MacMost: iMovie

Many iMovie users wonder why they get black bars on the sides or above and below an image that the drop into their movie. This is caused when the picture is a different aspect ratio than the video. You can use cropping in iMovie 11 to select the area of the image you want to use, and whether to include any black space around the image.

If you have produced a video in iMovie and the file size is too large, you can use a free program called MPEG Streamclip to compress it with little loss of quality. The key is to use .mp4 with h264 compression and then adjust the bit rate to get the right trade-off of file size versus quality.

Take a look at iMovie for the iPad 2. This simplified version of the desktop software allows you to put together clips you take with your iPad's cameras into short movies. You can choose a theme that determines the look of the transitions and titles. You can insert audio and photos.

While the set of iMovie 11 titles is more limiting than most video editing tools, you can use some simple tricks to place and style titles. Some of the title options allow you to position the text by simply inserting lines and changing font properties.

Beat Markers allow you to set points in an audio track and then drop in video with cuts that match the beats. After timing out the beats in a soundtrack, all you need to do is drag and drop video or photos into iMovie and the video will be cut to match the markers. You can even add transitions that fit along with the beats.

iMovie 11 offers a variety of new special effects, most of which are shortcuts to existing features. You can quickly implement slow motion, instant replay, rewind, freeze frames and filters.

Learn to use three different types of video layering in iMovie 11. You can cutaway to a second video and then cut back, even making the second video semi-transparent. You can include a video as picture-in-picture with borders and a drop shadow. You can also put two videos side-by-side. These features also work with still photos.

iMovie 11 allows you to set the volume for specific portions of the audio track. You can adjust the sections of volume control and set fade in and out times for each section. You can also apply audio effects, filter sound using an equalizer and layer multiple tracks of audio.

iMovie 09 has its own unique way of storing files. Understanding how and where iMovie stores events and projects will help you manage your videos. You can store clips and projects on your internal drive, or a secondary or external drive. You can also easily remove and archive projects and events.

Adobe has released its basic video editing tool for the first time for the Mac. With Premiere Elements you will be able to do more than with iMovie, but it also comes with a steeper learning curve. There is support for a timeline, motion, text, transitions, effects and more.

You can create iMovie projects that serve as templates for a future video or series. You can include titles, sequences and placeholders. Instead of starting from scratch with a new video project, you can then duplicate the template.

Learn how to use Seashore to create a 32-bit semi-transparent image and then use that image as an overlay to point out or highlight something in your iMovie video.

Take a look at the iMovie App for the iPhone 4. You can string together clips, trim them, add transitions and titles and export. But you must choose from a limited set of themes and only ;use video taken with your iPhone's camera.

Learn different ways to create iMovie credits sequences using the titles feature. You can do more than just scrolling credits by stringing along sets of single-name titles or using images.

There are many ways to export your video from iMovie. Using the Sharing menu, you can go directly to iTunes, iDVD, YouTube and more. But using the Export Movie and Export using QuickTime options give you greater control.

Most video cameras produce files in a format that iMovie can handle right away. However, some cameras use special video formats that iMovie can't read without your help. There are three strategies you can use to get incompatible video into iMovie: installing software that comes with your camera, researching solutions on the company Web site, or converting the video using free third-party tools.

The Ken Burns Effect in iMovie 09 is the default setting for photos inserted into an iMovie project. But you can use it for more than just adding a little motion. You can pan and zoom to focus on objects or move along an image. You can even zoom in and then back out and other similar effects.

If you want to go beyond the default titles built into iMovie 09, you can create your own titles in a graphic editor. You can bring them into iMovie as titles between clips, or as overlays on top of existing video.

Use iMovie 09 to create custom slideshows from your photographs. You can add titles before and between images, as well as text over photos. You can also add transitions, music and audio narration.

Learn how to create artistic photo slideshows in iPhoto that can then be exported as video files. You can then email these video files, create a DVD or upload to a video sharing site.