Week 4: Make a Rough Edit

July 22, 2011 2 Comments

Your tasks for the week: (approximate time: = 1 hour)
1. Import your video to iMovie
2. Create a new project
3. Pull clips in to the Project pane
4. Organize the clips

Introduction

Alright, your video has now been shot.  This week you will import it to iMovie from the Flip and select the clips that will be used in the final video. 

Choosing your computer

What computer will you be using? If you plan on using a staff machine such as the Mac in Adult Services all is good.  If  you are going to use the DML computers then it will be necessary to save your work on a portable hard drive.  The most annoying aspect of iMovie is that it does not have a Save As command.  In fact, iMovie autosaves for you.  While this is great on your personal computer it can be a problem on a computer that will delete everything on restart, as the DML computers will do.   Review this blog post on how to save an unfinished project to a portable hard drive if needed http://blogs.skokielibrary.info/medialab/2011/07/23/how-to-save-your-imovie-project/.

Importing the video

1. Connect the Flip Camera via the built in swiveling USB arm to the Mac.
   

   iMovie Icon

2. The Flipshare program may pop up- go ahead and close it
3. Click on the iMovie icon in the Doc
4. Click on File in the upper left had corner
5. Move down to Import from Camera and click
6. Select the files you want to import (if you had some takes that were not going to be used do not import them)
7. Click import
8. A screen will pop up asking you a few questions
   1. Save to the Macintosh Hard Drive.
      
   2. You can add to an existing event or create a new one. As this is a new project you will be creating a new event.
   3. Name the Event.  Name it something short and descriptive. For example, Library Tour – AS Computer Lab – don’t worry this doesn’t need to be the title of the final video.
   4. If your video is a little shaky then you can analyze for stabilization.  If you used a tripod this will not be necessary. You can also analyze for people. I have never done this but according to Apple.“Video is tagged according to the distance of the people in the shot (whether they are close up, in the medium distance, or far away). Video is also tagged by the number of people it contains: one person, two people, or more than two people (a group).”
   5. Optimize Video – since we will be just sharing this videos on the web and/or on DVD the large optimization is fine.  This file is much, much smaller than full.
9. Click import
10. Ejecting the camera.  When ejecting anything on Mac you must remember to not just pull it out.  It is important to drag and drop to the delete garbage can (on the dock, lower right corner) to properly eject any device.

Event vs. Project

One of the most important distinctions in iMovie is Event vs. Project.  An Event is when a video is imported to iMovie.  A Project is what is done with the imported Event.  In other words, an Event is what you shot and imported while a Project is the footage you will use in the final video. It is possible to have many Projects made from the same Event.

Starting a new project

Now it is time to start a new project. To do so, click on File and then scroll down to New Project. And this sceen (below) will appear.

We will select No Theme.  But before moving along I want to take a few moments explaining themes and trailers.

Themes give a certain feel for a project, with different kinds of titles and transitions.  If you choose a theme iMovie will insert the titles and transitions for you.  We selected No Theme so we will be putting in our own type of titles and transistions. Other themes may be fun for personal video projects such as family vacations, etc.

Trailers are … pretty awesome. I recommend starting a new project (once you have some free time) and giving it a shot.  It will take about 15 minutes and you will be amazed at the awesome movie trailer you just made.

Name your project.  You already named your Event but the project is going to be what you publish. You’ll need to follow our naming convention, which uses a [playlist] – [title] format. Library tour videos would be titled “Library Tour – Reference Desk,” for example. (If you have any questions about what playlist your video will fall under, please see one of the project coordinators.)

Use the widescreen aspect ratio.  And leave the Frame Rate at 30fps.  The Flips actually shoot at 60 but 30 is sufficient for our needs. Don’t automatically add any transitions… yet.  You may want to next week but leave it alone for now. Click the Create button.

The iMovie interface
The interface for iMovie can be somewhat intimidating the first time you look at it, but don’t worry it won’t take you long to get a hang of it.

The section on the top right is the Viewing pane.  It is where you view the video you are editing.  The section in the top left is the Project pane.  This is where you put the sections of video that will be used in the final video. The Event Pane is the on the bottom with the footage in it.  The Event Library is on the bottom left.  The Event Library has all the imported events.

Rough Editing

Basic editing in iMovie is very easy.  Select a clip in the Events pane and drag them to the Project pane, repeat. To select a clip simply click on it in the Event pane. A yellow box will appear.  It is possible to drag the sides of the box to grab more or less footage.

If you need a finer control over footage you want to grab, in the lower right corner is a slider that will adjust the number of frames shown.  So if you pull it to the left the clip will get bigger and easier to pull exactly what you want.

Once the yellow box is around the area you want click and drag it to the Project pane. Repeat till you have all the footage you want.  Do not delete video from the Event pane. That video will not be shown in the final project so don’t waste your time.

When pulling footage to the Project pane you may notice an orange line appearing on the video in the Event pane.  This line indicates what you have already added.

Click and drag the sections around in the Project pane till the video is in the basic order you would like for it to be in.

Go ahead and play your video from the beginning in the Project pane.  You video should have the continuity you planned for. A good trick is using the space bar to start playing the video as well as stopping it.

Next week

Next week we will review all the coolness that is the toolbar between the Project/View pane and the Events pane.  As well as some other little tricks.

 

 

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