iMovie Tips
Based on iMovie version 10.1.9
How to create highlight video from Volleyball game
- Drop entire game into timeline. You can just use Finder and drag and drop files
- Use Zoom-In/Zoom-Out slider
- Start watching using keyboard hotkeys to fast forward until you get to part where you are involved in play.
- Play normal and decide if you want this clip.
- For Hitting I like to start just before the set and after SOME celebration
- For Serve Receive I like to start with ball just before it crosses the net and end after setter sets
- For Digs I like to start just before hitter hits or maybe include set too, end after next hit of ball
- Include serve only if it has great velocity or placement, not due to bad SR
- Position head at starting frame, hit <Command><B>
- Position head at ending frame, hit <Command<B>
- Select and delete video before the highlight clip
- Advance to video past highlight clip and continue
- Use a Title above the last highlight clip in timeline (Reveal Lower Third) to remind you where you left off
- Don’t use transitions.
- Don’t include “lucky” plays like a server that hits top of net and goes in.
- Don’t include “basic” plays like a serve or free ball that comes right to you.
- Remember these should be “highlights”, not video of what anyone can do.
Keyboard Shortcuts
<Space>: Play
< L >: Fast Forward (repeat for faster). Use <Space> or <K> to pause
< J >: Fast Rewind (repeat for faster). Use <Space> or <K> to pause
< Left Arrow > Single frame backward
<Right Arrow > Single frame forward (Try holding down)
< Up Arrow> Previous Clip
<Down Arrow> Next Clip
<X>: Select Entire Clip
Split Clip : <Command><B>
<Command>Click to toggle selection
Select All: <Command><A>
Copy: <Command><C>
Paste: <Command><V>
Undo: <Command><Z>
<Option> < F > : Add Freeze Frame using current position. Grab frame handle (circle at top) to shorten/extend time
Remove (soften) Audio: Position cursor toward bottom of clip in timeline just above sound graph until you see double-arrow cursor, grab and pull down
Advanced Editing
Crop/Zoom
Slow Motion
Stabilize Shaky Video
Adjust Color
Syncing Audio/Music with Video
- Mute all Audio by selecting all clips <Command><A> and from menu select Modify…Mute Audio
- Drop in audio file below the video.
- If you forget to mute audio first, just select all again which will select audio track, then use <Command>Click on the audio track to deselect it. Make sure your cursor is an arrow before clicking.
- For play-by-play audio, find beginning of match by starting to listen and split and delete when audio is about to leave screen, drag remaining audio back to start. Repeat until beginning of match is found.
- Find audio for each video clip. Decide if you want to keep video/audio pair, doesn’t have to be perfectly in sync to review
- If you decide to clip clip, edit audio first.
- Edit Audio clip just like video deciding when to begin and when to stop.
- Create a freeze-frame at beginning and/or end of video clip using <Up Arrow> & <Down Arrow> & <Option><F>, stretch using circular handles so that audio will stay with video clip. Zoom in if necessary to gain better control. Make sure freeze-frame is not blurred. If last/first frame is blurred find non-blurred frame to freeze. Make sure video and audio ends at same point.
Miscellaneous
Working on multiple highlight videos at once.
What if you want to create different highlight videos from the same source video? iMovie only supports 2 video timelines and you can take advantage of that and stack one set of clips over the other. The top timeline is really designed for overlays like text and such, but it can be done with some careful management.
Another option if you only need to save off a few clips for another purpose is to simply use copy/paste of a clip from your main project to another. After copying, switch projects and paste the clip. Not ideal but it works.
