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Why iMovie '08 Matters
macteens.com — The new iMovie and its future, from the point of view of a Mac fan, educator, and professional editor.
dhollister- 640 diggs
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- rgodfrey, on 10/10/2007, -8/+10Huh. First positive review I've read of it. Good to hear such things from someone who clearly knows what he's talking about.
- Rice, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2I think the other reviews that you're reading 'know what they're talking about'. Those people, like myself, are in a different market. They need the super-advanced feature called the "timeline", and the complicated ability to slow down or speed up video.
I've outlined my reasons why the new iMovie sucks on YouTube. Oddly enough, I used iMovie '08 to edit it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guGh1GRkgUY
- Rice, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2I think the other reviews that you're reading 'know what they're talking about'. Those people, like myself, are in a different market. They need the super-advanced feature called the "timeline", and the complicated ability to slow down or speed up video.
- tablelegs, on 10/10/2007, -6/+137 Diggs and it's really slow :(
http://www.duggmirror.com - BlueStarr, on 10/10/2007, -7/+2actually...over on http://www.Macsurfer.com I've seen a few.
- actorboy, on 10/10/2007, -5/+14iMovie '08 has done one thing successfully -- showed me that if I want to continue doing the kind of work I do in iMovie, I'm going to have to bite the bullet and step up to FInal Cut Pro. They've taken away pretty much every feature I make use of.
- superkendall, on 10/10/2007, -2/+7The funny thing is, if you were used to iMovie 08 the movei to FCP or FCE would be really easy, because they are structured rather the same way. That's what the iMovie change was all about, making for a smoother migration to the more professional apps as a user matures in video editing.
I do think we'll see plugins come back to iMovie, probably around the time of Leopard.
Personally I really like iMovie, it's much easier to arrange clips and I love the photographic control you have over exposure and saturation in video clips now... really nice. - nufoto, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8I use Final Cut Express..very powerful and much cheaper than Pro version and a great way to learn Final Cut with out investing in the Pro.
http://www.apple.com/finalcutexpress/- xXMetalJesusXx, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Final Cut Express is a nice app...but it's nothing compared to Pro if you have the proper Specs to run it. But both are a huge upgrade from any iMovie. I don't really see any investment into Pro as a bad investment....you'll get the use out of it. The only real factor to consider is the Price tag on Pro...it's ***** steep.
- joel8x, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I'm waiting to see what the next versions of Final Cut have to offer, because the stability and speed improvements in iMovie '08 make me believe they are going to make major improvements in the next generation of Final Cut.
- superkendall, on 10/10/2007, -2/+7The funny thing is, if you were used to iMovie 08 the movei to FCP or FCE would be really easy, because they are structured rather the same way. That's what the iMovie change was all about, making for a smoother migration to the more professional apps as a user matures in video editing.
- DjOverEZ, on 10/10/2007, -20/+11I like turtles.
- penneyisok, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6Dude, This is like the tenth story I seen you say that In already. People need to stop digging it up.
- vraa, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6iMovie lets me deal with avchd.
That's a boon for the guy that is right between being a consumer and a professional.
FWIW - I have not used iMovie 06, I found it to be a little too complicated for me.
Simple = quick. - Eugenia, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3I don't like iMovie 08. I think it's a serious downgrade over the previous versions. They should have added AVCHD on the '06 version, fix some bugs, and be done with it, not serve us this preposterous app.
- joel8x, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I couldn't disagree with you more. I am so happy with the changes because I am way too busy to spend hours cutting up family videos. iMovie '08 is amazing at doing just that.
- tibbon, on 10/10/2007, -5/+8iMovie '08 is horrid. I am just getting into video editing, and from what I saw iMovie 6 was much better. The lack of precision in iMovie '08 is really stupid. The idea that you can shuttle through the movie with a mouse? Great... except there's no precision. iMovie 06 looks better.
Even better yet, and obviously so, Final Cut (Pro and Express) really do the job better, and in the end are easier to understand. I am really just now teaching myself how to use it, and once you get over a few small hurdles, then you realize that FCP really is much faster, stronger, and just overall better for video editing. I'm working on a project currently that has at least 30 hours of video to edit, color correct, and recompress into various formats. There's no way I could do that without FCP/Compressor/Color/etc... And the fact that I can render over multiple computers is soooo helpful. Really. And No, I am not a video pro of any type. This is just something that I'm learning to do on the side for work and some conference video and podcasts we are working on. iMovie (both versions) were making me want to shoot myself in the head on this. FCP is hard, but it's much better.
