iMovie help: plugins and titles

amoryaamorya
Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
Can someone post an idiot's guide to installing Apple's imovie plugin pack? I've tried everything: putting them in the app, in the library folder, etc. My iMovie app is loose in the Applications folder. The only time it recognises the plugins at all is when they're in library:imovie lugins and then it says on startup "There is a problem with the plugin ___"



Also, how do I position a title exactly where I want on the screen? I want one that says censored on a part of my movie, but it has to be actually over the offending part of the frame



Amorya

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 14
    amoryaamorya Posts: 1,103member
    Solved the first one - I had the wrong version of the plugins. But I still need help with the second.



    Amorya
  • Reply 2 of 14
    stjobsstjobs Posts: 45member
    AFAIK with most of the iMovie titlers, you will be able to set it either at the top or bottom of the screen... not exactly where you want it. Also, there's no black box like you will want for 'censored'. Use any version of FCP for that part, just go to 'generator' and set up a black box of text, you can put it anywhere you want and even animate its motion with keyframes.



    Good luck,

    stjobs
  • Reply 3 of 14
    amoryaamorya Posts: 1,103member
    [quote]Originally posted by stjobs:

    <strong>AFAIK with most of the iMovie titlers, you will be able to set it either at the top or bottom of the screen... not exactly where you want it. Also, there's no black box like you will want for 'censored'. Use any version of FCP for that part, just go to 'generator' and set up a black box of text, you can put it anywhere you want and even animate its motion with keyframes.

    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Unfortunately, I can't afford FCP... I'm making do with what I have here. I'm using a digital camera to take the footage (not even a digital video camera), and whatever I can get for free to edit it



    Thanks for your help



    Amorya
  • Reply 4 of 14
    stjobsstjobs Posts: 45member
    Sorry, I thought you would get my drift when I said to use FCP... I didn' t mean BUY it... I can't afford $999 for software either... (ahem... use ... LimeWire)
  • Reply 5 of 14
    jimdadjimdad Posts: 209member
    could you not create a still , add the title using a graphics /WP program then import it back into iMovie.?
  • Reply 6 of 14
    murkmurk Posts: 935member
    [quote]Originally posted by stjobs:

    <strong>Sorry, I thought you would get my drift when I said to use FCP... I didn' t mean BUY it... I can't afford $999 for software either... (ahem... use ... LimeWire)</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Yeah, and if you need a faster Mac to run it on, hang out behind your local Apple store and wait for the FedEx truck. It's usually just one guy and he's never armed.



  • Reply 7 of 14
    imac davidimac david Posts: 286member
    [quote]Originally posted by stjobs:

    <strong>Sorry, I thought you would get my drift when I said to use FCP... I didn' t mean BUY it... I can't afford $999 for software either... (ahem... use ... LimeWire)</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Hi,



    I have downloaded FCP for evaluation purposes, and when it mounts as a disk and I try to run it it tells me I'm missing a system file. I downloaded a file called FCP (missing system file), but when I double click on it it tells me something about not being a valid disk.



    I'm coming back to Macs after an 8 year layoff (more fool me), and would appreciate some help here!



    Cheers



    David



    PS running on the new iMac.
  • Reply 8 of 14
    osakansosakans Posts: 45member
    I'd check with Apple to see if they can help you install your evaluation version. Make sure you give them your real name and home phone number, since sometimes the calls get cut off.



    Wait, you did download the evaluation version from Apple, didn't you? I'd hate to think you thought you had some god-given right to "evaluate" expensive software without paying for it. If Apple hasn't seen fit to offer a demo version, so be it, but you shouldn't make their decision for them.
  • Reply 9 of 14
    imac davidimac david Posts: 286member
    [quote]Originally posted by Osakans:

    <strong>



    Wait, you did download the evaluation version from Apple, didn't you? I'd hate to think you thought you had some god-given right to "evaluate" expensive software without paying for it. If Apple hasn't seen fit to offer a demo version, so be it, but you shouldn't make their decision for them.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    You may be the sort of person who'll shell out $999 for a product (I don' care what sort of product) without testing it, but I'm not. Whether car, digital camcorder or, indeed, the nice new iMac I'm using. (And no, in the latter 2 cases i didn't get a shop to lend me stuff - I used friends' equipment).



