Apple has released a new version of iMovie that makes things with video editing much easier and simpler, whether you’re using the iPhone or the larger screen of the iPad.
With the new Storyboards feature, content creators can learn how to edit and develop new storytelling techniques using pre-built templates for the different types of videos that are commonly shared on social media.
There’s also a new feature called Movie Magic to automatically add transitions, effects, and music to selected scenes and photos, so the tool puts together a project in no time.
Let’s take a closer look at what each of these new features that come with Magic Movie for iMovie 3 consist of. The iMovie 3 tool is totally free on the app storewith the only caveat that your device must be running iOS or iPad OS 15.2 or later to be supported.
How to make a movie in iMovie 3
Before we get to making transitions and applying effects to selected video scenes and photos, let’s show you how to proceed with the iMovie 3 application.
It is likely that your iPhone or iPad already has it installed, so we only recommend that you make sure that you use the latest version presented by Apple. To do this, go to the App Store and search for ‘iMovie’. The system will guide you to update it if you do not have the latest version.
- Launch iMovie and in the ‘Start New Project’ section, tap on Magic Movie.
- The ‘Choose your media’ section displays your photo albums. Go to the album and if you have a mix of videos and photos, try looking in ‘Recents’ or the desired album.
- Select the means you want by clicking on each element. Items you select will display a blue checkmark. Then tap ‘Make Magic Movie’ at the bottom of the screen to have iMovie mount the video.
- After creating the movie, you will be taken to a screen with a video preview and a list of video clips. You may want to rename the title, so tap on the video preview image (not the Play button).
- An editing screen will appear. Click on the title and use the text editing tools that appear so you can change the title. Hit ‘Done’ in the top right corner above the keyboard when you’re done.
That is all! You can click the Share button (the rectangle with an arrow) at the top right to export the video and share it on social networks or via AirDrop.
Editing news coming to Magic Movie
You can make further edits through the ‘Magic Movie’ feature. After creating the movie (steps 1-3 above), you will be taken to a screen with a video preview and a list of video clips. There are many things you can do here:
- See a preview of the video in the player
- Tap on a video clip to jump to that part of the player.
- Tap a video box on the right to make a pencil appear in the box. Then long press on that box and a pop-up menu will appear allowing you to replace, retake or edit the clip.
- Tap on ‘+’ to add or record a new video clip, add a clip from your library, or add titles.
- Click ‘Select’ and selection buttons will appear to the left of each video clip. Select clips and then hit ‘Delete or Duplicate’ at the bottom.
- Swipe left on a video clip and the ‘Delete’ function will appear on the right.
- Move a video to a different location by touching and holding it, and then drag it to a new location.
If you click on the Magic Movie icon located on the right side (icons with the filmstrip and stars), you can do the following:
- Choose the style, font and color of the title.
- Choose the background music. Apple provides several songs, but you can use your own.
- Use a video filter to give your video a new and unique look.
To shorten a video clip, tap on the video image in the preview window to go to the editing screen, then swipe left or right on the clips below the preview window to find the video clip wanted.
You can also tap on a video clip to select it and then tap on it until a pop-up menu appears. Then select ‘Edit Video Clip’. With the clip you want to shorten, press and drag one of the ends to the length you want.
Editing and saving tools
When you’re on the ‘Edit’ screen, more editing tools are available at the bottom of the screen. There you will find more tools to design titles, adjust audio volumes, do VoiceOver and much more.
iMovie automatically saves the project file. You can export the project and open it in iMovie for iPad. You can open the project in iMovie for Mac, but it will appear in normal timeline view, not in the Magic Movie interface.
To export a project, tap on the ‘Share’ button (the rectangle with an arrow), then tap on ‘Options’. On the ‘Options’ screen, select ‘Project’ and then click ‘Done’. Then you can save it to files or send it by air drop to another user/device.
To export the entire video, click on the ‘Share’ button (the rectangle with an arrow), and then on ‘Options’. Under ‘Type’ you will need to select ‘Video’ and under ‘Resolution’ choose the resolution you want.
You can then select ‘Save Video’, which saves it to ‘Photo Library’, or you can also save it to files and then select your iCloud Drive account so you can access the video from your Mac or Apple TV instantly.
If you’re a new iOS user, you might be interested in checking out our article on how to use iMovie on iPhone. We also have a special on The best apps to edit videos on the iPhone.
Original article published in Macworld US.
