iMovie '09 & iDVD: The Missing Manual

Two Ways to Add Photos

Adding photos to your project is a lot like adding music, in that there are two ways to go about it. If you're using photos from your iPhoto library or from the Finder, adding photos in iMovie behaves similar to adding titles, as described in Chapter 10. That is, there are two places to drag photos: between clips, or onto them. The results are quite different.

Photo Filmstrips

If you drag a photo between two filmstrips in your storyboard, you create a new photo filmstrip (Figure 10-5, top).

Tip

You can add more than one photo at a time in this way—a handy trick if you're creating a slideshow. Select multiple photos in the iPhoto browser just as you'd select multiple icons in the Finder. For example, you can click the first one, then Shift-click the last to select a group, or ⌘-click individual thumbnails. You can even just drag an entire album from the album list.

In most regards, the photo now behaves exactly like a video filmstrip. You can crop it, rotate it, and make color adjustments to it, for example, exactly as described in Chapter 7. You can apply the snazzier video effects described in Chapter 6. You can superimpose titles and credits on it, just as described in Chapter 8. You can even use the Split or Trim commands on a photo.

Key differences: You can't adjust a photo's timing by dragging the clip ends or by using the Fine Tuning controls (Fine-Tuning with the Extendo Buttons). Instead, you have to use the Inspector, described on Photo Cutaways. You also ...