If you're new to making videos, trying to edit using professional software can feel
like trying to read complex computer code, or an alien language, or my 4 year old’s
handwriting.
It looks adorable, but it still hard to make sense of it.
Before you spend your money or spend dozens of hours trying to figure out complicated
editing software, spend a few minutes with me as I walk you through how to edit your
videos using the free iMovie app on your iPhone.
Let's get into it.
Hello creators!
I'm Ben Toalson from Podia, where we empower creators like you to make a living doing what
you love.
While there are free editing tools that exist for other platforms, today’s video is going
to focus specifically on editing in iMovie.
If you have a different type of device or a specific app you’d like me to cover, let
me know in the comments below.
In this video I'm going to walk you through, step-by-step, how to edit, enhance, and export
your video in iMovie.
Before we open the app, there are a few things we want to gather and have ready to go.
You’ll want to make sure your videos, graphics, and any pre-made intros or outros are saved
to your camera roll.
It's even better if you create a specific folder for the items that will go into your
videos.
Now that we've got everything collected and ready to go, let's open iMovie and dive in.
The first screen you’ll see in the app is the Projects screen.
From here, tap the panel with the plus sign and then tap the “Movie” option.
On this screen, iMovie gives you the option of selecting clips and images for your video.
If you’ve made an album, you can tap “Media” in the upper left corner, tap “Albums”
and then tap the album you created for your course video assets.
In this step, I recommend only selecting the first few graphics or clips that will appear
in your video.
You’ll be able to add the rest while your editing and this makes it easier to start
out.
In this example I’m going to select my title graphic and my main clip.
They will appear on your timeline in the order you select them.
Once you’ve selected your clips by tapping them, tap “Create Movie” at the bottom
of the screen.
The next screen is composed of a preview area and a timeline.
Between the two are a plus icon that allows you to add media, a back icon to navigate
to the previous clip, a play icon to play the timeline, and an undo icon to undo changes.
In the center of the timeline is a white line called a playhead which indicates the frame
of your clip shown in the preview.
If I tap and move the clip back and forth over the playhead, you can see the preview
change.
This is one way to navigate through your clip.
You’ll notice when this screen appears, you are placed at the very end of your selected
clips.
You can tap the back icon a few times to get to the beginning.
In this example, I’ve chose a title graphic and my main clip.
If I play the timeline, you can see that the title graphic stays on screen for a bit too
long before transitioning to the main clip.
To change that, I’m going to tap the graphic in the timeline.
You can see some additional options and information have appeared.
At the top of the preview, you can see a length indicator.
At the bottom right of the preview is some information and options for the Ken Burns
Effect, which we will go ahead and disable by tapping the box next to where it says “Ken
Burns Enabled.”
You can also see that the clip in the timeline has a yellow border around it and at the bottom
of the screen are “Duplicate” and “Delete” and below that, addition icons.
The text icons and options vary depending on the type of clip that’s selected.
I’ll explain the relevant options as we go.
For now, note that the scissor icon is highlighted.
This represents editing mode for the selected clip which means I can make changes to the
length of the clip in the timeline.
A good general length for titles is about 3 seconds, but when in doubt play the preview
and read the title in your head to make sure others will be able to read it before the
next clip.
To edit the length, tap and hold the end of the clip and then drag it to shorten or lengthen.
You’ll notice the length indicator at the top changing in response to your edit.
In the preview, you can also pinch two fingers together or spread two fingers apart to resize
and move the graphic in the frame.
I want to add some intro music to go along with my title graphic, so I’m going to navigate
to the very beginning of the video and tap the plus icon.
I’ll select audio, then select soundtracks, then I’ll select a song I thing will work
well with my intro.
By the way, all the songs in the soundtrack section are royalty free and you can use them
in your video.
Tapping a song will give you a preview, then you can tap the plus icon that appears to
the right of the song to add it to your timeline.
If you want the song to stop at a specific point, you can drag the end of the audio clip
to the stopping point, or you can move the playhead to where you’d like the music to
stop, tap the audio clip and then tap the word “split” and tap "delete"
We’re going to move forward in our timeline now and look at the icon between the two clips.
This is a transition icon and determines the type and length of transition between the
two clips.
