iMovie is one of the best video editing programs for Mac.
Before fully jumping in, and especially prior to producing your video, check out some tips on how to edit audio in iMovie.
To create a movie in iMovie, you will need to import video footage from your camera to the Mac computer. To begin, connect recording device to front of the computer (located below on the left side) To import from a camera, camcorder, SD card, or flash drive. IMovie User Guide. Search the user guide Clear Search Table of Contents. Make a movie with style. After you create a movie project, add an Apple-designed theme to give your movie a unique visual style. Choose a movie theme. Add video effects. The first time you open iMovie. Add media from your photo library. Other ways to import media. Import from iPhone or iPad. Import from file-based cameras. Import from tape-based cameras. Record video into iMovie. Import media from your Mac. Play or skim video.
Quick Navigation
IMovie Quick Start Guide 1. Staring a new project 2. Navigating iMovie and importing footage 3. Selecting clips for your project 4. Titles, transitions, durations, and playback 5. Change Duration 6. Simple Video Edits 7. Finalizing (Sharing) your project 1) Starting a new Project Open iMovie. How to use iMovie for Mac, tips and more. IMovie for Mac is a powerful video-editing program that among other things can turn iPhone-recorded video footage into stunning movies. Here is our guide.
1. An Easier Way to Edit Audio in Videos
iMovie does a great job of editing videos, but since its basically a free video editor, it comes with its own limitations.
On the one hand, iMovie is only available on Mac, so Windows users won’t be able to use it. Furthermore, its audio editing prowess is pretty basic at best.
Once you start editing audio in iMovie, you would soon discover that it can’t do very much, as it is limited in features. For instance, you are limited to only one track per video. It also lacks any form of royalty free music tracks, and the sound effect leaves much to be desired. You also miss out on any form of pro features like audio ducking and the likes.
If you are looking to produce your audio professionally, you should look further than iMovie. Movavi video editor is a much better option, and it comes with most of the pro-features you will need for your video editing project.
Movavi is compatible with both Windows and Mac. It comes with more features; you can add as many tracks as you want to an audio file, you have a list of royalty-free tracks to pick from, you can add fade in and fade out effects, it even comes with a functional audio equalizer and many more.
The icing on the cake?
All these features are integrated into one easy drag and drop interface that beginners and semi-amateurs will appreciate.
To download the free version of Movavi, use the link below;
Some Useful Tutorials:
2. How to Add Background Music, Sound Effects and Voice Over to Videos in iMovie
![Imovie manual for mac windows 7 Imovie manual for mac windows 7](https://www.rev.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/imovie-closed-captions-subtitles.jpg)
There are several ways to add audio to your iMovie project on Mac.
Remember you are limited to just one audio track for every video project on iMovie.
#1. Add Background Music
To begin with, you can import music into iMovie. To import an audio file, simply click on the import button that looks like an arrow down symbol:
Choose the media file you want to add in the import media screen window, and then click on Import Selected at the bottom right corner to import.
Next up, click and drag on the music file to add it to your timeline. Place the music on your timeline exactly where you want it to play from.
#2. Add Sound Effects
Apart from background music, you can also add audio effects to your projects too.
On iMovie, simply navigate to the audio tab and then click on Audio:
You will find three options on the left, where you can choose to import from Sound Effects, iTunes or GarageBand.
If you select sound effects, you will be able to select from a variety of available sound effects.
To choose one, simply drag and drop it on your timeline.
#3. Add Voice Over
If you want to add a voice over, head over to your timeline and click on where you want to record a voiceover, a microphone would appear just below the preview window.
Once you click on the mic symbol, a Record button will appear just below the video, and an adjustment button will also appear too. Click on the adjustment button once, and a window will appear:
Playstation network customer service number. You can choose the recording volume and the source of the sound.
Click the Record button to record a voice over for your project.
3. How to Completely Control the Volume in Videos in iMovie
Here, you will learn how to fully control the volume in your video project. This includes How you can control a part of the audio in your project at certain stages.
#1. Adjust the Entire Volume on Your Project
On every video on your timeline, you will find that there is a line at the middle. Once you navigate to that line with your mouse, you will find that there is an up and down arrow:
Note: If you can’t see the waveforms, head to the View drop-down menu and then choose Show Waveforms.
Once you select and move up, you can adjust the volume by as much as 400% and as low as 0.
#2. Adjust the Volume of Certain Parts of Your Video
Imovie Manual Download
In some cases, you only want to adjust the volume of a certain part or parts of your project.
You can accomplish this in two ways:
Method 1. Split the video
On the section you wish to adjust, you can right-click and select Split Clip at the start, and right click and split clip at the end.
Now, you must have separated the particular section of your clip that you want to adjust the volume for.
Method 2: Control the Volume with the R Keyboard Key
Another method you can try is to hold the R key on your keyboard and then simultaneously drag the mouse while left clicking on it. Here, you can control the volume of certain parts of the video.
4. Easiest Way to Detach Audio in iMovie
iMovie automatically keeps parts of the video and audio together, so they are easier to work with.
Although, some occasions may warrant the need for them to be used differently.
To do this, head to your timeline, select the clip and then right click and select Detach Audio.
You will be left with two clips – one with just images and another with just sound.
Detached audio clips can come in handy if you want to extend the audio, so it starts before the video or so that it continues when it ends. You can also take out parts of the audio at certain stages without affecting the video.
5. How to Replace or Remove Audio in iMovie
Once you Detach Audio from video in iMovie, select and right click on it.
A menu will pop up with several options. Use the Delete option to remove audio.
To replace the audio:
Once you take out the original audio, head to the folder where it is stored and then add it your timeline via drag and drop.
