iMovie HD at a Glance

Video can be a powerful vehicle for communicating an idea, setting a mood, selling a product, or recalling a memory. It can also be great way to put people to sleep.

Video editing is the process of assembling video clips, still images, and audio into a finished package that gets your message across and keeps your audience's eyes open. Video editing is what iMovie HD is all about.

With iMovie HD, you can import video from a video camera. iMovie HD stashes incoming clips on its Clips pane. If you're using a miniDV or HDV camera, iMovie HD even controls your camera during the importing process.

Then, you edit clips and sequence them by dragging them to the timeline, optionally adding music from your iTunes music library and creating titles, effects, and scene transitions. When you're finished, a few mouse clicks send your efforts back out to tape or to iDVD.

You can use iMovie HD to edit interminable home movies, but you can also use it to assemble montages of photos from iPhoto, promotional videos, and anything else that belongs on the small screen. iMovie HD supports more video formats than did earlier iMovie versions, and that means more options for you.

Quiet on the set.