Starting a New Digital Video Project

Your first step in working on any movie project is to actually create the new project in your video-editing program. You can take care of this step pretty easily. In fact, when you launch your program, it usually starts with a new, empty project. But if you need to create a new project, or you just want to be sure that you're starting from a clean slate, choose File --> New Project. Regardless of whether you're using Apple iMovie, Pinnacle Studio, or almost any other video-editing program, a new, empty project window appears.

After you have a new project started, you generally want to capture (from a video source like a camcorder) or import some video (from existing files on your hard drive) so that you have something to edit. Captured video appears as clips in the clips pane (in iMovie) or the Album (in Studio), where you can use it in your movies.

If you plan to use clips from your PC's hard drive, you can import them into Pinnacle Studio by following these steps:

1. Click the Edit view mode tab or choose View --> Edit to ensure that you're in Edit mode.

If you're using Studio for the first time, you probably see the sample clips from Pinnacle's Photoshoot sample movie.

2. Click the Select Video Files button in the clip browser, as you can see in Figure 1.

The generic Open File window, which virtually all Windows programs use, appears.

3. Browse to the folder that contains your clips.

4. Choose the file that you want and click the Open button.

The file imports — life is good!

If you're using a Mac, import clips into iMovie by following these steps:

1. Open iMovie and choose File --> Import.

The generic Open File dialog box, which virtually all Mac OS X programs use, appears.

2. Browse to the folder that contains the clips that you want.

3. Click and drag over the scene clips to select them and then click the Open button.

The clips import and appear in the Clip browser.

If you're using Apple iMovie, you need version 3 or higher to import QuickTime-format video files. After you import the clips, you may want to save and name the project by choosing File --> Save Project. Saving early preserves your work, and you also have to do it before you can perform certain editing tasks later on.