6. Click Publish.

iMovie uploads your movie to Vimeo, but it may take some time for your movie to appear there, depending

on website traffic.

7. To visit your movie’s webpage, click "Go to Vimeo” in the dialog that appears.



When the project is open in the Project browser, its title bar also displays a Vimeo icon. Click the icon to go to

the movie online, to notify friends about it via email, to publish the movie again, or to remove the Vimeo icon

from the Project browser.



published again. With the project open, click the icon and choose “Re-Publish to Vimeo” to republish. To delete

the original movie from Vimeo, go to your account page on the Vimeo website.

To publish to CNN iReport:

1. In iMovie, open a project or select it in the Project Library, and then choose Share > CNN iReport.




5/5/13 5:57 PM



If you don’t have an account, go to the CNN iReport website and create one first. (Go to www.ireport.com

and then click Upload at the top of the page.)



Subject: The topic of your movie.

Body: Information about your movie for viewers to read (optional).


The “Sizes to publish” table shows which sizes are compatible with CNN iReport, and the resolution of

each size (how many pixels it contains).



The resolution of the exported movie for each size depends on the aspect ratio (standard or widescreen)you chose when you created the project. This topic explains resolution in more detail: About image



rendered movies:





5. Click Next.

6. Click Publish.

iMovie uploads your movie to the iReport website, but it may take some time for it to appear there,

depending on website traffic.

7. To visit your movie’s webpage, click View.


8. To notify your friends of the new movie you’ve published, click “Tell a Friend.”


When the project is open in the Project browser, its title bar also displays a CNN iReport icon. Click the icon to

go to the movie online, to notify friends about it via email, to publish the movie again, or to remove the CNN

iReport icon from the Project browser.



published again. With the project open, click the icon and then choose “Re-Publish to CNN iReport” torepublish. To delete the original movie from CNN iReport, visit the CNN iReport website.



5/5/13 5:57 PM


To remove your movie from a website:

You can remove a movie you have published to YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, or CNN iReport.

1. In iMovie, select the project in the Project Library, and then choose Share > “Remove from [site ].”


2. Click “Go to [site ],” and then log in to your account.

3. Remove your movie from the website.

For CNN iReport, you may have to contact the website to request removal of your video.

4. In iMovie, click Done.

The icon for the website in question is removed from your iMovie project.


Podcast Producer is a component of Mac OS X Server that lets you create and publish podcasts. You can create a

project in iMovie and publish it to Podcast Producer.

To publish a movie to Podcast Producer:

1. In iMovie, open a project or select it in the Project Library, and then choose Share > Podcast Producer.


2. If this is your first time publishing to Podcast Producer, click Configure.

Contact your server administrator for details about how to configure your account. Configuring your

account requires a server IP address, a user name, and a password.

3. Enter the server’s IP address in the Server field.

If you had previously entered the IP address, click the pop-up menu and select the address. Enter your

user name and password in the fields that appear.

4. Click Done.

5. Choose an option from the Workflow pop-up menu.

6. Type a title for your movie and a description in the fields provided.

7. Select the movie size you want to publish from the table of options.

The table shows which sizes are best for each viewing on which device, and the resolution of each size(how many pixels it contains).

Publish a movie to Podcast Producer



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Hovering the pointer over the “i” next to the movie dimensions displays the following information for the

rendered movies:





8. Click Publish.

iMovie uploads your movie to Podcast Producer.

9. Click the Podcast Producer Library button to go to Podcast Producer and see a list of all your uploaded

movies.


When the project is open in the Project browser, its title bar also displays a Podcast Producer icon. Click the

icon to publish the podcast again, or to remove the Podcast Producer icon from the Project browser.


over the icon (as shown below), indicating that your project is out of date and needs to be rendered and

published again. With the project open, click the icon and then choose “Re-Publish to Podcast Producer” to

republish. To delete the original movie from Podcast Producer, contact your server administrator.

To remove your movie from Podcast Producer:

1. In iMovie, select the project in the Project Library, and then choose Share > “Remove from Podcast

Producer.”


2. As instructed in the dialog, contact your server administrator to remove your video from Podcast Producer.

3. In iMovie, click Done.

Clicking Done removes the website published status from your iMovie project.




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If you want to use a finished iMovie project in another Apple application, you can send your movie to the Media

Browser, which is accessible from many Apple applications, such as iWeb, GarageBand, iDVD, Pages, and Keynote.

Sending a movie to the Media Browser for use in iDVD is useful if you want to add the movie to an iDVD project

already in progress. Otherwise, it’s quicker and easier to send your movie to iDVD from within iMovie. When you do

so, your movie opens in iDVD, ready to burn to a DVD disc.

To share your project with other applications through the Media Browser:

1. In iMovie, open the project or select it in the Project Library, and then choose Share > Media Browser.


2. Select one or more movie sizes to render from the table of options.

The table shows which sizes are best for each viewing device or location, and the resolution of each size





If you’re unable to select the larger sizes, the original project media isn’t large enough to render in that

size. The size of the largest media used in the project determines the final movie sizes you can render.


rendered movies:

H.264 or 3GP: The video compression that’s used in the movie.




3. Click Share.

Rendering can take up to several minutes depending on the size of your movie and whether you render

more than one movie size at once.

4. Open one of your Apple applications, and then look for the rendered movies in the Movies pane of the

Media Browser.

In iMovie, an icon appears next to the project’s name in the Project Library to indicate it has been rendered, and in

which sizes.

If you make further edits to your project in iMovie after you’ve rendered it, the title bar (which is visible when the

project is open) indicates that your project is out of date and needs to be rendered again. The previously rendered

versions of the movie are deleted and replaced by new versions when you render it again.


Use your movie in iWeb, GarageBand, or other Apple applications



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You need to send your project to iTunes in order to watch it on Apple TV or in Front Row, or to sync it to iPod, iPhone,

or iPad.

To send your project to iTunes:

1. Select a project in the Project Library, and then choose Share > iTunes.


2. Select one or more movie sizes to render from the table of options.


sizes. The largest media size used in the project determines the final movie sizes you can render.

The table shows which sizes are best for viewing on each device, and the resolution of each size (how

many pixels it contains). Holding the pointer over the “i” next to the movie dimensions displays the

following information for the rendered movies:





3. Click Publish.

Rendering can take up to several minutes depending on the size of your movie and whether you’re

rendering several sizes at once. After the project has finished rendering, iTunes opens automatically.

4. Depending on how you plan to use the shared project, do any of the following:

In iTunes, click Movies (below Library) to see your movie and broadcast it through Apple TV or sync it

to iPod, iPhone, or iPad.

In Front Row, select Videos, and then select Movies to find the movie you just rendered.

When you open the project, its title bar displays an icon that indicates that it has been sent to iTunes, and another

icon indicates which sizes it has been rendered in.

If you make further edits to your project in iMovie after you’ve published it to iTunes, a yellow warning symbol appears

near the icon (as shown below), indicating that your project is out of date and needs to be rendered and published

again. With the project open, click the icon and choose “Re-Publish to iTunes” to republish.

Browse Help!

Share your video project

Send your project to iTunes

Send your movie to iDVD



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You can send your finished movie directly to iDVD and then create a professional-quality DVD featuring your movie.

To send your movie to iDVD:

In iMovie, open a project or select it in the Project Library, and then choose Share > iDVD.


Your movie is rendered and sent to iDVD.

iDVD opens with your movie in a new iDVD project. You can modify the project just as you would any other

iDVD project, by changing the DVD theme, editing the menus, adding more movies, adding photo slideshows,

and so on. Or, you can simply burn your movie to a DVD immediately.

