Setting Title Duration

If we were dealing with still images, our work here would be done. But video is about movement, so don't expect titles to just flash onscreen and then disappear. Almost every iMovie title is animated in some way, which means you need to control how it moves. iMovie has two methods of doing this: the speed of the effect, and the length of the pause following the effect.

To set a title's duration:

1. Drag the Speed slider to specify how long it takes to complete the title's effect. The times vary between titles (Figure 12.13).

   Figure 12.13. The Speed slider dictates the duration of a title effect's animation.

   

2. Drag the Pause slider to specify how long the titles remain onscreen after the title animation has finished. Some effects, such as Subtitle, don't offer a pause option. The combined times are shown in the preview window, indicating the total time of the title clip (Figure 12.14).

   Figure 12.14. The Pause slider controls how long the title remains onscreen once the effect is finished. Dragging the slider updates the total time of the effect, as shown in the preview window.

   

Tips

• Some titles' speeds vary depending on what you've typed into the text fields. The Flying Letters title, for example, needs more time if there are more letters, which is why the maximum Speed setting changes for long titles (after typing your title, click another title, then click Flying Letters again to see the difference).

• Remember that not everyone may be able to read as fast as you. Give your viewers plenty of time to read your title without boring them, of course.