A basic introduction to imovie 2 From importing video to editing to exporting video. Created by: Leslie Arakaki Clinton Iwami.

Transcription

1 A basic introduction to imovie 2 From importing video to editing to exporting video Created by: Leslie Arakaki Clinton Iwami LEI Aloha Grant Page 1

2 Table of Contents The beginning... 3 Eyeball view:... 4 Clock view:... 5 Importing digital video footage... 6 Editing in imovie... 9 Splitting a clip at the playhead... 9 Cropping a Clip Shortcuts in imovie: Importing Files: Splitting the audio track from video footage: Creating a still image from video footage: Fanciness galore! Effects Transitions Titles Audio Exporting the Movie To share your movie on a videotape: To share your movie as a computer file: LEI Aloha Grant Page 2

3 The beginning. Here is what the initial screen looks like: Area 1: The viewer. In this space, you can view your entire movie, as well as play individual clips. LEI Aloha Grant Page 3

4 Area 2: The bookshelf. This is where clips are stored as they are imported into imovie. An example of a bookshelf filled with some clips is: Area 3: The timeline. The timeline has two views. On the left hand side, there are two tabs. The first is an eyeball (for the sake of simplicity, we ll call this the eyeball view from now on). This view shows the movie as square boxes that represent clips. Note that this view does not give you a visual representation of how long the clip is You have to rely on the time code in the upper left corner of each square. Eyeball view: LEI Aloha Grant Page 4

5 The next is a clock (or the clock view). In this view, the clips are depicted as long rectangles with a still image of the first frame of film. The length of the rectangle is relative to the length of the clip. In the clock view, you can also see the two additional audio tracks. Almost any type of audio clip can be put into these tracks. We ll go more into depth with these later. Clock view: LEI Aloha Grant Page 5

6 Importing digital video footage For importing footage using Sony Digital8 or Sony MiniDV cameras 1. Connect the computer to the camera using the FireWire cable. a. The larger end of the cable connects to the computer. b. The smaller end of the cable connects to the camera. FireWire cable: a. Large end b. Small end 2. Turn the camera to VCR or VTR mode. LEI Aloha Grant Page 6

7 3. Open imovie. 4. Under File, select New Project. The new window will ask you where you want to save your movie to. 5. To begin importing your video clips, move the button on the lower left corner of the viewer to the camera view side. Now imovie is reading to start importing video footage. 6. The computer will now control the camera. Using the buttons on the viewer, cue the camera to the portion that you would like to digitize. LEI Aloha Grant Page 7

8 7. Press play and the video should play in the viewer. Click on Import. A new clip will appear in the bookshelf. When you want to quit importing, click the Import button again. NOTE: If you recorded many clips back to back, the camera knows the beginning and end points of each clip. When it reaches a new beginning point, it will automatically start a new clip for you. 8. The footage will appear in the bookshelf and it can now be used in your video. 9. Repeat process until all video clips are in the bookshelf. LEI Aloha Grant Page 8

9 Editing in imovie imovie is very simple. 1. Click and drag a clip from the bookshelf, and place it into your timeline. 2. Repeat the process with additional clips. Splitting a clip at the playhead Note: This technique can be applied to either a video clip or an audio clip! If you would like to edit the length of the clip: (I prefer to do this in the Clock view) 1. Click on the clip so that it is highlighted yellow. 2. Play the clip until you reach the point where you would like the new end to be. LEI Aloha Grant Page 9

10 3. In the Edit menu, select Split Video Clip at Playhead. 4. The clip should now have split into two separate parts. You can tell that there are two different parts because each clip has its own picture. Cropping a Clip 1. Select the clip you wish to crop 2. Place the mouse pointer under the viewer timeline. You will see two faded triangles appear. The two triangles represent the start and end points of your crop selection. 3. Make your crop selection by first moving the triangle with the mouse to your starting position. Next hold down the mouse button and move the triangle to your ending position. Release the mouse button. If you make a selection error click the mouse away from the timeline. LEI Aloha Grant Page 10

