Automatic slideshow duration to match timeline length?

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Automatic slideshow duration to match timeline length?

I set up a slideshow in the iMovie timeline of about 60 pictures, between which I had a fade out, fade in transition. I then dragged two songs to the time line and they seemed to fit the length of the slideshow automatically.

I decided to change one of the songs and now the timeline is about a minute longer so that the slideshow pictures end long before the music does.

Is there a way for iMovie to automatically resize the duration of each clip and transition to fill the length of the timeline? I don't know if I'll have the time to go through each clip and transition and change the duration of them all to equal the length of the songs. Can iMovie do this for me?

Any ideas?

iMovie HD, Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Posted on Dec 13, 2006 8:24 AM

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Answer 1

Dec 13, 2006 3:21 PM in response to Nelson Cole

Is there a way for iMovie to automatically resize the
duration of each clip and transition to fill the
length of the timeline? I don't know if I'll have the
time to go through each clip and transition and
change the duration of them all to equal the length
of the songs. Can iMovie do this for me?

Unlike iPhoto slideshows, iMovie has no "fit to music" command.

But it's not hard to do manually. Note that iMovie lets us set the playtime duration of a fistful of photos all at the same time. Do the math for a rough estimate of the duration needed for each slide, select all the slides, then apply that duration to all. If it's off by a few seconds, adjust them accordingly.

It helps to import the images as stills, not rendered clips, so their duration can be changed quickly. Turn OFF the Ken Burns checkbox while importing the images, so the duration of a group of stills can be changed almost instantly. After it's what you want, THEN apply transitions. (They too can be applied to multiple clips.)

Remember to take the playtime of the durations into account in your plans. And whatever padding you want at the start/end for titles, etcetera.

This topic shows how to set the slides to match the beat of the music. Some of what it describes applies to your task too:

http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=607322&ft=y

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