Get step-by-step instructions for editing your home videos.

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It's already February and you still haven't looked at that footage you shot over the holidays. Don't be too hard on yourself. We all get busy. Still, it's no fun watching footage that isn't edited. Why not take an hour to turn those priceless shots into something that will really impress your family and friends? It's easy, it's fun, and today I'm walking you through it. No more excuses. It's time to get busy.

Before you do anything, make sure you have plenty of free space available on your hard drive. One minute of DV footage uses about 200MB (about 2GB to 3GB for a 10 minute movie).

Software
Before you edit, you'll need to "import" or "digitize" the footage from your DV camera and onto your computer. (Digitizing turns an analog stream into digital code your editing software can understand.) There are a lot of movie-editing programs available.


Today we'll use Apple's iMovie. If you have a Mac with OS 9 or later, it's already on your computer. If it isn't on your Mac already, install it from the original system software CD that came with your computer.

Connect your camera to your computer
  1. Use a FireWire cable to connect your camera to your computer.
  2. Load a tape into your camera and turn it to Play mode.
  3. Start iMovie and make sure it recognizes your camera. Press the Play button on the controller and your camera should start playing the tape.
  4. Cue your tape to where you want to start digitizing.


Screen your footage and digitize
Take a few minutes to start organizing your movie project. Screen your footage by watching your tape all the way through. Know what footage you want and come up with a descriptive name for each clip.

Press iMovie's Play button and immediately press the Import button to grab your clips. As the tape rolls, iMovie keeps track of breaks in the tape's timecode. Each time there's a break, iMovie will make a new clip. When iMovie has finished importing your clips, they're organized in sequential order in the clip shelf. Now you're ready to start editing.

Kevin Hunsaker is a multimedia specialist and board member of the San Francisco Media Arts Council (SMAC). Get more information about his experience and projects at his site, Iconstream.

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