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iMovie for iOS adds a green screen feature

iMovie for iOS adds a green screen feature

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Well, green-and-blue screen

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The latest update for Apple’s iMovie for iOS gives the video-editing app a green screen feature, 80 new soundtracks, ClassKit support, and more.

Plenty of other video-editing apps offer green screen functionality, but it’s nice to have the option available within iMovie. The feature lets you remove anything in the background that’s green or blue, and you can adjust the effect with a 4-point mask as well as its strength. To test this out, I took a video from my trip to Hawaii and added it as a green / blue screen over a clip of my beloved Popplio doll. iMovie erased the blue from my video of the beach and sky, making it look like a giant Popplio is terrorizing Hawaii. The magic of video editing!

Additional features include the ability to drop in images with transparent backgrounds and use photos as overlays to create effects like picture-in-picture and split-screen. With these features, plus the upcoming iOS 13 finally letting users rotate videos right from the Photos app without the need for a third-party app, it looks like Apple is paying attention to simple features for the casual video editor.

The free update is out now. You can check out the full list of new features below.

•Transform your video with the new green screen effect that lets you instantly remove the background of clips shot in front of a green or blue screen
• Adjust the green screen effect with a 4-point mask and strength slider
• Choose from 80 new soundtracks in genres including pop, chill, and sentimental that automatically adjust to match the length of your movie
•Drop in still images with transparent backgrounds to use as logos or custom graphics on top of your video
• Add photos as overlays to create picture-in-picture and split-screen effects
• Choose to hide the border that surrounds picture-in-picture and split-screen effects
• Instantly return to the edit screen of your project when switching back to iMovie from other applications
• ClassKit support lets students deliver video assignments to teachers using the Schoolwork app
• For users with videos in iMovie Theater, the Theater window is now accessible from the ••• menu at the bottom of the Projects screen
• Sharing to iMovie Theater is no longer supported; save your movies and trailers to iCloud Photos to watch them on other devices including Apple TV
• Resolves an issue that could lead to a black viewer when previewing your video fullscreen on an external display