What's funny is that I'm a Logic Pro user, and I find Garageband to be slightly confusing. Confusion in simplicity I suppose? I'm lost without a midi environment.- xXMetalJesusXx, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1lol... iMovie can make you go crazy. I loved making school projects on it, they took about 10 minutes to edit and paste all together. But when I switched to Final Cut Pro, I've never gone back to iMovie 06.
- crazymunch, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I'm the Opposite when it comes to Logic - I'm a Garageband user who's trying to upgrade to Logic Express and finding it exceedingly confusing - Why are there so many instruments there before I even do anything...?
- Vermifax, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I use Logic Pro 7 religiously and I LOVE the new Garageband! Of course, iControl (from M-Audio) makes both apps that much easier to navigate. I just wish GB had a "BPM Counter" like LP7. I'd also like GB to fully support ReWire.
- dropoutfilms, on 10/10/2007, -3/+9There are no "professional editors" who use iMovie for anything.
- xXMetalJesusXx, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1I must disagree :)
http://www.macworld.com/news/2004/01/21/tarnation/- Rizzinator, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1hardly a "professional"
- seinman, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Have you actually SEEN Tarnation? It's a fascinating story, but the editing is annoying as hell. There's nothing but *****, generic effects applies to 90% of the clips, and hard to read/poorly designed subtitles in place of narration; people think it's some great piece of art for some reason. I felt like I had been conned by a five year old with ADD and an iMac after watching it.
- Tippis, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Whether you want to call them professionals or not is up to you...
...but the Pixelcorps and Rev3 guys seem to disagree with you from what has been said on their various podcasts.- dagamer34, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Rev3 uses Final Cut Pro for their video work. Kevin said so himself in an episode.
- Tippis, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1...among other things. iMovie '08 is very handy for quick on-the-spot creations (e.g. covering live events), and the actual *editors* have mentioned that they may very well be using 08 for exactly that thing in the future.
- dagamer34, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Rev3 uses Final Cut Pro for their video work. Kevin said so himself in an episode.
- xXMetalJesusXx, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1I must disagree :)
- justinroman, on 10/10/2007, -6/+6iMovie 08 is so bad Apple felt obliged to provide iMovie 6 to people who buy new Macs and hate iMovie 08. Really, what else needs to be said?
- dhollister, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9That doesn't mean it's bad, it just means it's substantially different enough that some people won't want to make the switch.
Do not confuse "difficult" with "worse." - dagamer34, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Only because iMovie 08 doesn't support a lot of features from iMovie 06. If a person bought a new mac but was working on an old 06 project, there'd be no way for him to finish it.
- dhollister, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9That doesn't mean it's bad, it just means it's substantially different enough that some people won't want to make the switch.
- bonjourmr, on 04/25/2008, -17/+3APPLE SUCKS
- actorboy, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Blocked for trolling. And I encourage others to do the same.
- natenovs, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2ok. actorboy blocked.
- Vermifax, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1You are sooooo blocked.
As a mater of fact, from this day on, I'm blocking all trolls. I welcome all mature and intellectual arguments/debates but, all of this childish, pre-teen name-calling hatred is gonna get blocked by me.
- actorboy, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Blocked for trolling. And I encourage others to do the same.
- t0ny, on 10/10/2007, -9/+2iPhoto and iMoive are the only things I use in iLife. Explain why I should spend $70+ to get the newer one.
- joel8x, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6No, go to Apple.com and do your own research you lazy ***** ;)
- aa90digg, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Even the earlier version of Imovie should never be compared to Final Cut Pro or even Final Cut Express for professional or semi-professional editing work. I think one guy manage to make a professional documentary using Imovie (Carnation I believe) and it was good because the guy is a really gifted writer and he had a good story to tell, not because of the editing.
The main problem right now in Imovie is the inability to set In point and Out point. And the way to modify your clips is really precarious.
Lots of people complain about the audio limitations and the inability to set chapter markers. You can get around that by opening your Imovie project in Garage Band. I know it sounds counter-intuitive but it works quite well that way, and it's actually closer to the professional work flow (Sound-editing wise).
What interest me the most is the interface. I thought it was completely backward at first, but after using it I feel that Apple is trying to re-invent the way things are done in the editing world, to shake some concepts about the job by remodeling them. Some of those new concepts might stick, maybe none of them won't, but it's damn interesting. And very daring.
