- 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
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Advanced Timeline Techniques
In a well-edited video, the cuts between scenes occur at exactly the right moments. In movies, the action cuts between two actors as they converse, reinforcing both the dialog and the drama. Every moviegoer has experienced this, probably without even thinking about it.
In music videos, scenes change in rhythm with a piece of music, turning the visuals and the soundtrack into a unified performance. Every MTV viewer has seen this, probably without even thinking about anything at all. (I’m kidding, kids—music videos are among the most tightly edited productions on the planet.)
In iMovie HD, several features work together to let you edit with precision. You can set bookmarks, visual guideposts that aid in trimming and positioning clips. You can trim clips directly in the timeline, much as you can in high-end programs, such as Apple’s Final Cut family. And timeline snapping makes it easy to move clips to the desired location as you drag them to and within the timeline viewer.
Setting Bookmarks
A bookmark is a virtual Post-It note that you can tack onto the timeline. Want to go back and refine a section later? Set a bookmark so you don’t lose your place. Want to time edits to music? Create bookmarks at each beat, measure, or other musical milestone.
To create a bookmark, position the playhead where you want the bookmark to be, then choose Add Bookmark from the Markers menu
or press 
-B. A bookmark appears as a small green diamond on the timeline.
)
TIPS
You can set a bookmark while your movie is playing. Press -B to create a bookmark without halting playback.
You can use the Markers menu or keyboard shortcuts to jump from one bookmark to the next. Press -[ to move to the previous bookmark and -] to move to the next one.
Trimming Clips in the Timeline
With iMovie HD’s direct trimming feature, you can remove footage from a clip after you’ve added it to the timeline. Video editors often describe this process as changing a clip’s in point or out point.
)
Tips for Trimming
Resurrecting trimmed footage. Need to bring back some footage that you trimmed away? Just drag the edge of the clip again. For example, to bring back some footage from the end of a clip, drag to the right. To restore the clip to its pre-trimmed state, select the clip and choose Revert Clip to Original from the Advanced menu.
)
Trimming and adjacent clips. What happens if you trim a clip that already has a clip next to it? It depends.
If you lengthen a clip, the clips to its right move to the right, extending the total length of your project. Videographers call this a ripple edit.
What if you don’t want to change the position of the remaining clips? For example, maybe you’ve already timed them to music
or narration, and a ripple edit would ruin your work. Easy: just press while lengthening the clip. When you -drag to lengthen a clip, iMovie HD also trims the clip directly next to the clip you’re stretching, making it shorter. All
other clips stay in place, and the overall length of your project stays the same. This is called a rolling edit.
Timeline Snapping
You’ve probably encountered snapping features in other Mac programs: when you drag one item near another, it snaps toward the second item as though the two share a magnetic attraction.
iMovie HD’s timeline-snapping feature brings this magnetism to your movies. Use the Preferences command to turn on timeline snapping, and the playhead snaps to various elements as you drag: to the beginning and end of clips, to bookmarks, to chapter markers, and to silent portions of audio tracks (page 250).
Better still, clips themselves snap to these same elements as you drag them. And so does the mouse pointer when you’re using direct trimming. Timeline snapping pairs up beautifully with bookmarks and direct trimming.
Managing the Trash
As I’ve mentioned previously, when you delete clips, iMovie HD moves them to its Trash. You can free up disk space by emptying the Trash: choose Empty Trash from the File menu.
You can also be selective. Choose Show Trash from the File menu or click the Trash icon, and iMovie HD displays a window showing the contents of the Trash.
)