Look for this filmstrip icon to control appearance, and find Effects and Transitions to its right

Indeed, the extra controls might seem daunting, but it’s not hard to learn how to drive this more professional app. There are pop-up menus all around the Viewer, and elsewhereĪnd when you look a little closer at the interface itself, you’ll find many more menus, controls and icons to expose all that power hiding in the background. There’s still a single viewer for source clips and your timeline, but here in FCP you can zoom it in to see more detail, or zoom out. This timeline is more complex than an iMovie timeline, but it can get way crazier than this The timeline in iMovie is still where it starts in FCP (called the Primary Storyline) but you can take it much further. When you add clips to a timeline, you can trim and rearrange them, transition between them, add audio below, fade audio in and out easily, and place titles above. I have a few libraries open, with multiple events visible in the top on, and several keyword collectionsĬlips still appear as thumbnails, and you can still skim through them. Events still hold your clips, and Events still live in a Library in the top left corner, next to Titles and additional audio. Here, you’ll find a bunch of tips to help make the transition a little easier.Īlso don't forget that there is a free 90 day trial of Final Cut Pro, so why not try it out upgrading your projects? Similarities and differencesĪt first glance, moving up to Final Cut might not seem like such a stretch, especially if you begin by sending your iMovie Library to Final Cut Pro. The power on offer here can make the transition daunting for a newcomer, but the two apps share enough common ground that you won’t need to entirely change your way of thinking. But where iMovie abstracts complexity away, Final Cut Pro often exposes it. The general flow of the app is similar: you’ll bring things in at the top left, add them to a timeline, then export to a new file. If you’ve done a few projects and you’re looking for more freedom in how to place clips, how to finesse your edits, or simply need a wider selection of titles, Final Cut Pro is an obvious next step. IMovie is a good place to start a life as an editor, but it’s got several limitations.

Reset imovie library