In this lesson, we’ll show you how you can use iMovie to create video previews for your
app on the App Store.
Today we’re going to create an app preview for Leo’s Fortune, a fun platform adventure
game.
To get started, you’ll need an iOS device with iOS 8, and a Mac with OS X Yosemite.
The first step is to capture screen recordings of your app in action.
Here’s a tip: you may want to develop an outline or storyboard of the top features
you want to demonstrate and practice before you start recording.
To capture the screen recordings, connect your iOS device to your Mac with a Lightning
cable. Then launch the Quicktime Player.
From the File menu, select New Movie Recording.
From the pop-up menu next to the record button, select your iOS device under the Camera and
Microphone sections.
And set the quality to Maximum.
Now, click the record button. All your actions will be recorded in real time. Record as much
as you like, and don’t worry about going too slow. You’ll be able to select the best
parts and change the timing in iMovie.
When you're finished, press the Stop button. Then save your screen recording.
You can create multiple screen recordings if you wish.
The second step is to edit your screen recordings with iMovie.
In iMovie, create an event for your preview. Then import the screen recording clips. I’ll
click the Import button, select the Desktop in the Import window, select my folder of
screen recordings, and click Import Selected.
Here you can see the clips we just captured, as well as others I captured earlier.
Now from the File menu, choose New App Preview. This creates a special project type designed
specifically for editing and exporting app previews. The new project appears in the event
where you can give it a name.
You can now use iMovie’s editing tools to assemble and edit your project.
Move the pointer over your clips to see them in the Viewer.
Or press the space bar to play a clip.
To add a clip to the Timeline, double-click it, and click the plus button.
To add a 4-second segment, single-click and click the plus button.
Or, drag across a clip to select a range,
and then add the range to the timeline by clicking the plus button.
Once clips are in the timeline, you can reorder and trim them. First, use the zoom slider
to adjust your view.
To reorder clips, simply place the pointer over the top half of the clip, then drag the
clip to a new location.
To trim a clip, place the pointer on either edge of the clip, then drag to extend or shorten
the clip.
To remove a middle portion of the clip, place the pointer over the bottom half of the clip,
drag to create a range selection, and press the Delete key.
To add titles, select the Titles Browser. iMovie includes a set of 11 animated titles
designed for app previews. Let’s take a look at a few of them, starting with Fullscreen.
Select a title, and drag it to the timeline to add it to your project.
Then type your text, and click the checkmark button.
You can adjust the font, color, and other properties of your title from the Adjustments
Bar.
You’ll find different titles have different features. You can customize the background
color of the Fullscreen and Scale titles.
Titles with “Movable” in the name feature a bar which you can reposition vertically
in your video.
To help guide viewers, you can add a voiceover narration to your preview. From the Window
menu, choose Record Voiceover.
Click the Voiceover Options button to select an input source and set the level.
Move the playhead to where you want the voiceover to start, click record, and after the countdown,
speak.
"Leo’s Fortune is a platform adventure game where you hunt down the cunning and mysterious
thief that stole your gold."
To add a soundtrack to your preview movie, locate the audio clip in iTunes or import
it into your event, then click the plus button to add it to the Background Music area.
Notice how the volume is automatically lowered during the VO sections.
When your preview is complete, click the Share button, then click App Preview.
This preset is designed to meet App Store requirements for resolution, size, and codec.
Click next, name your preview, choose a location and save.
You now have an App Store-compliant preview file ready to be uploaded with iTunes Connect!