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iMovie Tips: Use iMovie to Edit Your QuickTime Content

by Derrick Story
01/04/2002

As I was watching a Microsoft TV commercial the other night advertising Windows XP, I noticed that one of the primary features being promoted was Digital Video (DV) editing. Funny how the XP interface looked very much like Apple's iMovie.

Related Reading

iMovie 2: The Missing Manual
By David Pogue

Table of Contents
Index

Yes, like its older cousin QuickTime (that by the way just celebrated its tenth birthday), iMovie is destined to be imitated time and time again because it's truly a breakthrough application. Dare I say Killer App?

But iMovie has its frustrations too. The two complaints I receive most often are:

The truth of the matter is that both hurdles can be overcome, and the solutions can be summed up in this sentence, "Convert your existing media to DV, then you can use iMovie to edit it."

Today I'm going to show you how to import your QuickTime video and stills into iMovie for production, use all of those powerful iMovie tools, then export the content back to QuickTime for playback. I will walk you through this process using a series of tips.

  1. You don't need a DV camcorder to use iMovie for editing.

    That's right. In fact, you might have a moviemaking machine in your possession right now and not even know it: your digital still camera.

    Many current digital still cameras have what is called a "Movie Mode" that allows you to capture short clips of QuickTime video. That video can be easily converted for importing into iMovie for editing.

    If you want to know more about using still cameras as video camcorders, read my article, Digital Still Cameras for QuickTime Movies. Bottom line, you might not need to go out and spend another $1,000 for a DV camcorder just to use iMovie.

  2. Buy QuickTime Pro.

    You can purchase the key to convert your existing "player" version to the QuickTime Pro at the QuickTime site. It will cost you $30 to do so, but in return you'll have access to amazing video tools that you'll use time and time again--and that are necessary for preparing QuickTime files for editing in iMovie.

  3. Convert your QuickTime clips to "DV Stream."

    This is why you need QuickTime Pro, because it enables you to export your QuickTime clips to other formats.

    Fig. 1
    Figure 1. Convert your QuickTime clips to DV Stream to edit them in iMovie.

    Why do you need to do this? The reason is that iMovie is a native Digital Video application, not QuickTime. In order for it to "see" your QuickTime video clips, you need to convert them to "DV Stream."

    Simply open your video clip in QuickTime Pro, select FILE --> EXPORT. Then in the dropdown menu at the bottom of the dialogue box, choose Export: "Movie to DV Stream." See Figure 1.

    QuickTime Pro will convert your video to a format that iMovie can understand.

  4. Create an iMovie Project to edit your QuickTime media.

    Now we're going to set the table for our production project. Open iMovie and select "New Project." iMovie will create a project file and a Media folder. Make sure you save these items to a location on your hard drive that you can find later. And most importantly, always create a separate project in iMovie for each production you're working on. Now quit iMovie for the moment.

  5. Place your converted DV Stream files in your iMovie Media folder.

    This is the easiest way to import these clips. Once you've placed all the files you need for your project in the Media folder, open iMovie again. You will be greeted by this warning, "There were ## stray clips in the project folder. iMovie put them on the shelf."

    Jackpot! Your former QuickTime clips have now been successfully imported into iMovie for production.

  6. Use iMovie for slide shows too.

    One of the real advantages of using iMovie for slide shows is the ability to control every aspect of your production. You may want one image to stay on screen for 4 seconds, and the one that follows it for 10 seconds.

    You can also incorporate your .jpg images into your iMovie production by using the Import command. iMovie will convert your .jpg image and put it on the shelf.

    You can adjust the number of seconds your image appears on the screen by clicking on it, then changing the time parameter on the timeline bar. See Figure 2.

    Fig. 2
    Figure 2. iMovie lets you set individual times for each of your slides.

    If you want to grab a frame from your Digital Video to use in your slide show, use the Create Still Clip command.

  7. Export your project back to QuickTime for playback on both Macintosh and Windows computers.

    Once you've created your masterpiece movie, convert it back to QuickTime by using the FILE --> EXPORT command. Then choose "Export: To QuickTime" from the top dropdown menu. See Figure 3. You'll notice that you have a number of preselected options in the bottom dropdown menu to create different types of QuickTime files. Pick the option that best suits your needs.

    Fig. 3
    Figure 3. Once you've finished editing in iMovie, export your project back to QuickTime.

    Now you can post your movie on your Web site, or burn it on a CD, to share with others. QuickTime content plays equally well on both Macs and PCs, and the plug-in is free from the QuickTime site.

If you'd like to learn more about preparing and exporting your movie, read my article, Digital Still Cameras for QuickTime Movies, Part Two. In no time at all you'll be authoring compelling short movies without ever having to purchase a Digital Video camcorder.

Happy moviemaking!

For more QuickTime authoring tips, visit the Mac DevCenter.

Derrick Story is the author of The Photoshop CS4 Companion for Photographers, The Digital Photography Companion, and Digital Photography Hacks, and coauthor of iPhoto: The Missing Manual, with David Pogue. You can follow him on Twitter or visit www.thedigitalstory.com.

O'Reilly & Associates released (January 2001) iMovie 2: The Missing Manual.

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