When we tap on it, it is highlighted in yellow and transition options appear below.
A dissolve transition works well when transitioning from an intro title to your main clip.
You can select different transitions and lengths to see which works best for the style of your
video.
Now we’re going to select the main clip.
I’m going to change the starting point of this clip the same way I adjusted the length
of the graphic, by tapping on the edge of the clip and dragging it over.
Now I’m going to play it back to make sure the transition and starting point look right
and continue watching through until I find the next spot I want to edit.
I found a spot where I want to add another title.
I’m going to make sure the playhead is exactly where I want the title to appear, then I’m
going to tap the plus icon just below the preview.
I’ll choose albums because this is where I’ve saved my assets, and tap the graphic
I want to add.
You’ll notice a plus icon and three dots.
Tapping the plus icon will automatically add the clip to the closest end point of the current
clip.
I actually want this graphic to show as the main clip is playing, so I’m going to tap
the three dots to see some other options for how I can add this graphic.
Cutaway replaces the video of the main clip while the audio of the main clip continues
to play.
Picture in picture superimposes the graphic over a portion of the main clip.
Split screen shows both clips side by side. and Green/Blue screen gives you the ability
to knock out a selected color in the graphic you are adding.
Cutaway works best for my purposes, so I will choose that.
In the timeline, if you tap the graphic, you’ll see the yellow outline indicating that you
can adjust the length of the clip.
This editing view does not give you a length indicator, so you’ll have to watch through
the preview to make sure it stops and starts at the right time.
You may notice when the graphic is selected there is a new icon at the bottom of the screen
that looks like one rectangle hovering over another rectangle.
Tapping this icon will allow you to choose one of the different display modes I listed
earlier.
If you find a mistake you need to edit out of your main clip, line the playhead up right
before the mistake, tap the main clip, and assuming the scissor icon is highlighted,
tap the word “split” just above the icons.
This will create a split point where you’ll be able to edit out the mistake.
Now move the playhead to where you’d like the video to continue, tap the main clip,
and tap split again.
Now the mistake should be a standalone clip between the two good sections of your clip.
Tap the clip with the mistake in it and then tap “delete.”
You’ll notice that the icon in the transition between the two clips is a vertical line.
This transition is titled none and represents what we call a jump cut.
Jump cuts are exactly what you want with this type of edit because it helps maintain a pace
that will keep your viewers engaged.
As a bonus, if you want to enhance the experience, you can tap a clip and then tap the text icon
to add text.
With the clip selected, you can also tap the magnifying glass icon in the upper right of
the preview to zoom in a bit on your clip.
If you create split points throughout your video, going back and forth between a normal
shot and a slightly zoomed in shot can make your video seem more engaging.
After you’ve added all of your graphics and made all of your edits, go to the end
of your video and make sure the main clip ends in the right spot.
You can either put the playhead exactly where you want the video to cut off, split the clip,
and delete the end, or you can drag the end of the clip over to where you’d like the
video to end.
One last thing before we finish editing.
If you tap in the grey part of the timeline, you’ll see a gear icon in the lower right
hand of your screen.
You can tap on that to bring up some additional options you can apply to your entire video.
The change I always make in this section is to turn on the “Fade in from black” and
“Fade out from black” toggles.
Now that those are on, I’ll tap “done” in the upper right hand of my screen, and
then I’ll tap “done” in the upper left hand of my screen.
From here, I can preview the video by tapping the play button, to make sure there aren’t
any mistakes I need to fix.
If there are, I can tap the “edit” button and make corrections.
If not, then we’re ready to export the video.
To do this, you’ll click the export icon at the bottom center of the screen and choose
the destination that works best for your video.
I recommend saving the video in your main photos first, then either moving it to your
computer to upload to a course hosting platform or uploading it directly to your hosting provider
through the options on your phone.
In the next video, I’ll detail how to upload and publish your online course.
And that’s it.
You can now make quality videos with the simple and free tools you already have.
And don’t hesitate to practice on non-course footage.
The more you practice, the more confident you'll feel each time you open the app.
What type of video content do you plan to make with iMovie?
Let me know in the comments.
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Thank you for watching, I'll see you next time.