Using a webcam with iMovie

Hi carolfromspooner,

Thanks for posting! It sounds like you want to know if you can use an external webcam to record video directly in iMovie. Is that right?

While it doesn't appear that this is possible, you may be able to do something similar using QuickTime Player as long as the camera is compatible. The information below should help you select an external camera. This is from the resource titled Record a movie in QuickTime Player on Mac:

"Use the built-in camera on your Mac

1. In the QuickTime Player app  on your Mac, choose File > New Movie Recording.
2. When the recording controls appear, you see a green light next to the built-in camera in your Mac.
3. Tip: If your Mac doesn’t have a built-in camera, you can connect an external camera.
4. Click the Options pop-up menu, then choose any of the following recording options:

• • Camera: Choose a camera if you have more than one camera available.
  • Microphone: Choose a microphone if you have more than one microphone available.
  • Quality: Choose the recording quality. Maximum-quality recordings produce uncompressed files, which can use large amounts of storage space."

Using the Options pop-up menu as described above, you should see any compatible cameras and could record directly in QuickTime Player.

I hope this helps.

Take care.