How To Set Project Resolution & Frame Rate in iMovie (Mac)

I show you a little hack for quickly and accurately setting the resolution and frame rate of your iMovie projects: Dummy Clips.
You can create a variety of Dummy Clips quickly and easily using Apple Keynote - the free presentation app that comes bundled with every Mac - at least at the time of this recording.
Wondering how to create a vertical Dummy Clip for vertical video editing in iMovie, like the one I showed in the tutorial? You can find instructions in this post: • Post
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Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:19 Final Cut Pro Project Settings
0:35 iMovie Project Settings
0:59 Dummy Clips
1:21 Making Dummy Clips in Keynote
4:20 Using Dummy Clips in iMovie
6:54 QuickTime Movie Inspector
7:19 4K Clip in 1080p Project
7:50 Zooming Without Losing Quality
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[@Galaxydragon24]

You may not see this cause the video was posted a while ago but thank you so much for the help! I was trying to figure out why my video looked all choppy until I realized it was 30fps the entire time, but then I didnt know how to fix the 30fps back to 60fps until if found this! Bless your soul

[@professorp9903]

just wanted say thanks for your great videos...when i retired from teaching in 2014 i let my iWorks skills slide, no need i thought, BIG mistake! now i'm relearning 🙈 and you're helping, your a great teacher (from someone who knows bad teaching) 👍🏼

[@stercraze066719]

Whenever I imported a video into the imovie timeline, it would always stutter and look choppy, and the render, after editing, was terrible. This video solved the problem. Your instructional video saved me from a lot of frustration. Thanks!

[@bootsybero]

Your explanations are very clear, and your speaking pace is perfect! It's very helpful. Thank you!

[@MacVideoMagic]

Glad to hear that!

[@sekaf4125]

I agree 100%

[@jchristophersmith731]

The fact you can set video resolution and frame rates so very specifically in the main presentation app but not in the main video app seems very....Apple. :)

[@jozykanart]

Thank you! Your videos are so clear and helpful! I love iMovie and I just started filming again, thanks to your videos the whole editing process became so much faster and easier! Amazing stuff! :)

[@barbancourt69]

Very usefull. Thx for that info.

[@jgrsolutions]

Very helpful thank you

[@VigneshDhakshinamoorthy]

So much value in every video you make ❤

[@RamblinManMoto]

Thank you for the great idea and explanations.

[@radicalselfie]

Thanks so much! You are absolutely my iMovie life-saver!

[@hassanahmed1755]

Thank you very much! this was really help and clear guide. you earned a new sub.

[@stancobon6399]

Another excellent tutorial, delivered at a perfect speed 😊Many thanks …..

[@MacVideoMagic]

You're very welcome!

[@Heesjesopwielen]

wow again a great vlog and very helpful thank you so match

[@DevKriti]

Thank you so much. You saved me from a lot of confusion whenever I wondered why some of my projects couldn't be exported in 4K.

[@pbasker]

You are legend! I am making my templates now. Thank you for solving this annoying quirk in iMovie.

[@sekaf4125]

Really appreciate your iMovie tutorials

[@MadeInAndhra-rk5mw]

Thanks, this is excellent information.

[@rafaeltorovip]

Thank you so much. Very nice tutorial 👍

[@electricalron]

Another fantastic video. I record video on my go pro 10 and import it to iMovie directly from the SD card. The videos in 4K already buy this is really insightful info. Thank you!

[@ericgcastile]

Your tutorials are AWESOME! Helped me tremendously! Thank You.

[@MacVideoMagic]

Great to hear!

[@georgee3401]

Excellent tutorial. Beautifully presented and very useful. Many thanks!

[@MacVideoMagic]

You're very welcome!

[@_Per_Aspera_Ad_Astra_]

❤ Thank you, 🙏 no one ever talked about this before ✅

[@rapid13]

Discovered this issue years ago and came up a similar solution (just made an intro at the proper settings and always added it first). I like this setup much better: more intuitive and easy to make a change.

[@helencampbell]

Brilliant Michael - thank you very much

[@MacVideoMagic]

No worries!

