[PB PM]

A few weeks ago I filmed a fireworks display, but the view my camera gave me was inaccurate, so there is nothing going on in a large part of the frame. Is there any way for me (I have QT Pro and iMovie HD) to zoom in to the area I want to focus on? Just to clarify, the fireworks all show up in the lower left hand corner of my movie, so can I zoom into that area using the programs I have at hand, or are there any freeware / demo software that will allow me to do this?

[crazychester]

I use FCP and only have iMovie 4 to fiddle with. But there isn't anyway to zoom in to that area in that as far as I can tell. Later version may have more features that make it possible. Two quick ideas off top of head would be to use effects and transitions to get around it maybe (N-square, some Ken Burns, wipes. for instance) or you could try refilming it (centred) off the computer display or TV and see what the loss of quality was like.

Will think about it more later. But I can make the dog appear out of my nipple I discovered. That was pretty interesting.

[turtle]

There is cropping in iMovie '08, but I don't think it's available in HD.

[PB PM]

Hmm, figures the feature I want is in iMovie 08. I was hoping to wait a while before getting the new iLife though. Not a big deal, its not like this is a paid project or anything. I'm surprised that there are no cropping features in earlier programs.

[Dorian Gray]

You can crop with QuickTime Pro! It's not efficient, but it's cheaper than buying iLife.

1. In an image editor, make a new image, completely white, with the dimensions of the frame size in the video, e.g. 640 x 480 pixels.

2. Make a smaller square or rectangle of the size of the crop (i.e. less than 640 x 480 in this case) and position it within the white image in the location you want the crop to be. Fill this inner rectangle with solid black. The black area will be retained, while the white area will be cropped away. For example, if you want to use the lower-left quadrant of the video, make an image like this:



3. Save the image as a PNG.

4. Open the video in QuickTime Player (Pro).

5. Hit Command-J to bring up the Properties window. Select the video track and go to the Visual Settings tab. Add your PNG to the Mask area of that window (you can drag and drop or click the Choose button). Leave the Transparency setting as "None (allow dithering)".

6. Close the Properties window.

7. Export (Command-E) the newly cropped movie to a format that iMovie will import (preferably something lossless).

8. Open in iMovie and continue your editing.

Originally Posted by crazychester But I can make the dog appear out of my nipple I discovered. That was pretty interesting.

I bet it was. But does it involve cropping?

[crazychester]

Originally Posted by Dorian Gray I bet it was. But does it involve cropping?

No. The warp out transition. But it's bloody amazing. I may have to give sharing some serious consideration. Pity it's a public board. My right nipple was in just the right place. It's sort of like the whirlpool effect (IIRC that's the one) in FCP. Freaky.

[PB PM]

Originally Posted by Dorian Gray You can crop with QuickTime Pro! It's not efficient, but it's cheaper than buying iLife. 1. In an image editor, make a new image, completely white, with the dimensions of the frame size in the video, e.g. 640 x 480 pixels. 2. Make a smaller square or rectangle of the size of the crop (i.e. less than 640 x 480 in this case) and position it within the white image in the location you want the crop to be. Fill this inner rectangle with solid black. The black area will be retained, while the white area will be cropped away. For example, if you want to use the lower-left quadrant of the video, make an image like this: 3. Save the image as a PNG. 4. Open the video in QuickTime Player (Pro). 5. Hit Command-J to bring up the Properties window. Select the video track and go to the Visual Settings tab. Add your PNG to the Mask area of that window (you can drag and drop or click the Choose button). Leave the Transparency setting as "None (allow dithering)". 6. Close the Properties window. 7. Export (Command-E) the newly cropped movie to a format that iMovie will import (preferably something lossless). 8. Open in iMovie and continue your editing. I bet it was. But does it involve cropping?

Thanks, I'll give this a try!
[Edit] Tried this method and it worked, thanks! [/Edit]