11 4. To crop the clip go to the Edit menu and select crop. Shortcuts in imovie: 1. To play a clip or a movie: Hit the space bar. 2. To stop a clip or a movie: Hit the space bar. Importing Files: imovie lets you import other files into your current project. An example of a file is a digital still image like a JPEG file. You can follow these steps to import other files too. 1. Under the File menu, select Import File. LEI Aloha Grant Page 11

12 2. A window will appear. Locate where the file is, and click on Open. 3. The image will now appear in the bookshelf. Splitting the audio track from video footage: imovie 2 allows you split the audio track from the video track from clips imported into imovie. An example of when you would like to do this is if you would like to record a person speaking, but would like other images over their speaking. To accomplish this feat, first record the person speaking (making sure that you record the best quality of sound Don t forget the headphones to check the quality of the sound!!). Next, take footage of things you want to be displayed while the person is speaking. Finally, import the clips into imovie. 1. Drop the clip of the person speaking into the timeline. 2. Click on it once so that it is highlighted. LEI Aloha Grant Page 12

13 3. Under the Advanced menu, select Extract Audio. 4. Once completed, you should see two separated tracks with a push pin on the left hand side. You can now click once on the video track and trash it, leaving the audio behind (or vice versa!) Creating a still image from video footage: Say that you were taking footage, and while logging the footage, notice that you have a memorable moment you would like to create into a digital still image. 1. Highlight the clip in which the still image is located. Play the clip until you reach the image. If you need more precision, you can use the right and arrows to move one frame forward or backward. 2. Under the File menu, select Save Frame As 3. You can now save the image to the hard drive. LEI Aloha Grant Page 13

14 Fanciness galore! NOTE: For Effects, Transitions, and Titles, please note that imovie needs time to create these things. IMovie takes your video footage and renders the footage, meaning that it has to create something from practically nothing. This process takes time, as well as a lot of storage space. Directly under the bookshelf, there are tabs that can add a lot of glamour to your production. There are four types of effects: Transitions, Titles, Effects, and Audio. LEI Aloha Grant Page 14

15 Effects This allows you to manipulate the video footage to A CERTAIN EXTENT. Remember, it is best to capture the highest quality image firsthand, instead of having to wait for the rendering process. Also in Effects, you can choose to change the video footage into Black and White or Sepia. imovie also allows you to sharpen or soften the footage. 1. Select a clip within your timeline to apply the effect to. 2. Click on the Effects tab. 3. Select an effect type in Section A. 4. You can determine the Effect In and Effect Out time (Section B) by clicking and dragging the appropriate blue dot to the right or left. C B 5. To preview the clip, click on the Preview button in Section C. Once you are satisfied with the results, click Apply. A 6. You will now notice that your clip in the timeline is yellow, with a small red line progressing towards the right. The clip is now rendering. Avoid altering the clip until the clip is completely done rendering (the red line should completely disappear). LEI Aloha Grant Page 15

16 Transitions Transitions usually occur between two clips. Like Effects, remember that each transition requires time to render and will add to the space on the hard drive. 1. Click on the Transitions tab. 2. Select a transition in Section A. 3. A thumbnail of the transition will appear in Section B. To see the transition in the viewer, click the Preview button (Section D). 4. You can control the speed of the transition in Section C. Keep in mind that the total duration of the transition must be LESS THAN the total time of the first clip. 5. Once you have selected an appropriate transition, click on the title in Section A, and drag it into the timeline between the two clips. D C A B 6. The transition will change into a yellow link between the two clips. Remember that the red line below the clip is the rendering process. Avoid altering the clip until the clip is completely done rendering (the red line should completely disappear). Rendering the transition: Finished rendering: LEI Aloha Grant Page 16

17 Titles Titles can appear directly over video footage, or they could appear over a black screen. The choice is yours. 1. Click on the Titles tab. 2. Select a title from Section A. A preview thumbnail will appear in Section C. C 3. You can change the speed of the title and the length of time the title is displayed in Section B. B A D 4. Type in the title in Section D. The number of lines of text is limited by the title selected. 5. You can change the color of the text and designate if you would like the text Over Black. 6. You can also change the font style and font style of the title. Font Font Size LEI Aloha Grant Page 17

