How to Add Video to iMovie: A Step-by-Step Guide

Import your media by clicking the down arrow or going to File >, Import Media . Select your QuickTime file. It should show up in the Project Library (the upper left hand section of your iMovie screen). To build your movie, select the media file and drag it into the timeline (bottom half of screen).

Importing video clips to iMovie is the first step to creating your own masterpiece. In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to import video clips from your camera or iPhone into iMovie.

Before we dive into the details, make sure you check out the full iMovie playlist for beginners. Let’s get started!

First of all, you need to make sure you have your footage in the right place. If you’ve filmed on a DSLR or an external camera, plug your SD card into your MacBook Pro. If you’ve filmed using an iPhone, you can quickly and easily air-drop the video files to your MacBook Pro without losing any quality. Name the folder “videos” and put it on your desktop or an external hard drive.

When you’re ready to import your footage in iMovie, simply click on the little down arrow (import media window) and select the location of your footage. You’ll see the cameras option, where you can import footage from your camera directly into iMovie. You can also import footage from your Macintosh hard drive or external hard drive.

If you’re using an SD card, select the untitled option to import your clips. If you want to import multiple clips, you can hold shift and select multiple clips at once.

Alternatively, you can drag and drop your clips into the media box. This is a fast and efficient way of importing your footage if you have all your folders stored up.

Finally, to keep things organized, create events by right-clicking and selecting “new event.” This will help you find specific clips easily when you’re working on a much bigger project.

That’s it! You now have successfully imported your video clips to iMovie. Stay tuned for the next tutorial in which we’ll show you how to import those clips into the timeline and start editing.

FAQ

Why can't I add my video to iMovie?
If some other codec is used to encode your MP4 video file, then codec difference might be one of the major issues why your iMovie is not importing that MP4 file. One of the most recommended solutions for this problem is to convert your MP4 file format into an iMovie compatible file format.
Can I add a YouTube video to iMovie?
Begin by creating a new iMovie project or select an existing project in your computer. Next, click on File and point to import, then click on Movies. That command helps you find and imports the YouTube video clips to iMovie. That is how to transfer a YouTube video to iMovie by importing the video file.
Why can't I drag clips in iMovie?
If you can't drag the edge of the clip, it means there is no additional video at the beginning or end of that clip. For example, if you added a video clip that's 20 seconds long, you can't make it longer than 20 seconds. It might also mean the clip is at the shortest length allowed by iMovie, which is 0.1 seconds.
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