If you want to add your movie to an iDVD project already in progress, first send it to the Media Browser and select the

largest movie size available. iMovie renders your project and then makes it available to all Apple applications that

access the Media Browser, including iDVD, iWeb, and GarageBand. Then you can add the movie to an existing

project from within iDVD.

To learn more about iDVD, open iDVD and then choose Help > iDVD Help.

Browse Help ! Share your video project ! Export your video project

If you want to create a finished version of your project that you can access on your desktop or in any Finder folder,

you need to export it. You can then attach it to an email, and use it with other applications that don’t have access to

iTunes and the Media Browser.

To export your project to the Finder:

1. In iMovie, open the project or select it in the Project Library, and then choose Share > Export Movie.


2. Type a name for the movie in the Export As field.

3. Choose the location where you want to save it from the pop-up menu.

If the location you want doesn’t appear in the pop-up menu, click the blue Arrow button to the right of the

Save As field, and then navigate to the desired folder.

4. Select the size of movie that best matches what you’ll be using the video for.

The table shows which sizes are best for each viewing device or location, and the resolution of each size





If you’re unable to select the larger sizes, the original project media isn’t large enough to render in that

size. The size of the largest media used in the project determines the final movie sizes you can render.

Export your movies to a Finder folder



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rendered movies:





5. Click Export.

6. To find your exported movie, navigate to the folder that you chose from the pop-up menu.

Browse Help ! Share your video project ! Export your video project

The default export options in iMovie work for the most common situations: when you want to share your movie using

YouTube, Facebook, or MobileMe, and so on; when you want to share your movie with iWeb and other Apple

applications through the Media Browser; and when you want to burn your movie to a disc.

If you want to use a different video compression type, such as Apple Intermediate Codec, and if you’re familiar with

video file formats and compression options, you can use the expert settings to export your files the way you want.

iMovie supports many video formats, including AVI, Image Sequence, and QuickTime.

Multiple video compression options are available with these file formats. For example, when saving your movie in

QuickTime format, you can choose video compression formats such as H.264, MPEG-4 Video, DV/DVCPRO-NTSC,

and others.

iMovie also supports many sound compression formats, such as AAC, Linear PCM, Apple Lossless, and more.

To export your movie with expert settings:

1. In iMovie, open the project or select it in the Project Library, and then choose Share > Export Using

QuickTime.


2. Type a title for your movie in the Save As field.

3. Choose the location where you want to save your movie.

If the location you want doesn’t appear in the pop-up menu, click the blue Arrow button to the right of the

Save As field, and then navigate to the folder you want.

4. Choose the file format you want to export to from the Export pop-up menu.

5. Click Options to see the default settings for compression, quality, key frame rate, frame reordering,

encoding mode, and dimensions.

6. To change the compression settings (known as the codec ), including quality and frame rate, click Settings

(this option isn’t available for all export formats), and then specify your settings. Depending on the export

Customize your QuickTime export with expert settings



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format you choose, you see different codecs and compression options. If you select “Movie to QuickTime

Movie” as your export format, you can make the following adjustments:

To change the compression type, frame rate, key frames, data rate, and compressor quality, click

Settings. Setting a low key frame number (such as every ten frames) creates a better-quality movie

with a larger file size. Set the frame rate last; you might get choppy-looking video playback if you set

the frame rate to less than about 12 frames per second. Settings for higher levels of compressor

quality result in a larger file size for your movie.

To add filter effects, such as blur, color adjustments, or “aging,” click Filter, select a type of filter from

the list, and then make your adjustments. Any filters you apply affect the entire movie. You see a

preview of your changes as you work.

To set the frame size, click Size, and then choose a dimension setting from the pop-up menu. This

size setting affects the overall size of your movie. You can also choose to preserve letterboxing using

this menu.

To export a silent movie, deselect Sound. Or, select it and then click Settings to change the default

sound export settings, including format, sample rate, sample size, and channels.

If you plan to stream this video on the Internet, select “Prepare for Internet Streaming,” and then select

a streaming type. If you select Hinted Streaming, you can further specify streaming behavior, including

payload encoding, packet size, packet duration, QT metadata interval, repeat packets, and repeat

interval.

7. After setting your preferences for export, click Save.

Browse Help ! Organize video ! Organize projects

You can set your Project Library to list projects alphabetically or with the most recent projects at the top.

You can also organize your projects into folders in the Project Library. This is useful if you have a lot of projects and

want to be able to find them more easily. You can put all your travel videos into a Travel folder, all birthday videos into

a Birthdays folder, and so on.

To set how projects are listed in the Project Library:

1. Click the Project Library button to open the Project Library.

2. Choose View > “Most Recent Projects at Top.”

When this option has a checkmark next to it in the menu, projects are listed chronologically. When this

option has no checkmark next to it in the menu, projects are listed alphabetically.

Organize your projects in the Project Library



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To organize your projects into folders:

You can create as many folders as you like to organize your projects.

1. Open the Project Library.

2. Choose File > New Folder.


If New Folder is dimmed (can’t be chosen), click anywhere in the Project Library and then choose New

Folder again.

3. Type a name for the folder in the Folder Name field, and then click Create.

4. Select a project and then drag it to the folder.

5. To open a folder, click the white disclosure triangle to the left of its name.

To close the folder, click the disclosure triangle again.


You can copy or move your iMovie video projects to a compatible external hard disk. Moving or copying projects is

useful if you want to work on a project using another computer that has iMovie installed, or if you want to free up

space on your computer’s hard disk.

To copy or move a project to a hard disk:

1. Connect an external hard disk to your computer.

An icon for the hard disk appears in the Event Library.

Note: To use an external hard disk with iMovie, it must be formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

iMovie doesn’t support network-attached storage or external flash memory drives.

2. In the Project Library, click to select the project you want to copy or move, and then do one of the

following:

To copy the project, drag it to the icon of the hard disk (in the Event Library) to which you want to copy

Copy or move a project to an external hard disk



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it, and then choose “Copy project” or “Copy project and Events.”

If you choose “Copy project,” none of the project’s video and other media (such as photos) is copied to

the other disk. Rather, the project in its new location refers to the media in its original location. This

means that in order to view or further edit the project in its new location, the hard disk where it’s

located must be connected to the computer the project was copied from.

If you choose “Copy projects and Events,” the source video and other media you added to the project

are copied to the new location, which means you can view and edit the project in its new location

without being connected to the computer it was copied from.

To move the project, hold down the Command key as you drag the project to the icon of the hard disk

you want to move it to, and then choose “Move project” or “Move project and Events.”

If you choose “Move project,” none of the project’s source video and other media (such as photos) is

moved to the other disk. Rather, the project in its new location refers to the media in its original

location. This means that in order to view or further edit the project in its new location, the hard disk

where it’s located must be connected to the computer the project was moved from.

If you choose “Move projects and Events,” the source video and other media you added to the project

are moved to the new location and deleted from their original location, which means that you can view

and edit the project in its new location without being connected to the computer the project was moved

from. This also means that any projects still on the original computer that use footage that was moved

refer to the footage in its new location. To view and edit these projects, the computer where they’re

located must be connected to the hard disk the project was moved to.

Moving or copying a large project can take several minutes.

You can consolidate all the media used in a project onto the same disk. This makes it easy to move the project and

edit it from any computer that has iMovie installed. Go to this topic to learn how: Consolidate a project’s media.


