iMovie® '09 and iDVD® Portable Genius

iMovie® '09 and iDVD® Portable Genius

by Guy Hart-Davis
Released August 2009
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9780470475430

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Book description

Genuis tips and tricks to help you get the most from Apple's video applications

Your Mac's iMovie and iDVD applications are a key part of the iLife '09 suite and Apple's cool digital lifestyle. iMovie '09 and iDVD Portable Genius is packed with tips and techniques to help you get all the benefits these applications have to offer.

This full-color guide provides essential information and savvy advice on everything from capturing footage to editing, viewing, and posting movies online in a variety of formats. With plenty of hip tips on how to use the core features in iMovie and iDVD, it covers all the basics plus the advanced features that can turn you into a movie-making expert. And its handy 6x9" size makes it easy to take with you for quick advice on the go.

  • Written by a Certified Apple Trainer and illustrated in full color

  • Makes iMovie and iDVD easy to use right from the start

  • Offers essential coverage of the key skills, tools, and shortcuts that will help you start making movies with confidence

  • Explores editing techniques and how to post your movies online

  • Provides the advanced tips and tricks that allow you to create professional-quality movies and DVDs with your Mac

The advice in iMovie '09 and iDVD Portable Genius will help you make great quality movies and have more fun with iMovie and iDVD.

