11: Video

The Skim

Shooting Videos • Creating Videos Using iMovie Trailer

Creating Videos Using iMovie Project • Sharing Videos

I find it awkward to shoot video with the iPad, but that might just be me. My wife shoots great video with the iPad and doesn’t seem to have any of the problems holding it steady like I do. The iPad 2 and the new iPad both have two cameras that can shoot still images and video. Both devices have a front-facing camera and a rear-facing camera, and although the front-facing camera is the same on both devices, the rear-facing camera is not. The rear-facing camera in the new iPad is superior to the camera in the iPad 2. This affects the quality of the video captured by the device, but other than that the actual capture and editing of the video remains the same.

SHOOTING VIDEOS

Taking videos with the iPad is simple—just use the built-in camera. There are some slight changes to the layout of the video controls in the new iOS5.1 compared to the controls in the earlier version. The main change is the position of the Shutter Release button/Record button. It is no longer on the bottom edge of the screen; it is now on the right side of the screen and, even better, you can use the volume up button on the side of the iPad to start and stop the video recording. This allows you to hold the iPad steadier and still touch the Shutter Release button or the Volume buttons.

Here’s how to use the video cameras to shoot video:

1. Turn on the iPad.

2. Tap on the Camera button.

3. To switch between still camera and video camera use the slide button on the bottom right. Slide the switch to the right to use the video camera.

4. You can also switch between the front- and rear-facing cameras by tapping on the Switch Camera button on the bottom right corner of the screen. Once you start to film you can’t switch cameras.

5. Tap once on the Record button to start recording, tap it again to stop recording. You can also start recording by pressing the volume up button once to start recording and then tap it again to stop recording.

There is no zoom function when using the video camera but you can change the focus point by tapping on the screen. This focus point also controls the exposure, so each tap on the screen could change the way the video looks. Tap on a very bright part and the rest of the screen goes dark. Tap on a very dark part of the scene and everything gets brighter.

The video is automatically saved into the Camera Roll folder in the Photo app. It is marked differently from the still images; it has a small video camera icon and time on the bottom of the thumbnail. Tap the icon to open it and then tap the Play button in the middle of the screen to play it back. Once the video is in the iPad, you can edit it.

Figure 11-1
The video recording screen. Notice that the Record button is on the right.

EDITING VIDEOS WITH iMOVIE

With the release of the new iPad in 2012, Apple also updated the iMovie video editing app. What started out as a great app has become even better and the good news is that it only costs $4.99, or if you had the previous versions it is a free upgrade. The app works only on the iPad 2 and the new iPad. It will not run on the original iPad (since it doesn’t have a camera).

When you first launch the iMovie app you are greeted with an old-style movie marquee. Go ahead and tap the + on the bottom of the screen to start your first project or trailer. You now have a choice between a full-blown iMovie Project and the new iMovie Trailer. I’m going to start with Trailers and will cover Projects a little later.

iMOVIE TRAILERS

With the release of the new iPad in 2012, Apple updated the iMovie app, allowing users to create short movie Trailers. Creating a Trailer can be broken down into five parts:

• Choose a Trailer

• Edit the Outline

• Customize the Titles

• Add Video from Your Video Library

• Record Video

This is one of the coolest things I have ever seen on the iPad. I was able to create a really cool Trailer about my 2 dogs in about 30 minutes.

Choose a Trailer

When you first tap on the + sign and pick New Trailer, you get to pick a theme for your video. There are nine choices for themes:

• Bollywood: The Bollywood theme runs 1 minute and 7 seconds, and is based on the Bollywood style from the Indian movie industry.

• Expedition: This theme runs 62 seconds. It can have 2 to 6 cast members and looks a lot like the Indiana Jones adventure movies.

• Fairy Tale: This theme is great for little kids and runs 62 seconds. It has the feel of a Disney live action movie.

• Narrative: This is one of the longest themes, at 1 minute and 34 seconds, and has the feel of an epic movie like Out of Africa.

• Retro: This theme runs just under a minute and looks like a movie created in the sixties. Bold colors and clean lines make this theme a lot of fun to use.

• Romance: At 1 minute and 23 seconds, this theme is on the long side and is set up to have just two main stars.

• Scary: This is one of my favorite themes, not because I love scary movies, but because I think it is really well done. The Trailer is 61 seconds long and does a good job of emulating the feel of classic scary movies like The Exorcist.

• Superhero: As a huge comic book fan, I think this theme is very cool. It needs 2 to 6 people and matches the current Hollywood superhero movie style.

• Swashbuckler: At just over a minute long, this theme is reminiscent of Treasure Island or Pirates of the Caribbean.

To pick a theme, use your finger to scroll through the choices across the bottom of the screen and then tap the Play button in the middle of the screen to see the Trailer in action. Once you have one you like, tap on the blue Create button on the top right.

Figure 11-2
The Outline view of my masterpiece Trailer. I picked the Scary theme since I really like the look of it.

Edit the Outline

The first view that opens is the Trailer Outline view, which allows you to enter the information about the movie. Tap any of the placeholders to enter the text you want. You can enter the name of the movie, the name of the studio, the logo style, and the credits. If the Trailer has a place to put in a cast, then you can enter their names here as well.