If any of the video, music, and other media in a project is stored on a hard disk other than the one on which the

project itself is stored, you can consolidate all the media used in the project onto the same disk as the project.

Consolidating a project’s media makes it easy to collect a complete project on your computer or on one disk so that

you can then edit the project from any computer that has iMovie installed.

To consolidate a project’s media:

1. Connect all external hard disks containing your project media to your computer.

2. Open the project or select it in the Project Library, and then choose File > Consolidate Media.


Note: If the Consolidate Media menu item is dimmed, all of the media used in your project is already on

the same disk as the project.


Consolidate a project’s media



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To copy Events that contain clips used in the project to the same disk as the project, click “Copy the

Events.”

To copy only the video in the clips used in the project to the same disk as the project, click “Copy the

clips.”

To move Events that contain clips used in the project to the same disk as the project, click “Move the

Events.” The Events are deleted from their previous locations.

In all three cases, any iTunes songs used in the project are also copied to the same disk as the project.

Browse Help ! Organize video ! Manage Events

When you import video, or record directly into iMovie, iMovie stores that video (your raw footage) as one or more

Events in the Event Library. This is the source video for all your video projects; when you create a movie or a trailer,you select video clips from your Events and add them to your project. You can then edit the video however you want

within the project without modifying the source video. As a result, after editing video in a project, you can always

revert back to the original, unmodified state of the source video.

When you import video, you name your Events, and then by default iMovie lists them in the Event Library by the date

they were recorded. You can choose to organize the library in other ways, and you can also hide the library to give

yourself more room to work.

In addition to being a powerful tool for making movie projects, iMovie is useful as a video library, a platform for

organizing, accessing, and watching all your footage. By giving your Events meaningful names, such as “Birthday

Party 2010,” “Family Vacation in Belize,” and so on, you can organize all of your video so that it’s readily accessibleand then watch it right in iMovie.


In the Event Library, you can choose to view your Events in a number of ways, including by the date when they were

recorded and the disk they’re stored on.

To reorganize the Event Library:

1. If you don’t see the Event Library, click the Event Library button.

About Events and the Event Library

Organize Events in the Event Library



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2. Do any of the following:

To view Events by the hard disk where they’re stored, choose View > Group Events By Disk, or click

the Hard Disk button in the upper-right corner of the Event Library.

The View menu appears in a l ight gray bar across the top of your computer screen.

Deselect this option in the View menu, or click the Hard Disk button again, to see Events listed by

date.

To view Events by the month when the Event was recorded, choose View > Group Events By Month.

To see Events listed in descending order by the date they were recorded, choose View > “Most

Recent Events at Top.” Deselecting this option in the menu puts the Events in ascending order, with

the oldest Events at the top.

To separate clips in the Event browser by the days they were recorded, choose View > “Show

Separate Days in Events.”

To show information about when the Event was recorded, choose iMovie > Preferences, click Browser

at the top of the pane, and then select the checkbox next to “Show date ranges in Event Library.”


You can move a video clip from one Event to another, which can help keep your clips organized in ways that make

sense to you.

To move video clips from one Event to another:

1. In the Event Library, click to select the Event with the video you want to move.

Move a clip from one Event to another



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2. In the Event browser, select the clip or clips you want to move.

3. Drag the clips to the name of the other Event in the Event Library to which you want to move them.

Release the mouse button when you see the name of the Event highlighted.

4. Click OK.

The Event you moved the clips to may change placement in the Event Library. It will be listed below the year in which

its most recent clip was recorded.

If you drag a large clip from an Event stored on one hard disk to an Event stored on another, the move may take a

few minutes.

You can copy, but not move, a clip from iPhoto Videos to another Event.


You can merge (combine) two or more Events in the Event Library, which lets you keep your video organized in

groupings that make sense to you.

To merge Events:

1. In the Event Library, do one of the following:

To merge one Event with another Event, drag one of the Events to the other one.

You can select more than one Event by holding down the Command key as you select Events. You

can then drag all selected Events to another Event to merge them.

Select two or more Events by holding down the Command key as you select them, and then choose

File > Merge Events.


2. Type a name for the merged Event in the dialog that appears, and then click OK.

If the Events you merged were recorded on different dates, the merged Event appears in the Event Library based on

the date of the newest clip in the now-merged Event.


You can split video footage that makes up a single Event into two Events. Splitting Events can help you keep your

video organized in a way that makes sense to you.

To split an Event:

Merge Events

Split an Event in two



5/5/13 5:57 PM


1. In the Event Library, click to select the Event you want to divide.

2. In the Event browser, select the clip that you want to become the first clip of the new Event.

3. Choose File > Split Event Before Selected Clip.

The Event is divided into two. The newly created Event appears in the Event Library and has the same

name as the original Event, followed by a number. Double-click the name and type a new one.


If you recorded video with a camcorder whose date and time weren’t set accurately, the video might show up in

incorrect chronological order in the Event Library after you import it into iMovie. To put video clips in the correct

chronological order in the Event Library, you can adjust their dates and times.

To adjust a video clip’s date and time:

1. In the Event Library, click to select an Event that contains clips whose date and time you want to change.

2. In the Event browser, select the clip or clips you want to modify, and then choose File > “Adjust Clip Date

and Time.”


3. Enter a new date and time, and then click OK.

The clip is re-sorted in the Event Library based on its new date.

If you selected multiple clips with different dates or times, the date and time you enter are applied to the

most recently recorded clip, and the dates and times of the remaining clips are all adjusted relative to that

clip.


To change the name of an Event:

In the Event Library, double-click the Event’s name, and then type a new name.

Browse Help!

Organize video!

Manage Events

Adjust the date and time of a video clip

Change the name of an Event

Delete unwanted video clips from an Event



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You can delete unwanted video clips from an Event, which frees up space on your computer. To do so, you need to

mark the video as “rejected,” move it to the Trash, and then empty the Trash so that the video is deleted from your

hard disk. After it’s deleted, the video can’t be restored.

Deleting video from your project isn’t the same as deleting it from an Event. If you want to delete video only from your

project while retaining it as source video in an Event, go to this topic: Delete video from your project.

To delete video clips permanently from your Event Library:

1. In the Event Library, click to select the Event you want to delete video from.

2. In the Event browser, select the frames or clips you want to remove from the Event, and then press Delete

or click the Reject button (shown below) in the iMovie toolbar.

(The Reject button also has a small “x” if you have Advanced Tools turned on.)

If you’ve chosen All Clips from the Show pop-up menu (shown below), which appears below the Event

browser, a red line appears across the top of the rejected frames.

If you’ve chosen Favorites Only or “Favorites and Unmarked,” the rejected clips disappear from view.

3. Choose File > “Move Rejected Clips to Trash.”

All the clips that are currently marked as “rejected” in any Event or project are queued to move to the

Trash. This includes clips you may have marked previously, not only those you just rejected.

4. In the dialog that appears, do one of the following:

If you’re confident you know which clips you’ve previously rejected and you want to delete all of them,

click “Move to Trash.”

The video is removed from your Events, but it still occupies space in the Trash.

If you want to review the clips that you’ve marked for deletion, click View Rejected Clips.

The Event browser shows just the rejected clips in the selected Event. Select any clips that you don’t

want to delete, and then click the Unmark button.

To delete the rejected clips, click the “Move Rejected to Trash” button (A, below) in the upper-right

corner of the Rejected Clips window.

Click the “Move to Trash” button in the dialog that appears; the video is removed from your Events, but

it still occupies space in the Trash.

