iMovie 6 & iDVD: The Missing Manual

Book description

While the last version of iMovie gave moviemakers the ability to capture and edit widescreen High Definition Video (HDV) from the new generation of camcorders, iMovie 6 is all about the ease of moviemaking itself. iMovie 6 includes five professionally designed themes with backgrounds, motion graphics, titles, and effects that act as building blocks for your projects. You can preview transitions and stunning new video effects--such as time-lapse video--in real time using the full screen. Or edit audio and add sound effects with a new built-in sound studio. For presenting your movie, Magic iDVD offers easy-to-use themes, including new widescreen options.

Whether you're a professional or an amateur moviemaker, this is amazing stuff. But if you want to learn the full capabilities of these applications, Apple documentation won't make the cut. Instead, iMovie 6 & iDVD: The Missing Manual is the ideal third-party authority that covers all of these changes through an objective lens. This witty and entertaining guide from celebrated author David Pogue details every step of iMovie 6 and iDVD production. The book shows you how to:

  • Work on multiple iMovie projects at once and drag & drop clips among them

  • Output your creation to a blog, its own web page, or as a video podcast with iWeb

  • Use "Magic iMovie" to import your video and make a movie for you

  • Integrate with other iLife programs to use songs, photos, and an original soundtrack

  • And a whole lot more

From choosing and using a digital camcorder to burning the finished work onto DVDs, posting it online, or downloading it to an iPod, iMovie 6 & iDVD: The Missing Manual zooms right in on the details in a clear, concise, and understandable manner. The book also provides a firm grounding in basic film technique so that the quality of your video won't rely entirely on magic.

