Editing music videos in iMovie 09

New to video editing, iMovie 09 and Mac 10.x. I've discovered some neat tricks, but some basic edits are eluding me. The audio of these videos has been mastered, and I am detaching the original audio before applying the new mastered audio track to the video. So far so good...

1. I figured out how to insert a still shot with a title at the beginning of a video, but when I do, the audio track begins with the still shot, not with the beginning of the video clip. How can I move back the audio track by 4 sec. or whatever, so that the video and audio stay in synch?

2. Something similar happens when I try to cut a second or two off the front of the video. I can cut the end of the clip, and the audio will stop with the video. But when I cut the beginning of the clip, it only cuts the video and the audio is then longer and out of synch. How do I cut the video and audio together at the beginning of a clip?

3. How do I add a video fade-in from black to the beginning of a clip while having the audio play behind it?

Let me know if I'm just asking too much from iMovie 09.

I don't use iMovie that much but here are some tutorials that have come in handy when I've needed to.

Apple - iLife - Find out how to use iLife applications on the Mac.

There is a video there about trimming, adding music, adding still photos, etc.

It sounds like you have made the audio the background audio. You'll have a big green background in your project if this is true.

You want to attach the audio to the video. Drag the audio clip to the spot in the video clip where you want it to start. When successful, you'll have a thin green bar under the clip for the length of your video, or music.

For the fade from black, use the 'Cross Dissolve' transition. Grab and drop it at the front of the project clips.

Yes, I have the Big Green Monster background. I knew there had to be a better way. Let me try that after I put in the still shot at the beginning, and I'll report back. Thanks!

It's all good. Sometimes getting a couple of new techniques opens up even more. Thanks xstep!

You are welcome. Glad to see it worked out for you.