Step Five: Import your test pictures to your computer and see how they look. You will want to have pictures that don't need to be edited before you use them. Have the group discuss the framing and lighting to see if changes should be made. Take more test shots if necessary.

Use iPhoto to organize your images : Import all of your images into iPhoto first. When you plug your camera into a Mac, it should automatically open iPhoto for importing. For more instructions on using iPhoto, see the Macintosh Support section of the Instructional Technology website. Create an album for your images named Claymation (or other relative name

Open iMovie. Start a new project. Then, at the top of the Media area, click the Photos button. You will then see your albums listed here. Click on your claymation album to select it. All your claymation photos will then show up here. They will now be the only photos to appear in this window.

Click on one of your photos here to select it. Using the menus, click on edit, select all OR press Apple-A on your keyboard to select all. All of the images will be highlighted with blue to show they are selected.

If the floating Photo Settings window is not visible, click this button:  

In the Photo Settings window, make sure there is not a checkmark next to Ken Burns Effect.

Adjust the magnification value to the correct setting for your images. Make sure no black borders are showing. You may want to import some images at a different magnification to create close ups.

Set the clip duration to 0:03. Try just taping on the rabbit to see if you can find the 0:03 setting. (There may be problems with importing all images at 0:03 at the same time. Sometimes it does the first one and then the following images come in at 0:09:29. If this happens, restart iMovie and try again.)

NOTE: YOU MAY OR MAY NOT NEED THIS INFORMATION!

TRY PREVIOUS INFORMATION FIRST!

A clip duration of 0:12 is actually 12/30th (or 2/5th) of a second.

Our goal is to set the clip duration to less than this (to perhaps 0:06), so that the claymation video has smoother motion.  But a glitch in iMovie ’06 prevents us from directly setting it to any duration less than 0:12.  Here is a trick for working around that glitch:

With only one of your photos selected, click the Apply button on the Photo Settings window.  This will import that one photo to the time-line of your movie, with a duration of 0:12 second.  Delete that clip from your time-line by pressing the Delete key on your keyboard.

Then click on one of your photos again.  When the Photo Setting window

opens this time it will show a clip duration of 0:11 instead of 0:12.  Click the Apply button again and the photo will be added to your time-line as a clip with a duration of only 0:11.  Again, delete this clip from your time-line.  Repeat this process.  Each time you do this, the Photo Settings window will show a duration that is one thirtieth of a second less than the time before.  Continue to do this until it shows the duration that you desire (0:06 or 0:05 is usually fine).

Once you have the clip duration to the desired length, click one of your images to select it, and then press Apple-A on your keyboard to select all the images in your claymation album.  Click the Apply button on the Photo Settings window.  This will import all the claymation photos into the time-line as video clips with a duration of 0:06 second each.  This is 1/5th of a second each.  So if you have 10 images, your video will be 2 seconds long.  If you have 100 images, your video will be 20 seconds long, and so on.

After iMovie has imported all your images the clips should be lined up on your timeline like this:

Now you can edit your claymation video in iMovie the same way that you would any other video.  You can add titles, credits, background music, etc.