Adding Music from iTunes and GarageBand

When the first version of iMovie appeared, the idea of storing one's music as MP3 files on a hard disk hadn't yet caught on. Now, however, iTunes can rip and store thousands of songs, all of which are ready to be added to your iMovie project. You can also import compositions directly from GarageBand.

To locate songs in your iTunes or GarageBand libraries:

1.	Switch to the Media pane and click the Audio button to display the Audio list.
2.	Click iTunes or GarageBand in the list. Your library appears in the main window (Figure 10.21 and Figure 10.22); click the triangle beside either name to view your playlists. Figure 10.21. You don't have to leave iMovie to import your digital musiceverything in iTunes is available. Figure 10.22. When viewing the GarageBand list, the songs with a full guitar icon can be previewed. The songs with document icons must be saved again in GarageBand with an iLife preview before you can play or import them in iMovie.
3.	Scroll through the list to find the song you want to use. Or, type a word in the Search field if you're looking for a particular song or artist name. The list updates as you type (Figure 10.23). Click the Cancel button (with the white X on it) to clear the field and return to the full list.

Figure 10.23. Type the name of a song or artist into the Search field to display only the matches in the list.

To listen to a song:

1.	Select a song in the list.
2.	Click the round Play Audio button to play the track from the beginning. Click the button again to stop playing.

Tips

• Set up a custom iMovie playlist in iTunes that contains the music you want to use for a particular project to help you find songs faster.

• The Search field only looks for song titles and artist names.

To add music from the Media pane:

• Drag one or more songs from the Audio list to either audio track in the Timeline Viewer (Figure 10.24).
  
  

  Figure 10.24. Drag songs directly from the Audio pane to the Timeline Viewer to add them to the movie.

  

  
  

Or

1.	Position the Playhead in the Timeline Viewer where you want the song to begin.
2.	Click the Place at Playhead button, or drag the song to the Monitor; the audio clip is imported and appears on the Timeline's lower audio track.

Tips

• Click the column headings to sort the list. For example, I often click the Time column to find songs that fit within a given section of a movie (Figure 10.25).

  Figure 10.25. Sorting the iTunes library by time makes it easy to find music that matches the length of your video clips or sequences.

  

• iMovie can import any file format that iTunes can play, so you're not limited to just MP3 files.

• You can make any folder of songs appear in the Audio list: simply drag the folder from the Finder to the top portion of the Media pane.

• Music encoded in MP3 or AAC format in iTunes is compressed, meaning that some audio data have been removed to make the file size smaller. Most people probably won't notice the difference, but some audiophiles can tell. If you need to use the highest-quality music in your movie, import the songs in AIFF format within iTunes.

• It's worth pointing out that most songs you import from iTunes are probably copyrighted material. For most people this is no problem, since only friends and family are likely to see their edited movies. But if you're planning to distribute the movie or play it for a lot of people, you need to get permission to use the music.