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I have used iMovie HD quite extensively to create short movies of overseas trips for family and friends.

Most are used to working in the windoze world and are very impressed by the quality and presentation ( which the themes really help with )

All polished off of course by exporting to iDVD, and they just whack in their DVD player and voila. ( was never impressed by the drop in quality from what is viewed on the Mac to DVD - hope this has improved in 08 )

I have ordered my $AU129 family version of iLife 08, becuase over all the update to the suite of apps is worth while.

I have only seen the demos so far of the new iMovie, and read numerous comments, but I think it seems like 2 steps forward and 3 steps back

Forward:
Skimming and Cataloging
Speed in trimming clips

Backward:
No Themes
No Editing Audio
No Chapter Marks

I doubt that Apple will provide an update before the 09 version, (which is a shame) because I'm sure plenty of people that don't get new hardware will still buy the update, espcially as you can still use the old version
 
Ok lets see this ..... I go buy 5 brand new Intel Macs, One does not work at all every part of it is melted, I complain and Apple provides me a free Mac PPC G4 machine to replace it, So I get a free g4 machine and get to keep all 5 Intel Macs even though 1 of them don't work, will not be repaired, and will not be replaced, yet Apple gets to keep the price of all 5 Macs.

Would you say this is fair? Is it a good value? Would you be happy?

I do not think so, by the same token why should I pay for iLife 08 full price but only receive 4 working applications for my current PB G4 machine? Like the above example, I get a copy of iMovie 06 which I have zero need for since I already have the previous version of iLife. So the free iMovie 06 has zero value to me and others.

Us PPC G4 users are getting screwed on iLife, specially if you have the previous version.

The least Apple could do is give us PPC users a 20% discount on the suite to make up for only 80% working applications.

If none of the apps would work on G4 machines I would not complain and just live with the old version of iLIfe. But when I buy a bag of 5 pounds of sugar, I would think I am entitled to all 5 pounds not just 4.

You may disagree, but I see another law suit.
 

You really need to consider doing some research before you write such an overly opinionated article. It's clear going into it that you've got a negative slant, rather than an unbiased view, and you ever make false statements as to what features it lacks.

Gone were basic editing features like a timeline, the ability to sync video to audio - or do anything useful with audio at all, like say adjust the volume during a clip or fading in and out.

This, for example; iMovie 08 is fully capable of fading clips in and out. And the ability to sync audio? You can line up audio exactly where you want playback to begin and end. And timeline?


I still don't get it. EVERYONE who has complained about the lack of a timeline has been someone who has not used the application.

It's a new design paradigm; the timeline is IRRELEVANT when skimming completely negates the need for it! Additionally, there is a timeline since you can have it stretch clips in 5 second intervals (or anything from 1 second to a several minutes), functioning exactly like a timeline where you can judge the length of clips by looking at it.
 
Time

I loved iMovie HD. I tweaked it and added all the plug-ins I could. I made movies, adjusted timing on the audio tracks, put those "funny" transitions in. I will tweak iMovie 08, find all the hidden features, and just move on. It will do what I need it to do. Heck, I'm not still using iMovie 05. Plug-ins will come, updates will come, then we will say, "WOW what an app!" :apple:
 
If this is a sample of what you do, ok. iMovie 08 is the right thing for you.

If you need something more... iMovie 08 just sucks.

(Yes I have it, before youy ask, and I am really disappointed... what a downgrade...).


Really, these were some of my first videos. The other one I made using iMovie 06 (a video review) took me so long that I stopped making them out of time constraints. These ones barely took me longer than the actual videos were in length.
 
I still don't get it. EVERYONE who has complained about the lack of a timeline has been someone who has not used the application.

It's a new design paradigm; the timeline is IRRELEVANT when skimming completely negates the need for it! Additionally, there is a timeline since you can have it stretch clips in 5 second intervals (or anything from 1 second to a several minutes), functioning exactly like a timeline where you can judge the length of clips by looking at it.

WRONG... Just because YOU think the timeline is irrelevant does NOT mean it is irrelevant for everyone else. I, for one, like to match particular musical cues with action going on in my movie. Yes, iMovie 08 allows me to skim and sorta do what I did in 06, but I have found it to be hit or miss at best. It was SO much easier with a timeline view... I could SEE the music cue and match it with the video. Seeing clips in 5 second intervals is NOT the same thing as having a timeline!!

