Brightness and Contrast in Apple iMovie Quincy MA

Although Apple iMovie doesn't have specific image controls (as does, say, Pinnacle Studio), you can still modify color and light characteristics by using some of the iMovie effects. Start by selecting a clip that you want to adjust and then click the Effects button in the upper-right portion of the timeline. In the Effects window that appears (see Figure 1), you can use any of several effects to improve the appearance of the clip.

Most effects have controls that you can adjust by moving sliders. You can also control how the effect starts and finishes. Effects that can modify color and lighting include the following:

• Adjust Colors: Allows you to adjust hue, saturation (color), and lightness.

• Aged Film: You can apply this effect to make the clip look like it's from a really old film. The Aged Film effect gives you the following tools:

• Exposure slider: Lets you make the aged effect appear lighter or darker.

• Jitter slider: Controls how much the video image "jitters" up and down. Jitter makes the clip look like film that isn't passing smoothly through a projector.

• Scratches filter: Lets you adjust how many film "scratches" appear on the video image.

• Black & White: Converts the clip to a black-and-white image.

• Brightness & Contrast: Adjusts brightness and contrast in the image. (In Figure 1, increased brightness and contrast improve the appearance of a backlit video clip.) Separate sliders let you control brightness and contrast independently.

• Sepia Tone: Gives the clip an old-fashioned sepia look.

• Sharpen: Sharpens an otherwise blurry image. A slider control lets you fine-tune the level of sharpness that you apply.

• Soft Focus: Gives the image a softer appearance, simulating the effect of a soft-light filter on the camera. The following slider controls let you customize the Soft Focus effect:

• Softness slider: Controls the level of softness. Move the Softness control toward the Lots end of the slider for a dream-sequence look.

• Amount slider: Controls the overall level of the Soft Focus effect.

• Glow slider: Increases or decreases the soft glow of the effect. Setting the Glow slider toward High tends to wash out the entire video clip.

To see a full-screen preview of an effect, click the Preview button. If you're happy with the effect, click the Apply button to apply the effect to the clip. When you click the Apply button, you may see a red progress bar appear on the clip. This bar shows the progress of the rendering, the process that applies the effect to the clip. The rendering process creates a temporary file on your hard drive that iMovie uses to show how the clip looks after iMovie applies the effect.