Table of contents

  1. iMovie 6 & iDVD: The Missing Manual
    1. The Missing Credits
      1. About the Authors
      2. About the Creative Team
      3. Acknowledgments
      4. The Missing Manual Series
    2. Introduction
      1. Meet iMovie
      2. What’s New in iMovie 6
        1. Big-Ticket Features
        2. iDVD Changes
      3. About This Book
        1. About the Outline
        2. About → These → Arrows
        3. Technical Notes for PAL People
          1. The Tech Specs of NTSC
          2. The Tech Specs of PAL
        4. About MissingManuals.com
      4. The Very Basics
    3. I. Capturing DV Footage
      1. 1. The DV Camcorder
        1. Meet Digital Video
          1. Why a DV Camcorder Is Worth It
            1. It’s smaller
            2. The quality is astounding
            3. You can make copies of copies
            4. A DV recording is forever
            5. No fuzzy snow when rerecording
            6. You can edit it
          2. What’s It Good For?
        2. Buying a DV Camcorder
          1. DV Camcorder Features: Which Are Worthwhile?
            1. FireWire connector
            2. Analog inputs
            3. Three chips (CCDs)
            4. LCD viewfinder
            5. Electronic image stabilizer (EIS)
            6. Optical image stabilizer
            7. Digital8 format
            8. Manual override
            9. Optical zoom
            10. Minutes-remaining readout
            11. Built-in light
            12. Preprogrammed exposure options
            13. Remote control
            14. Backlight mode
            15. FlexiZone or Push Focus
            16. Night-vision mode
            17. Still-camera mode
            18. Progressive-scan CCD
          2. Useless Features
            1. Title generator
            2. Fader
            3. Audio dubbing
            4. Special effects
            5. Date/time stamp
            6. Control-L or Lanc
            7. Digital zoom
          3. Where and How to Buy
      2. 2. Turning Home Video into Pro Video
        1. Film vs. Videotape
        2. Film-Technique Crash Course
          1. The Very Basics
        3. Get the Shot
          1. Is the Camera Ready?
          2. Are You Ready?
          3. Is the Camera Actually Recording?
          4. How Much to Shoot
        4. Replace the Microphone
          1. Clip-on (Lavalier) Microphones
          2. Wireless Mikes
          3. Other Microphones
          4. Where to Buy Them
        5. Limit Zooming and Panning
          1. Tips for Keeping Zooming Under Control
          2. Panning and Tilting
        6. Keep the Camera Steady
        7. Video Lighting: A Crash Course
          1. Lighting Basics
            1. Exposure
            2. Contrast
            3. Hard light vs. soft light
            4. Key, fill, and backlight
            5. Color temperature
            6. The 45/45 Rule
          2. General Guidelines for Lighting
        8. Keep It in Focus
          1. Manual Focus
        9. Video Composition: A Crash Course
          1. Kinds of Shots
            1. Choosing your shots
            2. Combining shots
          2. The Rule of Thirds
          3. Mind the Background
          4. Framing the Shot
          5. Camera Angle
          6. Capturing Multiple Angles
          7. Capture Footage for Cutaways and Cut-Ins
          8. Dolly Shots
            1. The wheelchair solution
            2. GlideCam and Steadicam JR
      3. 3. Special Event Filming
        1. Interviews
        2. Music Videos
        3. Live Stage Performances
          1. Getting Permission
          2. Capturing the Sound
          3. Getting Power
          4. Capturing the Picture
        4. Speeches
        5. Sports
        6. Photos and Old Movies
          1. Old Photos
          2. Shooting Slides
          3. Transferring Old Movies to DV
        7. Weddings
          1. Where to Stand
          2. Getting the Sound
          3. Being Unobtrusive
        8. Actual Scripted Films
    4. II. Editing in iMovie
      1. 4. Camcorder Meets Mac
        1. iMovie: The Application
          1. iMovie on a New Mac
          2. iMovie for an Existing Mac
          3. “.0.1” Updates
        2. Connecting to FireWire
        3. Getting into iMovie
          1. Monitor Resolution
          2. The Create Project Dialog Box
          3. Saving a New Project File
            1. Where to save
            2. Video format
          4. iMovie Controls
        4. Importing Camcorder Footage
          1. The Monitor Window’s Video Quality
          2. Capturing Footage
            1. Automatic scene detection
            2. Timed scene breaks
            3. How much footage to capture
            4. The maximum clip length
            5. The Free Space readout
          3. Live Camcorder Recording
