Scoring Movies with GarageBand

iMovie HD's audio features are adequate for many projects, especially given the new effects and filters built into iMovie HD 6 (page 248).

But your soundtrack options don't end with iMovie HD. You can bring video into GarageBand and apply GarageBand's audio and music-making features to the movie's soundtrack.

GarageBand's video features aren't for editing the picture; that's a job for iMovie HD. Rather, you bring a finished edit into GarageBand for additional sonic seasoning. Punch up the sound with GarageBand's effects. Record and edit narration with more precision than iMovie HD provides. Or compose your own music soundtracks by using loops and by recording your own performances. When you're finished, send the final movie to iDVD for burning or export it as a QuickTime movie.

You might also use GarageBand's video features to create a video podcast: a podcast that adds the dimension of motion. As with GarageBand's audio podcasting features, you can add chapter and URL markers to the video. When you're done, you can send your final product to iWeb or save it for manual uploading to a Web server.

You'll need a fast Mac with a fast hard drive for movie scoring. If you have playback problems, consult the advice on pages 152 and 153 to optimize GarageBand's performance. And make sure you're using GarageBand 3.0.2 or a later version, if available.

Refining an iMovie HD Soundtrack

Step 1.	In iMovie HD, finish your edit.
Step 2.	In iMovie HD, choose GarageBand from the Share menu, then click the Share button in the dialog box that appears. iMovie HD sends the movie to GarageBand, which displays it in the video track (see opposite page).
Step 3.	Enhance to your ears' content: add tracks, record narration, apply effects, or add chapter and URL markers for a video podcast.
Step 4.	Use the commands in the Share menu to send your finished movie to iWeb or iDVD, or to export the movie as a QuickTime movie (opposite page).

Note

If you reopen an iMovie HD project that you've enhanced in GarageBand, you won't see (or hear) any new tracks that you've added. It's best to think of the iMovie HD/GarageBand connection as a one-way street: you can go from iMovie HD to GarageBand, but if you return to iMovie HD to do more work on your project, you won't hear all your sonic enhancements.

Other Ways to Add Movies

There are other ways to open a movie in GarageBand and enhance its soundtrack.

The media browser. GarageBand's media browser gives you convenient access to movies in your Movies folder, iTunes library, and iPhoto library. Click the button, then click Movies. As in the other iLife programs, you can preview a movie in the media browser by double-clicking its thumbnail.

Drag and drop. Simply drag a movie's icon from any location on your hard drive into the GarageBand window.

Working with Movies

When you've brought a movie into GarageBand, here's what you seeand what you can do.

The video track editor works much like the podcast track editor: you can add chapter markers and URL markers. If you send the completed project to iDVD, the chapter markers become DVD chapter markers. (If you created markers in iMovie HD, they appear here, too.)

Tips for Video

Second tracks. If you added a second audio track to an iMovie HD project, both audio tracks are mixed into one sound track in GarageBand. If that second track contains background music or sound effects, you'll want to use iMovie HD's audio controls to fine-tune the mix between the two tracks before sending the project to GarageBand.

Enhancing narration. If you've recorded a voice-over or other narration in GarageBand (or, for that matter, in iMovie HD), consider applying GarageBand's audio effects to it. For example, use the Compressor effect to add punch to a narration. Use the Speech Enhancer filter to reduce noise and optimize male or female voices.

Exporting your final effort. When you've finished refining a movie's soundtrack, you can use the Share menu to send your final effort to iWeb or to iDVD.

You can also export the project as a QuickTime movie, and you have several export options that balance file size against quality. To adjust movie-export settings, choose Preferences from the GarageBand menu, then click Export.

As with audio podcasts, you can set up GarageBand's export preferences to either send a video podcast directly to iWeb or save it to disk save it to disk (see page 361).