Tips

Organize your pictures ahead of time

If you plan to include lots of digital pictures in your movie, you may want to organize them first. In iPhoto, create a new album, and then add the pictures in the order in which you want them to appear in your movie.

Make a still image from a video clip

You may have a poor-quality video clip that contains one great image. With iMovie, you can easily turn any frame of a video clip into a still image to use in your movie. Simply move the playhead to the image in the clip, and choose Create Still Frame from the Edit menu. Your new still clip appears in the Clips pane. If you want to adjust its length, double-click the clip to open the Clip Info window and enter a new length for your still image.

Change the length of a still image

The method for changing the length of an image in your movie depends if it is a still image or has the Ken Burns effect applied. For a still image, double-click the clip to open the Clip Info window and enter a new length for your still image. For an image with the Ken Burns effect applied, select the image, then adjust the duration slider at the bottom of the Photo Settings pane, and click Apply. Of course you can also edit any clip directly in the timeline by choosing the Split Video Clip at Playhead from the Edit menu.

Drag photos directly from iPhoto into the iMovie clips pane

You can also search your iPhoto Library from within iPhoto to find just the right picture for your movie. When you locate the picture you want, drag it from iPhoto to the iMovie Clips pane or the timeline.

Importing video clips you took using your digital camera

Many digital cameras let you take short video clips. This can be useful if you’re at an event without your camcorder. When you import your photos into iPhoto, these movies will also become part of your Photo Library. You can then drag these movie clips to your iMovie project and edit them, just like the footage you take with your camcorder.

Use the Ken Burns Effect in iMovie to crop your pictures to match your widescreen footage

Within iMovie, when your project is set as HDV or DV Widescreen, the Photos pane is pre-set for 16:9 aspect ratio, allowing you to crop a photo to the same aspect ratio of your video footage.

Use iPhoto to resize your digital pictures to match your HD video footage

If you’re editing your pictures in iPhoto, for use with an HDV or DV widescreen iMovie project, go to Edit mode, and then choose 16 x 9 (HD) from the Constrain pop-up menu in the bottom toolbar. This will constrain the crop tool to a 16:9 ratio—the same used in your video footage. This way, you can take advantage of the great editing tools in iPhoto.

Scanning your old photographs

You’re not limited to using only digital photos in your movie. Consider scanning your old pictures and including them. For example, you could scan your parents’ wedding pictures to use in a video you make for their wedding anniversary.

Steps

Add photos to your iMovie project

1. In iMovie, click the Media button to open the iLife Media Browser. Choose Photos to see your iPhoto Library and click Show Photo Settings to see the Photo Settings window. The Photo Settings window allows you to set the Ken Burns Effect. For now, disable the Ken Burns effect using the checkbox in the Photo Settings window.
2. Use the arrows to scroll through all the pictures in your library.
3. Drag a photo from your iPhoto Library to the clip viewer. Notice the photo will be imported into your iMovie project and placed on the timeline. Look at the top of the new clip in the timeline to see the duration associated with your photo.
4. Double-click on the photo in the timeline to see information about it. Give your photo a new name and change the duration to 4 seconds. Click Set to see the changes take effect in the timeline.
5. Select another photo in your iPhoto Library. From the Photo Settings window, turn the Ken Burns effect on to apply motion to the next photo you’ll import. To make setting the motion easier, click the icon with two arrows to deselect the loop option in the Preview window.
6. In the Photo Settings window, click in the Start area. Move the Zoom slider to the left until it reads 1.00. Next, click the End area and set the Zoom slider to the middle. Use the bottom slider to adjust the time associated with your image. Click the loop arrows to see a preview of the motion that will be applied to your photo.
7. Click Apply to have your photo imported to the timeline with the Ken Burns effect applied.
8. Select your photo in the timeline and change the duration and direction using the Photo Settings window. Click Apply to update your photo.
9. Click the Rewind button, then press the Space bar to see the new photos play in your movie.