Can I do an audio-only edit in iMovie '11 ?

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Can I do an audio-only edit in iMovie '11 ?

Can I do an audio-only edit (no video)? i want to lay down an audio soundtrack and then add picture / video to it afterward. Can I do that?
It seems I can only do as much audio as there is video. This is the opposite of much professional work which often requires laying down a sound "bed" first, then adding video / picture afterward. It's hard to believe iMovie does not allow this.
I'm a professional Final Cut editor but know little about iMovie
Thanks.

G5 & Intel MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Nov 6, 2010 12:42 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 6, 2010 1:54 AM in response to CraigarJ

The first thing I would ask is why not do it in FCP 😉

No you can't do it till you have video. But if you have FC just export out a slug and import it to iMovie and replace as you go.

It is kind of silly...

-- Dan
Keeper of TheUnofficialiMovieFAQ.com

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Answer 2

Tom Wolsky

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Nov 6, 2010 3:26 AM in response to CraigarJ

You could also lay out a blank title or graphic. Or if you're on a machine without Final Cut and have a serious bed to build I'd lay it out in GarageBand. All the audio tools you need and then export the bed to bring into iMovie.

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Answer 3

CraigarJ Author

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Nov 6, 2010 4:39 PM in response to Daniel Slagle

Daniel Slagle wrote:
The first thing I would ask is why not do it in FCP 😉

I use FCP professionally. A client is learning iMovie and asked for help from me. I'm surprised that you can't do audio-only editing. In many respects audio is +more important+ than video. But I guess I dont understand the iMovie user like Apple does.

No you can't do it till you have video. But if you have FC just export out a slug and import it to iMovie and replace as you go.

It is kind of silly...

What is kind of silly, the workaround?
Laying an audio bed/foundation is fundamental to many productions. It's remarkable that iMovie doesn't allow this.

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Answer 4

CraigarJ Author

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Nov 6, 2010 5:01 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

Tom Wolsky wrote:
You could also lay out a blank title or graphic.

Thanks Tom.
Let's assume I don't have FCP.
So are you saying I should bring in a bunch of those colored backgrounds, add my audio to this and then, what, do video cutaway edits?
If so, those colored backgrounds are only 4 seconds long. Anyway to change that?

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Answer 5

Tom Wolsky

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Nov 6, 2010 9:49 PM in response to CraigarJ

You can make a blank title whatever length you want. Make a title on black, no words. Go into clip adjustment and dial in 10 minutes or whatever.

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Answer 6

CraigarJ Author

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Nov 6, 2010 10:05 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

.. and then what, cutaway edits?
Thanks Tom.

Message was edited by: CraigarJ

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Answer 7

Tom Wolsky

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Nov 6, 2010 10:11 PM in response to CraigarJ

This is iMovie. There isn't a bunch you can do with audio. If the bed is narration and music and soundbites, you're going to have to rethink it. It's just not the right tool. It's not designed to edit the way professional editors work. If you want to build a complex bed you really should look at GarageBand or use a pro editing tool. It's simply not designed to edit in the workflow used by professionals. If you want to lay done a narration you can do that. If you want to lay down a long music track and add markers you can do that. If you want to mix multiple audio sources in a bed, fagedabouted.

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Answer 8

CraigarJ Author

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Nov 6, 2010 10:35 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

I'm sorry I must not have been clear. I +do not+ want a complex audio edit.
I do want to do a typical news story edit.
I want to lay down audio narration (voice over track). There may be cuts in this track. Some call this a radio edit. Next I want to add picture. I want to have some flexibility to move around the voiceover track. And I may also want to have the flexibility to move around the video clips What's the best way to do this?
I follow you so far. I've got a blank title, 90 seconds long. I add my audio to it. Now I want to add video. It seems like cutaways are the best way to go. What do you think?
Perhaps I should rephrase and start a new question.
Thanks.

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Answer 9

Nov 7, 2010 3:57 AM in response to CraigarJ

No it is silly that iMovie dos not allow it. You can drop in the audio and it will grow with the project. but how -I- would do it.

Send your client a black slug > in length then the voice over and what not.
Drag that into iMovie
Get your sound bed roughed in
Split your slug on the time line based on the audio
Then do drag and replace to fill pics and video

-- Dan
Keeper of TheUnofficialiMovieFAQ.com

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Answer 10

Tom Wolsky

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152,819 points

Nov 7, 2010 7:19 AM in response to CraigarJ

A typical news story, the way it is cut by a professional editor, is probably beyond of scope of iMovie, if you want to do it accurately and efficiently. You need a pro app. FCE at the least.

That said, if you want to try, rather than using the cutaway function, I'd split the text track and use the replace function. Just put a new clip on the split section, hold, and replace. The cutaways function works, but it limits what you can do with the video, like adding transitions. Probably a combination of the two will work. The lack of precision is what I think you're going find most frustrating. You might all find it easier to work in timeline view than the standard iMovie display. BTW, the timeline tracks with the playhead, who would have thought such a thing could be possible.

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Answer 11

CraigarJ Author

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Nov 7, 2010 2:33 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

You the man. Thanks; great answer. This is what I've been looking for.

There seems to be a whole new class of would-be editors, trying to get by on rudimentary editing skills and "simpler" software. I'm trying to keep up with them. I say "simpler" because iMovie (and other software) are in many ways really powerful, just different. Thanks for helping me get my head around it! Any additional advice or direction to websites is always welcome.

Haha , tracking w/the timeline. Reminds me of AVID – like 10 years ago!

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Answer 12

Dec 7, 2010 10:29 AM in response to CraigarJ

BTW, if you have a video clip that you want the audio for, but not the video, if you RIGHT CLICK while the video is highlighted, you can DETACH AUDIO, pretty great feature for iMovie.

Hope that helps.

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Answer 13

Jun 4, 2013 11:53 AM in response to CraigarJ

Yes you can, just detach the audio in any other video production you have in your library save it as Audio xxx, delete the video section and just add a title that's blank for about 8 minutes or whatever, render it, export as mp3 in Quicktime and you're done. I do it all the time. In my previous MacLess days this feature in Power Director or Pinnacle was a bit easier but all you have to do is detach the audio and dummy up the video with something blank and you're in..

that will help. I don't have FCP but I want it and see all other points made here, but it's expensive...

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Answer 14

Jun 4, 2013 1:30 PM in response to CraigarJ

A piece of this puzzle is how to edit an audio track without having to add it to the video track, export it, re-import it, and then trim. In other words, how to split and trim an audio track like it is so easy to do with video clips.

Karsten Schlüter has found an undocumented way to do this via a keyboard shortcut. (Command-Shift-S)

See his post here.

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