Why would it have been so incredibly terrible for Apple to just have allowed the OPTION of using a timeline for those who like to organize their work that way?? Would including this option somehow make it a less useful or too overly complicated for users such as yourself to use?

Look, Apple had a great thing going on. The people who are not overjoyed about the new verison of iMovie are not upset about the new shiny interface... that could have been easily included on top of the already fantastic, easy-to-use, and powerful iMovie 06 as a "beginner" or "easy" mode. We are ticked off because Apple took away everything that we thought made iMovie so great and replaced it with the dumbed down and not nearly as flexible iMovie 08.

I'm glad the new iMovie 08 workes out for you and others who thought iMovie 06 was too complicated, but Apple really struck a blow to people who got into Macs in the first place because of the simplicity, power, and flexibility of what previous iMovie versions allowed them.
 
Right on the money

I'm more upset over the fact my 12" powerbook can't run the app at all. Bit of a kick in the teeth considering I think this is an amazing laptop with one of the best form factors ever built.

I have a 15" PowerBook G4, nicely loaded, for whick I forked out over 2000 US dollars. It's only two years old and Apple won't even let me install iMovie, that's slightly insulting, especially considering the iLife 08 suite allows me to install everything else. Obviously I have other movie editing options, but I liked the simplicity of iMovie and don't think I should be punished into using an older version of iMovie or something like FCP which would be overkill anyway to edit something like a home movie.
 
I skipped the whole iMovie scene, and went straight to FCE for family video editing. I found FCE to be powerful, and let me get as creative as I needed to be, but using it is also time consuming. This lead to me having a stack of miniDV tapes sitting on my desk, waiting to be edited, and a wife who is not too pleased.

I was looking to simplify.

I think the new iMovie '08 interface and clip catalog looks pretty slick, and I was initially excited about it, but unfortunately I have to agree with the negative reviews.

The new iMovie '08 is too limiting, stifles creative options and the ability to create a polished result. While I want to simplify, I don't want to stupify. It seems fine for youtube content, but I'd want my son's soccer game video to have more flair.

The lack of the timeline doesn't bother me.

For my needs, lack of audio editing is probably the biggest hole. At the very least I'd want to have a music soundtrack, the ability to fade the original video audio in and out, and the ability to add a sound effect here and there. All at once.

Not too much to expect, especially considering the previous version did this.
 
Gosh doesn't a little change upset the apple cart...

Fortunately in the real world normal everyday people will enjoy iMovie 8's excellence and simplicity.

Semi-professionals or serious video hobbyists should go buy Final Cut Express.
 
Really, these were some of my first videos. The other one I made using iMovie 06 (a video review) took me so long that I stopped making them out of time constraints. These ones barely took me longer than the actual videos were in length.

With iMovie 06 doing that videos wouldn't take more than 10 minutes. It's just a video with an added voiceover and a (plain and simple) soundtrack. No titles, no effects, no transitions.

iMovie 06 did all this and SO MUCH more. I agree that the skimming feature is cool (although very CPU intensive - that's why it needs a 1,9 G5 at least-) but that's all.

And really, adjusting a soundtrack in 5 seconds intervals (or even 1 second at a time)isn't really adjusting a soundtrack.. Timeline let's adjust it at a FRAME level (that is 1/24 of second for PAL or 1/30 of second for NTSC video).

iMovie 06 did this and SO MUCH more (again...).
 
So, Apple are letting you keep the old iMovie when installing the new one and allowing for a free download of the old one if you buy a new Mac( but for how long?)). That's great for now but, that means no more development of iMovie 06, and that really sucks. What will they be dumbing down next I wonder? Garage Band mybe?
 
Gosh doesn't a little change upset the apple cart...

Fortunately in the real world normal everyday people will enjoy iMovie 8's excellence and simplicity.

Until today I never (EVER) heard someone about iMovie 06 ease of use. iMovie 08 is not simple, is dumb.

What would you think if in iWork 09 instead of Pages you would find TexEdit renamed as Pages 09: "Hey, it let you do cut and paste and write your text. In less than five minutes. It cannot write in italics anymore, but who used it? It's a new paradigm!"

Are you kidding? c'mon...

Semi-professionals or serious video hobbyists should go buy Final Cut Express.

Although I just ordered a copy of the latter, I do not think that you need to be a semi-pro to want what iMovie 06 already did (we are not complaining for the lack of new features, we are complaining for the lack of ALREADY EXISTING features).
 
