04-18-2010, 11:40 PM

Thank you to all who helped with my initial questions about making a video project on Imovie. I ended up buying lots of extra storage (and RAM). I could have bought a cheap PC laptop for what I paid but with the new space I was able to convert all my homemade DVD's to Mp4. Now - on to editing....so of course, I need help again!

So - I saved a load of clips that I might want to use in the master project into 6 mini projects ranging from 2 minutes in duration to about 6. Now, I plan to go through those clips and start putting them into the master project. I will need to arrange them and have them fade in and out to the next, etc.

What I am wondering is this:

1. If the footage is a bit far away (sporting events), is there a way to zero in and get closer to the subject (my daughter) so as to highlight her?

2. How do I delete the audio for the whole thing? I don't want to hear the crowd in the background.

3. How do I add words to explain which game is which and what team is what?

4. Someone made me a highlight movie recently that showed the play in original speed first, then showed the same play in slow motion. How do I do that?

I'm sure I'll have more questions as I go on but this is enough to start.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

04-19-2010, 02:21 PM

Bump - anyone here? Lol.

04-19-2010, 03:22 PM

Unfortunately, I know I can't answer your questions - I work with Final Cut Express and Pro, and almost never with iMovie.

The people that are the iMovie experts will be here to answer, it may be that you're just posting at a time that they haven't seen the question yet.

I'm sure when XStep or one of the other iMovie gurus get on they'll be able to answer all of your questions

04-20-2010, 02:25 AM

Keeping in mind that iMovie is meant for very basic editing projects...

1) It doesn't look like iMovie can zoom on its own, but there are several plug-ins that will enable a zoom effect. Here's a link to a package of iMovie plug-ins, but I can't personally vouch for their effectiveness.
Free iMovie Plugins | Macintosh Software

2) I believe there are a couple of ways to do this. Right click on the clip(s) you want to delete the sound from IN THE PROJECT PANE, not the Events pane. From the menu, choose "Detach Audio". This will put the audio on a separate track beneath the video track which you can then select and delete.

You can also move over the lower left of the clip (again, in the Project Pane) where a little gear icon appears. Click on that and a pop-up menu will come up where you can make other adjustments. Choose "Audio Adjustments" and an Inspector HUD will appear where you can make the original audio as loud or soft as you want.

3) Are you talking about titles? There's a Titles button indicated by a capital T on the far right side of the tool bar that runs across the middle of the interface. You can choose different title styles from there. Here's a tutorial.
Apple - iLife - Find out how to use iLife applications on the Mac.

4) First drag the clip you want to use from the Events pane on the bottom up into the Project pane. Then drag a second copy of the clip into the Project and double click on it. This will bring up another inspector with a speed change dialog in it. Make your adjustments then trim as needed. You can learn more about how to adjust the speed in this tutorial:
Apple - iLife - Find out how to use iLife applications on the Mac.

In fact, I would recommend watching all the tutorials on this page if you want to get a better understanding of iMovie's capabilities. I have never used iMovie to create a project (I use FCP), but the information was pretty easy to find and understand.

04-20-2010, 08:32 AM

Originally Posted by Oneironaut

Keeping in mind that iMovie is meant for very basic editing projects...

1) It doesn't look like iMovie can zoom on its own,

Actually it can (in a "cropping the video" sense). I use this all the time.

Here's a link to a package of iMovie plug-ins, but I can't personally vouch for their effectiveness.

None of these will work with any recent version of iMovie.

In fact, I would recommend watching all the tutorials on this page if you want to get a better understanding of iMovie's capabilities. I have never used iMovie to create a project (I use FCP), but the information was pretty easy to find and understand.

This part is good advice.

04-29-2010, 02:25 PM

Thank you so much for your help! I'm sorry I just saw your responses. For some reason I did not get an email telling me that someone had responded like I did at first. This is all very helpful. I really appreciate it.