Imovie Manual For Mac Osx
6. How to Fade in and Fade out Audio in iMovie
As mentioned above, with iMovie you can adjust the audio in the video.
On every clip, there is a volume that permits you to either increase or reduces the volume level.
The duration of the Fade in and Fade out is automatically set to 0s.
By default the Fade in and Fade out duration is 0s.
To apply the fade in or out effect to your video, simply drag the pointer to the right and then choose a new fade duration period, for example, 5s.
With this, you can add a very short fade effect. Anno 1800 mac parallels. This will ensure that the audio is smoother and softer on the ears once a new video starts.
To set a new fade out time, repeat the process as shown above.
Check out a more detailed tutrial here: How to Fade Audio in iMovie
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Hey, My name is Paul – nice to e-meet you ? I’m a freelance video editor who has over 4 years experiences of making all types of videos. I founded this website to provide step-by-step and easy-to-follow instructions to first-time editors or beginners like you who want to start their journey in video editing.
Major User Interface Changes
Apple iMovie 10 is a major revision to the flagship video editing program from Apple. This new version has many major design and user interface changes. Below is a quick start guide.
iMovie ’11 is now iMovie 10
It sounds confusing to have iMovie 10 be a new version that replaces iMovie ’11. Here’s an explanation as to why this is. Over the years, companies have been fickle about the naming system to be used for software. So, in some years, software is named by the year it was released. In other years software has been named by its actual version number. In this case, iMovie Version 9 was released in 2011, and it was more popularly known as iMovie ’11. This new version of iMovie is Version 10. Presumably it could be called iMovie ’13, but Apple no longer uses the year as a designator. So, it’s called iMovie 10.
This confusion is similar to Microsoft Windows having changed in naming from version, to year, to product name, and back again. There was Windows 3.11 and then Windows ’95 (in 1995), then Windows XP (around 2002), then Windows 7, and now Windows 8. This continual changing around confuses consumers, but unfortunately it’s how these companies operate.
New File/Folder System
The most major change with iMovie 10 is in how the file/folder structure works. It’s similar to how iPhoto and iTunes create a single library (a ‘package’ or folder) to contain everything. So, you won’t be using separate iMovie Events and iMovie Folders anymore in your Movies folder. Instead, you’ll see a single iMovie Library file (actually a ‘package’ – similar to a folder) inside of your Movies folder. This has all of your media in it.
This new folder/file system is beneficial because it protects critical project files. For example, in the past you may have explored through your iMovie Events to move, delete, or rename things. That generally would break project files that depend on the event media. By hiding all of this content behind the scenes, Apple is constraining people to do their file cleanup within iMovie so its media database can maintain the proper linking of projects and events.
Events and Projects on External Hard Drive
Video projects will quickly fill up just about any notebook or desktop computer hard drive. For this reason, if you’ve not been doing so already, you’ll want to be using external hard drives for your video editing projects. This allows you to archive events and projects on older drives and keep them on the shelf just in case you need them again.
With iMovie 10, you’ll no longer see the hard drives listed in the event/project navigation column on the left of the screen. Instead, you’ll need to go to the File menu and choose Open Library > New to create a new Library (media database and file system) on the external drive. You’ll see the new iMovie Library listed in the left column media content navigation window.
Events and Projects Combined
There is no longer a distinction between events and projects to keep the separate. This is actually a nice improvement. It means you can keep your events, projects, and other relevant items all within the same folder listed in the iMovie Library.
The Content Library That Isn’t
In the lower left corner of the window in the Library navigation area, you’ll find the Content Library. You might imagine this is where your content is. The name is misleading. This is where you’ll find Transitions, Titles, Maps & Backgrounds, as well as iTunes, Sound Effects, and GarageBand. So it’s a mix of things.
Converting Projects and Events from iMovie ’11 or iMovie 9
When you first open iMovie (version 10.0 or later), the dialog below appears and asks “Do you want to update your projects and events?”
If you choose Update Later, you can update projects and events by following these steps.
- Open iMovie.
- From the menu bar, choose File > Update Projects and Events.
- Click Update in the dialog that appears.
To update events and projects on an external drive…
- Verify that the iMovie Projects and iMovie Events folders are stored on the top-level of the drive.
- Open iMovie.
- ChooseFile > Update Projects and Events.
If updating is interrupted or takes an extended period of time…
Some users have encountered reliability issues when updating projects and events with iMovie version 10.0. In these cases, iMovie appeared to stop responding while updating or quit unexpectedly. iMovie version 10.0.1 addresses these issues.
Before updating your projects and events, verify that the latest iMovie update is installed.
- Open the Mac App Store.
- Click the Updates tab.
- Click Update All or the Update button that appears next to iMovie.
After verifying that you have the latest version of iMovie, you can update your projects and events by following these steps.
- In the Finder, click the Go menu and choose Home.
- Open the Movies folder.
- Move the “iMovie Library” file to the Trash.
Note: If you have imported content or created projects with iMovie version 10.0, do not delete this file. - In the iMovie Projects and iMovie Events folders, you’ll find a file named “UpdatedtoiMovie10.” Move this file to the Trash from both folders.
- Open iMovie.
- Choose File > Update Projects and Events.
iMovie will update your projects and events. You can repeat these steps for projects and events stored on external drives.
The iMovie Sidebar
After updating, your projects and events are placed in a new library which you can see in the iMovie sidebar.
- Each event is marked with a star.
- Your updated projects are in the Updated Projects event.
- If you previously shared or finalized any of these projects, those video files will appear in the Finalized Movies event.
In the Finder, an “iMovie Library” file is created alongside your original “iMovie Projects” and “iMovie Events” folders.
These folders will continue to work with the previous version of iMovie, but you can delete them if you no longer want to work with them. To learn more, visit Removing old libraries after updating.