I just imported a movie (via VHS) into iMovie but it left this garbage on the outter fringes. Is there a way to crop the movie within iMovie? Thanks!
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Cropping Video?
- Thread starter eclipse525
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What are you doing with the final edit? if you are putting it back to tape or DVD chances are you wont see the edges on the TV, as Domestic TVs over scan the image & chop off between 5% & 10% of the image size.
In imovie you want to find the crop or resize (scale the image up to get rid of the edges). I don't know imovie so i cant point you in the right direction.
here is some stuff about TV safe areas
In imovie you want to find the crop or resize (scale the image up to get rid of the edges). I don't know imovie so i cant point you in the right direction.
here is some stuff about TV safe areas
there is a crop option in edit of imovie but i have never used it
not even sure how it would work ? anyone ideas?
EDIT: sussed it - its for lengths of movie not size lol i do use it all the time
not even sure how it would work ? anyone ideas?
EDIT: sussed it - its for lengths of movie not size lol i do use it all the time
I find iMovie very odd to use, it makes no sense to me. I dont think it was designed for video editors
it was made for amatures like myselfevil_santa said:I find iMovie very odd to use, it makes no sense to me. I dont think it was designed for video editors
liketom said:it was made for amatures like myself
Apple have done a good job, I know a couple of people who have made very nice edits on imovie. But then they ask me to finnish it off, and i am totally stumped by it. Its the one bit of apple software i just cant get my head around. I then get 'but your an editor & you like macs so you must be able to work it' all a bit embarrassing.
Honestly, it's my first true project in the video realm. I wanted to take this movie that was ONLY found on VHS. Import it into iMovie and then eventually, take it into iDVD, make menus, then export the whole thing to DVD. I have no clue what the hell I'm doing but any help is TOTALLY appreciated! Thanks!
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I don't know of a good, relatively easy way to do this except using Premiere. However, I use Avid Xpress and not FCE or FCP, so I don't know much about those, and admittedly I'm not an expert on every software package out there.
I don't like Premiere particularly, but I keep an old (OS 9) copy of it around because it does allow you to enlarge, crop and even rotate your video -- or at least the old version I have does. Can't imagine they got rid of that feature. Of course, anytime you enlarge the video in order to crop it, you will lose some quality. AfterEffects should also do this, but Premiere should be less painful.
Even if you manage to get a copy of Premiere, it will be a problem importing the video back into iMovie if the file size is over 1.9 gb (9.5 mins.). Just tested that, got a warning saying I had to break the movie into pieces using QT Pro.
evil_santa is right though, if you're going back to video (tape, DVD) the garbage should be out of the screen on a regular TV. If you're encoding to QuickTime, WMV or some other computer format, cleaner will let you crop that stuff out.
I don't like Premiere particularly, but I keep an old (OS 9) copy of it around because it does allow you to enlarge, crop and even rotate your video -- or at least the old version I have does. Can't imagine they got rid of that feature. Of course, anytime you enlarge the video in order to crop it, you will lose some quality. AfterEffects should also do this, but Premiere should be less painful.
Even if you manage to get a copy of Premiere, it will be a problem importing the video back into iMovie if the file size is over 1.9 gb (9.5 mins.). Just tested that, got a warning saying I had to break the movie into pieces using QT Pro.
evil_santa is right though, if you're going back to video (tape, DVD) the garbage should be out of the screen on a regular TV. If you're encoding to QuickTime, WMV or some other computer format, cleaner will let you crop that stuff out.
Sorry, must've started that previous post before your last reply (had to leave the computer for a while). Going to iDVD, I wouldn't worry about the garbage at the bottom of the screen unless you expect to routinely play the DVD on your Mac instead of a regular DVD player. The garbage should not show up on a TV, but probably will show up using a computer software DVD player.
Rather than trying to enlarge and crop the video, and losing resolution, would probably be better to try to overlay a thin black band across the bottom of the screen, just big enough to cover the garbage. Might it be possible to import a "black" photo, and use the "Ken Burns effect" to keep it just at the bottom of the frame? Don't know, might be worth a shot.
Good luck!
Rather than trying to enlarge and crop the video, and losing resolution, would probably be better to try to overlay a thin black band across the bottom of the screen, just big enough to cover the garbage. Might it be possible to import a "black" photo, and use the "Ken Burns effect" to keep it just at the bottom of the frame? Don't know, might be worth a shot.
Good luck!
I like iDVD a lot more than iMovie. I like iMovie, but I am way more comfortable working with Final Cut Pro, it's easier for me for some reason.
At my school I'm the editor in chief for the show we put on tv (we'll be in the new york times sometime next week) and some of the kids use iMovie for their segment and I use FCP5 for everything.. then they ask me to help and im just staring at the screen like . I'm not a big iMovie fan at all
. I'm not a big iMovie fan at all
mikemodena said:im just staring at the screen like
Exactly the same for me!
There are a few iMovie plugins (dont' have a list at work but you should be able to Google for the sites which host them) which allow you to crop things/center things.
iMovie is great for people who have never edited a video on anything before(like me ). It's easy, non-destructive and you can see your results pretty quickly without being overwhelmed by options.
But I guess for those used to Final Cut, it's pretty much like when someone used to tweaking photos in Photoshop gets sat in front of iPhoto.
iMovie is great for people who have never edited a video on anything before(like me
). It's easy, non-destructive and you can see your results pretty quickly without being overwhelmed by options. But I guess for those used to Final Cut, it's pretty much like when someone used to tweaking photos in Photoshop gets sat in front of iPhoto.
i thought it was me. i just don't get iMovie. fcp is easy. iMovie...huh?evil_santa said:I find iMovie very odd to use, it makes no sense to me. I dont think it was designed for video editors
as evil santa wrote.......tv's/monitors will underscan and you wont see the rough edges.eclipse525 said:
iMovie doesn't come with the ability to crop video. To do this, you're going to have to use something a little more complex. I recommend Final Cut Pro.
but does he want to spend all that money on FCP ? there must be some plugins from stupid softwareWill Cheyney said:
http://www.stupendous-software.com/
I realize this is quite an old thread, but I was also looking for a way to crop a video (picture-wise, not length-wise) and considering that this thread is the second hit in a search on Google for 'crop movie mac', I figured I may as well post in here about a program I found that claims to do this for others who find this thread:
Elasty
In the Image Adjustments section:
Elasty
In the Image Adjustments section:
+1
Probably the best tool out there for all the things you would normally need something like FCP with Comperessor to do - and it's free!!
I'm an hobbyist video editor, and iMovie is like
for me as well! I actually find FCP (not X!) more intuitive...