(P.S: I allow myself to open my mouth so lengthly because I've just spent a couple of day playing with Ilife 08 and I work professionally in the post-production world. This those not make me any more right or wrong than anybody else. This is just an opinion)- joel8x, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1In response to your post from a non-professional video editor, what the hell is "In point and Out point"? Better yet, I don't want to know. I just want to make quick family videos. Get it?
- aa90digg, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1You don't want to know? Well I'll tell you anyway.
Setting an In Point is the action of selecting the very first frame of a clip before exporting it into your timeline. And setting your Out point is the action of selecting the last frame of a clip before exporting it into your timeline.
Imovie 06 (And all the versions before that) would let you do that with the Apple-T command which lets you "Split video clip at playhead" or create a sub-clip that you could send to your timeline. In Imovie 06 you can find the perfect frame to create your In Point or Out Point by moving your playhead forward or backward frame by frame using the left and right arrow.
Well in Imovie 08 you still can move your playhead frame by frame using the left and right arrow to find your In Point or Out Point all right, but you can't use the command Apple-T to make your cut there. In Imovie 08 you have to create handles on the clip using your mouse in order to make your selection. But the second you're going to move your mouse over your clip to create the handle necessary to make your selection you're going to loose you In point because the playhead follows the mouse constantly.
My post wasn't a critic of Apple and Imovie 08. If you just want to edit your family movie quickly it's the perfec software. I was just pointing out a feature that use to exist in the previous version and that is laking in 08.To me this feature is necessary to fast editing. Trust me, if you had it in 08, you would love it, you would use it all the time, and yes your family movies would be edited better and even faster than the current version of Imovie allow you to do. Get it?
- aa90digg, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1You don't want to know? Well I'll tell you anyway.
- joel8x, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1In response to your post from a non-professional video editor, what the hell is "In point and Out point"? Better yet, I don't want to know. I just want to make quick family videos. Get it?
- fugrank, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0@t0ny
because you love apple? - ewcost, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Check out our review... http://macfilmmaking.com/archives/218
- xike, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2Fine, improve an app...but don't remove functionality in the process. Backward compatibility with previous iMovies: visual effects, chapter markers, plugins, audio editing, etc...
That's like praising a new version of Notepad.exe because it's more intuitive, even though it doesn't support numbers, and it can't import previous .txt files without replacing all white space with ascii smiley faces. - mrgoat, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1He didn't really say why it 'mattered'. Aside from it's fast.
- joel8x, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I think the point was that it was more of a stepping stone to pro video editing than iMovie '06 in his opinion.
- Gizmort, on 10/10/2007, -1/+16As a professional video editor for 20 year using FCP and everything else. iMovie '08 is revolutionary. So amazing. Truly is the first product in a long time that has made me excited for the future of my industry.
- mikeflynn, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3Really? I'm a professional editor too and for the 3 minutes I used iMovie '08 I couldn't stand it. I suppose I should look more in-depth.
- aa90digg, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I'm with mikeflynn on this one. I'm also working in the Post-world, I've been playing with 08 for a couple of days. And while I find the new interface and some of the new concepts Apple is developing interesting, I wouldn't go as far to say that it is "revolutionary" or that it is the first promising product for the future of the industry.
- sq2shooter, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1This guy has no idea what he is talking about. iMovie 08 is an abortion of epic proportions. You don't believe me? Go to apple.com support forums and look at the iMovie08 posts. This stripped down version of iMovie 06 is pretty much universally hated by everyone.
- justusbruns, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1It really stimulates you to be creative, I hate to wait long before I see the result, I'm not a perfectionist I like simplicity and a quick nice looking result, if you want to have everything at the right time beginning, you should better use professional products like Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere Pro
- sq2shooter, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Even Apple is aware that iMovie 08 would not live up to expectations as an upgrade of 06. This is why it is the only program included in iLife 08 that leaves the previous version of the program on the hard drive when it installs. Yes, believe it or not, iMovie 06 is left in a folder after install so you can do the basic editing that iMovie 08 has been stripped of. This speaks volumes as to what Apple knew would be the reaction to iMovie 08. This program was obviously designed for 13 year olds with a You Tube account.