        5. iSight Recording
        6. USB Camcorders
        7. High-Definition Camcorders
        8. The Aspect-Ratio Problem
        9. Magic iMovie
        10. Time-Lapse Recording
        11. Managing Project Files
          1. Starting a New Project
          2. Opening More Than One Project
        12. Converting Older Projects
        13. How iMovie Organizes Its Files
          1. The Project File
            1. The Media folder
            2. Shared Movies folder
          2. Cache Folder
          3. Audio Waveforms Folder
        14. Importing Footage from Non-DV Tapes
          1. Approach 1: Use a Recent Sony or Canon Camcorder
          2. Approach 2: Record onto Your DV Camcorder
          3. Approach 3: Use a Media Converter
          4. Approach 4: Use a Digital8 Camcorder
      2. 5. Building the Movie
        1. Navigating Your Clips
          1. Select a Clip
          2. Select Several Clips
          3. Play a Clip
          4. Jump Around in a Clip
          5. Step Through a Clip
          6. Scan Through a Clip
          7. Rename a Clip
          8. Reorganize Your Clips
        2. Undo, Revert, and Other Safety Nets
          1. Revert to Saved
          2. Revert Clip to Original
        3. Project Trash—and the Disk-Space Paradox
          1. The iMovie Disk-Space Conundrum
            1. Solution 1: The invisible title trick
            2. Solution 2: The export/re-import trick
        4. Shortening Clips by Dragging
        5. Three Ways to Trim a Clip
          1. Highlighting Footage
          2. Snipping Off One End of a Clip
          3. Cropping Out the Ends of a Clip
          4. Chopping Out the Middle of a Clip
        6. Splitting a Clip
        7. The Movie Track: Your Storyboard
          1. Readouts in the Movie Track
          2. Dragging to the Movie Track
          3. Copying and Pasting Clips
        8. Tricks of the Timeline Viewer
          1. Zooming
          2. Sliding for Blackness
          3. Colorizing a Black Clip
          4. Bookmarks
        9. Playing the Movie Track
          1. Playing the Whole Movie
          2. Playing a Segment of the Movie
          3. While the Movie is Playing
          4. Editing Clips in the Movie Track
        10. Full-Screen Playback Mode
        11. Themes
      3. 6. Transitions and Special Effects
        1. About Transitions
        2. When Not to Use Transitions
        3. Creating a Transition
          1. Previewing the Effect
          2. Applying the Effect—and Rendering
            1. Applying simultaneous clips
            2. When rendering is complete
          3. How Transitions Affect the Length of Your Movie
          4. How Transitions Chop Up Clips
          5. Editing the Transition
          6. Deleting a Transition
          7. Transition Error Messages
            1. When you delete a clip
            2. When the transition is longer than the clip
            3. When you quit while rendering
        4. Transitions: The iMovie Catalog
          1. Billow
          2. Circle Closing, Circle Opening
          3. Cross Dissolve
          4. Disintegrate
          5. Fade In
          6. Fade Out
          7. Overlap
          8. Push
          9. Radial
          10. Ripple
          11. Scale Down
          12. Twirl
          13. Warp In
          14. Warp Out
          15. Wash In, Wash Out
        5. Downloading More Transition Choices
        6. Video FX
          1. Selecting the Footage
          2. Surveying Your Options
          3. Removing an Effect
          4. Adjusting an Effect
          5. Superimposing Effects
        7. Effects: The iMovie Catalog
          1. Adjust Colors
          2. Aged Film
          3. Black & White
          4. Brightness & Contrast
          5. Earthquake
          6. Electricity
          7. Fairy Dust
          8. Fast/Slow/Reverse
            1. Reverse Direction
            2. Slow Motion, Fast Motion
          9. Flash
          10. Fog
          11. Ghost Trails
          12. Lens Flare
          13. Letterbox
          14. Mirror
          15. N-Square
          16. Quartz Composer
          17. Rain
          18. Sharpen
          19. Soft Focus
        8. Installing More Effects
      4. 7. Titles, Captions, and Credits
        1. Setting Up a Title
          1. Choose a Title Effect
          2. Type the Text
            1. Text blocks
            2. Title/Subtitle pairs
            3. Pair sequences
          3. Specify the Timing
          4. Choose a Font
          5. Specify the Size of the Lettering
          6. Choose an Animation Direction
          7. The “Over Black” Checkbox
          8. Choose a Color for the Lettering
          9. Add a Backdrop
        2. Inserting and Rendering a Title
          1. Dragging the Title into the Movie Track
