- iMovie HD at a Glance
- The Essentials of Movie Making
- A Short Lesson in Video Formats
- Importing DV and HDV Video
- Working with Clips
- Timeline Techniques: Adding Clips to a Movie
- Advanced Timeline Techniques
- Creating Cutaways
- Adding Photos to Movies
- Working with the Ken Burns Effect
- Advanced Ken Burns Techniques
- Adding Audio to Movies
- Tips for Recording Better Sound
- Working with Audio Tracks
- Applying Audio Filters and Effects
- More Sound Advice
- Adding Transitions
- Creating Titles
- Adding Effects
- Adding Sizzle and Structure with Themes
- Magic iMovie: Editing on Autopilot
- Working in Other Video Formats
- Its a Wrap: Exporting to Tape
- Creating Chapter Markers
- Go Small: Internet and iPod Movies
- More Ways to Share Movies
- Fun with Freeze Frames
- iMovie HD Tips
- More iMovie HD Tips
- Tips for Making Better Movies
- Creating Time-lapse Movies and Animation
Magic iMovie: Editing on Autopilot
With many movie projects, you want control over every step of the editing process: timing cuts to match audio, trimming clips with precision, and fine-tuning your soundtrack until everything sparkles.
But sometimes you just want fast results. It’s Sunday afternoon, and your visiting relatives are (finally!) preparing to go home. You shot some video of the kids at the beach earlier that day, and you want to send everyone home with a freshly burned DVD. You can’t spend hours in the editing room—you want a movie now.
The Magic iMovie feature is for you. Choose a few options, then sit back and watch. iMovie HD imports video from your camera, adds an opening title, tosses a transition between each clip, adds a soundtrack from your iTunes library, and then ships the finished product off to iDVD. It’s editing on autopilot.
You can edit a Magic iMovie in any way you want, so you might also use the feature to create a rough cut. After iMovie HD gets you partway there, take the wheel and drive the rest of the way.
Is it magic? Hardly. But Magic iMovie is a fast way to spray some finish on your footage.
Making a Magic iMovie
To make a Magic iMovie, connect and turn on your DV or HDV camcorder (page 226). Then put iMovie HD to work.
- Step 1. Choose Make a Magic iMovie from the File menu, and give your new movie project a name. If necessary, specify the desired video format (see page 224).
- Step 2. Specify Magic iMovie settings.
Step 3. (optional)
Specify music soundtrack settings and click OK.
Step 4. Click Create.
iMovie HD captures your video and prepares the movie.