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The Final Word About iMovie ‘08: It’s Not That Bad.

iMovieI shoot a lot of video and use my Mac to save the clips and edit into mini-movies for family, friends, and business. I use FinalCut Pro. And iMovie.

Both are good and have their place on a Mac. What about the new iMovie ‘08? Apple changed iMovie from the ground up. It’s better. It’s also worse.

My perspective comes from someone who’s used FinalCut Pro since early 2001, somewhere around version 1.2.5. The latest generation, FinalCut Studio is an awesome video and audio production suite.

For most people, FinalCut is overkill. Prior to the latest version, iLife’s iMovie was and is a very good, quick and dirty and somewhat simple to use video editing and production application. Seriously.

iMovie could do in minutes what FinalCut would do in hours. Add video clips, drag and drop to a timeline, add some extra audio, effects, transitions, and export the whole production.

FinalCut is more capable, but iMovie wasn’t shabby at all and seemingly rather easy to learn. At least, that’s what I thought. Apple, though, likes to Think Different.

iMovie ‘08, the latest version in iLife ‘08, is a huge change and something of a risk for Apple. If you’ve been reading the Mac sites or listening to friends who loved the old iMovie, you’d think Apple had a problem with iMovie ‘08.

Well, they do have a problem. But it won’t matter. Because the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Not so, says Mac360’s Kate MacKenzie, who called it ”dumbed down.” The New York Times’ David Pogue asked, ”What was Apple thinking?” before deriding the new iMovie.

The new iMovie is not the old iMovie, so much so that installing the new iMovie doesn’t erase the old iMovie from your Mac. It’s obvious that Apple expected some surprise and disappointment.

The new iMovie is better in some ways, worse in others, when compared to the old iMovie. Gone is the wonderful timeline and time code from the old iMovie-- two features which made it work well for semi-pros needing a quick and dirty video editing job.

New in the new iMovie is the Projects, Library, and Events sections, taking cues from iTunes and iMovie. These are wonderful additions to iMovie, and long over due.

So, why didn’t Apple just add those great new features to iMovie ‘06 and call it iMovie ‘08? That’s not how Apple works, is it? Someone at Apple figured out that the average Mac user was intimidated by iMovie’s editing and effects issues (not to mention bugs that lasted for years).

They also figured out that many new Mac users were not opting to use iMovie, despite it’s record as a stellar value in iLife. What to do? Apple started over.

The result is iMovie ‘08 and an editing process that’s actually easier, faster, simpler than the old iMovie-- once you get over the shock and awe of the changes.

The skimming feature, where your mouse point rolls over clips in real time, is very handy and intuitive. Drag the mouse pointer across a clip and the editing process begins-- much faster than in the old iMovie.

The yellow rubber-bed editing tool is very good, though not as precise as the old iMovie’s editing capability. It doesn’t matter. It’s close enough for the average Mac user, and that’s Apple’s target.

Select the part of a clip you want, drag it to the new timeline-- which I don’t particularly like (I’m old, old school)-- but which actually works OK. Dragging transitions, audio, photos, all works the same way. It’s easier.

I venture to say that creating a 10 minute mini-movie from the new iMovie can be about twice as fast for the average or new Mac iLife user than the older version of iMovie. As we say at Mac360, your mileage may vary.

Others, including bloggers and interviewees at PC World, have taken a longer look at iMovie ‘08 and realized that Apple is making a wholesale change in both the target of the user, and what the user needs to create a decent video in a hurry.

The result is the new iMovie ‘08. Better in many ways than the old iMovie. But some things are missing. There are no special effects. The transitions are limited. The old iMovie’s plugin effects and transitions don’t work on the new iMovie.

Even NYT’s David Pogue got it wrong about the new iMovie’s audio tracks. It’s actually an improvement in the new iMovie, even without the venerable timeline. You can add tracks of audio with ease, more than in the old iMovie, and each can be adjusted accordingly.

So, what is Apple really doing with this version of iMovie, dumbed down a bit, and aimed at new Mac users rather than the rest of us? As always, Apple is setting the stage.

Look for a price cut to FinalCut Express, a somewhat limited version of FinalCut Pro, though highly capable. If you were doing semi-pro work on iMovie, you should upgrade to FinalCut Express anyway. It’s better.

Something new. Aperture picks up where iPhoto ends. Logic Express and Logic pick up where Garageband ends. See the progression? Apple is catering to the masses with iMovie ‘08, but still gives the semi-pro in us a little migration room with the Express-type and Pro-type applications.

Of course, we pay more for the extra capability, but that’s the story of Apple from the beginning until now.

The last word on iMovie ‘08 isn’t even ”it isn’t that bad.” It’s actually quite good, highly usable, especially for those without traditional video editing experience, even that from the old iMovie.