[@twest344]

I set up a bunch of dummy clips using my iPhone- I recorded a vertical video 30fps, a horizontal 1080 60, 1080 30, 4k 30 etc. I just put those settings into my phones camera, shot a few seconds of video, and in the video I said something like "this is a dummy clip for vertical video" or "this is a 1080p 60 FPS video", then airdropped the files to my Mac and named them accordingly. This ended up being really fast and intuitive thing to do. When I start a new iMovie project, I just select the clip that has the right settings, drop it in and I'm good to go. Just don't forget to remove the dummy clip before export (yup, I've done that)

[@MacVideoMagic]

Wow! Thank you for sharing that method. Excellent!

[@kenromero9236]

Mind blown Michael! Thanks

[@davidcking7]

What a cool tip! Thanks for a super video, as usual, very well explained.

[@MacVideoMagic]

Glad you liked it!

[@taylorlincoln7386]

THANK YOU!

[@amay167]

Michael thank you so much. Your show on Inquiring Minds was part of my childhood I loved your show with Chris and Persis. Thank Thank you for making such shows. Hearing your voice again brought a smile to me :D

[@MacVideoMagic]

Blast from the past! Thanks for watching!

[@rickray]

thanks Michael for another great video tutorial!

[@MacVideoMagic]

Glad you liked it!

[@ozamgirl]

So helpful! Thank you so much.

[@MacVideoMagic]

So glad!

[@spookyaction]

Very good

[@samguapo4573]

Great tip. You're awesome.

[@MacVideoMagic]

I appreciate that!

[@wrkerrigan]

Wonderful… thank you.

[@GabrielDorcino]

great video! best regards from Brazil.

[@MacVideoMagic]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@LeslieGilpinRailways]

That explains so much when I've tried to use old footage mixed with modern 4k or 1080P. Fortunately I only record in 1080P or 4k both at 60fps now

[@MacVideoMagic]

Yeah, nothing like editing all that mixed footage together then discovering on export that you can only export at 720p max!

[@botabob]

I knew about this trick but your clever trick is so much cleaner then my solution. I need to implement your strategy today. Thank you- cheers

[@MacVideoMagic]

Glad it was helpful!

[@JoaoVictor-mp2tm]

Man, I did a 4k movie using iphone, and when I put this movie on iMovie and go to settings, Looks like iMovie put my video in full-hd. SO, I will try to do what you are teaching in this video. Nice content, I'm learning a lot.

[@nicumarinoiu5358]

Big like!

[@twkbtw]

Thanks! Apple's V I S I O N 👏

[@cycloboyriley]

Hi great video! What setting would you use to put on KZbin? Thank you

[@routedouze4261]

Very interesting. Thank you very much. It pays to follow you.

[@MacVideoMagic]

It does, indeed.

[@routedouze4261]

@@MacVideoMagic

[@thinkdev_]

i would like to be able to make videos like yours soon. very simple, clear and practical.

[@MacVideoMagic]

Go for it!

[@foragefishbikeboat]

Interesting video, thanks. I had in mind that adding just a single 720p anywhere amongst a number 1080p 60's would make iMovie default to lower resolution of 720p.

[@MacVideoMagic]

So did I.

[@foragefishbikeboat]

@@MacVideoMagic I can get the editing a 4k in 1080p bit but assume that any 720p within the project is still going to be 720p right?

[@MacVideoMagic]

@@foragefishbikeboat If you set your project to 1080p, clips in the project will be up-scaled, or down-scaled to fit the 1080p project. In the case of a 1080p project, you will have the choice to export @ 1080p or lower.

[@foragefishbikeboat]

@@MacVideoMagic thanks for the explanation.

[@Goomer]

Excellent. Have you done one on audio export, my videos always seem to have lower volume then most on youtube.

[@MacVideoMagic]

Check out my video on audio mixing in iMovie: kzbin.info/www/bejne/moSnnIOVrb-EhNk

[@dansklrvids7303]

I've been using this dummy clip technique since you posted it, and it's so helpful! May I ask a question? I've been using your technique of setting the resolution to 1080p and then bringing in 4K clips. That produces Video A. If I want to use the entirety of video A as part of a longer video B, am I right in thinking that maybe when I copy over the various clips from A to B, they are no longer 4K because they were altered somehow by the dummy I inserted at the start of A? Does that question make sense? (I can't export A and then paste it in as a single file, because I want the option of removing some titles later.) Thanks!

[@angelbouclin]

Thank you very much for this. Can you show how to do a vertical starter dummy video for shorts in keynotes to use in iMovie . I would like to follow your steps to make sure I have all the proper setting. Your are the best, you taught me how to iMovie.