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. About the Author
  3. Credits
  4. Acknowledgments
  5. Introduction
  6. 1. What's New in iMovie '09?
    1. 1.1. Meeting the New Features in iMovie '09
      1. 1.1.1. Advanced drag and drop
      2. 1.1.2. The Precision Editor
      3. 1.1.3. Themes and maps
      4. 1.1.4. Stabilizing your video
      5. 1.1.5. Titles, effects, and transitions
      6. 1.1.6. The new Library browser
    2. 1.2. Navigating the iMovie '09 Interface
      1. 1.2.1. Project Library
      2. 1.2.2. Project window
      3. 1.2.3. Viewer
      4. 1.2.4. Toolbar
      5. 1.2.5. Event Library
      6. 1.2.6. Event browser
  7. 2. How Do I Make a Movie Quickly?
    1. 2.1. Creating a New Project
    2. 2.2. Importing the Footage
    3. 2.3. Trimming and Assembling the Footage
    4. 2.4. Adding a Still Image from iPhoto
    5. 2.5. Customizing Transitions
    6. 2.6. Titling the Movie
    7. 2.7. Adding Music
  8. 3. What Are My Video Import Options?
    1. 3.1. Preparing to Import Video
      1. 3.1.1. Choosing which disk to store the clips on
      2. 3.1.2. Choosing which Event to assign the clips to
      3. 3.1.3. Choosing how to import high-definition clips
    2. 3.2. Importing DV and HDV Footage from Tape
      1. 3.2.1. Importing all the footage from the tape
      2. 3.2.2. Importing selected clips manually
    3. 3.3. Importing Footage from a Tapeless Camcorder
    4. 3.4. Importing Footage from a Digital Camera
    5. 3.5. Importing iMovie HD Projects
    6. 3.6. Importing QuickTime and Other Movie Files
    7. 3.7. Importing from an Analog Camcorder or Source
    8. 3.8. Importing from a DVD
      1. 3.8.1. Importing from a DVD camcorder
      2. 3.8.2. Importing from a burned DVD
      3. 3.8.3. Importing from a commercial DVD
    9. 3.9. Capturing Live Video from an iSight
    10. 3.10. Browsing the Video You've Imported
      1. 3.10.1. Browsing your footage in the Event browser
        1. 3.10.1.1. Skimming through a clip
        2. 3.10.1.2. Switching the Event and Project areas
        3. 3.10.1.3. Selecting the footage to keep
        4. 3.10.1.4. Marking your clips as favorites or rejects
      2. 3.10.2. Browsing your footage full screen
  9. 4. Do You Have Tips for Fine-Tuning Edits?
    1. 4.1. Creating a Movie from Clips
      1. 4.1.1. Creating a new movie project
      2. 4.1.2. Changing the properties for a movie project
      3. 4.1.3. Adding video clips to the movie project
    2. 4.2. Using the Precision Editor
    3. 4.3. Enabling Fine Tuning and Setting Selection Preferences
    4. 4.4. Making Trim Adjustments
      1. 4.4.1. Trimming off the beginning or end of a clip
      2. 4.4.2. Trimming a clip down to only the part you want
        1. 4.4.2.1. Adjusting a clip with the Clip Trimmer
        2. 4.4.2.2. Making a short adjustment with the Fine Tuning buttons
    5. 4.5. Deleting Frames from Clips
    6. 4.6. Splitting Clips
  10. 5. How Do I Make Video Adjustments?
    1. 5.1. Using Automatic Video Stabilization
      1. 5.1.1. Understanding how stabilization works
      2. 5.1.2. Understanding how iMovie handles stabilization
      3. 5.1.3. Analyzing a clip manually
      4. 5.1.4. Applying stabilization to a clip manually
      5. 5.1.5. Determining how much stabilization iMovie has applied
      6. 5.1.6. Seeing how well the stabilization works
      7. 5.1.7. Adjusting the zoom level on stabilized video
      8. 5.1.8. Removing stabilization from a clip
    2. 5.2. Cropping Your Clips
    3. 5.3. Rotating a Clip
    4. 5.4. Making Color Adjustments
      1. 5.4.1. Opening the Video pane
      2. 5.4.2. Understanding the histogram
      3. 5.4.3. Deciding what to adjust
      4. 5.4.4. Adjusting the white balance
      5. 5.4.5. Fixing exposure problems
      6. 5.4.6. Adjusting the black and white tones
      7. 5.4.7. Adjusting the brightness and contrast
        1. 5.4.7.1. Adjusting the brightness
        2. 5.4.7.2. Adjusting the contrast
      8. 5.4.8. Adjusting the color saturation
      9. 5.4.9. Adjusting the red, green, and blue
    5. 5.5. Copying and Pasting Adjustments
  11. 6. How Do I Create Cool Transitions, Titles, and Effects?
    1. 6.1. Applying Themes
    2. 6.2. Adding Transitions
      1. 6.2.1. Opening the Transitions browser
      2. 6.2.2. Adding transitions automatically
      3. 6.2.3. Adding transitions manually
      4. 6.2.4. Changing to a different transition
      5. 6.2.5. Changing transition duration
      6. 6.2.6. Changing the default duration
      7. 6.2.7. Removing transitions
    3. 6.3. Adding Animated Titles
      1. 6.3.1. Understanding the types of titles
      2. 6.3.2. Adding a title
        1. 6.3.2.1. Applying a title on its own
        2. 6.3.2.2. Superimposing a title on a clip
        3. 6.3.2.3. Applying theme titles
      3. 6.3.3. Editing titles
      4. 6.3.4. Changing title duration and fade
      5. 6.3.5. Changing the background text block color
      6. 6.3.6. Using special characters
    4. 6.4. Adding Animated Maps
    5. 6.5. Making iMovie Display the Advanced Tools
    6. 6.6. Creating Cutaways
