iMovie '11 & iDVD: The Missing Manual

Book description

Apple's video-editing program is better than ever, but it still doesn’t have a printed guide to help you get started. That's where this gorgeous, full-color book comes in. You get clear explanations of iMovie's impressive new features, like instant rendering, storyboarding, and one-step special effects. Experts David Pogue and Aaron Miller also give you a complete course in film editing and DVD design.

  • Edit video like the pros. Import raw footage, add transitions, and use iMovie’s newly restored, intuitive timeline editor.
  • Create stunning trailers. Design Hollywood-style "Coming Attractions!" previews for your movies.
  • Share your film. Distribute your movie in a variety of places—on smartphones, Apple TV, your own site, and with one-click exports to YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, CNN iReport, and MobileMe.
  • Make DVDs. Design the menus, titles, and layout for your DVDs, and burn them to disc.

This book covers version 9 of Apple's iMovie software.

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Table of contents

  1. A Note Regarding Supplemental Files
  2. The Missing Credits
    1. About the Authors
    2. About the Creative Team
    3. Acknowledgments
    4. The Missing Manual Series
  3. Introduction
    1. The Difficult Birth of the New iMovie
    2. iDVD
    3. iMovie: What’s It Good For?
    4. A Camcorder Crash Course
      1. The Downsides of Going Tapeless
      2. High Definition
      3. AVCHD, MPEG-2, and Other Jargon
        1. MPEG
        2. AVCHD
        3. AVCHD Lite
        4. iFrame
      4. Camcorder Features: Which Are Worthwhile?
        1. FireWire connector
        2. Analog inputs
        3. HD inputs
        4. Three chips (CCDs)
        5. Image stabilizer
        6. Manual controls
        7. Optical zoom
        8. Minutes-remaining readout
        9. Built-in light
        10. Scene modes
        11. Remote control
        12. FlexiZone or Push Focus
        13. Night-vision mode
        14. Still photos
        15. Progressive-scan CCDs
      5. Useless Features
        1. Title generator
        2. Special effects
        3. Date/time stamp
        4. Digital zoom
      6. The Long-Term Storage Problem
    5. About This Book
      1. About the Outline
      2. Technical Notes for PAL People
      3. The Tech Specs of NTSC
      4. The Tech Specs of PAL
    6. The Very Basics
      1. About→These→Arrows
    7. Online Resources
      1. The Missing CD
      2. Registration
      3. Feedback
      4. Errata
      5. Newsletter
    8. Safari® Books Online
  4. 1. Editing in iMovie
    1. 1. Importing Video
      1. iMovie: The Application
        1. iMovie on a New Mac
        2. iMovie for an Existing Mac
        3. “.0.1” Updates
      2. Getting into iMovie
      3. Importing Footage from a Tape Camcorder
        1. Automatic Scene Detection
      4. Importing from Tapeless Camcorders
      5. Importing from an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch
      6. Importing from DVD Camcorders
      7. Recording Live from a Camcorder or iSight Camera
      8. Importing Old iMovie Projects
      9. Dragging Video In from the Finder
      10. Importing with iMovie’s Drop Box Folder
      11. Importing Footage from Old Analog Tapes
        1. Approach 1: Use a Camcorder with Pass-Through Conversion
        2. Approach 2: Record onto Your DV Camcorder
        3. Approach 3: Use a Media Converter
        4. Approach 4: Use a Digital8 Camcorder
    2. 2. The Lay of the Land
      1. The Concept of Movie Projects
      2. The Project Library
        1. Creating a Project
        2. Duplicating a Project
        3. Renaming a Project
        4. Project Folders
        5. Deleting a Project
        6. Undeleting a Project
        7. Moving a Project
        8. Consolidating Project Media
      3. Aspect Ratios: The Missing Manual
        1. Mismatched Aspect Ratios
        2. Changing Your Project’s Aspect Ratio
      4. All About Events
        1. Fine-Tuning the Events List
        2. Splitting Events
        3. Merging Events
        4. Renaming an Event
        5. Deleting an Event
      5. Five Ways to Remodel Your Workspace
        1. Hide the Projects or Events List
        2. Make the Clips Smaller
        3. Adjust or Relocate the Viewer
        4. Swap the Two Clip Areas
        5. Single-Row Editing: Return of the Timeline
    3. 3. Building the Movie
      1. Phase 1: Review Your Clips (Skim + Play)
        1. Filmstrips