18 7. You can also preview the title in the viewer by clicking the Preview button. 8. Once the title and its settings are final, click on the title in Section A and drag it to the desired location in the timeline. Rendering the transition: Finished rendering: LEI Aloha Grant Page 18

19 Audio You can do many things with the Audio tab in imovie. If you look on the eyeball view of the timeline, there are two audio tracks available. imovie defaults audio track 1 as voice and audio track 2 as music. You can designate them as you see fit. To use one of the sound effects: 1. Click on the Audio Tab. 2. In the upper third of the window, there is a multitude of sound effects you can use. Keep in mind that the effects should not distract your audience from the video, but enhance it. 3. Click on a sound effect to preview it. 3. Once you have made a decision on which sound effect to use, click and drag it into the eyeball view timeline into one of the two audio timelines. Sound effect LEI Aloha Grant Page 19

20 5. You can place the sound effect anywhere on the audio timeline. To record a voice over: 1. Make sure a microphone is available for use (either the internal microphone, found at the top of the monitor, or an external microphone). 2. Once you are ready, click on the Record button to record a clip. Click on the button again to stop recording. 3. The voice-over will automatically appear in the timeline in audio Track You can now move the voice-over anywhere within the audio track. 5. To turn down the volume in a video clip, highlight the clip. 6. Below the clip in the clock view time line, there will be a volume control. Click and drag the blue dot all the way towards the left. This will minimize the volume of the video clip only (and not everything else). LEI Aloha Grant Page 20

21 To add music to your production: 1. Insert the CD into the computer. 2. The CD will automatically begin playing. A list of the CD audio tracks will appear in the window. 3. To record only a portion of the track, press the play button ( ). Click on Record to begin recording. Click the button again to stop recording. 4. The audio clip will automatically appear in the timeline in audio Track 2. You can now move the audio clip anywhere within the audio track. 5. If you need the entire track, you can click and drag the track from the listing into one of the two audio tracks. Exporting the Movie Now that you have a fabulous movie, you can share it with others. There are two ways you can share your movie: on a videotape or as a computer file. You would select the option of computer file if you plan to upload the movie to the Internet or use the movie in another software like PowerPoint or Hyperstudio. To share your movie on a videotape: 1. Set up the Sony Digital8 or Sony Mini DV cameras with the FireWire cable. (See page 4 for details.) 2. Insert a videotape into the camera. If you want to keep your raw footage separate from your edited movie, I would suggest purchasing LEI Aloha Grant Page 21

22 a new videotape. 3. Under File, select Export Movie. 4. A new window will appear. It will ask you where you would like to export your movie. Select Camera. 5. You can set how many seconds of blackness you would like before the movie and at the end of the movie. 6. When you are ready, click on Export. The computer will control the camera. To share your movie as a computer file: 1. Follow steps 1-3 under To share your movie on a videotape. LEI Aloha Grant Page 22

23 2. A new window will appear. It will ask you where you would like to export your movie. Select QuickTime. 3. You can change the settings of how small a file you would like. Remember, the smaller the file, the lower quality the video. To change the quality, click on the double arrows. A listing of different settings will appear. You can select any one, but I prefer to go to Expert. 4. Click on the button Settings. \ LEI Aloha Grant Page 23

24 5. You can now select the type of compression (this setting determines the file size as well as the quality of the movie) you would like. Click on the arrow next to Cinepak. A listing will appear. 6. Majority of the time, I select Sorenson Video, since it makes the movie small, but it has a nice quality. 7. You can change the quality of the video using the slide. 8. Click on OK when you are satisfied with the settings. Click on OK again when you get to the Expert QuickTime Settings window. LEI Aloha Grant Page 24

25 9. imovie will ask you where you would like to save your movie. If you plan to save your movie to a Zip disk, I would highly suggest saving the file to the Desktop first, then copying the file to your Zip disk. Click on Save. 10. You will see the progress of your file being saved. LEI Aloha Grant Page 25

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