      1. 6.6.1. Creating a basic cutaway
      2. 6.6.2. Adjusting the audio in a cutaway clip
      3. 6.6.3. Fading a cutaway in and out
      4. 6.6.4. Making the original video show through the cutaway
    7. 6.7. Creating Picture-in-Picture Effects
    8. 6.8. Superimposing a Subject with a Green Screen
      1. 6.8.1. Shooting a green screen video
      2. 6.8.2. Creating the green screen effect
      3. 6.8.3. Adjusting the audio for the green screen clip
    9. 6.9. Applying Cool Video Effects
    10. 6.10. Creating Slow-Motion and High-Speed Effects
  12. 7. What Should I Know about Audio and Scoring My Movies?
    1. 7.1. Adjusting Audio Levels in Clips
      1. 7.1.1. Adjusting audio volume and fading
      2. 7.1.2. Copying and pasting audio adjustments
    2. 7.2. Adding Background Music
      1. 7.2.1. Adding a song or audio clip as a background
      2. 7.2.2. Trimming a clip with the Clip Trimmer
      3. 7.2.3. Marking key moments with beat markers
        1. 7.2.3.1. Adding a beat marker
        2. 7.2.3.2. Repositioning a beat marker
        3. 7.2.3.3. Deleting a beat marker
      4. 7.2.4. Making playback start at the right frame
        1. 7.2.4.1. Pinning a background track
        2. 7.2.4.2. Synchronizing a clip with a beat marker
      5. 7.2.5. Adding another piece of background music
      6. 7.2.6. Rearranging background music clips
      7. 7.2.7. Using only the audio from a video clip
    3. 7.3. Adding Sound Effects
    4. 7.4. Narrating with Voiceover
    5. 7.5. Managing Multi-track Audio Levels
      1. 7.5.1. Setting the volume of the background music
      2. 7.5.2. Setting each track to play at the level you want
      3. 7.5.3. Applying ducking to make one track stand out
    6. 7.6. Creating a Soundtrack with GarageBand
      1. 7.6.1. Learning the GarageBand '09 Interface
      2. 7.6.2. From iMovie to GarageBand
      3. 7.6.3. Creating a score in GarageBand
        1. 7.6.3.1. Setting the volume for the Movie Sound track
        2. 7.6.3.2. Adding loops to a track
        3. 7.6.3.3. Recording an instrument
        4. 7.6.3.4. Muting and soloing tracks
        5. 7.6.3.5. Creating a volume curve for a track
        6. 7.6.3.6. Setting the panning for a track
        7. 7.6.3.7. Watching the movie preview
      4. 7.6.4. Creating chapter markers
      5. 7.6.5. Exporting your finished movie project
  13. 8. What's the Best Way to Manage My Video?
    1. 8.1. Understanding How iMovie Handles Your Video Footage
    2. 8.2. Sorting Your Footage among iMovie Events
      1. 8.2.1. Creating a new Event
      2. 8.2.2. Moving a clip from one Event to another
      3. 8.2.3. Merging iMovie Events
      4. 8.2.4. Splitting iMovie Events
      5. 8.2.5. Sorting and grouping Events
        1. 8.2.5.1. Viewing Events by month or day
        2. 8.2.5.2. Viewing Events and folders by drives
    3. 8.3. Marking Video Footage
      1. 8.3.1. Marking video as favorite or rejected
      2. 8.3.2. Marking using the Advanced Tools
      3. 8.3.3. Retrieving rejected footage
      4. 8.3.4. Deleting rejected footage from an Event
    4. 8.4. Running Space Saver to Reclaim Drive Space
    5. 8.5. Assigning Keywords to Video
      1. 8.5.1. Applying keywords manually
      2. 8.5.2. Using the Auto-Apply feature
      3. 8.5.3. Filtering clips according to keywords
    6. 8.6. Consolidating All of a Project's Files on the Same Drive
    7. 8.7. Moving a Project to Another Drive
    8. 8.8. Keeping Your Project Library Organized
  14. 9. How Can I Use Still Photos in My Movies?
    1. 9.1. Understanding the iPhoto Workflow
    2. 9.2. Exploring the iPhoto Interface
      1. 9.2.1. Source list
      2. 9.2.2. Information pane
      3. 9.2.3. Toolbar
      4. 9.2.4. Viewing area
    3. 9.3. Importing Photos into iPhoto
      1. 9.3.1. Importing photos from your digital camera
      2. 9.3.2. Importing photos from a folder or disc
      3. 9.3.3. Importing photos from the Finder or e-mail
    4. 9.4. Editing Photos in iPhoto
      1. 9.4.1. Rotating photos
      2. 9.4.2. Straightening photos
      3. 9.4.3. Cropping photos
      4. 9.4.4. Adjusting colors, highlights, and shadows
        1. 9.4.4.1. Giving a photo a quick boost with the Enhance tool
        2. 9.4.4.2. Opening the Adjust dialog box
        3. 9.4.4.3. Using the Eyedropper to remove unwanted color casts
        4. 9.4.4.4. Changing the exposure
        5. 9.4.4.5. Changing the black and white tones and gray levels
        6. 9.4.4.6. Changing the contrast
        7. 9.4.4.7. Adjusting the color saturation
        8. 9.4.4.8. Adjusting the definition
        9. 9.4.4.9. Recovering contrast in highlights and shadows
        10. 9.4.4.10. Reducing the noise in a photo
        11. 9.4.4.11. Increasing the sharpness of a photo
        12. 9.4.4.12. Copying and pasting adjustments to other photos
      5. 9.4.5. Applying effects to photos
      6. 9.4.6. Exporting a still from iPhoto for video use
    5. 9.5. Importing Photos into iMovie
    6. 9.6. Changing the Duration a Photo Plays
      1. 9.6.1. Changing the duration of a single photo
