Scott Bourne www.podcastingtricks.com
Derrick Story www.thedigitalstory.com
Chris Breen www.macworld.com/mac911 and www.playlistmag.com

Episode 18 iLifeZone December 10, 2006
iMovie
Running Time:

This is our <a href="http://www.apple.com/ilife/imovie/">iMovie</a> show, so let's get the ball rolling with today's notes!  You don't want to miss any of the amazing tips we have in store for you, particularly since we're getting into the holiday season and we all know how much you really want to share that video of your cat drunk on eggnog!

Introduction
===================================================
-Comes on every Mac
-Scott thinks it's shockingly powerful for a free app.
-Chris is "keen" on it for its simplicity compared to <a href="http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/finalcutpro/">Final Cut Pro</a> , most notably the intuitive way it's laid out and how easy it is to move stuff around / import from a camcorder.
-Derrick feels "smart" when he works in iMovie (he already is, but he feels smarter!)
-Scott thinks Final Cut "hurts" compared to iMovie.
-Derrick points out that iMovie is more of a tool in that you don't think about it,  you just do what you need to do and move on.

Shooting video for iMovie (or anything else, really)
====================================================
-Scott notes the importance of "getting it right" in the camera.
-Derrick points out that it's harder to correct video than it is to correct stills.
-Scott also mentions that audio is equally important in video despite how people may neglect it.  Scott recommends an inexpensive lapel mic system such as <a href="http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102927&amp;cp=&amp;origkw=lapel&amp;kw=lapel&amp;parentPage=search">this one</a> but obviously check compatibility with your camcorder model before purchasing any add-on accessories.
-Chris uses a lapel mic similar to the one linked above and loves the audio from it.  Chris brings up the point that if the mic is mono and you plug it into a jack that's expecting a stereo input, you will have audio on only one side of your audio track in iMovie.  You can later mix your movie down into mono mode so that you don't only have one channel of audio.
-Scott says you want to shoot in a quiet room, and you can even use a directional microphone that's commonly called a shotgun mic ( <a href="http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2111549&amp;cp">like this one</a> ).  Shotgun mics are actually "aimed" at the source and provide very limited sound outside of what they're aimed at.
-Scott reminds us that light is equally important.  Derrick points out that video needs more light than stills and that moving the camera means the lighting conditions change and you have to be aware of the conditions as you pan from scene to scene.
-Chris says you should always scout your location before shooting (look for shadows, consistent light, natural light, etc.)  Checking the day before is advisable as a gauge for the conditions in the room.
-Derrick and Scott point out that much like in photography, in video, you never want a strong backlight situation ( <a href="http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2003/06/13/dv_tips.html">see here for examples by our very own Derrick Story</a> !).
-Scott reminds us not to forget pre-roll and post-roll shooting (don't say "ACTION" and then click the record button, for example) for editing purposes later (5 seconds before and after should be adequate)
-Derrick says that exposure problems can occur with AUTO mode.  He mentions the importance of Exposure Lock, more info on which can be found in the <a href="http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2003/06/13/dv_tips.html">same article we mention above</a> .

We've shot the video.  Now what?

Capturing and importing
-----------------------
-Chris says that with a firewire camera, iMovie should pick it up relatively easily, however, if you haven't already bought a firewire camcorder, you may want to double check that it will work with iMovie.  An interesting point:  Most DVD camcorders (and some hard-disk based ones) cannot export video through the firewire port, so be sure to double check that also.  In this case, the latest and greatest isn't always compatible.  Try to stay away from USB.  It's slower, and uses more CPU to copy the video over.
-Scott says iMovie will auto generate clips as the video is imported off the camera.
-Chris explains that he always shoots scenes in order so that the clips are created in the proper order and doesn't believe in reading from a script.  He also captures a lot of stills and Quicktime movies for <a href="http://www.mugcenter.com/resources/CD/breen.html">Breen's Bungalow</a> , and he also makes sure those are in proper order by numbering them (01_filename, 02_filename, etc.)  This makes navigation to assets much easier and iMovie will keep them in order using your numbers
-Chris says when you're capturing stills or photos, make sure they're at a 4x3 ratio or iMovie might stretch them.  Even though iMovie is supposed to letterbox it, iMovie will stretch rather than letter box if the aspect ratio is close, so crop for 4x3 first!
-Chris also uses <a href="http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/snapzprox/">SnapzPro</a> to capture a still at 400% which makes the image must larger to get it out to the edges of the screen.

