imovie 06, imovie 08, or FCE?

[newmacmom]

I know there have been many posts about these three programs, but I am wondering if I am missing something for my specific purposes. I am trying to start my video projects with a huge slide show (over 800 pix to choose from) of a vacation. I have a relatively new iMac (right before penryn) 24" with 4g RAM. I have both iMovie HD and iMovie 08.

I started the project before the iMac with my macbook and iMovie 06. I separated the slides in chapters by days, but I was unable to get the titles over the pix to work nicely without jumping, etc. The transitions were also causing problems at times.

Off I go to iMovie 08--the titles work MUCH better there, but I cannot do chapters. Also there are even fewer transitions to choose from. I haven't even crossed the path of adding the music (I have different music for different days) so I am not sure if iMovie is downgraded in this area as well.

So now I am thinking about FCE. This would not be the only project I would be doing--just the first big one. I understand that the learning curve is steep, but I do have some time this summer to give.

OR is there something I could do to make the previous iMovies to work for me, and I am just not figuring it out?

I was thinking about finishing putting the basics of the project together in iMovie 08 and the exporting it to FCE for the more extensive editing, and in the meantime reading up on FCE to start learning it. Is there a better plan?

Thanks!

 

[Macnoviz]

FCE is a big step up from iMovie (especially 08) but should be okay if you take some time to watch the intro DVD and such.

But I think that for this project you are better off with 08 to make the basic video, and 06 to add chapters. Let me explain:
FCE doesn't have the easy to use slideshow mechanism you can find in iMovie (ken burns, etc.)
iMovie 08 won't give you problems for audio (you can have multiple layers and music timed to 0,1 second) just be careful how you add it (add it as a blue bar, not that green field, if you know what I mean)
And for transitions. 08 has a few nice ones, and to be honest, that's all you need. In fact most movies only need the fade or dip to black transitions. But some wipes or so wouldn't hurt for the photos
And when you are done in iMovie, export your project, and then add it in iMovie 06 to add the chapters (and extra transitions or effects if you like)

I think that 08 and 06 combined are your best option