        1. 9.6.1.1. Trimming a photo's duration the quick way
        2. 9.6.1.2. Changing the duration with the Clip pane
      2. 9.6.2. Changing the default duration for photos
      3. 9.6.3. Choosing the default placement for photos
    7. 9.7. Creating Moving Photos
      1. 9.7.1. Editing the Ken Burns effect
      2. 9.7.2. Applying effects to multiple photos
    8. 9.8. Using Images as Overlays for Video
    9. 9.9. Adjusting the Crop or Fit of a Photo
    10. 9.10. Creating Still Images and Freeze Frames from Video
      1. 9.10.1. Creating a still image and adding it to a movie project
      2. 9.10.2. Creating a freeze-frame scene
      3. 9.10.3. Importing the still image into iPhoto
  15. 10. How Can I Share My Movies?
    1. 10.1. Sharing a Movie to iTunes
      1. 10.1.1. Sharing the movie
      2. 10.1.2. Removing a shared movie from iTunes
    2. 10.2. Sharing a Movie to the Media Browser
      1. 10.2.1. Adding a movie to the Media Browser
      2. 10.2.2. Using a movie project in iWeb
      3. 10.2.3. Removing a movie project from the Media Browser
    3. 10.3. Publishing a Movie to Your MobileMe Gallery
    4. 10.4. Publishing a Movie to YouTube
    5. 10.5. Removing a Movie from YouTube
    6. 10.6. Exporting a Movie as a File
      1. 10.6.1. Exporting a movie quickly to an MPEG-4 file
      2. 10.6.2. Exporting to another file format
      3. 10.6.3. Exporting to a Final Cut XML file
  16. 11. How Do I Create DVDs Using iDVD?
    1. 11.1. Understanding the iDVD Workflow
    2. 11.2. Opening iDVD and Meeting the Interface
      1. 11.2.1. Opening iDVD
      2. 11.2.2. Creating a new DVD project
      3. 11.2.3. Meeting the iDVD interface
    3. 11.3. Setting the iDVD Preferences
      1. 11.3.1. Setting the General preferences
      2. 11.3.2. Setting the Projects preferences
      3. 11.3.3. Setting the Slideshows preferences
      4. 11.3.4. Setting the Movies preferences
      5. 11.3.5. Setting the Advanced preferences
    4. 11.4. Applying a Theme to the DVD
    5. 11.5. Preparing Your Content for iDVD
      1. 11.5.1. Importing a movie from iMovie '09
        1. 11.5.1.1. Share a movie to the Media Browser
        2. 11.5.1.2. Create a DVD project based on a movie
      2. 11.5.2. Importing content from iMovie HD or Final Cut
        1. 11.5.2.1. Exporting a QuickTime file from iMovie HD
        2. 11.5.2.2. Exporting a QuickTime file from Final Cut
      3. 11.5.3. Preparing your photos for use in iDVD
      4. 11.5.4. Preparing your iTunes songs for use in iDVD
      5. 11.5.5. Preparing your GarageBand compositions for use in iDVD
        1. 11.5.5.1. Saving a project with an iLife preview
        2. 11.5.5.2. Exporting a song to iTunes
    6. 11.6. Adding Content to Your DVD Project
      1. 11.6.1. Adding a movie from the Media Browser
      2. 11.6.2. Adding a movie that isn't in the Media Browser
      3. 11.6.3. Adding chapter markers to a movie
      4. 11.6.4. Adding a slideshow
      5. 11.6.5. Adding menus
      6. 11.6.6. Editing drop zones
      7. 11.6.7. Using motion in menus
    7. 11.7. Customizing iDVD Themes
      1. 11.7.1. Editing the text format
      2. 11.7.2. Editing buttons
      3. 11.7.3. Changing backgrounds and applying background music
      4. 11.7.4. Saving custom themes
    8. 11.8. Making a OneStep DVD
      1. 11.8.1. Creating a OneStep DVD from a tape camcorder
      2. 11.8.2. Creating a OneStep DVD from an iMovie movie
    9. 11.9. Using Magic iDVD
    10. 11.10. Burning and Archiving DVDs
      1. 11.10.1. Burning a DVD
      2. 11.10.2. Creating a Disc Image or a VIDEO_TS File
      3. 11.10.3. Archiving your DVD projects
  17. 12. Do You Have Any Troubleshooting Tips?
    1. 12.1. Getting iMovie to Run as Well as Possible
      1. 12.1.1. Installing the latest iMovie updates
      2. 12.1.2. Adding more RAM
      3. 12.1.3. Quitting other applications
      4. 12.1.4. Defragmenting your Mac's hard drive
    2. 12.2. Dealing with iMovie Crashes and Instability
      1. 12.2.1. iMovie crashes on launch
      2. 12.2.2. iMovie crashes after running for a while
    3. 12.3. Resolving Problems Recognizing Your Camcorder
      1. 12.3.1. Check that iMovie can work with your camcorder
      2. 12.3.2. Check the connection
      3. 12.3.3. Check the output mode
      4. 12.3.4. Check that Mac OS X knows the camcorder is connected
      5. 12.3.5. Check that nobody else is using the camcorder
      6. 12.3.6. Switch among import formats
      7. 12.3.7. Make sure the camcorder has plenty of power
      8. 12.3.8. Increase the camcorder's recording quality
      9. 12.3.9. Troubleshoot an iSight or Web cam
    4. 12.4. Working Around Issues Dragging Photos into iMovie
    5. 12.5. Curing Out-of-sync Audio
      1. 12.5.1. Avoiding custom slow-motion percentages
      2. 12.5.2. Dealing with import sync problems
    6. 12.6. Using the Apple Support Pages to Resolve Other Issues

Product information

  • Title: iMovie® '09 and iDVD® Portable Genius
  • Author(s): Guy Hart-Davis
  • Release date: August 2009
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9780470475430