In iMovie, how do I make the music fade out?

Question

I'm not a big iMovie fan, but it's free at our office, so I thought I'd try it out. How do I make the sound fade out instead of just cutting off?

Thanks!

Answer 1

If you're using one of the earlier versions of iMovie, go to the Timeline View, either by clicking on the little clock icon next to the filmstrip icon on the left-hand side near the bottom, or by going to View -> Switch to Timeline Viewer (if it's not there and you see Switch to Clip Viewer then you are already in the Timeline view).

In that view, you'll see either one or two audio tracks (depending on whether your audio is stereo or not). There will be a purple line running through audio track. The purple line represent the volume (higher = louder). If you click on the purple line (sort of near the end) and drag it down you'll get a yellow dot that will let you set a separate volume for that segment. Once you do this it will make more sense. To fade out music, drag the yellow dot all the way to the bottom. You'll also see a purple square on the line and if you drag it to the left you can stretch out the fade over longer time.

If you're using the most recent version of iMovie ('08), it's a little different. Select the audio clip, click on the icon in the middle of the page that looks like a speaker with noise coming out. That will bring up the audio adjustments window and Fade Out is one of the options you can set. You can make it either automatic or manual.

I hope that helps.