iMovie :: Easily Create Video Effects
Posted: June 28, 2006

For you iMovie pros out there, creating stunning affects is a no-brainer. You already know it takes a matter of seconds to do. If you are new to iMovie, though, you may need someone to hold your hand the first time through. Here we go!

The first thing you need to do is capture your video (either through an external camera or via your iSight webcam). Below is a sample video from my built-in iSight camera from earlier today.

Once your video is in the timeline, click on the "Editing" button to the right (just above your timeline). Doing this will open several new options, one being "Video FX". Once you click this button, a list of video effects will appear. By selecting one of these effects, you will see a preview of that effect in the main window, as shown below:

If you want to accept the new effect ("Aged Film" in this case), simply click on the check mark in the preview area, or hit the "Apply" button. You will also notice that there are several options that you can change that would affect the way the effect works (amount of blur, number of scratches, etc).