Creating a Video Project Using iMovie: Importing Files and Introducing Tools
Creating a Video Project Using iMovie: Importing Files and Introducing Tools
This video tutorial, by the Rowan University Libraries Digital Scholarship Center, introduces users to creating videos using iMovie, a free video editing application by Apple. This easy to use software can help you quickly create student projects and instructional videos for online or blended learning. This specific video tutorial is the second in the series and introduces learners to importing media files and using iMovie's tools such as adding titles and transitions, cropping media, and adding text.
Closed captions available through the video's 
button. The transcript appears below.
Transcript:
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Hi and welcome to our series on creating
a video project
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using iMovie, my name is Mike Benson.
In this vide o we're going to explore
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importing our media files and we'll
also start to use some of the more
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common iMovie tools.
In our last iMovie tutorial we left off
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at adding
a couple files. We want to start with a
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fresh project,
so we will delete the two files in the
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timeline
by selecting the files and then pressing
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the delete button. We will then hold down
the control key and then select each
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file
in the browser to show a pop-up menu.
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From here we will select delete media
from event.
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In this tutorial we are going to create
a short video about the beach.
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I have captured photos and footage from
a variety of beaches
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using my mobile phone and a canon
DSLR camera. I have also downloaded
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copyright free
media files from websites such as
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pixabay.com
and freemusicarchive.org. The links to
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these websites are available below
in this video's description.
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Before we get started with using the
iMovie software
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iId like to recommend an organizational
tip.
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Creating a video project requires
capturing or collecting
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a lot of audio images and video files.
To help with your organization you
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should organize your files
in separate folders. For example, put all
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of your audio files in a folder called
audio>
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put all of your image files in a folder
called images,
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and of course put all your video files
in a folder
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called video. You can also use subfolders
to further organize your files.
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Once you have your files organized in
separate folders
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I recommend creating a new folder called
storyboard.
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This folder will be used to organize all
of the files that you want to use in
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your project
into a linear easy to follow format.
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You want to place the files in the order
that they will appear
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in your movie. Here I placed the files
left to right.
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Once the files are lined up, rename the
files
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in numerical order use the following
numbering system.
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zero zero one, zero zero two,
zero zero three, zero zero four,
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and so on. Be sure to use
at least a three digit numbering system
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with the far left number
always being zero.
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Doing this will ensure that the numbers
and files
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will remain in numerical order. If you do
this
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organizational step first, when you
import your files
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into the video editing software your
files will already be in the order that
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you want them to appear
in the video. Doing this simple step will
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help you stay
organized and it will save you a
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tremendous amount of time.
To import your files into iMovie select
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this icon. You can also import your files by going
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to iMovie's
file menu, and then select import media.
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Then select all of the files located in
your storyboard folder.
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You can select all the files by holding
the shift key,
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then selecting the first file then
scrolling down
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and selecting the last file.
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You can also import your files by going
to your storyboard folder
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and dragging the files to the iMovie
browser.
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Once you have added the files they will
show up here in the browser.
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You can make sure your files are in the
right order by pressing the control key
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and then clicking in this area to see
this menu.
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From here select "sort clips by name"
and "ascending order."
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We can now start to add the files to our
timeline.
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Because of our earlier work to organize
the files
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they will already be in the correct
order. Let's drag the first couple
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rows to the timeline.
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We can add a title by going to the
"Titles" tab.
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Let's select the center title which we
will drag
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in front of our first clip. The title
template
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appears in the Viewer where we can edit
the text. iMovie provides a variety of
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options to format the text. For example we can change the font, the
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size
and the color.
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We can also add transitions between
clips, which can create a smoother
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or more jarring transition from clip to
clip.
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To add a transition, go to the "Transition"
tab.
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We'll select "Cross dissolve" and then
drag it between a few clips.
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iMovie provides a variety of transitions.
The first four options are great tried
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and trusted standard transitions.
The rest are decorative.
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Using transitions be sure to select
transitions
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that match the feel of your content.
iMovie will allow us to crop the
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dimensions of an
image or video or apply an animation
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effect called the Ken burns Effect. To
crop
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a photo, to match the dimensions of the
screen
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select the image, and then go to the crop
tool.
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From here select "Crop to Fill"
and then reposition the image
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To use the Ken Burns Effect, select an
image
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and then select the crop tool then
select the Ken Burns tab
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and reposition the start box and end box.
I want to draw the viewer into the photo
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as if they were walking down the path,
so I'm positioning the start box at the
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bottom
center of the image and the end box
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directly above.
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The speed of the animation is determined
by the length of the clip
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so you might need to adjust the clip by
dragging the right end of the clip
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to make it longer.
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Let's play the clip to see how it looks.
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In our next iMovie tutorial we will
explore
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clipping video, adding and adjusting an
audio track,
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such as music, and we'll explore more
tools.
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Hope to see you there.
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