Figure 11-3
The Storyboard view allows you to change the text in your Trailer.

Customize the Titles

The next step is to look at the storyboard for your Trailer by tapping on the Storyboard tab in the middle of the screen. You can tap on any of the blue bars and edit the text.

As you type in the new text, you will see it update on the preview screen on the right.

Add Video from Your Video Library

Figure 11-4
Adding video is pretty easy, just choose the clip and tap the blue arrow.

Now you get to add video to the Trailer in the Storyboard view. There are placeholders (called wells) that you can fill easily with your video clips. Just do the following while in the Storyboard view:

1. Tap on an empty video placeholder. (Each placeholder has a label that suggests the best video for that spot.)

2. In the video browser over to the right, tap on the video that you want to insert. (If you don’t see any video, tap the Video button on the bottom of the screen—it looks like a little film strip). You also need to make sure that the Location Services is turned on for iMovie. Turn it on in Location Services in the Settings App.

3. The selected portion of the video is outlined in yellow. To preview the selection, hold your finger on it until you see a red vertical line, and then drag your finger over the selection to watch it in the preview window.

4. Tap the blue arrow to add the selected video clip to the storyboard placeholder and iMovie automatically adjusts the length of the video to fit the placeholder.

5. Repeat for all the placeholders.

Record Video

If you don’t have the video clip that you need in the video library, you can record right from the placeholder. To do that, just follow along from inside the Storyboard view:

1. Tap to select an empty video template spot.

2. Tap the Camera icon on the bottom of the screen, which opens the camera in the preview window.

3. Tap the Record button and iMovie starts a 3-second countdown, and then begins recording.

4. Tap the Record button to stop the recording or let the app stop the recording automatically, which will be 3 seconds longer than the placeholder.

5. The newly filmed clip will be displayed in the edit window where you can do fine adjustments and control the audio.

That’s it! Your Trailer is now complete. Tap on the Project button at the top of the preview window to go back to the main screen of the app and there you will see your new Trailer. From this window you can Start Another Project, Play the Current Project, Share the Movie (sharing the movie is covered later in this chapter), or Import Projects from iTunes. You can also toss the Trailer away if you want by tapping on the trash can.

CREATING AN iMOVIE PROJECT

iMovie Project allows you to create any type of movie, and although there are themes it isn’t quite as quick and easy to use as the Trailers. The real difference is that iMovie Project enables you to create full movies and you are not limited to the 60 seconds or so that the Trailer gives you. You can also add your own titles, decide the length of your clips, and have fine controls over the transitions.

Figure 11-5
You can access the camera from right inside the Trailer storyboard screen.

Click on the + on the front page and select New Project to open the project workspace. This workspace has three sections:

• The media library, on the top left

• The preview window, on the top right

• The timeline, across the bottom half of the screen

The basics are simple—just use clips from the media library to create a movie.

With the main editing screen open, tap on the icon that looks like a small film strip located on the left side of the screen in the middle. This brings up the video clips that are on your iPad that you can use with the iMovie app.

Tap on a clip and it becomes outlined in orange with little orange dots on the top left and bottom right, and a blue arrow in the middle. The orange dots allow you to trim the clip before entering it into the editing timeline. Put your finger on either of the orange dots and the preview window will show the selected clip. Now, just slide the dot to the left or right to trim the selected clip. The video in the preview window will show you exactly where you are in the clip so that you can make the edits exact. Once the video start and stop points are set, tap on the blue arrow to insert the video clip into the editing timeline.

Figure 11-6
The main project editing window.

Before adding another clip, let’s look at what we can do in the main editing widow to that just-imported clip.

• Tap on the clip once and the two orange dots appear again, allowing you to fine-tune the clip. Slide the orange dots to edit the start and end of the clip. For good transitions, keep in mind you should leave a little space at the start and end of the clips.

• Double tapping on the clip brings up the Clip Settings menu. This is where you can add a Title Style, add a location, and adjust the volume. You can also delete the clip if you want. This won’t delete it from the iPad, just from the timeline.

You can just keep adding clips to the timeline now to create your movie. Once you add a second clip, a transition icon appears between the two clips. Every time you add a clip a transition box will appear.

These transitions are what makes a home movie look more professional and are automatically applied when you add a second (or third, fourth, etc…) clip to the movie timeline. You can edit the transitions anytime; I usually wait until I am done adding clips before adjusting the transitions.

Figure 11-7
The Transition Editor.

To adjust the transitions:

• Single tapping on the transition brings up the transition editor, which looks like two little arrows pointing at each other. Tap these arrows and the transition editor expands allowing you to edit where the transition starts and ends. You get to use those orange dots to move the transition around. You can zoom in to make picking the right spot easy. Just place two fingers on the timeline and slowly move them apart. This will zoom in, making it easier to make good edits. Moving the fingers closer together will zoom out, allowing you to see the whole movie at a single glance.