          2. Rendering Begins
          3. How Titles Chop Up Your Clips
          4. Checking the Result
          5. Editing a Title
          6. Deleting a Title
        3. The iMovie Titles Catalog
          1. 3D Spin
          2. Bounce Across
          3. Bounce In to Center
          4. Cartwheel
          5. Centered Title
          6. Clip to Characters
            1. Animated Gradient
            2. Clip Image
            3. Clip Video
            4. Starburst
          7. Converge
          8. Cross Through
          9. Drifting
          10. Far, Far Away
          11. Flying
          12. Gravity, Gravity Multiple
          13. Music Video
          14. Scrolling
            1. Rolling Credits, Rolling Centered Credits
            2. Scroll with Pause
            3. Scrolling Block
          15. Spinner
          16. Spread
          17. Stripe Subtitle
          18. Subtitle
          19. Twirl
          20. Typing
            1. Typewriter
            2. Video Terminal
          21. Unscramble
          22. Wipe
          23. Zoom
      5. 8. Narration, Music, and Sound
        1. The Two iMovie Soundtracks
        2. Audio Clips
          1. Renaming Sound Clips (or Not)
          2. Listening to a Sound Clip
        3. Recording Narration
          1. Preparing to Record
          2. Making the Recording
          3. Choosing from Separate Takes
        4. Importing Music from iTunes or GarageBand
          1. Tunes from iTunes
          2. Tunes from GarageBand
        5. Scoring in GarageBand
        6. Sound Effects (Crickets, Etc.)
          1. Using a Sound Effect
          2. Adding or Removing Sound Effects
        7. Audio Effects (Reverb, Etc.)
        8. Volume Adjustments
          1. Making Whole-Clip Volume Adjustments
          2. Volume Adjustments Within a Clip
          3. Volume “Rubber Bands”
          4. Adjusting Many Clips at Once
        9. Manipulating Audio Clips
          1. Locking Audio Clips to Video
          2. Cropping an Audio Clip
          3. Splitting an Audio Clip
          4. Moving an Audio Clip
          5. Superimposing Audio Clips
          6. Scrubbing Audio Clips
        10. Overlaying Video Over Sound
          1. The “Extract Audio in Paste Over” Checkbox
          2. Performing the Overlay
        11. Extracting Audio from Video
      6. 9. Still Pictures and QuickTime Movies
        1. Importing Still Images
          1. Snagging Pictures from iPhoto
            1. Phase 1: Specify the duration
            2. Phase 2: Specify the Ken Burns effect
            3. Phase 3: Insert the photo
          2. Importing Photos from the Hard Drive
          3. Working with Photos
        2. The Dimensions of an iMovie Photo
        3. The Ken Burns Effect
          1. Applying the Ken Burns Effect
          2. Editing, Adding, or Removing the Ken Burns Effect
          3. Cropping or Moving a Photo Without Animating It
        4. Still Images as Titles
          1. The Freeze-Frame Effect
          2. The Layered Effect
        5. Creating Still Images from Footage
          1. Creating a Still Frame
          2. Exporting a Still Frame
            1. The resolution problem
            2. Exporting a frame
        6. Importing QuickTime Movies
          1. Using the Imported QuickTime Clip
          2. Grabbing Clips from Other Projects
      7. 10. Professional Editing Techniques
        1. The Power of Editing
          1. Modern Film Theory
            1. Tell the story chronologically
            2. Try to be invisible
            3. Develop a shot rhythm
          2. Maintaining Continuity
          3. When to Cut
          4. Choosing the Next Shot
        2. Popular Editing Techniques
          1. Tight Editing
          2. Variety of Shots
            1. Establishing shots
            2. Cutaways and Cut-ins
            3. Reaction shots
            4. Parallel cutting
    5. III. Finding Your Audience
      1. 11. Back to the Camcorder
        1. Why Export to Tape
          1. To Watch It on TV
          2. To Transfer It to Your VCR
          3. To Create a Perfect Backup
          4. To Reclaim Disk Space
        2. Transferring Footage to the Camcorder or VCR
          1. First to DV Tape, Then to VCR
          2. From Mac Directly to VCR
        3. Notes on DV Tapes
          1. The Two-Cassette System
          2. Labeling and Logging
          3. Long Play Mode
          4. The Protect-Tape Tab
      2. 12. From iMovie to QuickTime
        1. Saving a QuickTime Movie
        2. Understanding QuickTime
          1. A Crash Course in Video Compression
            1. Spatial compression
            2. Temporal compression
          2. About Codecs
        3. The Share Presets: What They Mean
          1. Email
