iMovie 3 for Mac OS X (Visual QuickStart Guide)

Playing a clip backwards can be good for more than just comic value or special effects. This feature comes in handy more often than I ever thought: a clip played in reverse can sometimes blend better into the next scene (for example, zooming out of a landscape). Then again, I find it hard to resist tweaking reality by making a spilled glass of milk clean itself, or coaxing waterfalls to rush upwards.

To reverse clip direction:

1. Select a clip.

2. Choose Reverse Clip Direction from the Advanced menu, or press Command-R. A triangle icon appears on the clip to indicate that it's reversed (Figure 8.20).

   Figure 8.21. Look for this triangle icon to see which clips have been reversed.

   To restore the clip's direction later, simply choose Reverse Clip Direction again.

Tip

• Reversed clips feature backwards audio as well as visuals. You'll probably want to make the clip silent and play some other audio track in its place.