5. Click the desktop outside of the iMovie window to see the Finder menus at the top of your computer

screen, and then choose Finder > Empty Trash.

The video is permanently removed from your hard disk.

6. To bring the remaining clips back into view, click Hide Rejected (B, above) in the upper-right corner of the



5/5/13 5:57 PM


Rejected Clips window, or choose Favorites Only, “Favorites and Unmarked,” or All Clips from the Show

pop-up menu, below the Event browser.


Video files take up a lot of space on hard disks, so it can be helpful to get rid of video footage you don’t use.

You can quickly delete all the video in an Event that you haven’t used in a project, haven’t marked as “favorite,” or

haven’t marked with a keyword. Before you begin, make sure you’ve marked as “favorite” or marked with a keyword

any video that you want to keep but haven’t used in any of your video projects.

To delete all the excess video in an Event:

1. In the Event Library, select one or more Events.

To select more than one Event at a time, press Command as you click Event names.

2. Choose File > Space Saver.


3. Select any of the following:

To reject all of the video that hasn’t been added to an iMovie project, select “Not added to any project.”

To reject all of the video that you haven’t marked as “favorite,” select “Not marked as Favorite.”

To reject all of the video that you haven’t marked with a keyword, select “Not marked with a keyword.”

4. Click “Reject and Review.”

The view changes to show only the rejected clips in the selected Events.

5. Review the clips in the Event browser to make sure that you haven’t accidentally rejected some clips that

you want to keep.

If you want to keep some of the clips that have been rejected, select them, and then click the Unmark

button (shown below) to remove the rejected status. When you do this, they disappear from the view.

6. When the clips left in the view are just those you want to delete, click “Move Rejected to Trash” (A, below)

in the upper-right corner of the Rejected Clips window.

Click the “Move to Trash” button in the dialog that appears.

7. To delete the clips permanently from your hard disk and free up space, click the desktop outside of the

iMovie window to see the Finder menus at the top of your computer screen, and then choose

Finder > Empty Trash.

The clips are permanently deleted.

Delete all excess video from an Event



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8. To bring the remaining clips back into view, click Hide Rejected (B, above) in the upper-right corner of the

Rejected Clips window, or choose Favorites Only, “Favorites and Unmarked,” or All Clips from the Show

pop-up menu below the Event Library.


To delete an entire Event:

1. In the Event Library, click to select the Event you want to delete.

2. Choose File > “Move Event to Trash.”


3. To delete the Event permanently from your hard disk and free up space, click the desktop outside of the

iMovie window to see the Finder menus at the top of your computer screen, and then choose

Finder > Empty Trash.


To save space on your computer’s hard disk, you can move video in your Event Library to an external hard disk

connected to your computer.

You can also copy Events to an external hard disk. You might do this, for example, to create a duplicate copy of your

entire video library or to copy an Event to a friend’s hard disk.

Note: To use an external hard disk with iMovie, it must be formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). iMovie doesn’t

support network-attached storage or external flash memory drives.

To copy or move Events to another hard disk:

1. Connect a compatible external hard disk drive to your computer.

2. In iMovie, click the Hard Disk button to see all available hard disks, which are listed in your Event Library.

The button is located in the upper-right corner of the Event Library.

3. Select the Events you want to move or copy.

To select more than one Event at a time, press Command as you click Event names.

Delete an Event

Copy or move video from your Event Library to an external hard disk



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To copy the Events, drag them to the icon of the hard disk, in the Event Library, you want to copy them

to.

To move the Events, hold down the Command key as you drag the Events to the icon of the hard disk

you want to move them to.

The Events are moved, and they’re deleted from the original location. Any projects using clips from themoved Events refer to the clips at their new location. This means that the hard disk to which you have

moved the Events must be connected to the computer where the projects are in order for you to play

or further edit the projects in iMovie.

If you’re moving a large amount of video at once, this process may take several minutes.


If you’ve selected an Event in the Event Library but you don’t see any source video clips within it, you may have

chosen an Event browser view that hides your clips.

To show the source video clips within an Event:

Choose an option from the Show pop-up menu below the Event browser.

Favorites Only: Shows only the frames you’ve marked as “favorite.”

Favorites and Unmarked: Shows only the clips you’ve marked as “favorite” or left unmarked.

All Clips: Shows all video in the Event.

Rejected Only: Shows only the video you’ve marked as “rejected.”

“Favorites and Unmarked” is the recommended view for working with Event clips. If you’re in a different view, you can

press Command-L to switch back to the “Favorites and Unmarked” view at any time.

SEE ALSO

Mark and unmark video as “favorite” or “rejected”

Browse Help ! Organize video ! Rate and tag video

iMovie offers three ways to let you mark video footage so that you can find or sort it later. Marking video can speed

the process of creating projects because it facilitates finding the exact footage you want.

Marking video as “favorite” or “rejected”: In most cases, your Events (source video) contain footage that you’d like

If you can’t see any source video clips in a selected Event

About rating and tagging video



5/5/13 5:57 PM


to use in projects as well as footage you would never use in a project. You can flag clips in your source video as

“favorite” or “rejected” as you skim the video. Later, when you’re creating a project, you can sort the Event

browser to see just the video flagged as “favorite.”

Tagging video with keywords: Tagging your Events with keywords helps you keep your video library organized

and makes it easier to find the specific footage you want. For example, you can tag all the landscape shots from

your last vacation with the term “landscape,” and later, when you’re creating a project featuring your vacation, you

can easily find all the landscape shots.

You can add any combination of keywords to any clip so that you can sort using very specific parameters. For

example, in addition to tagging some of your video with the keyword “landscape,” you can also tag some of your

shots with the additional keyword “trees” and others with the additional keyword “family.” That way, you can find

footage featuring your family against the landscape, footage featuring trees, and so on. You tag video with

keywords using the Keywords window.

Adding comment markers and chapter markers: You can mark any selection of video in your project with a

comment and then easily return to it by choosing the comment marker from the markers pop-up menu. Comment

markers are functional only in the Project browser.

You can also mark any frame of video in a project with a chapter marker and then easily return to the frame bychoosing the chapter marker from the markers pop-up menu.


Your Event (source) video may contain sections that you don’t like or that you might never want to use in a project.

For example, there might be several frames where the image is blurry or chaotic, or frames where the imagery isn’t

particularly captivating.

You can easily mark the clips you like and the clips you don’t like as you review your source video. When you’re ready

to make a project, or play your video for your friends, you can focus on your best footage by choosing to display only

your favorite video.

You can delete rejected video to free up space on your hard disk.

To mark video using basic tools:

1. In the Event browser, select a frame range, a clip, or multiple clips you want to mark.


If you like the video, press the F key or click the “Mark as Favorite” button.

In the Event browser, a green line appears at the top of frames you’ve marked as “favorite.”

If you don’t like the video, press the R key, press the Delete key, or click the Reject button.

The marked video disappears from view. (If, however, you’ve chosen All Clips from the Show pop-up




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menu below the Event browser, you still see the rejected video.)

A red line appears at the top of frames you’ve marked as “rejected.”

You can also mark video as “favorite” while you’re playing back footage in the Event browser. Move the

playhead (the red vertical line) anywhere before the beginning of footage you want to mark, and then press the

Space bar. Press the F key to mark the start of the favorite range, and press it again to mark the end of the

range. Continue marking as much footage as you want as the video plays. To stop playback, press the Space

bar again.

To mark video using Advanced Tools as you skim video:

You can make the pointer into a “tool” to mark any video you select as “favorite” or “rejected” as you skim it.