        2. Skimming
        3. Playback
      2. Phase 2: Select the Good Bits
        1. Select by Dragging
        2. Select 4-Second Chunks
        3. Selecting Entire Clips
        4. Selecting Multiple Clips
        5. Adjusting a Selection
        6. Playing a Selection
        7. Deselecting
        8. Selecting Specific Project Elements
      3. Phase 3: Build the Storyboard
        1. Adding to the End of the Storyboard
        2. Adding to the Middle
        3. Advanced Insert Options
        4. The Orange Stripe
        5. Don’t Remember to Save
      4. Phases 2 to 3 (Alternate): Paint-to-Insert
      5. Phase 4: Fine-Tune the Edit
      6. Storyboard Playback
      7. Full-Screen Playback
      8. Rearranging Video
      9. Copying and Pasting Video
      10. Shortening or Lengthening Clips
        1. Select a Piece to Delete
        2. Select the Piece to Keep
        3. Use the Clip Trimmer
        4. Fine-Tuning with the Extendo Buttons
      11. Splitting a Clip
      12. Cutaways
        1. Adjusting a Cutaway
        2. Removing a Cutaway
      13. The Precision Editor
    4. 4. Video Chunks: Keywords, People, Favorites, and Rejects
      1. Marking Favorites and Rejects: The Two-Step Method
      2. Marking Favorites and Rejects: The One-Step Method
      3. Unmarking
      4. Selecting Marked Footage
      5. Hiding and Showing Favorites and Rejects
      6. Keywords
        1. Editing the Keyword List
        2. “Painting” Keywords onto Clips
        3. The Select-then-Apply Method
        4. Removing Keywords from Filmstrips
      7. People
        1. Analyzing for People
        2. People Keywords
      8. The Keyword/People Filter
      9. Deleting Footage for Good
      10. Space Saver
    5. 5. Transitions, Themes, Travel Maps, and Animatics
      1. About Transitions
      2. When Not to Use Transitions
      3. Two Ways to “Transish”
      4. Creating Individual Transition Effects
        1. Changing or Deleting a Transition
      5. A Long Discussion of Transition Lengths
        1. Why You Don’t Always Get What You Want
        2. How Transitions Affect the Length of Your Movie
      6. Automatic Transitions
        1. Adjusting Automatic Transitions
        2. Turning off Automatic Transitions
      7. Transitions: The iMovie Catalog
        1. Circle Open, Circle Close
        2. Cross Blur
        3. Cross Dissolve
        4. Cross Zoom
        5. Doorway
        6. Fade Through Black, Fade Through White
        7. Mosaic
        8. Page Curl
        9. Ripple
        10. Spin In, Spin Out
        11. Swap
        12. Wipe Down, Up, Left, Right
      8. Themes
        1. Choosing a Theme
        2. Custom Theme Transition and Titles
        3. Changing a Theme
        4. Adjusting Theme Transitions
        5. Customizing the Sports Theme
        6. Removing a Theme
      9. Travel Maps
        1. Adding a Travel Map
        2. Changing Travel Points
        3. Changing a Map’s Style
        4. Changing a Map’s Timing
        5. Removing a Map
      10. Animatics
        1. Building a Storyboard with Animatics
        2. Print Your Storyboard for Filming
        3. Build Your Movie from Your Storyboard
    6. 6. Video Effects
      1. Video Effects
        1. The Effects
        2. Applying a Video Effect
        3. Adjusting a Video Effect
        4. Removing a Video Effect
      2. Fast/Slow/Reverse
        1. Changing a Clip’s Speed
        2. Reversing a Clip’s Playback Direction
        3. Removing Speed and Direction Changes
      3. Green Screen/Blue Screen
        1. Preparing a Green Screen
        2. Getting the Shot
        3. Inserting a Green Screen Effect
        4. Adding Effects to a Green Screen Effect
        5. Removing a Green Screen Effect
      4. Picture-in-Picture (PiP)
        1. Inserting a PiP
        2. Adjusting the PiP Size and Position
        3. Changing the PiP Appearance
        4. Mixing PiP Audio
        5. Moving and Trimming a PiP Clip
        6. Removing a PiP Clip
      5. Side-by-Side
        1. Changing the Side-by-Side Appearance
      6. One-Step Effects
    7. 7. Stabilization, Color Fixes, Cropping, and Rotating
      1. Video Stabilization
        1. Four Ways to Trigger Stabilization Analysis
        2. Fixing Shaky Footage
          1. Degrees of stabilization
          2. Removing stabilization
        3. Jellyroll Footage
          1. Rolling Shutter adjustments
          2. Removing shutter adjustments
      2. Color Fixes
        1. Phase 1: Select the Clip, Find the Frame
