How To Edit A Movie In iMovie

iMovie Tutorial

The beauty of iMovie video editing software is that it’s already installed on your Mac. There is no need to purchase extra software to edit your videos. iMovie enables you to make a number of edits such as cropping, add photos, text, transitions, music, sound effects. This tutorial will cover the basics of editing your own movie but won’t go into advanced techniques.

Here are the 10 steps to edit a movie in iMovie

Check out my iMovie Tutorial on YouTube

1. Create a new project

  • Open iMovie and go to file — new project
  • Name your project, set the aspect ratio (widescreen (16:9) and frame rate (30 fps – NTSC)
  • Click “create”

2. Import video clip from camera

Go to file — import from camera
iMovie will begin importing all your video clips onto the time line. After you’ve imported all the clips you can begin editing each one of them individually.

3. Editing your video clip

Highlight your first video clip by clicking on it. A yellow border will surround the clip. Edit the clip by sliding the handles left or right either side of it.

Example
If you wish to remove a long pause at the end of your clip, simply move the right handle to the left to remove it.

After you’ve edited your clip drag it to the project window. Repeat this process for all the video clips in your project i.e. drag-and-drop each one to the project library window after it has been edited.

4. Add photos

Click the photo icon on the far right to add photos you’ve imported into iPhoto. To add them to any specific video clip simply drag and drop the photo on to your project window.

5. Add text

To add text to any of your clips click on the “T” icon on the far right of your project window and select the type of text you wish to use. Drag-and-drop it on top of your video clip (or position it between clips). You have the ability to change the font, style, alignment and line spacing.

6. Add transitions between clips

Click the transition icon on the far right to select a transition theme. Examples include: cross dissolve, fade to black, fade to white spin in, spin out, etc. Just drag-and-drop the transition theme between clips.

7. And music

Click the music icon on the far right to add music and sound effects to your clips. The drop-down window will display a large variety of musical clips you can add to your video. To add music, select the music you want then drag-and-drop it to your project window.

Additional edits
You can make additional edits by clicking the drop down window within a clip. It will display the precision editor, clip trimmer, clip adjustments, video adjustments, audio adjustments, cropping and rotation. These tools help you make more detailed edits such as adjusting the exposure, brightness, contrast and saturation of your video or cropping and rotating it. You can also edit your audio by adjusting the volume, make the sound fade in or fade out and reduce the background noise.

8. Export movie

  • Click the “share” tab at the top of the window
  • Enter the name of your movie file in the”export as” box(I suggest naming your movie file using your main keyword phrase)
  • Enter the location where you want to export the movie to (ie desktop or folder)
  • Select “size to export” (ie HD 1080p) then click “export”.
  • A window will pop up showing you how the creation of your movie is progressing.
  • Check that the movie file appears on your desktop after exporting it (ie mymovie.mov)

9. Upload your Movie to YouTube

Log in to your YouTube account and select the upload button
Select the movie file you saved to your desktop and upload
While your movie is uploading go into your video manager to optimize it.

10. Optimize your YouTube video

  • Enter a captivating title to capture the attention of viewers
  • Add your URL to the beginning of the description box
  • Place your video content in the description
  • Enter tags that include your main keywords
  • Upload a video transcript of your content
  • Embed the video on your blog or website
  • Announce your video on social media sites ie Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc

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