Depending on how you like to work, this process can speed up how you sort video for just the best footage.


2. Click to select the Event you want to mark in the Event Library.

3. Click the “Mark as Favorite” (the solid star) or Reject (the red “x”) button.

Notice that the pointer’s appearance changes, indicating that it’s now a tool.

4. In the Event browser, drag across the thumbnails of any clip to mark a range of frames, or Shift-click to

mark an entire clip, as “favorite” or “rejected.”

You can do this as many times as you like.

If you want to switch markers (for example, if you want to change from marking video as “favorite” to

marking it as “rejected”), click the other button, and then continue selecting video.

Note: If you select a frame range before clicking a tool button, the button icons change (a plus sign

appears on the button), indicating that they’re not tool buttons, and the pointer functions as it does when

Advanced Tools aren’t enabled. If the buttons are in this new state and you want to use Advanced Tools,

click anywhere outside of the clips, and then click a tool button.

5. When you’re finished with the tool, click the Pointer button to leave tool mode.

To unmark video:

1. Make sure the video clips you want to see are showing in the Event browser.

You might need to choose a new option from the Show pop-up menu (shown below) below the Event

browser so that all the clips you need to access are visible. (For example, if you need to see rejected

clips, choose All Clips or Rejected Only.)



5/5/13 5:57 PM



If Advanced Tools are turned off, in the Event browser, select the video you want to unmark as

“favorite” or “rejected,” and then press the U key or click the Unmark button.

If Advanced Tools are turned on, in the Event browser, click the Unmark button (shown above), and

then drag across the thumbnails of any clip to unmark a range of frames, or Shift-click to unmark an

entire clip.

In both cases, the green or red line at the top of the video disappears.


You can show or hide Event video that you’ve marked as “favorite” or “rejected,” or that you’ve left unmarked.

To sort marked video:

1. In the Event Library, click to select the Event you want to search.

2. Choose an option from the Show pop-up menu below the Event browser.

Favorites Only: Shows only the frames you’ve marked as “favorite.”

Favorites and Unmarked: Shows only the clips you’ve marked as “favorite” or left unmarked.

All Clips: Shows all video in the Event.

Rejected Only: Shows only the video you’ve marked as "rejected.”


You can add comment markers and chapter markers to any video in your projects so that you can easily skip to the

sections you’ve marked. You can add as many comment markers and chapter markers as you like.

Comment markers: You can mark any frame of video in your project with a comment and then return to the frame

by choosing the comment marker from the markers pop-up menu. Comment markers don’t appear in finished

projects; they appear only in the Project browser.

Chapter markers: When you use chapter markers to mark specific points in your movie, viewers can use the

markers to quickly jump to those points in the movie after it’s been exported or burned to DVD. Also, as with

comment markers, you can mark any frame of video with a chapter marker and then easily return to the frame bychoosing the chapter marker from the markers pop-up menu.

Sort for video marked as “favorite” or “rejected”

Add comment markers and chapter markers



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Applications and devices that recognize iMovie chapter markers include iTunes, iPod, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Front

Row, QuickTime Player, DVD Player, and most standard DVD players.

To add comment markers or chapter markers:

1. Open your project, and if you don’t see the Chapter Marker and Comment Marker buttons (shown below)

in the upper-right corner of the Project browser, turn on Advanced Tools.

2. Drag a comment marker (A, below) or a chapter marker (B, below) to a frame in your project.

A brown comment marker (A, below) or an orange chapter marker (B, below) appears above the video

clip, with a placeholder number selected for editing.

3. Type a comment or a chapter name for the marker.

If you want to retitle a marker later, double-click its colored bar in the Project browser and then type a new

title.

To skip to a marked frame in your project:

Choose a comment or a chapter name from the pop-up menu in the upper-right corner of the Project

browser. If you have titles in your project, you can also choose a title.

The marker you chose is outlined in yellow in the Project browser so that you can easily find it.

To export your movie with chapter markers:

If you’ve added chapter markers to your project, you can simply burn the project to a DVD or export it, and the

chapter markers will be recognized by iDVD, iTunes, iPod, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Front Row, QuickTime

Player, DVD Player, and most standard DVD players.

Click to select the project in the Project Library, or open the project, and then do one of the tasks listed

below. The Share menu appears in a light gray bar across the top of your computer screen.

To share your movie with iDVD, choose Share > iDVD, and then burn it to a DVD.

To share your movie with iTunes, choose Share > iTunes.

To send your movie to the Media Browser, choose Share > Media Browser.

When you send a project to the Media Browser, it will be available for use in iDVD the next time you

open iDVD, which recognizes chapter markers.

To export your movie as a movie file, choose Share > Export Movie.



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Keep in mind that movies exported in the tiny format don’t include chapter markers.

To export your movie using advanced QuickTime options, choose Share > “Export using QuickTime.”


You can apply one or more keywords to any selection of video in an Event (source video). You can then sort the

Event by keywords to see just the video you want. Sorting can be helpful when you’re creating a project. For example,

you could mark all the video that includes a specific location with that location’s name as a keyword (“swimming pool,”

for example). You could later sort for that name when you needed to choose footage of that location to include in a

project.

There are two ways to apply keywords to video. You can first select video to apply keywords to and then apply

keywords to it one by one. Or, you can use Advanced Tools to add keywords. With this method, you first select one or

more keywords you want to apply to video, and then select the video to apply them to. This method lets you add thesame set of keywords to many different video clips very quickly.

To apply keywords individually:

1. In the Event browser, select video (a frame range or one or more clips) you want to add keywords to.

2. Click the Keywords button in the iMovie toolbar to open the Keywords window.

If you don’t see the Keywords button, you need to turn on Advanced Tools.

3. At the top of the Keywords window, click Inspector.

iMovie comes with a number of keywords already set.

4. To add keywords to video, select those you want to apply; deselect any you don’t want to apply.

If a keyword has a number next to it, you can simply press the corresponding number key on your

keyboard to add that keyword.

A blue line appears at the top of the selected video, indicating that keywords have been applied to it.

5. To add a new keyword to the list, type it in the Keyword field, and then click “Add to Clip.”

This action applies the newly created keyword to the selected video, and it adds the keyword to the

Keywords list so that you can use the new keyword in the future.

6. The presence of a dash in the checkbox next to a keyword indicates that part of the selected video has

already been tagged with this keyword. Click the dash to select the keyword and apply it to all the selected

video; click it again to deselect it and remove it from all the selected video.

7. Continue to apply keywords to other video: drag across the thumbnails of any clip to select a frame range,

or Option-click to select an entire clip, and then select keywords to apply.

8. When you’re finished adding keywords, close the Keywords window or click the Pointer button.

Apply keywords to video



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In the Keyword inspector, you can reorder keywords in the list by dragging them to the positions where you

want them to appear.

To tag many video clips with the same keyword combination:



2. Click Auto-Apply at the top of the Keywords window.

3. Select the keywords you want to apply, and deselect those you don’t want.

4. If you want to add a keyword to the list, type it in the New Keyword field, and then click Add Keyword.

To remove a keyword from the list, select it and then click Remove.

5. In the Event browser, drag across the thumbnails of any clip to select a frame range, or Option-click to

select an entire clip you want to add the keywords to.

The keywords are applied to the video. You can continue to select video in this manner to apply the same

combination of keywords to.

A blue line appears at the top of the video, indicating that keywords have been applied to it.