        2. Phase 2: The Video Adjustments Panel
        3. Three Channels
        4. Exposure
        5. Adjusting the Levels
        6. Brightness and Contrast Sliders
        7. Automatic Correction
        8. Color Balance
        9. Individual Channel Sliders
        10. Removing or Adjusting Adjustments
        11. Copying and Pasting Adjustments
      3. Cropping Video
        1. Adjusting or Removing a Crop
      4. Rotating Video
        1. Adjusting or Removing the Rotation
    8. 8. Titles, Subtitles, and Credits
      1. Setting Up a Title
        1. Choose a Title Style
          1. Theme-based titles
        2. Drag the Title into Position
        3. Adjust the Timing
        4. Type the Text
        5. Special Notes on Scrolling Credits
      2. Font, Size, and Style
        1. The iMovie Font Panel
        2. The System Font Panel
          1. Underline, strikethrough, color, shadow
          2. Secondary controls
        3. General Guidelines
        4. Add Your Own Custom Title
      3. Checking the Result
      4. Editing or Deleting a Title
    9. 9. Narration, Music, and Sound
      1. Three Kinds of Audio
        1. Audio Sources
      2. Adding Audio to the Storyboard
        1. The Music and Sound Effects Browser
        2. Adding Audio from the Finder
      3. Background Music
        1. Pinning and Unpinning Background Music
        2. Rearranging Unpinned Background Music
        3. Deleting Background Audio
      4. Sound Effects (Pinned Music)
      5. Editing to the Beat
        1. Phase 1: Add Your Background Music
        2. Phase 2a: Insert Beat Markers
        3. Phase 2b: Tapping Out Beats
        4. Phase 3: Add Your Video Clips
        5. Snap to Beats in Your Project
        6. Beat Markers in the Precision Editor
        7. The Beat Warning
      6. Recording Narration
      7. Extracting Audio from Video
      8. Volume Adjustments
        1. The Rubber Band: A Re-Introduction
          1. Finding the rubber band
          2. Using the rubber band
        2. Using the Other Volume Tools
        3. Adjusting Overall Clip Volume
      9. Multiple Clip Adjustments
      10. Removing Audio Adjustments
      11. Audio Effects, Enhancements, and Equalizers
        1. Audio Effects
          1. Applying an audio effect
          2. The audio effects catalog
        2. Enhance Audio
        3. The Equalizer
      12. Editing Audio in GarageBand
        1. GarageBand Basics
        2. Scoring in GarageBand
    10. 10. Photos
      1. Importing Still Images
      2. The Photo Browser
        1. Photos from the Finder
        2. iMovie Backgrounds
      3. Two Ways to Add Photos
        1. Photo Filmstrips
        2. Photo Cutaways
        3. Timing Changes
          1. Photo filmstrips
          2. Photo Cutaways
      4. The Dimensions of an iMovie Photo
      5. Crop, Fit, Rotate
      6. The Ken Burns Effect
        1. Applying the Ken Burns Effect
      7. Creating Still Images from Footage
        1. Creating a Still Frame
        2. Creating a Freeze Frame
      8. Exporting a Still Frame
        1. The Resolution Problem
        2. The Long Way
    11. 11. Movie Trailers
      1. Trailers Basics
        1. Starting a Trailer Project
        2. The Outline
        3. The Storyboard
        4. The Shot List
      2. The Trailers Catalog
      3. Building Your Trailer
      4. Customizing Your Trailer
        1. Converting to a Project
    12. 12. Advanced Editing
      1. The Power of Editing
        1. Modern Film Theory
          1. Tell the story chronologically
          2. Try to be invisible
          3. Develop a shot rhythm
        2. Maintaining Continuity
        3. When to Cut
        4. Choosing the Next Shot
      2. Popular Editing Techniques
        1. Tight Editing
        2. Variety of Shots
          1. Establishing shots
          2. Cutaways and cut-ins
          3. Reaction shots
          4. Parallel cutting
      3. Back and Forth to iMovie 6
        1. Transferring Your Project, iMovie ’11→iMovie 6
        2. Transferring Your Project, iMovie 6→iMovie ’11
  5. 2. Finding Your Audience
    1. 13. Exporting to iPod, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, or Front Row
      1. Exporting the Movie to iTunes
      2. From iTunes to iPod, iPhone, and So On
    2. 14. Exporting to YouTube and the Web
      1. iMovie to YouTube
        1. Posting to YouTube (The First Time)
        2. Posting to YouTube (After the First Time)
        3. After the YouTube Movie Is Up
      2. iMovie to MobileMe
