Complete Idiot's Guide to iMovie 2

Brad Miser has written extensively on Macintosh computers and related topics, including The Complete Idiot's Guide to iMac, The Complete Idiot's Guide to iBook, Using Mac OS 8.5, and The Mac OS 9 Guide. Brad has been using Mac computers for more than 12 years and is a member of the Apple Developer Connection Select Program. Brad has also been a development, technical and copy editor for more than 35 books.

Introduction. I. BECOMING A DV MOVIE MOGUL. 1. iMovie Digital Movie Magic. What Is DV All About? How Do You Build a DV Movie? Building Your DV Studio. Planning Your Flick. Gathering Your Clips. Assembling and Editing Your Clips. Adding Special Effects and Sound. Finishing Your Movie. Getting Your Movie "Out There". Other Things You Need to Know. 2. Building a Digital Video Toolkit with More Power. Which DV Toolkit Is Right for You? The Big Four-You Must Have These to Make DVs. Macintosh. iMovie. QuickTime. Camcorder. Hardware for More Power. Input Devices. Storage Devices. Software for More Power. 3. iMovie-Definitely Not Your Father's Video Editing Application. Why iMovie Rocks. The iMovie Paradigm. iMovie: A Guided Tour. Monitoring Your Work. Viewing with the Viewers. Working with Tools on the Tools Palette. Storing Clips on the Shelf. Gauging Disk Space. Taking Out the Trash. Cool iMovie Menus. 4. Being Quick with QuickTime. So What Does QuickTime Have to Do with iMovie? What You Need to Know About QuickTime. QuickTime Is Good, but... Playing for QuickTime. QuickTiming Around the Web. Rocking to MP3 Tunes. You Need QuickTime Pro. So How Will QuickTime Pro Help Me with My iMovie Projects? Upgrading to QuickTime Pro-It's Fast, Cheap, and Good. Going Pro with QuickTime Pro. Building QuickTime Movies with Cut and Paste. It's Two Movies in One. Extracting Tracks Is Less Painful than Extracting Teeth. 5. Through the Digital Looking Glass (Choosing and Using a Digital Video Camera). The Sometimes Baffling World of DV Camcorders. The First Step: Winnowing Down Your Options. Be iMovie Compatible. Choose a Format. Pick a Brand? Consider the Cost. The Labor-Intensive Step: Choosing a DV Camcorder. Researching the Details. The Factors, Please. The Expensive Step: Buying a DV Camcorder. The Fun Step: Using a DV Camcorder. II. LAYING THE DIGITAL FOUNDATION. 6. So, What Makes for Good Digital Video? Making a Movie in Three Phases. Deciding What Kind of Movie You Want to Make. Let's Be Spontaneous. You Are the Director. If at First You Don't Succeed, You Probably Didn't Plan Very Well. Catching a Vision. Grab a Keyboard and Start Writing that Script. Picturing a Movie with Storyboards. Pick Your Shots-Planning the Production Practice Makes Your Movie Perfect. Rehearse 'Til You Drop. 7. Shooting Like a Pro. Scouting Your Location. Shooting Inside. Lighting Up. Managing Sound. Setting Camera Positions. Shooting Outside. Lighting Your World. Keeping Quiet on the Set. Setting Camera Positions. Composing Your Shots Like Beethoven Composed Music. Use the Rule of Thirds. Provide Buffer Space. Lead Your Target (a.k.a. Follow Their Nose). Design Your Backgrounds. Shooting Your Shots Like Wyatt Earp Shot Bad Guys. Plan on Waste. A Light Zoom Finger Is Better. Moving the Camera. Switching to Manual. 8. Digitizing Your Own. How Do You Digitize? Digitizing with a DV Camcorder. Digitizing Without a DV Camcorder. Building a Digitizing System. Digitizing Video. Converting Your Video to a QuickTime-Compatible Format. Digitizing with a USB System. Building a USB Digitizing System. Using a USB Digitizing System to Digitize Video. Converting the Digitized Video to a QuickTime- Compatible Format. Digitizing with a PCI System. Building a PCI Digitizing System. Using a PCI Digitizing System to Digitize Video. Converting the Digitized Video to a QuickTime- Compatible Format. III. DIRECTING THE ACTION. 