Splitting clips with VoiceOver in iMovie on Mac

Have you tried restarting the computer. I recently had that problem when I did the newest upgrade and shutting down and starting up the computer help for some reason. If that doesn’t work try getting your cursor on the clip and pressing X to select the clip and then try to split it.

The way that you edit in iMovie is not like the traditional linear experiences of the past. Keeping that in mind, it requires that you approach the problem from a new editing perspective. The following works well for creating a timeline video that will be easier to manage.

1. Select your desired content from the clips first:

When selecting content, using the keys "i" and "o" sets the in and out point for selection. However, if your goal is to select the entire clip, and then only cut off undesired content from the very beginning and very end, use "x" to select the entire clip first. After that,, "i" and "o" can still be used to shorten the selection to the desired range. This is especially good when trying to place GoPro camera footage on the timeline, where you may have wanted the entirety of some clips, as the camera cuts the video always at 4 GB for file size maximum reasons.

2. Place the selection per clip on the timeline:

After you make your selection in the clip, pressing "e" places the selection on the timeline. Assuming you don't bother to go down to the timeline, the next inserted clip will be at the end. If you choose to move the play head via reviewing the timeline, make sure you press the "end" key before leaving the timeline, to place your playhead at the end of the video. To summarize, select your desired selection per clip, then press e to place it on the timeline.

3. Trimming the timeline content:

Assuming you watch the content on the timeline and want to trim a bit more, you can use the same "i" "o" and even "x" commands to create selection. The "delete" key located above your backslash can remove unwanted selected materials, or Option-\ (backslash) can remove content outside the selection within the current clip.

At this point, you have used iMovie to perform a very basic editing job, simply removing unwanted content. There is much else that can be done here, but this should be the necessary flow for the question that was asked. If the use of the split command was simply to split the clips and then remove unwanted split off content, this method of editing does accomplish the same task without the need for splitting at all. If the split was required in order to move two pieces of video to different locations in the timeline, then further explanation is necessary.

• Useful commands:

I suggest using j, k, and l for reviewing the content in the clips, up and down arrows to move between clips. Both of these sets of commands works equally well in the clip organizer and the timeline, just remember to check where your focus is at via Control-Option-F4, as keyboard focus is the key to knowing where your commands will take effect.

Resources:

• For a list of some commands, refer to iMovie's help menu.
• Additional commands can be found via this Apple Support article:

https://support.apple.com/kb/PH22830?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

Background:

I recently went through this exercise with a friend who wanted to edit her cooking video channel on YouTube. She just wanted basic editing use of iMovie, so I spent some time determining what would be the least amount of commands necessary to perform basic editing. The above is very much a summary of the experience, and not official documentation or instruction. An example of her videos can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWSWMy_U_ew

Hi guys. I am new to using iMovie and tonight I just found this post by Ryan on here which I think may be a major moment in my life! I still have a small amount of useless vision and a single two hour edit on iMovie this week put me in bed with migraines for two days. It is clear to me that I can't do that anymore so wanted to find a way to do the editing without the physical pain. Ryan's detailed comment has been promptly copied to a text document on my computer and will be read and used a lot from now on as well as finding out more detailed information through the links provided. I often think when people comment so fully they probably don't realise the difference they are making. Thanks so much, and also thanks to everyone here for such an amazing website. Best, Steven.