          2. Web
          3. Web Streaming
          4. CD-ROM
          5. Full Quality
        4. The Expert Settings
          1. The Settings Button
            1. Compressor pop-up menu
            2. Quality slider
            3. Frames per second
            4. Key frame every__frames
            5. Limit data rate
            6. Options
          2. The Filter Button
          3. The Size Button
          4. Audio Settings
            1. Compressor
            2. Rate, Size
            3. Use: Mono/Stereo
        5. The Video Codecs: A Catalog
        6. Burning QuickTime Movie CDs
          1. Burning a CD or DVD for File Storage
          2. Burning a Video CD
            1. Where you can play your Video CDs
            2. Making Video CDs with Toast
            3. Making Video CDs with Shareware programs
      3. 13. Movies on the Web, the iPod, and the Phone
        1. Make the Big Screen Tiny
        2. Method 1: Publishing Movies on a .Mac Account
          1. The iWeb Way
            1. What you get when you’re done
            2. Editing or deleting the Web page
          2. The iDisk Way
            1. Editing your Web page
            2. Behind the Screens
        3. Posting a Movie on Your Own Web Site
          1. Playing the Movie in Its Own Window
            1. Uploading your files
            2. Setting up streaming playback
            3. Playing your movie
            4. Creating alternate versions
            5. The HTML code
          2. Embedding the Movie in Your Web Page
            1. The <embed> command
            2. More <embed> tag attributes
            3. Making a poster movie
        4. Other Internet “Film Festivals”
        5. Optimizing Online Movies
        6. Movies on the iPod
        7. Movies on Your Phone
      4. 14. QuickTime Player
        1. QuickTime Player (Free Version)
            1. Hidden controls
            2. Fancy playback tricks
        2. QuickTime Player Pro
          1. Presenting Your Movies
          2. Editing Movies
            1. Selecting footage
            2. Pasting footage
          3. Exporting Edited Movies
            1. The Save As command
            2. The Export command
            3. How to Use QuickTime Player with iMovie
        3. Advanced QuickTime Pro: Track Tricks
          1. Flip a Clip
          2. Picture-in-Picture
          3. The Video Wall
    6. IV. iDVD 6
      1. 15. From iMovie to iDVD
        1. Why iDVD?
          1. Getting iDVD 6
        2. What You’re in For
        3. Phase 1: Prepare Your Video
          1. Safe Colors
          2. Overscanning and You
            1. The title-safe area
            2. The action-safe area
        4. Phase 2: Insert Chapter Markers
          1. Removing Chapters
          2. Changing Chapter Names
          3. Chapter Marker Pointers
        5. Phase 3: Hand Off to iDVD
        6. Phase 4: Design the Menu Screen
          1. All about Themes
          2. Choosing a Theme
          3. The Inevitable Paragraphs About Aspect Ratio
          4. Editing Menus
            1. Editing titles and buttons
            2. Moving buttons around
            3. Reordering buttons
            4. Removing buttons
            5. Setting button images: Moving previews
            6. Setting button images: Still frames
          5. Drop Zones
          6. Redesigning the Theme
        7. Phase 5: Burning Your DVD
          1. Previewing Your Project
          2. Maximum DVD Playback Time
          3. One Last Techie Look
          4. Burning Your Project
        8. OneStep DVDs, Magic iDVDs
          1. OneStep DVD
            1. Overriding OneStep
          2. Magic iDVDs
      2. 16. iDVD Projects by Hand
        1. Building iDVDs
        2. Creating a New Project
        3. Adding Movies
          1. The Import Command
          2. The Finder
          3. The Movies Media Pane
            1. Listing more movie folders
          4. Clips and Movies from iMovie
          5. Movies with Chapters
        4. Submenus (“Folders”)
          1. Navigating Submenus
        5. The DVD Map—and Autoplay
          1. Editing in the Map
          2. Autoplay
          3. Looping
        6. DVD Slideshows
          1. iPhoto Albums
            1. Starting in iPhoto
            2. Starting in iDVD
          2. Drag Photo Folders from the Finder
          3. Add a Slideshow, Worry about the Pictures Later
          4. Editing Slideshows
            1. Adding or omitting slides
            2. Reordering Slides
            3. Renaming Slides
            4. Adding Slide Comments
          5. Slideshow Options
            1. Slideshow audio
          6. Leaving the Slideshow Editor
          7. Burning Your Slideshow
      3. 17. Designing iDVD Themes
        1. iDVD’s Built-in Themes