9. Producing Your iMovie Project. Preparing Your Production Studio. Taking Some Load Off of Your Mac's Shoulders. Seeing All the Colors of the Rainbow. Increasing Your Shelf Space. Making Room for iMovie. Giving iMovie Plenty of Breathing Room. Producing Your Project. Prepping the Project. Stating Your Preferences? 10. Laying All Your Clips Down. Know Your Clips. Name That Clip! Get the Dirt on a Clip. Edit Your Clips for the First Time-And Definitely Not the Last Time. Preview a Clip. Moving Around a Clip. Editing Doesn't Have to Hurt. Copy and Paste Among Clips. Split a Clip. Edit Away. Lay Those Clips Down. Use Your Script and Storyboard to Build a Movie. Assembling a Movie Is a Drag (Literally). 11. Smoothing the Digital Flow with Transitions. Smooth the Flow. Add Transitions to Your Movie. Pick a Transition, But Not Just Any Transition. Preview and Adjust It. Place It and Update It. Watch Your Movie. Fade to Black. IV. MAKING THE MAGIC HAPPEN. 12. Titling Provided by... You. Titling Is More than Just a Bunch of Text. iMovie Title Styles. iMovie Title Tools. How to Add Titles to Your Movies. Now Add Some Titles to Your Movie. Start from the Back-Add Credits. Explain Something with a Caption. Introduce Your Movie with a Title. 13. My, Aren't These Effects Special... This Clip Would Look Even Better in Reverse. These Effects Are Indeed Special. Effects You Will Learn to Love. Make Your New Video Look Old. Sharpen That Clip! Making the World a Prettier Place. Walking on a Timeline (Viewer). The Two-Bit Tour. Hitting the Afterburner (or the Speed Brakes). 14. There Is No Quiet on an iMovie Set (Adding Sound Effects and Narration). They Don't Call Them Talkies for Nothing. Use the Sound that Came with Your Movie-Or Not. Mute It. It's All Relative. Fading Away. Edit the Sound. Play Dentist and Extract that Sound. Make Your Movie Bark, Meow, and Other Odd Things. Lend Your Voice (or Someone Else's) to Your Movie. Don't Be Satisfied with What Comes Naturally-Add and Use Your Own Sound Effects. Put a Submarine in Your Movie. Make a QuickTime Movie Sound Track Your Own. 15. Being John Williams (Adding a Music Score to Your Movie). Making Beautiful Music. Of the Audio 2 Track and Audio Palette. Where Is That Music Coming From? Stay Out of Jail Free Card. Add Music from a CD. Find the Perfect Tune. Record the Track. Edit the Music to Make It Just Right. AIF and You. Sources of AIF Music. Import an AIF File. Edit the AIF Clip. I Want My MP3! V. FINISHING UP AND MOVING ON... 17. Leaving Bits and Bytes on the Cutting Room Floor. Give Your Movie Two Thumbs Up (or Two Thumbs Down). Be Your Own Best Critic. Send in the Critics! Hack Until It Hurts. 18. Great Art Demands to Be Seen (Distributing Your Masterpiece to the World). Getting Your Movie Out There. Distributing Your Movie on a Videotape. Recording Your Movie on Your Camcorder. Transferring Your Movie to Videotape. Distributing Your Movie for Viewing on a Computer. Record It for All Time on a CD. Send It by Email. Show It Over the Web. 19. iMovie Resources on the Net. Great iMovie Web Sites. The Big One: Apple's iMovie Home on the Web. The Second Big One: Apple's QuickTime Web Site. Other Useful Pages. Use the Internet to Download and Use Cool iMovie Resources. Downloading Free iMovie Resources Is as Easy as a Click. Prepping the Files. Installing and Using iMovie Resources Is a Snap (or Should that Be Click?). Other DV Internet Resources. Some Newsgroups That Might (or Might Not) Be Useful. Expand Your iMovie World with Mailing Lists. Appendix A. Creating a Slideshow That Is Not Soporific. Creating Slideshows to Keep Your Audience Awake. Capturing Your Images-There's More Than One Way to Go Digital. Using a Digital Camera Is a Lot of Fun. Using a Scanner Isn't Very Hard. Format Your Files. Make a Resolution. Prep Those Files. Importing Your Images Is Easier than Importing Cars. Make a Project. Get in the Importing Business. Creating a Masterpiece for Fun or Profit. A Slideshow Is a Movie. The Steps Apply. Beating the System. Create the Audio Track. Join Them. Index.