Editing with iMovie 2

In session 2 we covered:

• Digitizing
• Organizing your project
• Titles
• Transitions
• Effects

As the session was predominantly hands on the best way to refresh or consolidate your knowledge is to use iMovie again as soon as possible. To this end, EDTeC offers access to Apple Macintosh computers running iMovie.

Don’t forget the iMovie Help Section on the far right of the top menu bar can get you out of any tight corner you may have worked yourself into.

The main things you should bear in mind regarding iMovie are:

• Always keep the project file and the media file together in the same folder to ensure the two are linked at all times.

• As there is no "save as" function in iMovie, to create alternate versions of a project choose "duplicate" from the "file" menu. This action must be done before opening iMovie. Again, take care to keep the duplicated project file in the same folder as the media file.

• To allow access to the "restore clip media" command under the "advanced" menu make sure you do not empty the dedicated iMovie trash unless it is absolutely necessary. By this I mean only if you are running out of hard drive space.

• There is no automatic save function in iMovie so users must manually save at regular intervals.

• In terms of project management it is best to implement a piecemeal approach to editing your project. Break down your edit sessions into the following steps, saving, duplicating and renaming at each stage:
  1. rough cut (assemble edit)
  2. fine cut 1 (further refining the rough cut and adding narration)
  3. fine cut 2 (adding transitions, titles and music)
  4. fine cut 3 (making final refinements to the vision track and balancing (mixing)audio tracks - try to allow input from colleagues)

This approach will ensure you can go back to earlier incarnations of your project should you wish to do so.

P.S. Don’t empty the trash!

Explore digital editing:

• Apple iMovie - A direct link to Apple's iMovie entry level editing software: http://Apple.com/imovie
• Apple Final Cut Pro 3 - A direct link to Final Cut Pro 3, Apple's high end editing and compositing software: http://Apple.com/finalcutpro