    All I know is that Apple have zero chance of me spending those bucks with them if I can't compare it to iMovie - do I really need the extra features?



    My PC was full of stuff I tested and binned - as well as stuff I bought. I expect the iMac to be the same.



    Regards,



    David
  • Reply 10 of 14
    mac's girlmac's girl Posts: 556member
    [quote]Originally posted by murk:

    <strong>



    Yeah, and if you need a faster Mac to run it on, hang out behind your local Apple store and wait for the FedEx truck. It's usually just one guy and he's never armed.



    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    damn, i didnt think of that!!! LOL!!! <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />
  • Reply 11 of 14
    jimdadjimdad Posts: 209member
    david, what features do you need? i'll tell you if imovie can handle it. Or read the reviews. There are enough of them about. Otherwise, don't try to excuse ripping off Apple. They have a hard enough time anyway. And especially, don't do it here.
  • Reply 12 of 14
    osakansosakans Posts: 45member
    There are all kinds of resellers who will let you try out Final Cut Pro at their locations. Same with a car, a camcorder, whatever. You don't just get to take those items home for a few weeks to give them a try and then give them back used. Would the world be a better place if you could? Maybe. But that's not the world we live in.



    Go to a store that sells Final Cut Pro. Try it out. For the possibility of a $1000 high-margin software sale, the dealers near me will do a lot. I bet yours will too. Go to an Apple store; go to CompUSA -- lots of them have Apple employees working there. I had plenty of time to use Final Cut Pro before I decided to buy it.



    Sure Apple is being tight-fisted with its evaluation policy. Sure, they could devote engineering resources to creating a demo version of Final Cut Pro. I encourage you to punish them by not spending your hard-earned money with them. However, it's Apple's choice not to offer an evaluation version, not yours. Don't come whining here saying you're not a good enough pirate to figure out how to get Final Cut Pro to work on your computer. At least, don't expect help or sympathy when you do.
  • Reply 13 of 14
    imac davidimac david Posts: 286member
    Hi,



    last comments on this from me.



    1. Where did I imply or excuse ripping off Apple? Did I put a smiley after my comment re evaluation? Nope - that's because if I like it I'll buy, if i don't I won't. (same with MP3s - what I like I'll end up buying for the covers, booklets etc, what I don't is trashed.)



    2. saying 'I would appreciate help' is hardly whining



    3. You're right, I'm a crap pirate. Why? I can't be bothered to find out all the methods, compression tricks, corners of the net, ways of combining pieces of code etc.



    4. You're also right that I can't expect an answer, I can only hope.



    5. My curent problem with iMovie are the titles. I appear to be only able to have 2 lines.



    6. Oh, and I can't seem to crop - I only ever have a single slider available. (Not really a problem, as i just split twice, but it does seem odd that I can't.)



    7. While I'm at it, is there anywhere I can see what each font looks like? When trying to pick a nice one for titles it would be nice to know what Big Caslon is, for example. (I seem to remember from my old Mac days when choosing a font from the drop down menu they were all already fonted, so to speak?)



    Oops, bit longer than planned.



    Cheers



    David



    [ 04-08-2002: Message edited by: David Hill ]</p>
  • Reply 14 of 14
    jimdadjimdad Posts: 209member
    on iMovie have you tried using "rolling Credits" and "Rolling Centred Credits"? I'm not sure if they were always included or if they came in the free Plug-in pack but you should be able to have as long a set of credits as you wish. Although when typing in they seem to be on separate lines each pair of lines ends up as one on screen, the difference between them being that the rolling credits are the "trad" method with a row of dots between the two items.

    Also, make them reasonably speedy as they can take a while to render and add a lot to your movie time.



    The handles are always difficult. In David Pogue's excellent "iMovie2; the Missing Manual" he says that they vanish whenever you accidentally touch the scrubber bar from below as the prog assumes you want to play rather than crop.

    Hope this helps. If not, i can always photocopy the manual for you.



    [ 04-09-2002: Message edited by: jimdad ]</p>
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