6. When you’re finished adding keywords, close the Keywords window or click the Pointer button.

To remove keywords from video:

You can remove some or all keywords from a video clip at any time after you’ve applied them.



2. Click Inspector at the top of the Keywords window.

3. In the Event browser, drag across the thumbnails of any clip to select a frame range, or Option-click to

select an entire clip that has keywords applied to it.

In the Keywords window, checkmarks appear in the checkboxes next to the keywords already applied to

the entire video. The presence of a dash in the checkbox next to a keyword indicates that part of the

selected video has been tagged with the keyword.


To remove some keywords, click the checkmark, or double-click the dash, next to any keyword you



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want to remove. The checkbox should be empty.

To remove all keywords, click Remove All at the bottom of the Keywords window.

5. When you’re finished removing keywords, close the Keywords window or click the Pointer button.


You can sort your Event video to quickly find any frame range you’ve tagged with specific keywords.

To find video tagged with specific keywords:

1. To open the Keyword Filtering pane, click the Keyword Filter button.

If you don’t see the Keyword Filter button, you need to turn on Advanced Tools.

2. Select the “Filter by Keyword” checkbox at the top of the pane.

3. Select the keywords you want to use to “filter” the video by clicking the right side of the button next to a

keyword so that it turns green.

To deselect a keyword, click again.

4. To exclude video tagged with any keyword, click the left side of the button so that it turns red.

Any video tagged with that keyword is hidden from view. To show the video again, click the button again.

5. At the bottom of the pane, click one of the following filtering buttons to show or hide the video tagged with

the keywords you’ve selected:

Any: Finds any video tagged with one or more of the keywords you’ve selected.

All: Finds only the video tagged with the combination of keywords you’ve selected.

6. To see all video in the Event again, deselect the “Filter by Keyword” checkbox at the top of the pane.

7. When you’re done, click the Keyword Filter button to close the Keyword Filtering pane.

Browse Help!

Organize video!

Mark video that features people

Find video tagged with specific keywords




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iMovie can analyze your Events (source video) for people and then tag this video so that you can easily find it later.

Video is tagged according to the distance of the people in the shot (whether they are close up, in the medium

distance, or far away). Video is also tagged by the number of people it contains: one person, two people, or more than

two people (a group). (iMovie doesn’t recognize the identity of people.)

The ability to quickly find video containing images of people can facilitate creating projects. It is especially useful for

creating trailers, whose templates require specific types of shots that feature your “cast.”

To analyze video for people during import:

You can choose to analyze your source video for people when you import it into iMovie from your video

camera. The topics about importing video in the Import section of iMovie Help explain how: Import video

from a USB camcorder or camera and Import video from a tape-based (FireWire-equipped) camcorder.

To analyze video for people after importing:

You can choose to have iMovie analyze your Events (source video) for people at any time after you import the

video.

1. In the Event Library, click to select the Event you want to analyze.

2. Choose File > Analyze Video > People.


Choose “Stabilization and People” if you also want to analyze the Event for stabilization.

If the Event you selected is long, analyzing it can be time consuming; you might want to do it while you’re

going to be away from your computer.

When analysis is complete, a People button appears below the Event browser to indicate that the Event

has been analyzed for people.

3. Click the People button to see just the frames in the Event that include images of people.

You can also perform a more fine-tuned search for footage containing people using the Keyword Filtering

pane.

Browse Help ! Organize video ! Mark video that features people

If you have analyzed an Event for the presence of people, you can sort it to see just the footage that contains people.

To find all footage that shows people in an Event:

When video within an Event has been analyzed for the presence of people, a purple icon appears below the

Event browser.




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1. In the Event Library, click to select the Event you want to search.

2. Click the People button.

The Event browser refreshes to show just the video that contains people.

You can see all video from the selected Event that contains people without clicking the People button. Clipsthat contain images of people are displayed in the Event browser with a purple line across the top, along with

all other footage in the Event.

To find specific Event video that shows people:

1. In the Event Library, click to select the Event (already analyzed for people) you want to search.

2. Click the Keyword Filter button, below the Event Library, to open the Keyword Filtering pane.


3. Select the “Filter by Keyword” checkbox at the top of the pane.

4. Click the buttons next to the parameters you want to search for to set your filter.

When the button is green, the filter includes that parameter; when the button is red, it doesn’t.

The possible parameters are People (one or more people), One Person, Two People, Group (two or morepeople), and Closeup, Medium (a medium-range shot), and Wide (a wide-angle shot). You see just the

parameters that apply to the selected footage.

5. Click Any or All at the bottom of the Keyword Filtering pane to find footage that corresponds to any of your

selected parameters or that corresponds to all of the parameters at once.

For example, if you want to find close-up shots of a single person, click the Closeup and One Person

buttons so that they’re green, and then click All.

As you select search parameters, the corresponding clips appear in the Event browser on the right.


Browse Help ! Organize video ! Mark video that has panning motion

To mark video that features camera pans:

Mark video that features camera pans



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You can have iMovie mark the sections of video in an Event where the camera pans left or right. You can then

filter for these sections, which can be useful when creating projects. The sequence you’re editing may require a

pan from left to right or right to left, for example, for continuity and pacing of the action.

1. In the Event browser, select one or more video clips that have already been analyzed for stabilization.

2. Choose File > Analyze Video > Mark Camera Pans.


If the video hasn’t already been analyzed for stabilization, choosing this option starts the stabilization

process. After stabilization is complete, iMovie marks the sections of video that contain camera pans.

Video that has camera pans is marked with a blue line across the top.

Browse Help ! Organize video ! Mark video that has panning motion

To find video that has panning motion:

When an Event (source video) has been analyzed for camera pans, it can then be fil tered so that you see just

footage that pans left, pans right, or pans in both directions. Filtering helps you find footage to use in specific

places in your projects.

1. In the Event Library, click to select the Event (already marked for camera pans) you want to search.

2. Click the Keyword Filter button, below the Event Library, to open the Keyword Filtering pane.


3. Make sure “Filter by Keyword” is selected at the top of the pane.

4. Click the buttons next to Pan Left and Pan Right to set your filter.

When the button is green, the filter includes that parameter; when the button is red, it excludes thatparameter.

5. Click Any or All at the bottom of the Keyword Filtering pane to find footage that corresponds to any of your

selected parameters or that corresponds to all of the parameters at once.

As you select search parameters, the corresponding clips appear in the Event browser on the right.


Browse Help ! Organize video

Filter for video with camera pans



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You can print images of video clips as they appear in an Event or a project.

To print video clips:

Click anywhere within a project (in the Project browser) or an Event (in the Event browser), and then chooseFile > Print Project or File > Print Event.


All clips in the project or Event, not just the selected clip, are printed as they currently appear in the Project

browser or Event browser.

Browse Help ! Optimize the iMovie window for your work style

To suit your work style, you can enlarge or shrink the individual thumbnail images that make up each video clip

(filmstrip) in the Project browser and Event browser.

To resize thumbnails:

Drag the thumbnail size slider to the right or left.

You can also expand or contract filmstrips to see more or fewer thumbnails in each clip. The expanded view makes it

easier to select video more precisely. The contracted view gives you a better sense of the overall project and allows

you to move clips within the project more easily.


Each video clip in iMovie is represented by a series of thumbnail images called a filmstrip . Each thumbnail can

represent several seconds of video encompassing hundreds of video frames (individual images).

You can expand the filmstrips to see more thumbnails in each clip. This expanded view makes it easier to select video

more precisely. The most expanded setting displays one thumbnail image for each one-half second of video footage.

