Tag Archives: iMovie

iMovie – tips for creating

Quick notes for how to create an excellent iMovie:

CONTENT IS THE WHOLE POINT
All the special effects and jazzy stuff on the planet
can’t make up for zero content.


 

Production Process:

  1. PLAN / Outline – do this on paper. Get a list of what you want to say, and what shots/footage/audio you’ll need.
  2. Gather Material – collect all your parts. Take notes on paper, listing what you’ve collected. Seriously, this will save you TONS of time and aggravation.

    I suggest using the Camera app to shoot your material instead of using iMovie. It’s faster.

  3. Start iMovie Project
  4. Import Material – from the camera roll, or wherever else you’ve stashed it.
  5. Editing – making all the parts fit

    Clips added/arranged/changed

    Add transitions

    Add special effects

    Add titles

    Add/edit audio [check volume levels!]

HELP is your friend!

So is a web search [Could search “iMovie iPad how add narration”, for example]

——–

Want to learn how to shoot better videos? Caleb Rule [graduated from GCSU in Mass Communication] recorded some basic tips complete with examples that are posted on the MDS Tech Youtube channel [and on the WMDS portal as well].

CLICK HERE for the Youtube videos.

WMDS portal videos [must be logged in];

  • Part 1
  • Part 2
  • Part 3 – it’s in the “Video Production” category

 

iPad Backups- how and why

Scroll all the way down to fetch a PDF version of this info.
CLICK HERE for an update about Notability.

At the risk of stating the obvious, you should have your data backed up somewhere just in case, because you’d be surprised how often “just in case” happens with technology.

If you search the web for a how-to, you will see a lot of instructions that do not apply here at MDS because of how our systems are setup. Please, DO NOT attach your ipad to iTunes. That doesn’t work with the MDS iPads, and will actually create MORE problems for you.

Here’s what to do:

Step 1:  Make sure iCloud backup is setup.

Go into Settings –> iCloud, and make sure your AppleID is setup and your iPad is being backed up. If there IS no AppleID in the field, then you never set up iCloud. Come see the iPad Guy for some help.

Click the images for the larger version.

iCloud 1

After clicking the “Storage and Backups” button, you’ll see this screen. You can see if anything has been backed up, when the next backup will happen, and you can start a backup right now.
iCloud 2

Step 2: Get copies of your docs and pix onto Google Drive

iMovie

Your version of iMovie may look different – NOT TO PANIC! Go the page where all of your imovie projects are listed. Look for the icon that’s circled below. Select it, and then send the movie to your Camera Roll. See below for moving Camera files to your Google drive.

imovie

Notability

You have a couple of options for saving Notability files – see the advice tips at the end of this section.

Click the “Sharing” icon, top left.

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Select “All notes”, left side.

Click which notes you’d like to stash in Drive. Everything you select will have a blue checkmark.

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Click the “Share” icon again.

Select “Google Drive”.

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Pick a Destination [what folder], a format [ PDF, RTF, or Note – see advice below], and whether to save any audio notes you’ve recorded.

Then click “Send to Google Drive”.

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noteability last

 Advice:
  • Save your Notability notes TWICE – once as a PDF, again as a Note.
  • RTF would only be good if you were to use the TEXT in a regular word processor on a laptop/desktop.

UPDATE:

Set Notability to AUTOMATICALLY backup your Notes to Google drive by

  1. Firing up Notability
  2. On the “Library” screen [where you see all your categories and Dividers], get into Settings by clicking the Gear icon, bottom left.
  3. Accounts–> Setup–>Google Drive. It’ll ask you to login, and you’ll have to give permission for Notability to access this and that and the other. YES, give it permission.
  4. Auto-backup–>Google Drive. You’ll see a message about “now backing up to Google Drive as a PDF”. Click out of it.
  5. Click the Gear icon to the right of Google Drive in the list. Change the format to NOTE – you don’t want PDF, you want NOTE format.
  6. That way if something goes weird, you can IMPORT your notes directly into Notability from Google Drive, and you won’t have lost anything.

Camera [Pictures and Videos]

Fire up Google Drive

Hit the Upload icon [left side of screen]

Pix 1

Click the +, top right corner. Click “Upload Photos or Videos”

Pix 2

Click “Camera Roll”. Click what you want to upload, then click the Checkmark above the pictures.

Pix 3

After everything uploads, doublecheck in Google Drive that the pix are actually there.

Never trust a computer – especially when grades are involved!

 

How to backup ipad 2010108 – PDF version of this info.

iMovie 11 How-to

Click here for the PDF version

The Setup

  1. Collect all your parts in one place – on the desktop, your documents folder, wherever – I suggest inside a folder. That makes it easier to grab the parts.
  2. Fire up iTunes. Drag any audio files into the iTunes window.
    1. You could create a new playlist and put them there – useful if there are a ton of tunes already in iTunes.
  3. OPTIONAL → Fire up iPhoto. Place any still shots there, into a new event.
  4. Fire up iMovie.
  5. Start a new project.
  6. Collect the clips into an Event
    1. You are supposed to be able to drag-n-drop, but I’ve had trouble getting it to work.
    2. File → Import → Movies
      1. select the file.
      2. Place the FIRST one into a new event.
        The rest of them, place into that same newly created event.
  7. So you have movie clip in an event, external audio in iTunes, and still shots in a folder [or in iPhoto].

Start Assembling the Project

  1. In the Event pane, drag on a clip to highlight the part you want next.
  2. Hit the E key on the keyboard. That places the clip in the Project.
  3. Keep doing this in the order you want the clips to appear.
  4. You can drag clips into a new order if you change your mind.
  5. TO ADD PHOTOS/STILL SHOTS: Drag the file from your folder directly into the Project Pane [the part where the clips are being ordered].
  6. TO ADD PHOTOS FROM iPHOTO: Press Command-2on the keyboard to show the Photo browser. Click a photo and drag it to the Project Pane.
  7. TO ADD PHOTO FROM YOUR FOLDER: Drag the file into the project pane.

Make Changes

  1. Drag clips into a different order.
  2. Add transitions → Command-4 to show the transition browser. Pick one, drag it between the 2 clips where you want the transition used.
  3. Add Titles → Command-3. Drag a title ONTO a clip to add it to a clip. Drag it to a BLANK SPOT of the project pane to add it to the end of the list [i.e. titles will be on a black screen]. Then you can drag it to the desired location.
  4. You can generally click and drag anything to any other location. Click ON a clip, then click the GEAR icon to make changes [like make the audio louder, change the start/stop points, etc.]

Finish – when everything is more-or-less perfect:

  1. IF you have a lot of hand-held video [the camera was just held in your hands, and so it moves around], you can select File → Analyze Video → Stabilization. That often make the video less jerky.
  2. File menu → Finalize [this can take a while. Go for a walk to relieve stress.]

Export – now where does it go?

  1. Morning Announcements – as I type this, we are still experimenting with the correct settings. Look for an update on http://tech2.mountdesales.net for the latest info.
  2. Share → iTunes
    1. File will be located inside the folder Music → iTunes → iTunes media → Home Movies
  3. Share → Export
    1. You can select the location and sometimes the “size” of the final project. It’s all checkboxes. If you have an option, I suggest selecting the biggest [i.e. best quality] option
  4. Share → Export using Quicktime
    1. Gives you the greatest number of options. You can select the final size, frame rate, video and audio codecs to use, etc.
    2. Which settings to use will take some experimentation. I like exporting three or four ways and seeing which works for what I’m trying to do.
    3. THEN write those settings down somewhere!

 

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