          1. The Themes Pane
          2. The Built-in Themes
        2. Button Styles
        3. Editing and Positioning Text
        4. Changing Backgrounds
          1. Background Images
          2. Background Video
            1. Background video selection
        5. Choosing Menu Audio
          1. Replacing Menu Audio
          2. Removing Menu Audio
          3. Adjusting Menu Audio Volume
        6. Saving Favorites
        7. Buying Sound and Vision
          1. Motion Backgrounds
          2. Stock Art
          3. Audio
      4. 18. iDVD Secrets
        1. iDVD—The DVD-ROM Maker
          1. Adding Files to DVD-ROM
          2. Organizing DVD-ROM Contents
        2. Project Info
        3. Uncover Your DVD Project File
        4. AppleScripting iDVD
        5. Archiving Your Project
            1. Copying the archive to a different Mac
        6. Disk Images
        7. Professional Duplicating
          1. Prepare to Copy
          2. Choosing a Replicator
          3. Working with Replicators
          4. Fulfillment
    7. V. Appendixes
      1. A. iMovie 6, Menu by Menu
        1. iMovie Menu
          1. About iMovie HD
          2. iMovie HD Hot Tips
          3. Preferences
            1. General
            2. Import
            3. Playback
          4. Shop for iMovie HD Products
          5. Provide iMovie HD Feedback
          6. Register iMovie HD
          7. Check For Updates
          8. Services
          9. Hide iMovie, Hide Others, Show All
          10. Quit iMovie HD
        2. File Menu
          1. New, Open, Open Recent, Close Window
          2. Make a Magic iMovie
          3. Save Project
          4. Save Project As
          5. Revert to Saved
          6. Import
          7. Export
          8. Burn Project to Disc
          9. Show Info
          10. Save Frame
          11. Show Trash
          12. Empty Trash
        3. Edit Menu
          1. Undo
          2. Redo
          3. Cut, Copy, Paste
          4. Clear
          5. Select All
          6. Select Similar Clips
          7. Select None
          8. Crop
          9. Split Video (Audio) Clip at Playhead
          10. Create Still Frame
          11. Special Characters
        4. View Menu
        5. Markers Menu
        6. Share Menu
        7. Advanced Menu
        8. Window Menu
        9. Help Menu
          1. iMovie HD Help
          2. iMovie HD Getting Started
          3. Keyboard Shortcuts
          4. Service and Support
      2. B. Troubleshooting
        1. Two Golden Rules
        2. Preparing the Playground
        3. General iMovie Troubleshooting
          1. Weird Inconsistent Problems
          2. Keeping Your Hard Disk Happy
        4. Starting Up and Importing
          1. iMovie Fails to Connect to Camera
          2. iMovie Fails to Launch on Intel Mac, or Fails To Save Imported Video.
          3. “Camera not connected”
          4. Import from Camera Stops After 2–3 Seconds
          5. Dropouts in the Video
          6. Banding
          7. Video is Getting Stretched
        5. Title Trouble
          1. Title Backgrounds Have Jaggies
          2. Scrolling Block Title Scrolls Too Fast
        6. Photo Problems
          1. Can’t Edit Ken Burns Photos
          2. Imported Photos Show Grey Horizontal Lines Of Static
          3. Red Tint When Importing Images with Ken Burns Effect On
          4. Can’t Change the Duration of a Still Photo
          5. iPhoto Slideshow Fails to Import Video
        7. Problems Editing
          1. Direct Trimming Doesn’t Work
          2. Video Playback is Slow or Jumpy
          3. You Can’t Close Up a Gap
          4. A Theme Plays the Wrong Video
        8. Exporting Troubles
          1. You Live in Europe
          2. Can’t Export Selected Clips to Camera
        9. Project Corruption
          1. Using the Timeline Movie to Recover the Project
        10. Problems with Sound
          1. Sound Is Too Soft
          2. Audio Fade Doesn’t Stick in PAL Project, Ends with Burst of Sound
          3. Random Electronic Beeps
          4. Pops at Transition or Scene Breaks
        11. DVD Problems
          1. Exporting to iDVD Fails (Error -43)
          2. Video and Audio Aren’t In Sync
            1. The back-to-camcorder solution
            2. The start-over solution
            3. The export-as-QuickTime solution
          3. Photos Look Jaggy and Awful on DVD
            1. The Ken Burns Method
            2. The Drag-into-iDVD Method
        12. Where to Get Help Online
      3. C. Master Keyboard Shortcut List
    8. Index
    9. Colophon

Product information

  • Title: iMovie 6 & iDVD: The Missing Manual
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: May 2006
  • Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  • ISBN: 9780596527266