iMovie '09 & iDVD: The Missing Manual

Color Fixes

iMovie can apply some awesome color-correction effects to your video. Here's the rundown.

Phase 1: Select the Clip, Find the Frame

iMovie can apply color fixes only to an entire clip at once. You can't make the effect fade in or out, you can't apply it to just a portion of a clip, and you can't apply it to multiple clips at once (although you can copy and paste the adjustments you make).

Before you apply an effect, therefore, you may want to start by isolating the piece you want. You can always chop up a clip into smaller pieces (Splitting a Clip).

Then click the clip that needs help. You can click a filmstrip anywhere:

• In the Event Browser. If you click a raw source clip here, then the changes you make appear in every project that incorporates that clip.

• In the project storyboard. If you click a clip you've already placed into the storyboard, the changes you make affect that video only in this movie. The original, underlying source clip in the Event Browser remains unchanged.

(Of course, the truth is, you're never really changing anything at all. You can remove all your changes and revert to the original camcorder-captured clip at any time, even months or years from now.)

Once you've selected a clip, you see a still image of it in the Viewer window.

Phase 2: The Video Adjustments Panel

Now you're ready to open the Video Adjustments panel. Do that by pressing the V key on your keyboard, by clicking the button followed by the Video tab (Figure 7-4), or by clicking the on every ...