iMovie ’08 lacks the chapter-marker feature found in iMovie ’06, but you can still add chapters to an iMovie ’08 project by using GarageBand.

Purchase a movie from the iTunes Store, or extract a film from a DVD with HandBrake, and you’ll end up with a file containing chapter markers that you can use to skip to specific parts of your video in iTunes, on the Apple TV, or on an iPod. Wouldn’t it be great if you could add such markers to your own home movies too?

Unfortunately, although you could add chapters to an iMovie ’06 project, that option is no longer available with iMovie ’08. However, it’s still possible to add them using another member of the iLife suite: GarageBand. We’ll show you how to export your film from iMovie, perform the necessary alterations in GarageBand, save your work without any noticeable loss in image quality, and upload it to an iPod.

What you need: iMovie ’08 7.1.1 ($79 with iLife ’08, www.apple.com), GarageBand ’08 4.1.2 ($79 with iLife ’08, www.apple.com),QuickTime 7.5 (free, www.apple.com), a completed iMovie project ready for export.

1 Export Your Finished iMovie

Since our final destination is iTunes, we’ll export the iMovie project so it’ll look good on an iPod and Apple TV.

Launch iMovie ’08 and select one of your completed films from the Project Library section. With the file highlighted, go to Share > Media Browser to bring up the Export window. Since we’re looking to create a single file that can be played on your Mac, iPod, iPhone, or Apple TV, select the Medium option (even though the iPhone isn’t shown as a compatible option, rest assured that it is—if it works on an iPod or iPod touch, it’ll work on an iPhone). Name your file and click Publish.

2 Head to the Garage

Since podcasts can have audio and video (just like iMovie projects!), you’ll click Create New Podcast Episode.

Launch GarageBand. By default, this application also opens the last project you were working on. Since we need to create a new one, close the current project to get back to the welcome screen. From there, click the Create New Podcast Episode button. Give it a name and save it on the Desktop for convenience.

3 Just Add Movie

Click Replace, and then the Podcast Track at the top of the Tracks list will change to Movie Track.

To the right of your project is the Media Browser. Click the Movies section and select the iMovie folder. Any project that has been published using the method described in step 1 will appear here. One of them should be the film we prepared earlier. Click it and drag it to the main part of the window. You will be asked if you would like to change the podcast track for a movie track. Click Replace to do so.

4 Add the First Marker

Once you select Movie Track in the Tracks list, the chapter marker area shows up at the bottom of the window.

Your movie’s soundtrack (Movie Sound in the screenshot) is selected by default. Click Movie Track instead and notice that the bottom section of the interface changes to a chapter creation and editing area. Without moving the playhead, click the Add Marker button at the lower-left. If you hadn’t done this, GarageBand still would have created a marker at the beginning of your film, but you wouldn’t have been able to change its default name, “Start.”