        1. After Your MobileMe Movie Is Up
      3. iMovie to Facebook
        1. Posting to Facebook
        2. After the Facebook Movie Is Up
      4. iMovie to Vimeo
        1. Uploading to Vimeo
        2. After the Vimeo Movie Is Up
      5. iMovie to CNN iReport
        1. Uploading to iReport
        2. After the iReport Is Up
      6. Custom Web Pages: Two Roads
        1. iMovie to iWeb
          1. What you get when you’re done
          2. Editing or deleting the web page
        2. Posting a Movie on Your Site
    3. 15. From iMovie to QuickTime
      1. Understanding QuickTime
        1. A Crash Course in Video Compression
          1. Spatial compression
          2. Temporal compression
        2. About Codecs
      2. The Export Pop-up Menu
        1. The Video Settings Button
          1. Compression Type pop-up menu
          2. Frames per second
          3. Key frame every _ frames
          4. Quality slider
          5. Limit data rate
        2. The Filter Button
        3. The Size Button
        4. Audio Settings
          1. Format
          2. Rate, Size
          3. Channels: Mono/Stereo
      3. The Video Codecs: A Catalog
      4. Saving a QuickTime Movie
    4. 16. QuickTime Player
      1. QuickTime Player X
        1. Sharing with QuickTime Player X
        2. Trimming Your Movies
        3. Recording in QuickTime Player X
      2. QuickTime Player 7 (Free Version)
        1. Hidden Controls
        2. Fancy Playback Tricks
      3. QuickTime Player Pro
        1. Presenting Your Movies
        2. Editing Movies
          1. Selecting footage
          2. Pasting footage
        3. Exporting Edited Movies
          1. The Save As command
          2. The Export command
          3. How to use QuickTime Player with iMovie
      4. Advanced QuickTime Pro: Track Tricks
        1. Flip a Clip
        2. The Video Wall
  6. 3. iDVD ’11
    1. 17. iDVD Basics
      1. Why iDVD?
        1. Getting iDVD
      2. What You’re in For
      3. Phase 1: Prepare Your Video
        1. Overscanning and You
          1. The title-safe area
          2. The action-safe area
      4. Phase 2: Insert Chapter Markers
        1. Markers in iMovie ’11
          1. Chapter-marker pointers
      5. Phase 3: Export from iMovie ’11
        1. Export Your Movie as a File
      6. Phase 4: Design the Menu Screen
        1. All About Themes
        2. Choosing a Theme
        3. The Inevitable Paragraphs About Aspect Ratio
        4. Drop Zones: The Basics
          1. Filling drop zones
          2. Drop zones: the details
        5. Redesigning the Theme
      7. Phase 5: Add Your Movies
      8. Phase 6: Burning Your DVD
        1. Previewing Your Project
        2. Checking for Errors
        3. Maximum DVD Playback Time
        4. One Last Techie Look
        5. Shopping for Blank DVDs
        6. The Burn
      9. OneStep DVDs and Magic iDVDs
        1. OneStep DVD
        2. Magic iDVDs
    2. 18. Dvd Menus, Slideshows, and the Map
      1. Adding Movies
        1. The Import Command
        2. The Finder
        3. The Media Browser
      2. Submenus (“Folders”)
        1. Navigating Submenus
      3. The DVD Map—and Autoplay
        1. Editing in the Map
        2. Autoplay
        3. Looping
      4. DVD Slideshows
        1. iPhoto Albums
          1. Starting in iPhoto
          2. Starting in iDVD
        2. Drag Folders from the Finder
        3. Add a Slideshow, Worry About the Pictures Later
        4. The Slideshow Editor
          1. Adding or omitting slides and movies
          2. Reordering slides and movies
          3. Renaming slides or movies
        5. Slideshow Settings
        6. Slideshow Options
          1. Slideshow audio
        7. Leaving the Slideshow Editor
        8. Burning Your Slideshow
    3. 19. Designing iDVD Themes
      1. iDVD’s Built-In Themes
      2. Editing Buttons
        1. Changing Button Names and Fonts
        2. Button Styles
        3. Justification, Drop Shadows, and Thumbnail Size
        4. Repositioning Buttons
        5. Removing Buttons
        6. Editing Picture and Movie Buttons
      3. Editing Text
      4. Editing Backgrounds
        1. A Still Photo
        2. A Group of Photos
        3. A Movie
        4. Some Notes
      5. Menu Audio
        1. What to Drag
        2. Where to Drag
        3. Replacing Menu Audio
        4. Removing Menu Audio
        5. Adjusting Menu Audio Volume
      6. Saving Favorites
    4. 20. Advanced iDVD
      1. iDVD: The DVD-ROM Maker
        1. Adding Files to the DVD-ROM Area
