Section 5.2. Undo, Revert, and Other Safety Nets

5.2. Undo, Revert, and Other Safety Nets

As programs go, iMovie is a forgiving one. For starters, the Edit Undo command is an unlimited Undo command, meaning that you can retrace (undo) your steps, one at a time, working backward all the way back to the moment when you created the project. (You can even unimport a clip from your camcorder!)

There's an Edit Redo command, too, so you can undo your undoing.

5.2.1. Revert to Saved

But iMovie HD also offers, for the first time, a Revert to Saved command. If you really botch your work, choosing File Revert to Saved takes the project all the way back to its condition the last time you used the Save command. It basically undoes every step you took since then.

Still, unlimited Undo, and even Revert to Saved, aren't always ideal. If you made a mistake eight steps ago, you can undo that step, but only by undoing the seven successful editing steps you took thereafter.

Even more important, you lose your entire Undo/Redo and Revert to Saved trails every time you use the Save command! That little quirk ought to throw cold water on any -Shappy frequent savers.

5.2.2. Revert Clip to Original

Even then, however, iMovie has one more safety net in store for you: the Advanced Revert Clip to Original command (called Restore Clip in iMovie 4).

Remember that every time you cut or crop a clip, iMovie doesn't actually disturb the clip itself (the file on your hard drive). Instead, it simply shifts around its own internal pointers to the portion of the clip that you want to use. As a result, it's a piece of cake for iMovie to say, "Oh, you want me to throw away those pointers and give you back the original clip as it came from the camcorder? No problem."

In short, the Revert Clip to Original command gives you a convenient safety net, a chance to start with a clean slate on a clip-by-clip basis. (You can also Control-click a clip and choose this command from the shortcut menu.)

When you choose Revert Clip to Original, iMovie displays the dialog box shown in Figure 5-3. If you click OK, iMovie returns the clip to its original, precut, precrop condition, even if you've already placed it into the Movie Track. In that case, the clip's bar in the Timeline Viewer grows correspondingly wider, shoving other clips to the right to make room.

Figure 5-3. iMovie lets you restore any clip to its original, fresh-from-the-camcorder condition at any time, even months later.