- Obishawn11, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5I don't understand why people hate iMovie 08 so much. Yes it sucks that there was not update to iMovie 06 in iLife 08, but personally I think Apple is on the right track for reconstructing the way iMovie works. They probably could have gone about it a little better by updating iMovie 06 for this version and offering what is currently iMovie 08 as a 'preview' product and called it iMoviePlus 08 or something like that until it was mature enough to become the actual iMovie. iMovie 08 is not horrible, it's just version 1.0 (or even version 0.9 if you will). Once Apple sticks in all the features that iMovie 06 had, I think that this will be a perfect product for at least the home user to use to create fantastic movies. I commend Apple for being brave enough to realize that iMovie 06 is not heading down the correct path and starting a iMovie 08 from scratch in order to head down the correct path.
People also like to try to insult iMovie 08 as a product that 13 year olds with a YouTube account can use and Mommies and Daddies can use. WELL DUH! Apple is about being simple enough that anyone can use. What do you think the whole point is with iLife?! If you want something that a 13 year old can't use or that Mommies and Daddies can't use, go buy some professional software for 4x as much and quit your complaining!
I just recently made a DVD with pictures and video clips of a vacation that I took in July. I saw what iMovie 08 could do with the demo video that's available on Apple's website and decided to purchase iMovie 08 (the updates to iPhoto was also a big factor in my decision to upgrade). I had 400 pictures and some video clips that I wanted to put into basically a slideshow with a soundtrack to show people. I used iMovie 08 to create 2 15 minute clips in no time. I've seen how you do the same thing in iMovie 06, and given the choice again, I would still use iMovie 08 because of how quick and easy it is to add the pictures, pick just the portion of the clips I want and manipulate the video. It's also much easier to preview my changes and a very small portion of the video. I did have to use iMovie 06 to piece the clips together along with an opening title screen, ending credits and add chapter markers, but that's fine because I already had the chapter clips created in iMovie 08. Then I used iDVD 08 to create the DVD. So I used both versions of the program to accomplish my task. Yes, it sucked having to export from 08 and import into 06 just to get chapter markers and better templates for the opening screen and ending credits. But I still preferred using iMovie 08 and would start with it again if I had to redo that project or on my next project. I actually hated having to use 06 even though 06 had more features because 08 is just easier to use.
I'm a recent Mac convert. I used to be 100% a Windows user until earlier this year. I love my Mac. Everything I do on it is so intuitive. iMovie 08 embodies that. It is on the right track. Just because it lacks features does not mean it's a bad product. Apple did not supply iMovie 06 with iMovie 08 because 08 sucks that bad and can't live up to expectations. It's because they knew that if they didn't have those features in 08, they still had to provide those features somehow. They did it as a favor to us and because it was the right thing to do, not because it was their version of an apology. I have a feeling that those complaining about iMovie 08 have either not used it or aren't looking towards the future at what iMovie 08 will become.
And for those that are complaining about the price, iMovie 08 is not the only thing that comes with iLife 08, so you're not paying $70+ for just iMovie, you're paying it for the entire package. - mhender, on 10/10/2007, -3/+0Any post that somewhat criticizes the program is buried. Way to go digg, showing your true colours .
- ahirreddy, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1This is just a bunch of BS. iMovie 08 matters just as much as Windows Movie Maker. It's sad to see that people are trying to justify it just because of insane apple loyalty. "It's an apple product, and the new way of working with video editing must be right if apple says it is." It's just shameful on the part of the loyalists who keep trying to make everything apple does seem like it is the second coming. This is really annoying, buried as LAME.
- sudowrestler, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1So what does WMM have to do with this? It's a discussion of changes in an Apple product within an established lineage of products. People are discussing it from that standpoint. It's ridiculous to come into it and commence to scold Mac users on one side of the argument for holding an honest opinion. Of course the troll in you wants to portray any criticism of Apple as always deserved, and any counter-argument as 'insane loyalty.' You find it "just shameful." Don't you think that absurdly trolling discussions you don't understand, and which don't affect you, in order to make clueless ad hominem remarks based on your fantasies about Mac users, is a little "shameful?"
- Vermifax, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1 I'm editing two EPK's in iMovie '08 and i love it. That being said, I'm not getting FCP until I know for sure that it's 100% Leopard-ready.
- bradyj, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I've been able to rapidly create short home movies using iMovie 08 and have really enjoyed using it. when i'm editing something together, my main intention is to cut 90%+ of the fluff and just use simple transitions between the edited shots. I'm completely uninterested in creating DVDs, I just want to throw something up on the net to share w/ family and friends. To me, less is definitely more with this new version.
- lochness, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Do Macs come with speeel chekc ?
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