        2. Organizing DVD-ROM Contents
      2. Uncover Your DVD Project File
      3. Automator and iDVD
      4. Archiving Your Project
        1. Copying an Archive to a Different Mac
      5. Disk Images
      6. Professional Duplicating
        1. Prepare to Copy
        2. Choosing a Replicator
        3. Working with Replicators
        4. Fulfillment
  7. 4. Appendixes
    1. A. iMovie ’11, Menu by Menu
      1. iMovie Menu
        1. About iMovie
        2. Preferences
          1. General Tab
          2. Browser Tab
          3. Video Tab
          4. Fonts Tab
        3. Provide iMovie Feedback
        4. Register iMovie
        5. Check For Updates
        6. Hide iMovie, Hide Others, Show All
        7. Quit iMovie
      2. File Menu
        1. New Project
        2. New Folder
        3. New Event
        4. Duplicate Project
        5. Import from Camera
        6. Import Movies/Camera Archive/iMovie HD Project
        7. Project Properties
        8. Project Theme
        9. Convert to Project
        10. Finalize Project
        11. Move to Trash
        12. Move to Rejected Clips Trash
        13. Space Saver
        14. Consolidate Media
        15. Merge Events
        16. Split Event Before Selected Clip
        17. Adjust Clip Date and Time…
        18. Analyze Video
        19. Optimize Video Full/Large
        20. Page Setup, Print Project
      3. Edit Menu
        1. Undo
        2. Redo
        3. Cut, Copy, Paste
        4. Paste Adjustments
        5. Delete Selection, Delete Entire Clip (Reject, Reject Entire Clip)
        6. Select All Events
        7. Select
          1. Select None
          2. Select to Playhead
          3. Select Video Clips/Transitions/Photos/Maps/Backgrounds/Animatics
        8. Transition Overlap
        9. Spelling
        10. Special Characters
      4. Clip Menu
        1. One-Step Effects
        2. Duplicate Last Title
        3. Trim to Selection
        4. Trim Clip End
        5. Split Clip
        6. Join Clip
        7. Extend Over Next Clip
        8. Detach Audio
        9. Mute/Unmute Clip
        10. Remove Volume Adjustments
        11. Add Beat Marker
        12. Arrange Music Tracks
        13. Unpin Music Track
      5. View Menu
      6. Text Menu
      7. Share Menu
      8. Window Menu
        1. Precision Editor
        2. Clip Trimmer
        3. Clip Adjustments, Video Adjustments, Audio Adjustments
        4. Cropping, Ken Burns, and Rotation
        5. Show Projects Full-screen, Show Events Full-screen
        6. Hide/Show Commands
        7. Viewer
        8. Swap Event and Projects
        9. Viewer on Secondary Display
      9. Help Menu
        1. Search
        2. iMovie Help
        3. Welcome to iMovie
        4. Keyboard Shortcuts
        5. Supported Cameras
        6. Service and Support
      10. Drag and Drop Menu
        1. Replace
        2. Replace from Start
        3. Replace from End
        4. Replace at Playhead
        5. Insert
        6. Audio Only
        7. Cutaway
        8. Picture in Picture
        9. Side by Side
        10. Green Screen/Blue Screen
        11. Cancel
    2. B. Troubleshooting
      1. Two Golden Rules
      2. General iMovie Troubleshooting
        1. Weird Inconsistent Problems
        2. Keeping Your Hard Disk Happy
      3. Starting Up and Importing
        1. iMovie Doesn’t See the Tape Camcorder
        2. iMovie Doesn’t See the Tapeless Camcorder
        3. Video Looks Interlaced
        4. No Sound from Tape Camcorder
        5. iMovie Crashes on Startup
        6. Can’t Import from DVD Camcorder
        7. Dropouts in the Video
      4. Editing
        1. Can’t Drag Certain Photos into the Movie
        2. Can’t Use Audiobooks in Soundtrack
        3. Filmstrips Don’t Reflect Changes
        4. Thumbnails Are Blank or Corrupted
      5. Exporting
        1. “Compatible Version of iDVD Required”
        2. YouTube Turns You Down
        3. Text Chopped Off on DVD
      6. Where to Get Help
    3. C. Master Keyboard Shortcut List
      1. Panes, Panels, and Windows
      2. Event Browser and Storyboard
      3. Playback
      4. Editing
      5. Working with Clips
      6. Music and Audio
      7. Editing Titles
    4. D. Visual Cheat Sheet
    5. Index
  8. About the Authors
  9. Colophon
  10. Copyright

Product information

  • Title: iMovie '11 & iDVD: The Missing Manual
  • Author(s): David Pogue, Aaron Miller
  • Release date: April 2011
  • Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  • ISBN: 9781449393274