By contracting the filmstrips, you can see more video clips at once in the Project browser or Event browser. This

contracted view gives you a better sense of the overall project and allows you to move clips within a project more

easily. The most contracted setting represents each clip with a single thumbnail.

To expand or contract filmstrips:

Print images of Event or project clips

Resize thumbnail images

See more or fewer thumbnail images for each video clip



5/5/13 5:57 PM



Drag the clip slider to the left to expand the filmstrips or to the right to contract them. The number that

appears to the right of the slider indicates how many seconds of video are represented by each thumbnail

image.

The clip slider below the Project browser affects just the filmstrips in your projects; the clip slider below the

Event browser affects just the filmstrips in your Events.

If you have a MacBook Air, or a MacBook or MacBook Pro with a trackpad that supports Multi-Touch

gestures, move the pointer over the Event browser or Project browser, and then pinch two fingers closed

to contract the filmstrips, or pinch open to expand them.


You can work in iMovie using the full screen of your display to take advantage of every pixel it offers.

To use iMovie in Full Screen:

Click the Full Screen button in the upper-right corner of the iMovie window, or choose View > Enter Full

Screen.

In Full Screen, the gray menu bar at the top of your screen disappears. Make it appear by moving your

pointer to the top of the screen.

To exit Full Screen, click the Full Screen button in the upper-right corner of the menu bar, choose View >

Exit Full Screen, or press Escape.

To learn how to play back your projects and Events so they fill the entire screen, instead of just the viewer, go to this

topic: Play your video in full-screen playback mode.


The default size of the viewer is slightly more than one-sixth of your total screen area. This is the medium size setting

for the viewer.

To view your video in more detail, you can change the viewer setting to large, making it nearly twice the default size.

If you want more space to see and work with the video clips, you can change the viewer setting to small, making itabout one-third of the default size.

Use Full Screen

Change the size of the viewer in the iMovie window



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To change the viewer size:


Choose Window > Viewer > [size ].


Drag the light gray horizontal toolbar in the middle of the iMovie window up or down.

To resize the entire iMovie window:


To enlarge the window to full screen, click the green Zoom button in the upper-left corner of the iMovie

window.

Drag the lower-right corner of the iMovie window.

You can further rearrange the iMovie window to optimize your workspace by swapping the locations of the Project

browser and Event browser.

SEE ALSO

Play your video in full-screen playback modeView playback on a second display


If you have a Magic Trackpad, or a MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro with a trackpad that supports Multi-

Touch technology, you can use a Multi-Touch gesture to expand or contract filmstrips in iMovie.

To expand or contract filmstrips:

Move the pointer over the Event browser or Project browser, and then pinch two fingers closed to contract

the filmstrips, or pinch open to expand them.


You can optimize the iMovie workspace by rearranging or resizing some of its elements. Try different arrangements to

Use your computer’s Multi-Touch trackpad

Rearrange the iMovie window to optimize workspace



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find the best one for your work style.

To optimize the iMovie workspace:


Click the Swap button (shown below) to exchange the screen space used for projects (the Project Library

and the Project browser) with the screen space used for Events (the Event Library and the Event

browser).

Your project workspace is the largest when the Project browser is at the bottom of the iMovie window.

Also, when your project workspace moves to the bottom of the iMovie window, single-row view is engaged

automatically.

Click the Event Library button (in the lower-left corner of the Event Library) to show or hide the Event

Library, which expands or shrinks the space available for viewing Event video clips.

If Advanced Tools are turned on, click the Keyword Filter button (below the Event Library) to further

expand or shrink the space available for viewing Events.

Change the size of the iMovie viewer (the area in the iMovie window where the video plays). Go to this

topic to learn how: Change the size of the viewer in the iMovie window.

If you have a second display connected to your computer, you can set iMovie to display the viewer on the

second display, leaving more room for your workspace in the iMovie window. Go to this topic to learn how:

View playback on a second display.


By default, iMovie displays video in the Project browser in multiple rows. This view lets you see more clips in a single

window, but it requires you to scroll vertically through longer projects. In this view, video clips often break across two

rows. This break is represented by jagged edges on the right side of one row and on the left side of the next row

down.

iMovie lets you view projects horizontally as well, which means that the entire project is laid out in a single row (single-

row view). To see the entire project, it’s necessary to scroll horizontally, but clips are never broken. Therefore, it can

be easier to see the project’s progression. Single-row view also makes it easier to view and manipulate other project

elements, such as sound clips and titles.

Set the Project browser to display video in a single row



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To display projects horizontally:

Click the Horizontal Display button in the upper-right corner of the Project browser.

To see more of the horizontal display, click the Swap button in the iMovie toolbar to exchange the

placement of the Project browser and the Event browser.

After you click the Horizontal Display button, all other projects open in horizontal orientation until you

switch back to the default view by clicking the button again.


To optimize your workspace, you can hide the Event Library or the Keyword Filtering pane. When you need to select

a different Event or filter by keywords, you can make the Event Library or Keyword Filtering pane visible again.

To show or hide the Event Library:

Choose Window > Show Event Library or Window > Hide Event Library, or click the Event Library button.


To show or hide the Keyword Filtering pane:

If Advanced Tools are turned on, you can filter Events by keywords using the Keyword Filtering pane.

Click the Keyword Filter button (shown below) in the lower-left corner of the iMovie window, or chooseWindow > Show Keyword Filter or Window > Hide Keyword Filter.


SEE ALSO


Find video tagged with specific keywords

Show or hide the Event Library or the Keyword Filtering pane



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You can have iMovie display the precise duration of the video clips in your Events (source video), and of the video

clips and other elements in your projects. iMovie displays this timecode information in the standard format of

HH:MM:SS:Frames (hours, minutes, seconds, frames).

To display timecode values:

Choose iMovie > Preferences, click General, and then select “Display time as HH:MM:SS:Frames.”


In the Project browser, durations are displayed in timecode format as you move your pointer over the left

end of video clips and over transition effect icons. They also appear in the upper-left corner of the colored

bars that represent background music, titles, sound effects, and voiceovers.

In the Event browser, durations are displayed in timecode format as you move your pointer over video

clips.

You can also set iMovie to show playhead information, which lets you see the timecode values for the frame where

your pointer rests as you skim your video.


As you skim your pointer across video clips in the Project browser or Event browser, you can instantly view the date

and time that any video frame was recorded, as well as any keywords applied to the frame. This information appears

above the frame.

To view information about each frame:

Choose View > Playhead Info.



When you turn on Advanced Tools in iMovie, you get access to a number of controls that let you streamline your

Display the precise duration of video clips

View date, time, and keywords for video

Turn on Advanced Tools



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workflow, categorize and filter your video, and create interesting video effects.

With Advanced Tools turned on, you can do the following:

Add video to the end of a project just by selecting it in the Event browser.

Mark video as “favorite,” “rejected,” or “unmarked” just by selecting it.

Tag and filter your video with keywords.

Easily replace a clip in your project with an equal length of video from a selected Event clip.

Add chapter markers and comments to your movie projects.

Add cutaway, picture-in-picture, and split-screen (side-by-side) clips.

Use green-screen and blue-screen effects to superimpose video over other video clips or animated backgrounds.

See the topics listed under “See also” below for instructions about how to do these tasks.

To turn on Advanced Tools:

Choose iMovie > Preferences, click General, and then select Show Advanced Tools.


The following new elements appear in the iMovie window:

The Keywords button in the toolbar gives you access to the Keywords window, which you use to tag video

with keywords.

