iPhoto and iMovie

start
When you launch iMovie the first time it will ask you what you want to do. After that it will automatically open your last project. You can close the old project window, whereupon the selection window reappears, and you can then select Create a New Project by clicking the button.

Your New Project

Settings

  1. You will get the standard Save dialog, so give your project a name, and select where you want to save it.
  2. Under the navigation area there is a drop down menu for the Video format. If necessary click the disclosure triangle to see the menu. If you are making a TV 4:3 movie, select DV. Otherwise pick one of the other options, depending on what you are going to do with your movie.

iMovie Window: Getting Started

window
  1. The new project will open with the Clips working pane selected. You can simply drag your iPhoto movie into a Clips cell and drop it there.
  2. If you have several different movies you wish to use in your project, drag each one into a Clips cell.
  3. iMovie will then begin importing your movie. This can take several minutes, depending on long the movie is, whether it has music or not, and how fast your computer is. On my dual 800 machine it takes at least 4 times as long to import as the length of the movie. So a 2 minute movie would take at least 8 minutes, maybe up to 10 or 12 minutes.
  4. Be sure to save your project at regular intervals!
  5. Once you have imported all the movies you plan to use in your project into the Clips pane, you can drag them into the Timeline at the bottom, putting them in the order you wish them to be.
  6. You'll notice that when you drag a new clip to the Timeline that clip will be selected, and if you press the Play button your project will begin to play at that point. To start at the beginning, just drag the little triangular gizmo back to the beginning.
  7. If you decide to rearrange the clips, just drag a clip back from the Timeline to the Clips pane, then drag it back into the Timeline at the new position.

Next: Making it Fancy

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