Lock a clip's position to specific audio location

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Level 1

18 points

Lock a clip's position to specific audio location

I am new to iMovie but am familiar with non-linear editing. Is there a way in iMovie to "lock" a video clip to particular audio clips (such as portion of a soundtrack)?

I'd like to prevent clips from sliding slightly out of sync.

TPK

G4 CoreDuo, Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Posted on Oct 2, 2007 7:52 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Rich839

Level 8

47,250 points

Oct 2, 2007 9:33 AM in response to Tim Kern

You can lock an audio clip to a video clip at the playhead. In the time line, select the audio clip. Place your playhead at the place in the video clip where you want to lock the audio. Best not to place it at the very first frame, but move it over a little. Go the the advanced menu and and select Lock Audio Clip at Playhead. A little yellow ball will appear on the video clip and on the audio clip indicating that the clip is locked to the audio at that place. If you move or drag the video clip elsewhere on the time line, the audio clip will stay locked to it. However, if you move the audio clip, it will not take the video clip with it.

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Answer 2

Tim Kern Author

Level 1

18 points

Oct 3, 2007 7:36 AM in response to Rich839

Thank you Rich839. That is pretty much what I am looking for.

I do have one other question...

Can more than one clip be locked and can the be easily unlocked?

TPK

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Answer 3

Rich839

Level 8

47,250 points

Oct 3, 2007 1:09 PM in response to Tim Kern

Yes, you can lock as many audio clips as you want, and you can lock the audio clip to several video clips. You unlock them easily by selecting the audio clip, placing the playhead at the yellow lock indicators on the clip, and then reselecting "Lock Audio Clip at Playhead" from the Advanced menu. The yellow lock indicators will dissapear and the clip will be unlocked. You also can just drag the audio clip away from the video clip that it is locked to. A locked audio clip will follow the video clip to which it is locked, but the video clip will not follow a locked audio clip that is dragged away or deleted.

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Answer 4

catspaw

Level 5

4,344 points

Oct 4, 2007 9:05 PM in response to Tim Kern

Hi Tim, just to add a small note to Rich's excellent advice. Sometimes, despite locking the audio, the link gets broken. This can occur when, after locking the audio, you add a number of clips to the left of the locked clip. Just make sure that you check the linkages should you make such an addition to the track.

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