Creating chapter markers in iMovie '08

photo by udt_greenberet1123

In iMovie '08, Apple did not include the ability to add chapter markers to movies, a feature present in previous version of iMovie. Perhaps Apple was trying to encourage users to share movies online instead of using physical discs, but for those that needed to burn their movies to DVD, adding chapters (for easy navigation of the finished DVD) was an essential feature and sorely missed.

iMovie '09 restored this feature, and improved upon it: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1884949

If you got your MacBook from SU's new iMLearning program, you have iMovie '09 and therefore can create chapter markers from within iMovie.

However, if you purchased your Mac (or the iLife suite) in the last couple years, you may have iMovie '08. Not sure which version you have? Simply open iMovie and go to "iMovie-->About iMovie." The version will be displayed in the popup window.

Media Services encourages you to share your audio and video recordings without burning to disc whenever possible, for a number of reasons. Read this related post for more information.

So, what if you have iMovie '08 and you really need to burn a DVD with chapter markers? One intrepid blogger has posted detailed instructions on how to do so: http://imovie08.blogspot.com/2007/08/how-to-add-chapter-markers.html

...as well as an addendum from the resulting blog-comments conversation: http://imovie08.blogspot.com/2007/10/how-to-add-chapter-markers-addendum.html