Take one last look at the movie you’ve produced in Apple iMovie: If your movie is ready to go, you can share it to with an audience, in a suitable format for the device you’ll use to view it. The iMovie Share menu gives you several options:
iTunes: Select this option if you plan on watching your finished project on an iPod, an iPhone, an Apple TV, or a computer. You’ll be presented with various size choices based on the format that most makes sense, such as Medium for an iPod or Large for an HDTV (through Apple TV). After making a selection, click Publish. Keep in mind that rendering a movie can take awhile, especially if you’ve chosen multiple formats.
If you didn’t shoot your original movie in high definition, a Large size movie is not an option.
Media Browser: The movies will appear in the size you’ve selected here, in the Media Browsers of iDVD, iWeb, or GarageBand. Again, some size options won’t be available if you didn’t shoot in hi-def.
YouTube: The YouTube site (owned by Google) has come to practically define video sharing on the Internet. Add your YouTube account and password, choose a category for your movie (Comedy, Pets & Animals, and so on) and add the title (if not already shown), description, and any tags. You can make the movie private by clicking the appropriate box. Apple recommends using the Medium size. Once published on YouTube, click Tell A Friend to spread the word.
MobileMe Gallery: If you subscribe to Apple’s MobileMe service, you can publish your movie right on the Web. Choose a name, a description for your project, and an appropriate size. You can decide whether to let everyone watch or keep the movie private. Select the Allow Movie to be Downloaded box if you’ll indeed allow downloading.
Export Movie: Once again, you get to choose a size before exporting the movie to another location in the Finder.
Export Using QuickTime: With this option, you can play the movie back on other computers that have QuickTime. You have a lot of options for choosing various compression and other settings. These choices can get extremely technical, depending on your requirements and the requirements of the people receiving your video.
Export Final Cut XML: Use this option to send the finished project to Apple’s professional-oriented video-editing program.