Introduction

The Visual QuickProject Guide that you hold in your hands offers a unique way to learn about new technologies. Instead of drowning you in theoretical possibilities and lengthy explanations, this Visual QuickProject Guide uses big, color illustrations coupled with clear, concise step-by-step instructions to show you how to complete one specific project in a matter of hours.

Our project in this book is to edit a home movie and put it on a DVD that can be viewed using most consumer DVD players. Why go to the trouble of editing? After all, the footage shot on the camcorder's tape is a movieall the pieces are there, and can be played back from start to end. However, the video you shoot invariably includes rough patches that always crop up: blurry shots when you were trying to locate something in the viewfinder; sections of time when the camera was inadvertently recording the ground as you were walking; and, for lack of a polite way of saying it, those parts that seemed interesting at the time but on reflection are now just boring.

With iMovie HD, you will take that footage and easily shape it into a movie that your friends and family want to watch. In addition to assembling and trimming scenes, you'll add music, sound effects, and still photos. Once the movie is edited, you'll be able to post it on the Web, send it to someone via email, and burn it to a DVD using iDVD 5. What's great is that you don't have to be a professional video editor or even a computer expert to accomplish this task. Better still, it's fun: you get to shape your own movie, with tools that are easy to understand and use.