This article originally appeared in TidBITS on 2010-10-21 at 10:24 a.m.

The permanent URL for this article is: http://db.tidbits.com/article/11688

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Regain the Timeline in iMovie ’11

by Jeff Carlson

When Apple radically changed iMovie between the ’06 and ’08 releases, one of the main criticisms was the abandonment of the traditional editing timeline. Instead of one horizontal succession of clips at the bottom of the screen, iMovie ’08 introduced an editing area at the top-left of the screen where the movie wraps like a paragraph.

Well, if you’ve been pining for a “real” timeline, it’s time to re-evaluate iMovie ’11. With a couple of clicks, you can have it back. Here’s how.

In iMovie ’11, open a project and, in the Project browser, click the new Single-Row View button in the upper-right corner.

[1]

The wrapped project extends past the left and right edges of the browser.

[2]

Next, click the Swap Events and Projects button in the middle toolbar to place the Project browser along the bottom of the screen. (I’ve also made the audio tracks visible in this screenshot.)

[3]

Swapping the Project and Event browsers has been possible since iMovie ’08, but this is the first time iMovie users have been able to restore the traditional timeline.

[1]: http://db.tidbits.com/resources/2010-10/imovie11timeline_button.png
[2]: http://db.tidbits.com/resources/2010-10/imovie11timeline_timeline_top.png
[3]: http://db.tidbits.com/resources/2010-10/imovie11timeline_swap.png

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