How to Create an iMovie for the Virtual Music Studio Recital
Hello everyone! I would like to share with you how I created an iMovie for my Piano Studio virtual Halloween recital. We will focus on the basic features that you can use to create your music studio video recitals!
Before you start creating an iMovie, collect video recordings from your students and get some nice pictures that you can use in the recital movie.
The First step - importing files and creating the movie sequence
Open the iMovie program on your computer, press the button to create a new project and choose to create a Movie
On the top of the screen, you can easily navigate through the folders of My Media - Audio - Titles - Backgrounds and Transitions
We will start with My Media and import several videos/pictures for the movie. Press the Import Media button and select files
If you need to add more files, press an Arrow button on the top of the screen to select and import more files
Move files to the working space by dragging and dropping your files down
You can adjust the view of your project on the screen by using a scaling feature:
Scroll to the left side to see the bigger picture of the project,
Scroll to the right side to see more details
The orange line on the original file indicates that the file is in the movie
Arrange the order
Pictures between the performers give some extra time for clapping and congratulation of the performer
You always can rearrange the files in your movie
Now you can watch videos to see if you need to trim any beginning or ending sections for the movie
To trim the video you can either split the video and delete the first section from the rest.
Click on the video with your right button on the computer mouse and choose the Split Clip option, delete the separated part OR
You can drag the beginning point of the video to the place from where we want it to start using the computer mouse
The Second step - sound adjustments
The type and location of devices that students use for video recordings affect the sound of the recording. Our goal is to adjust the sound in all videos to match the same volume.
Look at the volume shape of the recordings. The thinner shape of the sound volume line means the sound will be quieter compared to the thicker shape of the volume line.
Using the left button of the computer mouse point on the sound line of the recording to adjust the loudness of it.
Increase the percentage from the original 100% UP for louder and DOWN for quieter sound until all recordings match the same volume.
Listen to different sections of all recordings and compare the volume fluency
Do not allow the volume to reach yellow and red colours on the sound volume line to avoid a lot of clipping and other distortion noises. Keep the volume at the medium range.
The Third step - backgrounds, titles, and transitions
Go to the Background menu. Drag and drop the background you like directly to the beginning of the video.
To make it a little longer, drag the right edge of the file to the right side using your computer mouse.
Go to the Title menu. Drag and drop the title you like on the top of the background. You can use it to add the title of your recital, your studio name, the date of the recital. You can use several titles back to back to cover all the information you want to show.
Go ahead and type the title
You can change some basic options: font, size, title colour, italic, bold.
Press the checkmark on the right side of the screen to save each step.
To make the title longer, drag the right edge of the file to the right side using your computer mouse.
To add names of performers and their repertoire use the same title menu.
Go to the Transitions menu. Drag and drop transitions you like between all files to make the changes on the screen smoother.
You can adjust the duration of the transition.
The Fourth step - special sound effect
I love using the CLAPPING sound effect in the recitals
Go to the Audio menu. Choose the main folder for Effects and search for clapping.
My favourite clapping effect is the Clapping Crowd Studio 03, which is nine seconds long
Drag and drop the clapping file directly to the movie. Place it below your video recording file
Adjust its volume range, remember, no yellow or red colours
Copy and paste the adjusted clapping file between the performances
You can adjust the duration of the clapping file.
Split the sound file to separate the middle section using the right button of the computer mouse.
If you delete the separated middle section and combine the beginning and end of the file back to back, you will get a shorter clapping time
If you copy and paste the separated middle section and place all excerpts back to back, you will get a longer clapping time. You can use a longer clapping for the beginning and end of your movie.
Watch the entire movie to check its fluency before you save the file.
The Fifth step - saving the file
There are two options to save the iMovie file.
The first option, press File on your computer navigation menu, go to Share, and choose to share a File.
The second option, press a Share icon on the right side corner of the program and press Export File.
Both options lead to the same window
You can see the duration of the movie and the estimated file size
Pick the format, resolution, quality, and compressing options
720 or 1080 resolution, high quality, and faster compressing are the best options for me
Press Next and choose the project name and folder to save it
The tiny icon on the right side of the program shows the progress of the download
When the download is complete, your video is ready to view and enjoy!
Hope you found this information useful. Good luck with creating your own iMovie for your studio recital!
Here is the link to see the result: https://youtu.be/jt9ugTZsJ0w
Author: Dr. Ekaterina Paniukova, DMA
#imovie #pianorecital #pianoteacher #learningpiano #classicalmusician