With iMovie, Apple makes it so easy to make short movies to share with others. I have used it several times for school projects. It’s also great for making vacation, wedding, anniversary, graduation, and birthday party movies. How about an iMovie of your baby’s first year photos and videos, or an iMovie of your child’s grade 1 thru 12 school year class photos and videos? You can be creative and use it for anything you can think of really. If your movie is primarily photos and videos, it’s so much quicker and easier to use than something like a Powerpoint slideshow. Here are the steps to using iMovie on iPad or iPhone.
There are really only 4 quick clicks to get started which are create project, select movie, tap photos and/or videos, and create movie. There are a few more clicks if you want to edit, add themes and music, but it is so much easier than you would ever imagine.
Here are my 19 total steps to being awesomely creative with iMovie. It’s time to get your Steven Spielberg hat on and go for it!
Get the iMovie app
You can get the iMovie app for free in the Apple App Store.
Step #1. Open iMovie app on your iOS device. Then, tap on + Create Project.
Step #2. Next, select Movie.
You will be presented with two project types: Movie or Trailer. Movie is essentially a blank canvas, while Trailer uses pre-built templates which you can insert stills and video. I recommend starting with Movie.
Step #3. The Moments screen will appear with your photos and videos organized into moments.
Step #4. Touch and hold image thumbnails to preview photos at a larger size or to play video clips. Tap the photos and video clips you wish to include in your movie. Either tap on individual items or tap Select to choose an entire moment at once.
Note: If you want to view your video clips in the media library, select Video under Media at the top left corner of the screen.
Step #5. Once you have selected the photos and videos that you wish to include in your movie, tap on Create Movie at the bottom.
How to Add Video Clips And Photos to Your Movie From The Photo Library
Did you accidentally leave out a great video? No problem. You can easily add it. Your new clip will be added either before or after the existing clip.
Step #6. Open the project and tap on Edit button.
Step #7. Tap the + Button located at the top corner. In the media library, tap Videos and then select a video category from the list.
To preview a clip, select the clip and then tap the Play button. Alternately, swipe your finger left and right over a clip to manually preview the clip. It will help you easily find out which part of the clip you’d like to use.
To trim the clip before adding it. Simply tap the clip and then drag the yellow trim handles to choose the portion of the clip you wish to add.
If you want to add an entire clip to your movie project: Tap the clip and then select +.
If you want to add the clip’s audio only, tap on the clip, tap on the three dots, select the Audio Only button.
To add the clip as an overlay, you need to tap the clip, tap on the three dots, select one of the options given below:
- Cutaway: It adds the clip to allow the movie to cut away from the main clip in the timeline during playback.
- Picture-in-picture: In this mode, the clip shows up in a smaller window on the main clip in the timeline during playback.
- Split-screen: It adds a clip so that it shows next to the main clip in the timeline during the playback. Both the clips are equal in size and show up side by side.
Your added photo will appear for the duration of 3 to 6 seconds, primarily based on the length of the transitions that appear before and after the image. However, you have the option to extend or shorten the duration depending on your requirement. To do so, take the help of trim handles to either remove the unwanted part or increase the length.
A Ken Burns effect is applied to your photo. It causes the camera to sweep across and zoom in on the image.
Tip: There is also an option to undo or redo your action. To undo an action, simply tap on the undo button. To redo the action, you need to touch and hold the Undo Project Edit button and then select Redo Project Edit.
How to Add a Theme to Your Movie in iMovie on iPad
The app automatically applies a pre-defined theme to your movie projects. However, you can change the theme of your movie project.
If you tweak the theme, visual theme elements and theme music in the project will be changed to match the new theme.
Step #8. Launch iMovie app and then open the project.
Step #9. Now, tap on Edit button.
Step #10. Next, tap on the Project Settings button.
Step #11. There are several awesome themes like Modern, Bright, Playful, Neon, Travel, Simple and News to choose from. You also have several different filters to choose from, like B&W, Blast, Blockbuster, Blue, Camo, Dreamy, Duotone, Silent Era, Vintage, and Western.
You can also turn on theme music in project settings which allows music to loop and play throughout the movie. The app allows you to turn theme music on and off as you desire.
How to Turn On/Off Theme Music in Your Movie
Step #12. Open iMovie on your iOS device and then head over to the project in which you wish to make changes.
Step #13. Now, tap on Edit button.
Step #14. Select Project Settings button.
Step #15. Turn ON/OFF the switch next to Theme Music.
iMovie lets you easily select other theme music without interfering with the visual elements of your current theme.
How to Change Theme Music in Your Movie
Step #16. Launch iMovie and open the project.
Step #17. Now, tap on the Edit button.
Step #18. Tap the + button from the corner.
Step #19. Next, select Audio at the bottom of the media library. You can select soundtrack music, sound effects, or a song from your own playlist (My music). Select and then tap +.
Now you’re ready to make some terrific movies to share with family and friends. I can think of so many awesome ways to use iMovie. It has been extremely helpful to me with school projects because you can easily add titles and words, and the finished result is very professional looking. I mean almost movie-studio quality results, without the famous actors of course. I used it to make my Greystokey Productions YouTube channel trailer displaying some of my character art, and I also made a video of my family’s last beach trip to Jekyll Island. It only takes a few minutes on your first try to learn these steps. It’s a much faster learning curve than you would expect, and definitely time well spent. Just think of all the ways you can create a compilation of photos and videos to share with family and friends. So go ahead and give it a try!