The iMovie Workspace
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
iMovie is a simple yet powerful video editor that enables you to develop your video project with three main tools: the Monitor, where you look at the video clip; a shelf, which gives you the ability to look at all the clips you have to work with at a glance; and a special area at the bottom of the screen known as the Timeline Viewer, where you can put together your clips, and make decisions about when you want them to start and end. Many people have found the iMovie interface to be so easy to use that the Mac ends up becoming like a helpful friend.
Throughout this hour, we discuss the following topics:
iMovie Monitor
Timeline Viewer
Shelf
iMovie Monitor
You'll find that the iMovie workspace is easy and fun to work with, like a well-planned playroom (see Figure 3.1)—and the iMovie monitor will end up being the center of activity. See Figure 3.2. After you've created a new project, the action happens in the Monitor window, which is used both to capture and preview video in iMovie. The deceptively simple Monitor window is a powerful tool that enables you to switch between looking at video that's coming from your camcorder and the clips that you already have on your Mac by toggling the import/edit control (labeled with a camera-and-scissors icon) below the window.
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Figure
3.1 The overall iMovie workspace: the Video Monitor, Shelf, and Timeline
Viewer.
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Figure
3.2 The Monitor window with VCR-style controls to navigate through a clip.
The controls in the Monitor window are much like you use on a DVD player and VCR, enabling you to quickly move through your video or jump to a specific location.