Ultimate Guide on How to Add Text in iMovie Without Effects

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Ultimate Guide on How to Add Text in iMovie Without Effects

Last Updated: 2023. 12. 12

How can I add plain text in imovie?

How can I make text in iMovie not fade in and out?

I'm losing my mind - how do I add text without animation?

Are you annoyed like the questions above when adding text to your iMovie video? Absolutely, improper text animation will drive you crazy if you only need static text. Don't worry! We're here to save you from the awkward situation by guiding you on how to add text in iMovie without effects.

How to Add Text in iMovie Without Effects

Part 1. Add Plain Text in iMovie Using Green Background Part 2. Add iMovie Text Without Effects Using Freeze Frame Part 3. Add Regular Text in iMovie with a Keynote Transparent Image Part 4. A Straightforward Way to Add iMovie Text Without Effects

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Part 1. Add Plain Text in iMovie Using Green Background

I want to add a simple plain title in my movie, one that is not animated, so it appears and then disappears from the screen without any fade in/out, and without any animation. How do I do this?

iMovie dose provide many title presets with eyeball-catching designs. However, the titles in iMovie have fades effect and there is no feature to remove them, which is disturbing when you only need a normal title. So is this problem unsolvable? Here is a workaround to add iMovie text without animation using a green background.

Step 1

Drag and drop a green background to the timeline. Then apply the title layout you like onto the green background.

Step 2

Play your cursor to the display where you want to freeze it. After that, use shortcut Command+Shift+5 to take a screenshot of the title from the preview section. The screenshot will be saved to your desktop, showing titles over a green background.

Step 3

Import the screen capture to iMovie, enable the Green Screen feature and overlay the static title wherever you want, be it a photo, video clip or other color background.

By doing so, built-in fade effects can be eliminated, producing static titles without animation successfully.

Part 2. Add iMovie Text Without Effects Using Freeze Frame

What if you've added text with an animated template but don't want to start from scratch? The freeze frame can freeze the text frame in your movie so that it looks as if time has stopped. Follow the steps below to enable the freeze frame feature in iMovie.

Step 1

Double-click the title template you use and drag the playhead to the text frame you want to freeze.

Step 2

Go to Modify tab located on the menu bar and select the Add Freeze Frame option to create a text without effects.

Note

By default, the text frame will freeze for 3 seconds, but you can change the length of the freeze frame effect by dragging and dropping the handles on either side of the clip.

Step 3

Save the text configuration and export.

Part 3. Add Regular Text in iMovie with a Keynote Transparent Image

To add plain text in iMovie, you can make the title cards in preview, bring them in as pictures and apply them using the picture-in-picture effect to reach the goal. Let's explore it right now!

Step 1

Open Keynote on your mac and start a new project. Delete the default text box and type the text you want to overlay in iMovie.

Step 2

Adjust the text by changing its size, font and position. Now you need to make the background transparent, click on background you selected > Tap the format > select No Fill in the drop-down menu.

Step 3

Click on the Export icon and save the transparent text as a movie under Revert to section. Then configure the settings and storage space of your transparent text.

Step 4

Now shift to iMovie and import the title footage you create with keynote. After loading, drag and layer it to the timeline above your movie and you will see the static text on your iMovie video.

Add Text in iMovie with a Keynote Transparent Image

Part 4. A Straightforward Way to Add iMovie Text Without Effects

If none of these tips is helpful or you're looking for a straightforward way to add iMovie text without animation , then FlexClip - the best iMovie alternative would be your life saver to end a complex procedure.

Firstly, FlexClip includes 65+ static text presets targeted for different themes to help you easily add iMovie-like text without effect and stand out right away, including normal text, shadow layout text, retro style text and more.

Extensive Static Text Presets in FlexClip

What if you like the layout of the well-designed designs with animations? No worries! Its one-click animation removal feature will effortlessly transform captivating animated text presets into stylish static text while retaining their original designs.

One-click Animation Removal Feature Transforms Captivating Animated Text Presets into Stylish Static Text

The Best iMovie Alternative - FlexClip

Beyond these options, you have the flexibility to customize fonts, sizes, positions, opacities, colors, and alignments, ensuring a delightful experience as you add regular text to your project. Along with 6000+ designer-crafted video templates with different text styles to rely on!

High Customization to Add Plain Text in FlexClip

Create a Video

View Templates

Key Features of Best iMovie Alternative - FlexClip

Besides features above, FlexClip continues to astonish you with the characters showing below:

Loads of modern text styles and presets

Convert your text into a SRT subtitle file

AI subtitle generator to add subtitles automatically

Stylish text effects like typewriter are available

4M+ royalty-free media resources for you

Support all basic editing tools like iMovie

Text-to-speech and sound effects are here

Extract Frame from video in high quality

Multiple import ways to load footage

Direct sharing to YouTube and TikTok

How to Add Text in iMovie Not Title Using FlexClip

Step 1

Upload the Footage to FlexClip

Navigate to FlexClip's editor page by clicking on Edit it Now and import the footage you want to add text from computer, Google Drive, One Drive and mobile. After they're loaded, add them to the timeline.

Upload the Footage You Want to Add Text to FlexClip

Edit it Now

View Templates

Step 2

Make Raw Edits to Your Media Resources

It's easy to capture unwanted things like passengers or noisy voices when shooting video. So before directly adding text to videos, use trimmer/splitter to delete disturbing things. Additionally, filters and overlay effects are also available to level up your footage.

Make Raw Edits to Footage in FlexClip

Step 3

Add Text to Video

Now it's time to add text. Depending on whether the video itself has voiceover, the steps for adding text are somewhat different, and we'll cover them separately here. If you want to manually add text, go to the Text panel and find a plain yet stylish text preset and start to type in or paste the desired message. After that, customize the font, size, position, and color of the inserted text.

Manually Add Text to Video in FlexClip

But if it's a video which needs the voice-to-text conversion, type words one by one will be so labor-consuming. Instead, handout the task to FlexClip, which can automatically extract subtitles from your video with the help of AI-driven machine.

To do this, move to Subtitle > Auto AI Subtitle > select the language used in media and source path, then you'll be navigated to choose the lines and styles of your subtitle. With everything settled down, hit on Generate to launch the process. Waiting for seconds! Check the generated subtitle and make adjustments if there are some misspelling. You can also download the generated subtitle as a local file to use it in the future.

Automatically Extract Text from Video in FlexClip

Step 4

Export the Video

Once you're done, directly export the video or continue polishing with advanced features in FlexClip.

The Bottom Line

That's all for how to add text in iMovie without effects. Just pick your favorite way and start to add your text. By the way, remember to give the iMovie alternative - FlexClip a try if you prefer more flexibility in editing.

Bella /

Full of vitality, curiosity and hope, Bella is an energetic copywriter at FlexClip. She mainly concentrates on video creation and troublesome issues related to video editing, providing users with practical solutions and tricks. Personally, Bella loves novels, sci-fi movies, cooking and travel. And, she believes that all her life is the best arrangement from God.