how to flip movies from photobooth in imovie '11?

Question

Level 1

8 points

how to flip movies from photobooth in imovie '11?

i am having some frustrations with trying to mirror (flip horizontally) videos in imovie '11. i have made some videos using photobooth and i want to mirror them so they appear right-way-round. i imported the video into imovie '11 and tried clicking on the clip tab to choose the video effect (which should allow me to flip the video), but that option is not there. i tried searching in imovie help and it appears that you can only choose the video effect if your file is a video file. my file is in .mov format as photobooth recorded it. i even tried exporting my .mov file to .avi format, hoping then imovie '11 would recognize it as a movie file, but no luck.

there must be some easier way to do this! all i want to do is make videos in photobooth and then flip them. any help you could provide would be very much appreciated!

macbook 2.4ghz core 2 duo, 4GB ram, Mac OS X (10.6.6)

Posted on Mar 25, 2011 6:07 AM

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Answer 1

Mar 25, 2011 6:37 AM in response to joyful.vegan

Maybe [this tutorial will help|http://www.kenstone.net/fcphomepage/imovie_09stone.html#clip%20adjustments]

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Answer 2

Mar 27, 2011 3:22 AM in response to joyful.vegan

Hi joyful.vegan,

Sorry I hadn't got back to you on your post in this earlier thread (been a bit pre-occupied):
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=13258748#13258748

I just ran a test using Photo Booth. The movie produced is indeed a .mov file - it is in H.264 format. I imported this into an Event. Double-clicking the Event clip brings up the Inspector. As you say, there is no option to select a Video Effect. To see this option you have to firstly create a Project, then drag your clip (or clips) into that Project from the Event. Once in the Project, you will then be able to access the Video Effect from the Inspector.

To create a Project, in iMovie's menu select File>New Project. Another way is to click on the + sign at the bottom right of the Project window while in Project Library view.

It's important that you have a close look at Ken Stone's tutorial that AppleMan1958 recommended. Also, it's well worth viewing all of Apple's video tutorials found here:

For iMovie '11: http://help.apple.com/imovie/interface/index.html?lang=en#button-0

For iMovie '09 (mostly relevant to '11 also): http://www.apple.com/findouthow/movies/

John

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Answer 3

Jun 18, 2011 7:29 AM in response to John Cogdell

Is it just me, or should flipping movies from Photo Booth be easier. There is no reason for PB to record movies like a mirror. It's quite dumb. It's so dumb, that perhaps it is a bug.

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Answer 4

Moof666

Level 1

107 points

Feb 11, 2012 10:59 PM in response to John Cogdell

John,

In my iMovie '11, I did create a project, and there IS STILL NO OPTION TO FLIP THE VIDEO. If you want us to "access the Video Effect", please provide each step, like this: "Click on the ____ menu and select ____". Also, at the bottom right in my Project window, there is no + sign. Only a frames per thumbnail slider. There obviously is an additional step you forgot to mention.

I think the only thing that keeps iMovie from being great is that the controls change so drastically from one version to the next. If you were to show a screen shot of an iMovie 5, 6, 8, 9, and 11 project to a non-Mac person, they would assume this is 5 totally unrelated apps, not different versions of the same app. For me, they ARE five unrelated apps. It is truly like night and day when I change from one version to another.

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Answer 5

Feb 11, 2012 11:12 PM in response to Moof666

Hi

If you were to show a screen shot of an iMovie 5, 6, 8, 9, and 11 project to a non-Mac person, they would assume this is 5 totally unrelated apps, not different versions of the same app.

No - But they are TWO un-related products. And same things has happened to FinalCut ! Very bad Product infringement - on their own products. Can't understand Why - confuse the loyal and trusting consumers.

• iMovie 1 to HD6 - is one evolution of a very loved product

• iMovie'08 to 11 - a totally different animal - loved by some and frustrated others (me)

Still iMovie'11 is better - but still a long way to go to be as useful as iMovie HD6

Yours Bengt W

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Answer 6

Feb 11, 2012 11:23 PM in response to Bengt Wärleby

Well, you don't have to use anything after iMovie 06. I don't. Even though I have upgrade iLife everytime, I keep iMovie 06 and it works like a champ. iMovie 06 Hd is about as good as a movie editor gets. It runs great in lion too. Steve Jobs obviously never used iMovie or the current designers would have been fired after they trashed 06.

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Answer 7

Moof666

Level 1

107 points

Mar 9, 2012 7:05 AM in response to joyful.vegan

@Andrew: "There is no reason for PB to record movies like a mirror."

Unless you are suggesting PhotoBooth should be able to record the opposite of what it shows, there is a really good reason. If you go to a Woolworth (are they still around?) and put a buck in an old-timey photo booth, you see yourself in a mirror so you and your idiot friends can clown around while getting five photos made. Without the mirror image, you couldn't even comb your hair properly for the photo prep.

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Answer 8

Mar 9, 2012 7:59 AM in response to Moof666

Yes, but even that old time photo booth, when it prints your five pictures, prints them out corre ctly, not backwards like a mirror.

However, this discussion is moot point because Photobooth has been fixed since 10.6 (or maybe 10.7, I can't remember). It shows your preview in reverse, but outputs the picture correctly now. Same with movies.

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Answer 9

Nov 12, 2012 11:27 PM in response to Andrew Mcvinnie

I don't think it's a bug. Maybe Apple wants to make things somewhat confusing for their customers, so their customers are always wanting something more. I do agree that flippings movies should be A LOT easier.

Regards,

bettyfromcalifornia

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Answer 10

Nov 13, 2012 2:24 AM in response to Andrew Mcvinnie

Another product should be purchased in order to have a normal outcome.

Regards,

bettyfromcalifornia

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Answer 11

evanDove

Level 1

8 points

Apr 16, 2013 11:05 AM in response to joyful.vegan

There is an app in App Store called Movie Effects that will allow you to flip your video. this doesn't necessarily have to involve iMovie.

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Answer 12

May 4, 2015 10:43 AM in response to evanDove

I was having the EXACT same issue as joyful.vegan, using PhotoBooth and then iMovie. I finally figured it out after reading through the posts here.

I have iMovie version 10.0.8 using Yosemite OS

Once you've imported your PhotoBooth footage into your iMovie and you're working on your movie, dragging clips into your timeline, do this:

1. select the footage IN YOUR TIMELINE, that you want to flip (it will be outlined in YELLOW once selected)

2. go up to the tools and choose the "video and audio effects" tool. (it looks like 3 overlapping circles and is in between the speedometer icon and the "circle i" icon.

3. click on that "video and audio effects" tool

4. it will bring up "Video effect" on the left side of screen and the "Audio Effect" on the right side of the screen.

5. From there, click on the "Video Effect" box to view choices and then choose the "Flipped" option

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