[@MacVideoMagic]

Sure thing!

[@MacVideoMagic]

Read this post for instructions: kzbin.infoUgkxo87w4MmbMoOyJsA9qgAJkcfoe8Mg-s-z

[@HeadlightsRestored]

I was also looking for the same answer! Thanks for the post instructions. Works great!

[@itsmeVW]

Do you still need to do this if your film clips are already at 1080p? I tried to use handbrake to compress a 1080p video made on iMovie into YT, but the upload resolution quality was diminished and fuzzy looking. Can you make a video about that?

[@gyaanmathematics]

hello sir..I use to make educational videos with my phone of approx 1 hr daily, but the file size comes out to be 10GB something daily...my question is how can I compress my video without losing the quality....I use imovie only.

[@janestarr79]

I edit iMovie videos on iPhone. I often have to export clips over and over again because I’m making small changes. I always save things in the top quality settings. Is there a way I can do this without experiencing any kind of resolution loss

[@dansklrvids7303]

Fantastic video - thanks! Puzzle - when I change the resolution in Keynote to make a vertical dummy, the export is not vertical. How did you do that??

[@MacVideoMagic]

Need to change the slide resolution to vertical (1080 X 1920) under the Document settings in Keynote.

[@MacVideoMagic]

Keynote - Document Settings - Slide Size - Custom - 1080 X 1920.

[@dansklrvids7303]

It worked - thank you!! @@MacVideoMagic

[@MacVideoMagic]

@@dansklrvids7303 No worries.

[@adamh603]

I tried this with a 2.7k dummy clip, but iMovie still shows it at 1080p in the Settings menu. Does iMovie not support 2.7k?

[@Greg-fg1rd]

Mike where's the best place to store all these clips for best access?

[@MacVideoMagic]

I store mine in a folder on my desktop for easy access, then just drag then into iMovie.

[@hazmatite]

this is genius. I frequently make sports clips using a mix of 4k/30fps and 1080/60fps (I can't change either). any suggestion on the best dummy clip to use? I always export to 1080. I don't have an fps preference.

[@MacVideoMagic]

Make a dummy clip for the highest resolution you want to export. I would make 1080/60fps

[@RamblinManMoto]

@@MacVideoMagic I may be confused. Why isn't 4k considered the highest resolution to be used?

[@dr.drone75]

Do you think it’s possible to do day/night on a clip with iMovie?

[@MacVideoMagic]

There is a Day-for-Night Clip Filter in iMovie.

[@hufcat6670]

I have recently traded a 27 minute video in iMovie, and I cannot figure out why it will not upload to KZbin. I have made many in the past and had no problems.

[@DeShaunJohnson]

Your tutorials on iMovie are wonderful, but quick question: Once you have maxed out covering every feature and hack in iMovie, will you be covering Final Cut Pro or iMovie for mobile? Just curious as to what your transition will look like in the future, thanks.

[@MacVideoMagic]

Thanks for the question. Not sure at the moment.

[@brentsworld7011]

I would love to see a video on final cut pro I have watched others on the subject and to be honest I get lost on how they present, your a well spoken person @@MacVideoMagic

[@SherrisWorld]

I feel dumb asking this.. but how do I know what resolution I want my iMovie to be? i.e. How do I know it should be 1080 60fps?!

[@MacVideoMagic]

You usually want to edit at the same resolution and frame rate you recorded your original video at.

[@SherrisWorld]

I looked at my iPhone video clip Info: 1080x1920 and 59.97 fps. So I would use 1080 60, right?

[@smival]

I just made a dummy 4k 50fps and use this single movie for export in iMovie (for clean test), it makes 4k 25fps anyway! After I change a dummy to 60fps, iMovie makes 29.97fps )) iMovie v10.3.5, in Setting only 4k label no mutter 50 or 60 FPS in dummy

[@MacVideoMagic]

Limitation of iMovie. It can only export 4K at a maximum of 30 fps. You can only export 60 fps at 1080p.

[@smival]

@@MacVideoMagic Ahhh ok thanks 🙏

[@dannye7612]

Thanks for this video but my God does this boggle the mind that it's even necessary.

[@nickyoung7872]

How can I email you? I have a question since I’m legally blind

[@MacVideoMagic]

Check my channel's About section.

[@rips_world6650]

This is the moment I fell in love. You're a beast.