Check out the daily list of our 9 Word mini-Reviews at NoodleMac, and Kate's daily in-depth Mac software reviews at PixoBebo.

   • Article by Ron McElfresh • Published on Monday, August 20, 2007
   • Category: Opinion • 7 Reader comment(s) • Email This • Digg This • Shop Now
  Page 1 of 1 Page(s) for this article.

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Readers Talk Back:
kenny smith says:

Have your dad tell you to stop YELLING when you post. Go back to iMovie ‘06. It’s a free download from Apple. It will work fine on your Mac. Then, have your dad tell you how to edit using iMovie. It’s easy. If there’s no sound coming out then you have another problem. Make sure to do your homework and brush your teeth before bed.

   — Posted on Tue Apr 22 at 7:09 pm by kenny smith

Name says:

I HATE THE NEW IMOVIE!!!!! IT GOT RID OF SUCH GOOD TITLE STUFF!!!!

IM TRYING TO MAKE A VIDEO, AND IT WONT LET ME!!! MY DAD SAID TO USE M-PEG 4 ON HIS COMPUTER AND USE THE DROP BOX AND PUT IT IN MY COMPUTER...SIMPLE AAS THAT!!!! but the problem is....THERES NO SOUND!!!!! and the sound is the most important part

(my dads a pro editer he tells me what to do and how to do it)

   — Posted on Tue Apr 22 at 5:48 pm by Name

Katherine says:

I think a lot of people are missing a key fact of imovie ‘08, there are more supported file types! I upgraded only for this reason, as my camcorder (JVC HHD camera) which I really enjoy, was not supported by iMovie at ALL. I have been forced to use the pre-packaged video editing software that came with the JVC, on my PC. EW! I wanted to use imovie, but couldn’t without a lot of file prepwork (converting from one file type to another, using software build by some guy in his basement, no thanks!)

Sure this version is different, but I couldn’t use iMovie 6 at all, so I’m thankful for the chance to at least be able to edit my video on my mac, where it belongs!

   — Posted on Fri Dec 21 at 9:33 am by Katherine

pat says:

I feel I’m a pretty smart person. However, I could never figure out iMovie. I could have if I spent a few days with a manual. However, I don’t have that kind of time. Seems like Apple did the right thing.

BTW, my 10 year old daughter uses iMovie 6 to make movies. It would be interesting to get her opinion on the new iMovie.

   — Posted on Sat Aug 25 at 8:41 am by pat

mikhailovitch says:

Final Cut Express is a terrific program, but it has quite a substantial learning curve. If someones only prior editing experience is with the new iMovie, the learning curve for FCE will be even steeper.  Ten and eleven year old kids are on top of the old iMovie so fast it’s both scary and inspiring - by NO stretch of the imagination is it a difficult program to learn or to use.
The new iMovie has many great features. You can do a video scrapbooking exercise really fast and easily, and this will be enough for some users - for a little while. But forget any nonsense about wanting pro editing - iMovie has never been a pro editing program.
The problem is that at this stage in its development the new iMovie is not up to decent amateur editing. The audio control is just not good enough, and is less intuitive than the old version. You don’t have to be a professional editor to want frame accurate editing, and the lack of it does show in your final product. And there are quite a few other significant deficits noted in various blog postings.
iMovie ‘08 is a really promising program, but they really shouldn’t have released it till it was ready.

   — Posted on Tue Aug 21 at 9:22 am by mikhailovitch

James Katt says:

I’m a Mac Power User and Computer Programmer, and long-time Mac User (since 1984).

I love the new iMovie 8.

I loved iMovie 6, but it took so long to do anything that I gave up over time.

iMovie 8 fits the bill for the majority of us who want something gloriously simple and quick to use in order to create great iMovies.

iMovie is not meant for the semi-pro or even the prosumer.  It is meant for the rest of us.

Hopefully, and surely, Apple will upgrade iMovie 8 - to include plug-ins and other tools.  Apple may even add back the time-line as it introduces the storyboard interface to it’s professional products. 

The new iMovie 8 storyboard interface is fantastic.  It is intuitive for the rest of us.

This will get me back to using iMovie like no other change in iMovie.

Bravo Apple!  Bravo Steve Jobs and that unknown engineer!

It probably was Steve Jobs, if anything, who looked at iMovie and saw how difficult it was to quickly put together a video of his vacation movies.

   — Posted on Mon Aug 20 at 8:44 pm by James Katt

Neil Anderson says:

Good call on FinalCut Express. Will definitely work for the semi-pro.

   — Posted on Mon Aug 20 at 5:39 pm by Neil Anderson

  Page 1 of 1 Page(s) for Comments on this article.
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