Editing
------------------------
-Scott brings up the importance of being stingy with transitions, which, when overused, look awful.  DON'T DO IT!  Derrick agrees.  Derrick is a fan of the simple cut (directly from one scene to another with no transition).  Chris agrees also and says it makes your video look amateurish.  He says that all you need are quick cuts, fades, and dissolves.  Scott points out, like Derrick, that professionals only use those.

Music
------------------------
-Scott brings up music and how you can't use RIAA (or any copyrighted) music in your videos.  Derrick points out that home use is generally fine, but distribution brings about problems.  Scott says that the phrase Public Performance is key.  For more information on Copyright law as it pertains to the RIAA, <a href="http://www.riaa.com/issues/copyright/laws.asp">check here</a> .  Royalty-free is the way to go.
-Chris points out that <a href="http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/">GarageBand</a> comes with royalty-free music loops and songs.  He also uses <a href="http://www.smartsound.com/sonicfire/index.html">SonicFire Pro</a> (A correction from his previous mention of <a href="http://www.musitek.com/Five/default.html">SmartScore</a> ).  Derrick likes <a href="http://www.royaltyfreemusic.com/">royaltyfreemusic.com</a> for its selection of choices and low cost.  After a short questionnaire, they give you the rights to the music.  Scott likes <a href="http://web.synkaudiostudios.com/musicbed-dv-features/">MusicbedDV</a> from Synk Audio.
-Chris turns up the "geek knob" a bit.  Taking audio directly out of a video and into GarageBand will result in a slowed-down version of the audio.  iMovie handles audio in 48khz files.  GarageBand doesn't know how to downsample, so it plays the 48khz at 44.1khz (CD Audio).  You have to take the audio, put it into iTunes and convert it to an AIFF at 44.1khz and then you can work with it anywhere, including putting it back into GarageBand for further editing.
-Scott points out that you can have more than 1 audio track in iMovie, so you can keep the background track from the video and add a separate music track.

iMovie and iLife
==================================================
-Derrick loves <a href="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/pro/mac.html">QuickTime Pro</a> .  It allows you to change file formats, add metadata, add copyright info, liner notes, and other goodies.  You can even trim and snip your movie without going back into iMovie.
-Chris never uses the Export presets in Garageband, and instead exports from iMovie as Quicktime -> Photo JPEG which produces a smaller file size than DV.  You can then drag the movie into GarageBand, etc.
-Chris points out that other apps in the suite such as GarageBand for adding a soundtrack, or iWeb for building a web page around it.
-Scott notes that the iLife Media Browser also works with <a href="http://www.apple.com/iwork/pages/">Pages</a> and <a href="http://www.apple.com/iwork/keynote/">Keynote</a> .
-Derrick mentions that QuickTime Pro will allow you to drop in a new audio track right in the program without needing to re-open iMovie.
-Chris turns up the "geek knob" again.  If you have a really long movie where the audio gets out of sync, you can bring it into QuickTime Pro, extract the audio leaving just the video (Command-J).  Then copy the video, paste it into the audio track using the Edit Menu and click "Add to selection & scale."  This will scale the video so it fits exactly into the audio.  Derrick confirms that it does indeed work.

-Scott says to remember to think "Short cuts."  Keep segments short and use <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&amp;lr=&amp;client=firefox-a&amp;rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&amp;hs=6Zq&amp;defl=en&amp;q=define:B-roll&amp;sa=X&amp;oi=glossary_definition&amp;ct=title">B-Roll</a> (background footage and establishing shots) interspersed with actual "action" footage.  Pick the important moments, get a few minutes of each, then remember to spend time with the people you've been filming!
-Derrick says always have an extra battery and know where it is.  Scott adds that charging it makes it infinitely more useful.
-Chris says don't forget to save early and often, and if you're pushing iMovie, it'll crash, so don't blow it.  Command-S is your friend.

Scott invites listeners to send in links to their iMovie masterpieces.  Just send a link (not the actual movie, please) and if it's good enough, we'll talk about it on a future show!  Just send the link to <a href="mailto:info@ilifezone.com">info@ilifezone.com</a> , or go to <a href="http://www.twit.tv/ilz">Twit.tv</a> and hit the feedback button.  We may not read it on the air, but we do read them.

We'll be back on December 20th!

There are hot links in our enhanced podcast track.

This episode was sponsored by <a href="http://www.m-audio.com/">M-Audio</a> and <a href="http://www.podango.com">Podango</a> .

Thanks to Pixelcorps for production assistance with the iLifeZone and Libsyn for hosting services.
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A special thank you to Vincent M. Ferrari (The AOL CANCEL GUY) for providing us with show notes. You can find out more about Vincent at <a href="http://www.ISPNmedia.com">ISPNmedia.com</a> .