IMovie for Mac: Record video directly into iMovie. You can record video directly into iMovie using the FaceTime HD camera built into your Mac. Record live video. To open the Import window, click the Import button in the toolbar. If you don’t see the Import button, click the Media button in the toolbar, and then click the Import button.
You can record video directly into iMovie using the FaceTime HD camera built into your Mac.
Record live video
- To open the Import window, click the Import button in the toolbar.If you don’t see the Import button, click the Media button in the toolbar, and then click the Import button.If Image Capture, Photos, or another photo app opens, close the window.
- In the Cameras section of the Import window sidebar, select the built-in camera.A live video image from the camera appears in the Import window.
- To specify the event you want to record into, do one of the following:
- Choose an existing event: Click the “Import to” pop-up menu at the top of the Import window and choose the event.
- Create a new event: Click the “Import to” pop-up menu, choose New Event, type a name for the new event, and click OK.
- Choose the open project: Click the “Import to” pop-up menu and choose Project Media.
To learn more about events, see Organize media and events. - To start recording from the selected camera, click the Record button below the live video image.A new clip is created for each recording. You can repeat this process as many times as necessary.
- To stop recording, click the Record button again.
- To end the recording session and return to the iMovie main window, click the Close button.
Jul 06,2019• Proven solutions
Although iMovie is pretty good at what it does, sometimes you may also want to get your hands on some decent iMovie alternatives for satisfying all your video editing needs. Here we list top 5 best iMovie alternatives for Mac (Mavericks and Mac OS X El Capitan included), including some free video editors and some paid video editors. So no matter the tech, you'll still be able to create works of art.
Related: Best iMovie Alternatives for Windows
Learn more: Why Should You Use Filmora?
iMovie alternative 1: Filmroa for Mac (Free to Use Video Editor)
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Get an easy-to-use home video editor for Mac to edit and create your own video.
- Effortlessly edit videos, audio and photos to look amazing.
- Trim, crop and rotate videos to achieve the best overall result.
- Add background music or record voiceover to retouch your video.
- Add advanced special features as you like: Mosaic, Tilt Shift, Face off and more.
- Directly upload to YouTube, Facebook or Vimeo, burn to DVD or save to various kinds of devices.
- Provide various effects to make your video footage extremely fabulous.
Why choose Filmroa9 for Mac as Alternative to iMovie
1. Wide formats support
Supports all popular media formats. So you don't need to convert the original file for editing, just drag-n-drop to the item tray and edit freely.
2. Powerful editing functions
Trim, crop, combine and rotate videos, and add voiceovers and background music – all these can be done within Video Editor.
3. Stunning visual effects
With features such as filters, picture in picture, customized intro/credits and transitions, you can always find the perfect touch for your movie project.
4. Share your movies anywhere
Video Editor allows you to share video on iOS or Android devices, as well as upload them to Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo and burn a DVD for sharing on TV!
If you are using Mac OS X El Capitan, do not worry, Filmora Mac also works for you. Watch the video below to check how to use Filmora to edit your videon in Mac OS X El Capitan.
iMovie alternative 2: Fantashow for Mac
Get a magic movie maker for Mac to turn your photos, video & music into memorable movies by applying hundreds video styles.
- Easy to use, makes first-timers look pro.
- 200+ unique styles for travel, family, love, wedding, etc.
- Add animated captions to photos to help tell the story.
- An array of intro and credit templates rocks your movies.
- Share your shows on DVD, YouTube, your iDevices and more.
Why choose Fantashow for Mac
Easy to use
Simple to use workspace makes slideshow creation a simple and enjoyable process. Just combine your media and different elements to create engaging movies.
Fantastic premade templates
Fantashow provides various fantastic themes, which helps you create Hollywood-style movies instantly without having advanced video editing skills.
Rich video editing functions
With features such as filters, transitions, intro/credits, voiceover and more you can always find the perfect touch for your movie project.
Different Output Options
When your slideshow is ready, you can export it to both SD and HD video; upload to YouTube and Facebook or burn to DVD for watching on TV.
Update in 2017: iMovie Alternative 2: ShotCut (Open Source Video Editor)
Fantashow program has been discontiuned since 2016, we updated the second recommendation for iMovie alternative. Shotcut is an open-source video editing software, which is available in Mac, Windows and Linux platforms. Like Filmora, it also allows you to drag-n-drop to open files with a wide file formats supported. It features a clear, smart, and well-designed interface. You can drag your media to the timeline at the bottom of the interface to edit your clips, which is similar to Filmora too. The highlighted feature of Shotcut is that it has some fully customizable filters, but you can not preview a filter before using it. You can upload the completed video to some social media platform, such as YouTube and Facebook, but there are no ready-made export profiles for different devices. It is hard for you to export to your iPhone or other smartphone for later watching. Check the brief Shotcut tutorial below to figure out if it is OK for you.
iMovie alternative 3: Adobe Premiere Elements (Quality video editing tool)
Adobe Premiere Elements provides Mac users with the best video editing experience they have always wanted. It's easy-to-use and provides various video editing features to give your full control over your videos. It allows you to drag and drop to quickly create a video. Like using Filmora Easy Mode, you can also use Premiere Elements to create a dynamic collage with photos and videos by simply selecting a theme. After finishing editing, you can share your video to YouTube, Facebook and Vimeo with your friends and families, or you can also burn it to DVD or export to HDTV. The price for Adobe Premiere Elements is US99.99.
iMovie alternative 4: Avidemux (Basic Video Editing Tool to iMovie Alternative)
Avidemux is another open source video editing tool, which is designed for simple video editing, filtering and encoding tasks. It is available not only for Mac OS, but also for Windows, Linux and BSD under the GNU GPL license. It has a wide video format supporting, such as AVI, DVD, compatible MPEG files. The interface is intuitive, but if you are new to video editing, you may find it is confusing when editing, and there is no timeline which with multiple tracks. The highlighted feature of Avidemux is that it has various export option, which allows you to control over how the video and audio are encoded.
iMovie alternative 5: ZS4 Video Editor (Efficient Mac Video Editor)
Like Avidemux, ZS4 video editor is another open-source free iMovie alternative that runs on Mac, which allows you to edit and composite videos easily. Besides Mac, it is also available for Windows and Linux. It is the new incarnation of famous Zwei-Stein Video Editor and comes with simple video editing tools and 150 video effects, including color correction and green screen effects, which will help you bring your video to a higher level. It supports almost all popular video formats, so you can merge photos, video and audio files into one or more output files. What’s more, it also supports grouping video and audio tracks into sub-groups.
Easy-to-use and powerful video editor for all creators.
Bring up your video to a professional level with straightforward tools.
- Choosing Video Editing Software
- Video Editing Tips