iMovie Basics: Importing Footage

Step 1: Create a new project

When you open iMovie on a computer, sometimes it will load the last project that someone was working on. So that you don’t ruin someone else’s project, and so that you have one of your own, go to the File dropdown menu and select New or Command N.

Step 2: Choose your footage type

How you’re going to import footage depends on what type of footage you have. If you’re importing footage directly from a video camera with a DV cable, skip to Step 4. If you’re importing a QuickTime or .mov or some other type of file already on your computer, go to Step 3.

Step 3: Importing a file on your computer

There are several ways to import files into your iMovie project. If you know exactly where the file you want to import is (i.e.: on the desktop) you can simply drag it from the desktop into your clip holding pen, which looks like this:

Otherwise, go once again to the File menu and select Import.

iMovie will automatically send you to the Movies folder of the hard drive, but you can browse your computer’s other folders if it’s somewhere else, or use the search pane if you don’t know where it is.

Once you’ve found the file you wish to import, simply click Open.

iMovie will then import the file for you…

…and it will show up in your clip holding pen.

Step 4: Importing a file from a camera

If you are importing a file from a camera with a DV cord, make sure you have it on and plugged into the computer before you open iMovie, because if you don’t it usually won’t recognize that the camera is there. If all is done correctly, iMovie should look like this:

Next, make sure iMovie is in Capture Mode by switching the slider above the timeline to the camera. Usually when a camera is plugged in, iMovie will do this for you.

Then, you can click the Import button in the blue screen, and let it go.

*IMPORTANT* Keep in mind iMovie imports film in real time, not warp speed. If you have 50 minutes of footage that you’re importing, it will probably take 50 minutes to import it.

Step 5: Importing other kinds of media

One of the nifty things about iMovie is that you can make a whole movie, with music and all that jazz in it. If you want pictures, music or other cool things in your video project, read on, otherwise, happy importing!

Importing audio and video start the same way in iMovie. Click on the Media button of the interface.

You should then see a panel that looks like this:

Step 6: Importing audio

Make sure the Audio tab is selected, as seen in the screenshot above. Next, choose what kind of audio you’re importing. Do you need the sound of screeching tires? If so, try any of the sound effects. Need some Muzak? Peruse the GarageBand Demo songs. Or, if you know exactly what song goes over that training montage, pull it out of your iTunes library!

To save time, if you know what song you’re looking for in iTunes, use the search pane:

Once you’ve found what you’re looking for, make sure the playhead is at the spot you want your music or sound effects to start.

Then click Place at Playhead. iMovie will then import your song into the project, and it will show up as a purple audio bar in your timeline!

If the audio is not quite where you want it to be, you can always drag it to the correct location.

Step 7: Importing photos (from iPhoto)

If you want to put a photo in your project somewhere, click on the Photo tab to get a panel that looks like this:

*Keep in mind, importing photos this way only lets you import photos from iPhoto*

Then select the photo you want, which will bring up the Photo Settings:

Note: The Ken Burns Effect causes iMovie to zoom into a random part of the picture, if that’s something you want, select it, otherwise your image will just be still.

Select how zoomed in you want the photo and how long you want the photo to be on the screen with the two icons, then click Apply.

*IMPORTANT: If the image you want to import is not in iPhoto, go back to Step 3 and import it as if it were a movie file!*

Happy importing!

Supplemental:

For workshop purposes, to share your file as a quicktime file, go to the file menu, select “export”, then quicktime, then use the CD settings. This should make a file small enough to share to the conference space, or at least something “YouTubeable”.