Chapter 1, Why and How We Edit Videos, explains the importance of the post-production process: creating and refining meaning. We’ll also dip our toes into editing by looking at the basic trimming and splitting tools available in the macOS QuickTime Player.

Chapter 2, Automatic and Template Editing with Magic Movie and Storyboards, starts our journey with iMovie for iOS and iPadOS. We’ll look at how Magic Movie and Storyboard mode can teach you parts of the editing process and even make videos for you.

Chapter 3, Using Movie Mode in iOS and iPadOS, explains the workflow for editing video and sound in a traditional timeline. We’ll start to look at changing what’s seen within the video frame and work with the Precision Editor to help you make your videos better with sound.

Chapter 4, Understanding iMovie for macOS – Keyboard Shortcuts and the Magnetic Timeline, will explain how iMovie’s system of Libraries and Events works on the Mac, as well as running through useful keyboard shortcuts for navigating the app. We’ll also develop an understanding of Apple’s Magnetic Timeline and the idea of connected media.

Chapter 5, iMovie Editing Workflow – Import, Edit, and Export, goes into depth on the video creation process in iMovie for MacOS. We’ll look at best practices for importing footage; using iMovie’s stock media (and where not to); cropping and Ken Burns animations; and how to export a high-quality master file of your video.

Chapter 6, Using iMovie Effects – Overlays and Keyframing, follows on from Chapter 5 by introducing iMovie’s connected video layer. The chapter will explain how to use iMovie’s overlay settings to introduce cutaways and green-screen effects, as well as add and animate pictures in picture. We’ll also make use of cutaways and opacity to create visual effects and edit multi-camera footage.

Chapter 7, Integrating Keynote – Titles and Animations, will teach you to use Keynote to create and export highly-customized titles and animations that will help you put a unique stamp on your videos.

Chapter 8, Custom Export Formats, ft. HandBrake, is all about optimizing your video exports for different websites and maybe even clients. You’ll learn to change the aspect ratio of your videos, rotate videos in iMovie to make portrait videos, and use HandBrake presets to compress multiple videos to the size you need them.

Chapter 9, Common iMovie Problems and Their Solutions, addresses a certainty in editing: things going wrong. This chapter runs through some of the most common issues for iMovie users. We’ll look at how to solve and work around these problems and learn how to avoid them in the future.