Photos and iMovie

iMovie is known for the ease of use with which it allows you to import and manipulate digital video with special effects and transitions. iMovie 3 integrates completely with iPhoto 2, providing instant access to your photograph library.

Photographs can be worked with very much like video clips ”you can apply the same effects and transitions, as well as using a very special effect designed specifically for digital photograph--an effect dubbed the "Ken Burns Effect." This effect, which we'll discuss later, can add motion and depth to otherwise still images. Figure 16.1 shows a still image within the Timeline ”it appears identical to a video clip.

Figure 16.1. Still images work virtually identically to video clips within iMovie.

iMovie supports a number of native image formats through QuickTime's media framework. TIFFs, JPEGS, and even PDF files can be dragged into an iMovie project as a source of still images.