Isolation effect iMovie

The steps below show you how to create a transparency screen with the Preview app on which to create an arrow (or circle) that can be imported into iMovie and used in the Picture in Picture feature as an animated arrow to move on the screen. It looks a little complicated but once you go through the step by step instructions hopefully it will work for you.

1. Open a photo in Preview.  Put a duplicate of any

random photo on your desktop and click on it to open it in the Preview app on your Mac. Just double click on the photo and it will open in Preview by default.

2. Create a transparency screen.  In Preview, do an Edit/Select All, Edit/Delete.  If a pop-up box asks if you want to convert to .png, say yes.  You will be left with a blank transparency screen.   Do a File/Save to your desktop.  You should now have a gray transparency screen.

3. Create an Arrow from the Preview Annotations item.  Open your transparency screen in the Preview app and then, in the Preview menu bar, click on View/Show Markup Tool Bar.  Again in the menu bar, click on Tools/Annotate.   In the menu box that appears, click on Arrow.  An Arrow will appear in the transparency screen.   You can use the controls in the tool bar at the top of the Preview screen to adjust the size, thickness, position, and color of the arrow. Then do a File/Save to your desktop..  

4. Drag into an iMovie project.  Drag the saved transparency screen with the arrow in it

into an iMovie project and overlay it above the clip in which you want to place

the arrow.    

5. Create a Picture in Picture.  Select the overlayed arrow clip by clicking on it.     Click on the overlay icon (the one that looks like overlapping squares) in the tool bar at the upper right of your iMovie screen.  Choose Picture in Picture in the selection box.   The Arrow will appear in the preview screen overlaid on the clip beneath it. 

6  Adjust size and position of  the Arrow. 

Adjust the size and position of the overlayed Arrow by dragging the

corners of the adjustment rectangle that contains the Arrow. Drag the corner to

make it bigger or smaller.  With your

cursor move it to the position on the screen that you want, pointing at a specific player on the playing field.  

This link to the online Help menu explains how to use the Picture in

Picture effect:  https://help.apple.com/imovie/mac/10.1/#/mova1aaa682b

7.Keyframe Animation. When in the Picture in Picture view, you will see a little keyframe box in the upper left corner of the preview screen. Place your playhead on the place where you want to set the starting position for the arrow. Click on the center symbol of the keyframe box to set your starting position for the Arrow. Then use the direction arrows on the lower right corner of your keyboard to advance the play head a few frames. With your cursor, move the arrow to your next position, following the player. Then click on the right hand side symbol in the keyframe box to set your second position. Advance a few more frames and repeat the procedure. See the above link for more detailed instructions.

8.  Apply settings. When you are finished animating the Arrow in several positions, click on the blue reset button in the upper right of your screen to apply your settings.   Done. 

When you play your video the Arrow should follow the player.

Good luck with this.

-- Rich

Hi,

iMovie does not have a feature dedicated to adding an arrow or circle to isolate a player on the playing field. However, you can use the Preview app on your Mac to make an arrow or circle on a transparency background, that you can import into iMovie and overlay onto a clip with the Picture in Picture feature.   The Picture in Picture feature lets you adjust the size of the arrow or circle by dragging the adjustment rectangle and to place the item wherever you want on the screen. If  you want to animate the arrow or circle, you can use the keyframe feature in Picture in Picture to make the arrow follow the player on the screen.  Post back if you are interested in trying that and I will give directions.

-- Rich

You are very welcome! :). I hope that the steps are clear. Working with the animation feature of Picture in Picture can take a little practice.

-- Rich