The Comment Marker button (A, below) and Chapter Marker (B, below) button let you add chaptermarkers and comments to your movie projects.

The Pointer button in the toolbar closes any tool you have open. These tools appear in the toolbar to the

right of the Pointer button. They include the “Add to Project” tool and the tools used to mark video as

“favorite” and “rejected.”

The Keyword Filter button, below the Event Library, shows or hides the Keyword Filtering pane, which lets

you sort your video based on keywords.

SEE ALSO

Add comment markers and chapter markers

Add a cutaway clip

Add a picture-in-picture clip

Add a side-by-side clip



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Replace a video clip in your project




You can use your keyboard to quickly accomplish many tasks in iMovie. To learn the shortcuts for common

commands, refer to the list below. You can also access this list within iMovie by choosing Help > Keyboard Shortcuts.

To complete an action, press the shortcut keys indicated in the list. The Command key must be pressed in

combination with other keys for some of the shortcuts listed below. The Command key appears immediately to the left

and right of the Space bar on most keyboards. It may feature an Apple icon or a propeller icon.

Another way to access relevant commands is to use shortcut menus. These are context-sensitive menus that list mostof the commands you can use while working with items in the iMovie window. To access a shortcut menu for an item

in the iMovie window, hold down the Control key while you click the item.

Action Shortcut

Get information

Open iMovie Help Command-Shift-Question Mark (?)

Open the Project Properties window Command-J

Open the Project Theme window Command-Shift-J

Show playhead info

Shows date, time, and keywords for video frames above the

playhead.

Command-Y

Import and export

Import from camera Command-I

Export movie Command-E

Play video

Play video beginning from the frame beneath the pointer Space bar

Play 1 second of video total—0.5 seconds before the pointer and

0.5 seconds after

Plays only 0.5 seconds of video from the beginning of the selection

or to the end of the selection if the pointer is resting within the

selection border.

Left Bracket ([)

Play three seconds of video total—1.5 seconds before the pointer

and 1.5 seconds after

Plays only 1.5 seconds of video from the beginning of the selection

or to the end of the selection if the pointer is resting within the

selection border.

Right Bracket (])

Keyboard shortcuts and shortcut menus



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Play selection Slash (/)

Play selected event or project from the beginning Backslash (\)

In the Event browser, speed up playback from 1x to 2x to 4x by

pressing the key one time or two times, respectively

Right Arrow key

In the Event browser, slow down playback from 4x to 2x to 1x by

pressing the key one time or two times, respectively

This action works only if you’ve already sped up the playback.

Left Arrow key

When playing Event video, jump forward 3 seconds (6 seconds

when playing at 2x speed or 12 seconds when playing at 4x speed)

Shift-Down Arrow key

When playing Event video, jump back 3 seconds (6 seconds when

playing at 2x speed or 12 seconds when playing at 4x speed)

Shift-Up Arrow key

When playing Event video, jump forward to the next clip Down Arrow key

When playing Event video, jump to the beginning of the current clip,

or jump to the previous clip if the playhead is near the beginning of

the current clip

Up Arrow key

Play the selected Event or project full screen Command-G

Exit full-screen mode Escape (Esc) key

Move the playhead by one frame Left Arrow key or Right Arrow key

Freeze the playhead Hold down Control key

When skimming, keep the cursor in the middle of the row Option-Shift

Manage projects and events

Create new project Command-N

Move to Trash

Moves the selected project (in the Project Library), Event (in the

Event Library), or Event clip (in the Event browser) to the Trash. If

only part of an Event clip is selected, the entire clip is moved to the

Trash.

Command-Delete key

Open iMovie preferences Command-Comma (,)

Page setup Command-Shift-P

Print selected Event or project filmstrips Command-P

Select and edit video

Select an entire project or Event clip when a partial clip is selected,

or select all project or Event clips when an entire clip is selected

Command-A

Select to playhead

Expands or contracts the selection from the nearest selection

border to the playhead.

Shift-A

Deselect all clips Command-Shift-A



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Add selected frames to project E

Split a clip on both ends of a selection (longer than five frames), or

at the playhead position if nothing is selected

Command-Shift-S

Cut selected frames Command-X

Copy selected frames Command-C

Paste selected frames Command-V

Paste all adjustments Command-Shift-V

Paste video adjustments Command-Option-I

Paste audio adjustments Command-Option-A

Paste crop adjustments Command-Option-R

Paste cutaway, green-screen, or picture-in-picture adjustments

Pastes adjustments, depending on which type of video is selected.

Command-Option-U

Paste video effect Command-Option-L

Paste audio effect Command-Option-O

Paste stabilization adjustments Command-Option-Z

Paste rolling shutter Command-Option-T

Paste speed adjustments Command-Option-S

Paste map style Command-Option-M

Start or end marking section of video as “favorite” F

Unmark selected frames U

Reject selected frames (mark for deletion) R

Reject selected frames (mark for deletion) in Events, or delete

selected frames from project

Delete key

View favorite and unmarked video in Event browser Command-L

Show fine-tuning controls Command-Option

Move selection to the left by one frame Left Arrow key

Move selection to the right by one frame Right Arrow key

Nudge project clip startpoint or endpoint to the right by one frame Option-Right Arrow key with pointer placed within selection border

near clip startpoint or endpoint

Nudge project clip startpoint or endpoint to the left by one frame Option-Left Arrow key with pointer placed within selection border

near clip startpoint or endpoint

Trim to selection in selected project clip Command-B

Open Clip Trimmer when clip is selected Command-R



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Open Precision Editor Command-Slash (/)

Open Keywords window K

Remove all keywords from selection 0 (zero)

Open crop, rotate, Ken Burns effect editor C

Open Clip Adjustments pane of inspector I

Open Video Adjustments pane of inspector V

Work with audio

Open “Music and Sound Effects” pane Command-1

Open Audio Adjustments panel of inspector A

Open Voiceover window O

Turn on or silence audio while skimming video Command-K

In Clip Trimmer, set beat marker during audio playback M

Turn on or turn off “Snap to Beats” Command-U

Undo last action Command-Z

Redo last action Command-Shift-Z

Edit text

Show Fonts panel Command-T

Make selected text bold Command-Shift-B

Make selected text italic Command-Shift-I

Underline selected text Command-Shift-U

Add outline to selected text Command-Shift-O

Make selected text bigger Command-Shift-Plus sign (+) or Command-Equal sign (=)

Make selected text smaller Command-Minus sign (-)

Align text left Command-Shift-Left Brace ({)

Align text center Command-Shift-Vertical Slash (|)

Align text right Command-Shift-Right Brace (})

Copy selected text Command-C

Cut selected text Command-X

Paste copied text Command-V

Copy text style Command-Option-C

Paste text style Command-Option-V



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Tighten kerning Command-Option-Left Arrow key

Loosen kerning Command-Option-Right Arrow key

iMovie window

Minimize window Command-M

Open “Music and Sound Effects” pane Command-1

Open Photos pane Command-2

Open Titles pane Command-3

Open Transitions pane Command-4

Open “Map, Background and Animatic” browser Command-5

Show projects at full-screen Command-6

Show Events at full screen Command-7

Make viewer small Command-8

Make viewer medium Command-9

Make viewer large Command-0

Browse Help ! More resources

If you can’t find the answer to your question in iMovie Help, visit the iLife Resources website. You’ll find additional

learning resources for iMovie and the other iLife applications.

SEE ALSO

iLife Resources website

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More support



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