• Double tap the transition to bring up the Transition Setting menu. This is where you can control the length of the transition and the style. The default is Cross Dissolve, but it can also be set to None or it can use the Theme transition. You can set the length fro 0.5 sec to 2 sec

There are times when you want to add a still photo to your movie—I mean Ken Burns has made an entire career using still images in his fantastic documentaries. You can add any still photos that are on your iPad to your movie quickly and easily.

Right next to the Video button is a Still Photo button (it looks like two frames overlapping); tap on it and the video files on the top left are replaced with the photos stored on your iPad, sorted by folders. Tap on a folder to see the images in that folder. Hold your finger on an image to preview it, and then tap on it to insert it into the timeline.

Figure 11-8
Adding photos to your movies is pretty easy and you can adjust the image by double-tapping on it in the timeline to bring up the Photo Settings menu.

The default setting when you add a still image to the timeline is that the image will be there for three to five seconds, depending on the transitions. You can adjust the length of time of the photo by using the orange dots to either trim or expand the clip. The photos all have the Ken Burns effect applied automatically. To edit the clip just do the following:

1. In the timeline, tap the photo you want to adjust.

2. In the preview window you will see Start and End buttons that are used to set where the image movement begins and ends.

3. To set the start of the Ken Burns effect, tap the Start button and it will dim.

4. In the image viewer, position the image by dragging it around with your finger and use your fingers to zoom in.

5. Set the End button to show how the Ken Burns effect will end up. Tap the End button to select it, and then drag the image around the viewer and pinch to zoom in or out on a specific portion of it.

6. Tap Done.

If you set the start and end to look the same there will be no effect on the image.

Sound is really important to movies and iMovie has you covered here. iMovie allows you to add music, special effects, and voice-overs to your movie. You can add the following types of music/sounds to a movie project:

• Background Music: There are two types of background music: theme music, which changes depending on which theme you use, and your own songs that are in the iTunes library on your iPad. To add background music:

1. In iMovie with a Project open, tap the Music button (it looks like a musical note).

2. Tap Theme Music to choose any of the built-in theme music or tap any one of the other categories to find your music that is loaded on the iPad.

3. Tap on the song/music you want as background music. It will show up as a green bar behind the video clips.

4. To adjust the volume of the music, double tap the green bar to open the Audio Clip Settings window, and move the volume slider to the right or left.

5. You can turn the music looping on or off by tapping the Project Settings button and turn Loop Background Music on or off.

• Sound Effects: iMovie comes loaded with sound effects. Adding them to the movie is the same as adding background music, but instead of a green bar that runs behind the clip you get a small audio clip on your timeline. Tap it once and you can adjust the length of the clip, tap it twice and you can adjust the volume of the clip or you can just delete it.

• Voice-over: There is a Microphone button that when tapped allows you to record any sound through the iPad’s built-in microphone or one of the headphones with the built-in microphone plugged into the headphone jack on the iPad. The recorder comes up with a volume display showing that you are ready to record. Tap the Record button and you get a 3-second countdown to start recording, and then once it is done you can discard, retake, review, or accept the recording. Once you’ve accepted the recording it is entered into the timeline.

To move the audio clips around the timeline just hold your finger on the audio clip until it pops off the background and move the clip with your finger to the new spot, then drop it.

Other aspects of great movies are the titles and text. Apple has you covered there as well. You can add titles to any video clip or photo in the iMovie timeline. The text will be on the whole clip or photo—there is no way to adjust how long the title is present. It’s either the whole clip or nothing.

To add a title, just follow these steps:

1. With iMovie open and the clip or photo visible, double tap the clip to open the Clip Settings Menu.

2. Tap on Type Style to bring up the Type Style menu.

3. Pick a style and you will see the preview on the preview window.

4. Tap on the Title Text Here in the preview window to change the title.

5. Tap Done on the keyboard to go back to editing.

Remember that you can apply only one title to each clip.

Movies are saved automatically as you create them, which means that they are ready to play at any time. When you are done creating and editing your movie, tap on the My Projects button. This takes you back to the My Projects screen. You can scroll through your saved Projects and Trailers by flicking your finger either left or right to scroll sideways. The first thing I like to do is change the name of the iMovie project to something more descriptive than “My Project.” It’s easy to do—just tap on the title on the movie marquee. You can’t change the date or time that is under the name but that’s ok, it’s the date of the last edit and the running time of the movie.

Figure 11-9
The audio editor allows you to adjust the audio in your movies.

SHARING VIDEOS

You can play the Projects and Trailers that you create in the iMovie app not only right on the device, but you can also share them with others on You Tube, Facebook, Vimeo, and CNN iReport, or export them to the iPad Camera Roll and iTunes.

Figure 11-10
The Sharing window in iMovie.

You can add projects created with the iMovie app on your computer that are in iTunes. Attach the iPad to your computer and open iTunes, and then follow these directions:

1. On the computer, click on the iPad in the device list on the left side.

2. Click on the Apps tab on the top.

3. Scroll down the page until the File Sharing window appears.

4. Click on iMovie in the apps list.

5. Click on Add at the bottom of the window and navigate to the project you want to copy over to your iPad.

6. On the iPad, open iMovie and tap on the Import button. You’ll see a list of compatible iMovie projects; just tap on the one you want to import.