[bigfoot2]

I'm experienced in Final Cut Pro but a newbie to iMovie.
How do I replace the video but keep the original audio in the timeline? I need to add some b-roll to an established clip.
Appreciate help and instructions!

[mac_lover8329]

here's what you do:
put your a-roll clip in the timeline at the bottom of the window.
click on the little clock (next to the little film strip) so you see the whole clip in front of you kind of like you do in final cut.
highlight the video clip by clicking on it. go to Advanced --> Extract Audio. now the audio should appear on the timeline below the video.
highlight the audio by clicking on it. go to Advanced --> Unlock Audio Clip. the little yellow markers that used to be present at he head of the clip will disappear.
copy your b-roll video clip (with the original audio is fine) that you want to paste over your a roll audio.
put the playhead (the cursor that shows you where you are playing from in the timeline) at the spot where you want to put your b-roll video. go to Advanced --> Paste Over at Playhead.
you b-roll video should paste over your a-roll video, and the a-roll audio should stay intact.
hope that helps!

[bigfoot2]

OK. I'm kind of getting the hang of "extracting" and then deleting the audio from clips. I will want to add music from iTunes over SOME clips soon, and MIX those iTunes with the original audio. Any further advice on how to do that? (Funny, these things seem so much easier to do in Final Cut, which is, supposedly, more difficult to learn.)
Anyway, thanks for any further help you can give!

[OldToad]

iMovie has a second audio timeline that you can add your music tracks to. Under the View menu select Show clip audio levels and Show audio waveforms. You can then drag the audio level line in an audio clip up or down for fading in, out or crossover and do the same for the portion of the audio clip directly above it. Sometimes it takes a little practice to get the slope of the fade out or in just right.

[bigfoot2]

highlight the audio by clicking on it. go to Advanced --> Unlock Audio Clip. the little yellow markers that used to be present at he head of the clip will disappear.
OK, I tried everything, but this does not happen at this point. I can't access any command like Advanced --> Unlock Audio Clip. I thought I as doing it right...???

[mac_lover8329]

well, i looked around online, and everything else i could find that references unlocking the audio clip says to access it through the advanced menu....
but in better news, i think you actually might not need to unlock your audio to do what you want to do....give my previous directions a try without the unlock audio step.
i am using iLife '05. Perhaps the command is somewhere else in a different version of iMovie.
also, the key command for unlock audio clip/lock audio clip at playhead is "apple-L"