Dear Tech In-Law,
I have a Mac at home and I know you can create and edit movies using the iMovie application that were included on my system. Can you give some quick tips on how to get started using this?
Sean


Dear Sean,
There are editing programs available on both the PC and Mac platform that make it very simple to quickly view, edit, and polish your captured video and turn it into a timeless treasure. The iMovie application that comes bundled with iLife is easy to learn and I must warn you once you start playing around with this application you might lose all track of time!

In a nutshell, once you connect your video camera to your computer, the video will be imported in clips much the same way your pictures are imported in a photo application. Once the video clips are all loaded then you will be able to drag clips in whatever order you want, cut out unwanted video, add titles, effects, transitions, background music, etc. Once you have finished editing the video and have it ready to share, you can then choose what type of format you want to save it in, such as video optimized for iPod or online vieiwing. Or if you are creating a DVD, the iDVD program will open and you will choose a menu layout and theme you like and then burn the video to disc.

Instead of going through each step here, I will direct you to some excellent video tutorials available that are on the Apple website as they are broken down by categories and you can simply watch the topics you are unfamiliar with or would like to reference again. In case you live close to an Apple store, you can also attend classes there as well. Either way, it won't take long until all your friends and family will be hitting you up for a copy of your latest creation!