How to make iMovie screen bigger

The aspect ratio refers to the ratio between the height and width of a video, and it determines how the video looks on various players. For social media shares, different platforms require video with different ratios. For instance,for YouTube, the commonly used aspect ratio is 16:9, which is a standard for almost all videos. However, for TikTok or Instagram Reel, the required aspect ratio is 9:16.

The original aspect ratio of the video depends on the default Settings of the recording device. So if want to post your video to social media platform that ask for a specific ratio, you may need to change your video aspect.

You will learn in this article how to change video aspect ratio in iMovie.

Before We Begin…

Before we drive into how to change video aspect ratio in iMovie, please note that although the iMovie app comes with many great editing features, including adding text, adding music, cropping a video, splitting a video, etc., it is far from the perfect tool to change video aspect.

iMovie 10 or later versions only have widescreen (or 16:9) aspect ratio. You can crop/frame the video in iMovie to change the video size, but iMovie will insert black borders to make your video fill the screen of 16:9. If you want to use aspect ratios of 1:1, 9:16 or 21:9, then iMovie is not the proper tool to use in those instances.

Content:

As we said before, iMovie is far from the perfect tool for changing the aspect ratio. When you change a video's aspect ratio in iMovie using the crop feature, it auto-adds pillarbox (black bars placed on the sides) or letterbox (black bars above and below) to your video to keep your video in the fixed aspect ratio at 16:9.

So we want to introduce a free online iMovie alternative, FlexClip, to change video aspect ratio and make your iMovie video in the ratio of 9:16 and more.

FlexClip is a powerful online video editor offering rich editing tools to help you make a stunning video. It can easily help you change the aspect ratio to 16:9, 4:5, 1:1, 21:9, and 9:16 in a few clicks.

How to Change Aspect Ratio with iMovie Alternative - FlexClip

Step 1

Turn to FlexClip's online video editor, or click the Get Started Now button above to change aspect ratio of your iMovie or any other video directly.

Step 2

Go to the Media section to upload your video to the Timeline with the Local Files for changing aspect ratio or you and upload your iMovie video of the 16:9 ratio from your iPhone to make it 9:16 and more.

Upload Your Video to FlexClip

Step 3

Focus on the Ratio icon on the top left of the screen to select the aspect ratio you want for your video from the ratios of 16:9, 4:5, 1:1, 21:9, and 9:16. You can also zoom out the video or drag it to highlight the center part and not miss the important information in your video.

Change Video Aspect Ratio with FlexClip

While you're in the editor, you can use FlexClip's tools to make any other edits you'd like to your video:

Also, you can make a stunning video with FlexClip's pre-made video templates:

Frankly speaking, the video aspect ratio conversion option isn't available at the moment in iMovie on the iPhone/iPad. But here is a workaround to help you change the video aspect ratio in iMovie on iPhone/iPad - Crop.

Step 1

Import your video to iMovie.Launch iMovie on your iPhone, click the Plus icon, select Movie, and then tap Create Movie to import video from iPhone to iMovie.

Import Video to iMovie on iPhone

Step 2

Enable cropping feature in iMovie. Once your input is successfully imported, tap the video in the timeline, and select the magnifier icon with "Pinch to zoom" text at the upper right corner to start cropping.

Change Aspect Ratio in iMovie on iPhone

Step 3

Change video aspect ratio.After clicking the magnifier icon, you'll be allowed to pinch to zoom your video and change aspect ratio using your fingers. Once you finished, just click Done, and next Save Video.

iMovie for iOS doesn't offer the specific aspect ratio options for you to choose from. You can only change your video aspect ratio to 16:9 in iMovie. Want to freely change the video aspect ratio to 16:9, 4:5, 1:1, 9:16, etc.? You need to rely on another video editor, like FlexClip. Check out how to change the video aspect ratio freely and effectively in Part 1.

Part 3: How to Change Aspect Ratio in iMovie on Mac

It takes only a few steps to change the iMovie aspect ratio in old versions on Mac, simply go to "File > Project Properties > Aspect Ratio", and change the aspect ratio to 16:9 or 4:3.

Change Aspect Ratio in iMovie Old Version

However, Apple has already canceled the Aspect Ratio option in iMovie 10 (and later )Project Properties. The only workable way to change the video aspect ratio in iMovie on Mac is to enable the crop feature, but the aspect ratio is fixed at 16:9.

Step 1

Open iMovie and import your videos. Simply tap the plus sign to start a new movie, then import your video you want to change the aspect ratio.

Step 2

Crop the video to change aspect ratio. Drag the video to the timeline and head to the Crop icon, then Crop to Fill in the toolbar above the viewer. Now you can select an area you want to crop with the white rectangle on the viewer. After you set the cropping area, click the "√" button to apply the crop.

Change Aspect Ratio in iMovie on Mac

The Bottom Line

That's all for how to change the aspect ratio in iMovie and the best iMovie alternative to change the video aspect ratio freely - change aspect ratio online with FlexClip's online video editor. By the way, FlexClip is a powerful video editor/maker that helps you create stunning videos with great ease. Try it FREE!

Editing video is a task ideally suited to large monitors and lots of screen real estate. You want to see your video large, but still have plenty of room to view the project’s clips. Unfortunately, most of us don’t own a 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Display.

The designers of iMovie were sympathetic, however, and included several options for maximizing the editing environment for any screen size. Whether you want to focus on your project instead of your video library, or just want to recover some elbow room while editing, the following techniques will help.

1. Preset layouts. The standard iMovie ’09 layout balances the main elements of the interface: the Project Editor, the Viewer, and the Event Library. But when you’re looking for clips, you may want to use more of the window to view your Event Library. Choose Window -> Viewer -> Small (or press Command-8) to make the Viewer (and the Project Editor) smaller and increase the size of the Event Library and Event Browser.

When you’re building and organizing your project, choose Window -> Viewer -> Large (or press Command-0) to increase the size of the Viewer and the Project Editor. This mode is also great for adjusting the Ken Burns Effect on imported still photos.

To return to the normal view, choose Window -> Viewer -> Medium (or press Command-9). In any view, you can also click and drag on the toolbar that bisects the top and bottom sections of the window to change the Viewer size.

2. Change the icon size. In addition to providing more space for specific areas of the interface, you can view more (or fewer) items by changing the size of the clip icons; this allows you to see more of your movie or video library, or to use larger icons for finer control over what appears in the Viewer as you move the mouse pointer over a clip. Drag the Icon Size slider, which affects the icons in both the Project Editor and the Event Browser.

3. Hide the Events List. You don’t need to see all of your events if you’re working on clips from just one. Click the Hide Events List button in the lower-left-hand corner to display only clips from the currently selected event.

4. Viewer on secondary display. If your computer does have an external display attached (such as one connected to a MacBook or MacBook Pro), iMovie includes a great advanced feature for taking advantage of both screens. First, make sure the Show Advanced Tools option is enabled in iMovie’s preferences. Then, choose Window -> Viewer on Secondary Display. The preview of your movie is pushed to the other screen, and you get to use the entire top portion of the interface for editing your project.

Sure, these options aren’t the same as having a giant monitor to work on, but they’re certainly a lot less expensive.

Jeff Carlson is the author of iMovie ’09 & iDVD for Mac OS X: Visual QuickStart Guide (Peachpit Press; 2009) and the managing editor of TidBits.