Q: Transition timing in iMovie 10

Hallo John!

Thanks once again, much appreciated!

I'll try and let you know!

John

It may work but sounds like a work around to me for a problem that shouldn't be there!

Apple have cocked up on this release of imovie and should correct it a.s.a. P?

I loved the previous version and have made several commercially successful films with it and thankfully can still use it!

FINALLY

thank you!!!

It worked!!

Good to hear that you got it working John. Thank you for letting us know!

John

NandM wrote:

 

It may work but sounds like a work around to me for a problem that shouldn't be there!

Apple have cocked up on this release of imovie and should correct it a.s.a. P?

I loved the previous version and have made several commercially successful films with it and thankfully can still use it!

My solution may seem long winded and probably could be classed as a workaround, but in practice it takes very little time to execute. After deleting a transition I've always been in the habit of extending the media to its original start or end point (takes literally seconds to do).

Adjusting the Clips and Transitions sliders is no real hardship. I find that it's best to do this before inserting media in the project timeline. I set the sliders to 10 seconds for Clip length and, initially, the maximum of 5 seconds for Transitions duration. I then adjust individual transitions to 1 or 2 seconds as desired, or simply change the Transition slider to 2 seconds or other preferred setting. Setting the Clips slider to 10 seconds gives you full flexibility, allowing Transition durations up to 5 seconds (which should be plenty for most situations).

With practice, I've now found that the new version is an improvement on iMovie '11. Virtually all the original features are there, just in a different place, and often as an improved implementation. The main exception is Chapter Markers, which are no longer available. After completing a project in iMovie 10 I sometimes export it to Final Cut Pro X where Chapter Markers can be inserted. But that's only if I'm intending to author and burn DVDs.

John

Sorry, I now this is not the right place....

but It seems I can not mark frames withinh a clip to trim them.....

Trimming does not seem to be working as imovie 9 did....

John Kork wrote:

 

Sorry, I now this is not the right place....

but It seems I can not mark frames withinh a clip to trim them.....

Trimming does not seem to be working as imovie 9 did....

Unlike iMovie '11 (version 9.0.9), the new iMovie 10 allows the importing and native editing of AVCHD clips from the camera without the need to convert them to an intermediate codec. iMovie '11 converts clips to Apple Intermediate Codec. Possibly other compressed formats can also be imported without the need for conversion.

AVCHD is a highly compressed format that doesn't compress each frame individually (unlike, say, DV from tape based camcorders). It uses intermittent reference frames followed by instructions that record changes to the reference frame, such as the movement of objects and colour changes etc. The intermediate codec converts the compressed data into individual full frames, allowing editing down to the actual frame level (as applied in iMovie '11).

In iMovie 10, it appears that editing can only be performed to tenths of a second, not frames (given that iMovie is working with the native AVCHD compressed media). Note that all of this is just my explanation from a layman's perspective! You will notice that when dragging clip ends, the indicator above the skimmer arrows shows movements in increments of tenths of a second (not frames).

You can split clips and then remove segments from the project timeline. Right-click (or control-click) at the point where you which to split a clip, then select Split Clip from the pop-up menu. Now you can drag the separated clip ends inwards to remove a segment. Alternatively, you can drag across a segment so that it is highlighted with a yellow border, then select Edit > Delete from the menu - that action will split the clip in two places and remove the highlighted section. You can also trim clips by clicking on Trim to Playhead from the pop-up menu. (I'll give you a link to all of this at the end of my post).

I appreciate that this won't give you frame accurate edits, as in iMovie '11, but so far I haven't missed this feature. iMovie '11 has a nice feature that allows easy trimming (of up to one second at a time) by utilising a trimming tool that appears at clip ends when the skimmer is hovered over the clip end. I used to use this quite a lot, as it allowed trimming to the frame level. If I really need frame accurate editing, I now use Final Cut Pro X (although of course I still have access to iMovie '11 if needed).

Here's a link to the Apple iMovie Help topic for "Trim, Split and Move Clips":

http://help.apple.com/imovie/mac/10.0/#movf8b8fc9b2

Hope this helps John. Sorry if I've misunderstood your question or gotten off track (or explained things you already know)!

John

Thank you!

Very informaitve(most of them known to me but still...) and....polite!!, thank you!

John

by the way this "Alternatively, you can drag across a segment so that it is highlighted with a yellow border, then select Edit > Delete from the menu - that action will split the clip in two places and remove the highlighted section." is NOT working.

That is used to work with imovie 9

John,

Yes, it does work. However, it works slightly differently in iMovie 10. When first pressing down to make the selection, you have to hold the mouse down for a second or two. That tells it you are wanting to select rather than just place the playhead there. This had me quite frustrated at first. I couldn't believe they would remove the feature of being able to select part of a clip for deletion; well, they hadn't. They just changed how you do it. So, click where you want the selection to begin, hesitate there for a second or two with the mouse still pressed down, then start dragging; the yellow selection rectangle will appear as you begin to drag.

Thaank you Alan!!

however...I can not make it to work(working with the touch pad). it just selects the whole clip

...plus I had a force close while trying to do what you said...

Thanks Alan for describing that - something that I probably should have elaborated on. It also took me a little while to discover the required method. I think I found it by accident through leaving the mouse button pressed down for longer than usual.

For John Kork: I got it to work just fine using the trackpad on my MacBook Pro. Just clicked on the trackpad, held it for a milli-second, then dragged across a clip segment to highlight it. When you first click on the trackpad (as with the mouse) the whole clip will have a thin yellow border. Don't release your finger from the trackpad, but hold it down then drag. As Alan mentioned, you will see the yellow selection rectangle as you begin to drag.

John

ok thank you once again!!!

I ll try later on though an let you know

By the way, dragging with one finger or three fingers (three fingers move the whole clip)?

John

On my trackpad - just one finger. It may depend though on how you have your trackpad set up. But one finger should be the default for this sort of thing.

In System Preferences > Trackpad you can modify the settings. I have mine unchecked for "Three finger drag (move with three fingers)". Unchecking that might help.

Note that before clicking on the trackpad, then holding down with one finger, you MUST have the pointer (arrow head) positioned over the actual video thumbnail in the timeline. Clicking and dragging above or below the thumbnail achieves nothing other than drawing a small rectangle.

John

Message was edited by: John Cogdell

well, what can I say....I was actually just holding my finger on the pad and NOT clicking on either the left or the right corner of the pad....silly of me...

A big thank you guys-John!

It should be mentioned though that those things we ' ve been discussing were more...obvious with the previous version and I know that there are quite a few out there with similar problems.

Anyway, thank you and "see" you later!