iMovie: Cutting up larger video

[Ambrosia7177]

Hello. Am getting started with iMovie 10.1.8 tonight.

There are lots of interesting ouTube videos out tehre, but I am reminded why I prefer books!

I downloaded a long video (50 min) online, and I would like to cut up that video into pieces, and create a shorter version.

The video has been imported into iMovie...

Q1.) Where should I cut up the video? In the upper-left pane? Or in the timeline?


Q2.) Should I make multiple copies of the original video, and then edit each one to get the part wanted? Or should I just be cutting up the original video into component parts?


Q3.) Can someone help me with the motions and keystrokes needed to do this?

I would like to keep the video slide intro, then cut out some stuff, then keep some stuff, then edit out a lot of the middle, then keep some more stuff, maybe edit out a bit more, then keep the credits.


Q4.) What is the upper left-hand pane called? What is the upper right-hand pane called? Is the bottom pane called the timeline?


Q5.) Is there a way to move to different parts of the video other than randomly clicking in the video thumbnail? That seems like a hard way to get exactly to where you want. I was expecting fast-forward and rewind kind of controls...


Thanks.

 

[Dave Braine]

What is the upper left-hand pane called?

Not really sure if it has a name. It's where you can see your My Media(imported videos), Audio etc etc.

What is the upper right-hand pane called?

The Preview Pane(Panel)

Is the bottom pane called the timeline?

Yes.

Where should I cut up the video? In the upper-left pane? Or in the timeline?

For a 50 minute video the Timeline will be easier.

Should I make multiple copies of the original video,

No need. You can drag your video into the Timeline as often as you want.

Is there a way to move to different parts of the video other than randomly clicking in the video thumbnail?

Is there a way to move to different parts of the video other than randomly clicking in the video thumbnail?

Move the mouse over the clip in the Timeline or My Media.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

Move the mouse over the clip in the Timeline or My Media.

In Audacity you can jump forward/backward like 1 second or several seconds. Go to start. Go to end. Lots of tools to *quickly* navigate a long audio file.

I was wondering if iMovie has features like that?

 

[Dave Braine]

Lots of tools to *quickly* navigate a long audio file.

What's quicker than sliding the mouse along the Timeline, playing the movie clip at the same speed?

 

[Ambrosia7177]

What's quicker than sliding the mouse along the Timeline, playing the movie clip at the same speed?

It lacks the precion that I want.

You can't take a 1 hour video, and precisely move ahead 1 second or even 1 minute.

If your clips are truly clips and maybe 2 minutes long, no worries. But for longer video, it would be nice if you could naviagte precisely like you can in Audacity.

So is there a way to do what I want, or not is that not available?

 

[Dave Braine]

So is there a way to do what I want, or not is that not available?

Unfortunately not, I'm afraid.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

Unfortunately not, I'm afraid.

Do more advanced tools like Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere offer more sophisticated tools like I want?

 

[James_C]

Yes they do, they allow you to use timecode to jump to specific points in the timeline. But they are expensive, and a whole lot more complicated than iMovie. iMovie does have a precision editor - Under 'Window menu - show precision editor' to allow your to be a little more granular and you can move clips frame by frame using the , and . keys. But iMovie was designed to be a simple easy to use tool for people to create videos to share with friends and family. As you have guessed the power tools are in Apple's Pro App Final Cut X.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

Yes they do, they allow you to use timecode to jump to specific points in the timeline. But they are expensive, and a whole lot more complicated than iMovie. iMovie does have a precision editor - Under 'Window menu - show precision editor' to allow your to be a little more granular and you can move clips frame by frame using the , and . keys. But iMovie was designed to be a simple easy to use tool for people to create videos to share with friends and family. As you have guessed the power tools are in Apple's Pro App Final Cut X.

Yeah, I was just asking.

I think for my needs, iMovie is more than sufficient.

And if I can get back to work, and things take off for my business/videos, then I will definitely upgrade to something more professional, but I'm happy to be using iMovie so far!

 

[James_C]

Yeah, I was just asking.

I think for my needs, iMovie is more than sufficient.

And if I can get back to work, and things take off for my business/videos, then I will definitely upgrade to something more professional, but I'm happy to be using iMovie so far!

Wise words, start simple, learn the basics. Once you get more familiar with making videos, you will understand better in which direction you want to go and what you might want to invest in to take you to the next level.