What is it?

iMovie is a Free Video Editing Software Application which is only available on Apple Products such as Mac and iOS (Macbook Pro, Air, iPhone, iPad).  If you are more comfortable creating your movie on a PC, refer to our WeVideo tutorial.  For this tutorial, I used the 10.0.6 version, but all versions are similar.  Anyone who wants to create something that has audio, video, special effects, and/or background music can use iMovie.  Students who need to create a Di gital Story use iMovie.  You do not need to make an account, and you canimport audio, pictures, and mp3 files from your hard drive.  The best part about iMovie, is that it A utosaves every time you make a change, so if your computer crashes, you don't need to worry about losing your work.  When you are finished with your movie you can export it onto your hard drive, and upload it onto Youtube or Google Drive.  Use iMovie to tell the story of a life changing experience, or for a school project.

How do I start?

After you have drafted your movie with a S toryboard (where you plan what pictures are going to represent certain parts of your audio), and recorded and edited your audio, (if not refer to the tutorial on how to use A udacity.Start by clicking the magnifying glass in the top right corner of your Macbook screen, I recommend using iMovie on a Macbook, because it is easier to edit the audio and duration of the images with a keyboard, instead of just a touch screen. Type in iMovie in the search bar, and click on the iMovie application. Which looks like this:

Once iMovie has been opened, you will be asked to choose from a variety of T hemes, whether you want no theme, (which is what I always choose when creating a digital story), a photo gallery theme, or a news report theme.  After you choose it, title your movie, and then you can start adding images, audio, music etc.  If you are working on a Macbook that is shared with many people, make sure your movie is H ighlighted in Yellow. Where you can construct your movie says yourtitle, before adding your media. Also, make sure you are working on your movie in Library, and not Theater. (To view the screenshots better just click on them!)

Where do I put what?

The audio goes into the B ottom Dotted Frame, where there is a musical note. The Pictures and videos go into the S quare Frames above the audio, pictures that overlap go above the square frames.  The background music goes into the spaceIn-between the audio and visuals.

How do I import A udio?

Go to file, then import media, then click on desktop or your flash drive, and click on the audio file. It should be in WAV format then click import selected, and the audio file should appear in your library underneath all the iMovie files. Double Click on the audio, a yellow Ffame will surround it, then D rag and Drop the whole thing into the audio section.

To give yourselfmore room to work with the audio and visuals maximize it here:

It will not affect the audio or the visuals, it will just make them "look" longer so it is easier to edit your content.

How do I import Vi suals?

Once you have all your pictures and videos you want to use for your movie either on a flash drive or the desktop, go to file, import media, select the picture or video you want to import, and click import selected.Do this R epeatedly for however many videos and/or pictures you have. It will appear in the same place as the audio file, then drag and drop it into the square frames. To make a certain picture Longer or Shorter in Duration, Hover over the right side of the photo line until you see the cursor look like Two Arrows pointing in opposite directions to the Left and Right.

Before,

After!

Now it is a few seconds longer, when you drag the cursor to make the visual longer or shorter it will tell you how many seconds it lasts.

Tip: Always listen to parts of your movie to make sure the audio Matches up with your visuals.

What about B ackground Music:

If you have music from your iPod you want to use, C onnect it to your macbook open it up and you can import it from there.  If you want to use music from YouTube, then you need to C onvert it into mp3, which you can do with this site here just copy and paste the YouTube link into here:

Click start! Then download where it will appear in iTunes and you move it to your desktop and import it from there.

Tip: Make sure when looking for background music on YouTube to choose one that is not an hour long, unless you are making an hour long video, because it is going to take forever cutting it down.  Also stay away from music with Vocals and stick with just I nstrumental since vocals might distract your audience from your main audio.

If your background music is Overpowering your audio, hover over the spikes the audio makes.  The cursor looks like Two Arrows pointing in opposite directions, up and down.

Before..

After!

If you need to Trim the Audio use your cursor to make a Yellow Box around the part you do not want and press backspace to delete it. Remember to always review your movie after a few changes to make sure it looks, and sounds the way you want it.

Before..

After!

You can have more than one background music track, just do the same steps above and make sure they match up with your visuals and audio.  To move your background music to specific parts of your movie just click on the audio and drag it. Now you are done with the big important parts! Next are Titles, Transitions, End Credits, and Sound Effects.

For titles, transitions, end credits, and sound effects they are at the Bottom left hand corner of iMovie, just click on what you want to use.

Titles can be used at the beginning of your movie, when you want to change subjects, and to create end credits.  To preview what it would look like on your movie click on the format you want, when it is surrounded with Yellow run your cursor across it and it will play in the Preview Window to the right.

Drag and drop the title you want into your movie and then you can edit and type what you want it to say.

For Transitions, start by clicking on transitions, the steps are similar to titles, scroll through, click on one you like to surround it in yellow, and run your cursor through it to preview it.  Then drag and drop it in between the visuals you want a transition for. It should look like this in your movie.

For Sound Effects, click on sound effects, and drag And drop the sound effect you want during a visual, or between visuals.  iMovie has sitcom laughter, bells, rain, etc.

I'm Finished with my movie, how do I publish it?

Go to Share, which is above the preview window and choose where or how you would like to share it. I recommend publishing it on to YouTube, and you can post the link onto social media and email it to people. After you click on YouTube type in your Account Name and Password, and make whatever changes you need, like the title, description whether it is public or private.  Then click on Next and Publish, it might take a few minutes for it to upload.

You are done! If you have any more questions about iMovie don't hesitate to make an appointment with a Student Tech Liaison!

by Justina Chock