. I will tweak iMovie 08, find all the hidden features, and just move on. It will do what I need it to do. Heck, I'm not still using iMovie 05. Plug-ins will come, updates will come,

For the time being, there will be NO plugins (according to a geethree statement posted on http://www.geethree.com/slick/imovie8.html , there is NO SUPPORT for third party plug-ins).


then we will say, "WOW what an app!" :apple:

In the future (one, two, three years from now?) maybe. For now it just sucks.
 
I don't even use iMovie and I can't believe the ridiculous apologetic attitude in this thread. I'm outraged on behalf of iMovie users, whoever they might be.

Let’s be clear about what happened here. Apple totally killed iMovie, wrote a different app and took the name iMovie from the recently killed app and pasted it on the new project.

Now, I think iMovie 8 looks like a great program. It has lots of cool features. But the question remains, why weren’t these features added to the old iMovie? Or even better, just made into a separate program? They could have iMovie for editing and this “new program” for organizing and uploading.

But that’s not what happened. Imagine if, when Garage Band was new, they had killed iTunes and simply given Garage Band the iTunes name instead. So you have a program named iTunes that makes music, but no longer organizes it and syncs to the iPod.

Would you have reacted to that news with these comments?

• I’m sure they’ll work the bugs out.
• You can still use the old iTunes, it’s a free download!
• New iTunes lets you make music. That’s new and cool!
• I'm sure it will be refined in future versions.

Those would be terrible things to say in that situation and the same thing applies here. I’m surprised more of you don’t seem to care about this.

Yep, I am complaining about the loss of functionality and the lack of ANY advice or warning of this fact by Apple. :mad:

I *especially* enjoyed Apple Australia telling me it was "my fault" for buying the product and not researching the web before I bought it. (I bought it on the day it was released). I asked them to point me to the Apple web site or any other information that advised me that I couldn't import my iMovie 6 project into iMovie 7 without losing all my work and effects and the de-scope of current functionality .... "you made the decision to buy it" was his reply.

*sigh*

If Apple hadn't been so arrogant or dismissive, I may have just eBayed it and moved on; now... I'm motivated to explore the Trade Practices Act and Consumer Laws in my state. (I think I've got 3 points of law to back me up so far...)

Its kinda sad to discover your revered 'idol' has big feet of clay, that if you scratch the shinny, happy surface, Apple are no different than any other company...:(

Wiser, but resolute now!
 
Enough with suggesting FCE as an alternative to iMovie. They are not remotely the same. Don't believe me? Create a pan using the "Ken Burns Effect" in iMovie and then do the same thing in FCE. Come back here and tell us which is faster when you are done (I know iMovie '08 has Ken Burns, my point is FCE is too cumbersome for those who were happy with iMovie '06 but like the improvements in '08).

Not to mention that it's 100% impractical for a portable user:

"500MB disk space required for applications; additional 16GB of additional storage space for Soundtrack and LiveType content (can be installed on separate disks)"​

Pretending that FCE is a suitable replacement for the features of iMovie '06 is utter nonsense. I'd love to see that marketing campaign.

<cue freaky baby music>
iMovie '08: Hi, I'm iMovie '08. I can do things like video and audio scrubbing. I also keep all of your video in one place. Neat, huh?

iMovie '06: That's cool, '08. What about audio syncing and rubberbanding?

iMovie '08: That stuff is for suckers. Since some people don't use those things I thought it would be best to just get rid of it altogether. It's not like people had already gotten used to having those features at my price point. iLife '08 is only $79 you know.

iMovie '06: Uhhhhh. iLife '06 was $79 too.

iMovie '08: Well, that's why you're still here isn't it then?

iMovie '06: I guess, but wouldn't it have made more sense to retain the features of previous versions and add on the cool things you have brought to the party rather than forcing people into two camps? What's the point of a library if only one program can use it? If I could create something my way then import it into your library you might have something, but you break my titles, transitions, and audio.

iMovie '08: You know, I'd really prefer they spend 3 times as much for a program that is great, but wholly unnecessary for the needs of most iMovie users like Final Cut Express. People that like you are clearly video pros.

iMovie '06: I hate you.

:apple:
Mac​
<end baby music>
 
At least Apple is giving everyone a choice since iMovie HD 6 is a free download. You can use one or the other, or both, so nobody is being left out.

So... you pay for iLife 08, but you end up with the movie app you already had. I realise you get other good apps, but still, for those who upgraded, that's kinda unfair.
 
Video Assembler

iMovie '08 = A super-charged, brilliant version of Magic-iMovie.

It aint an editing package, it's an assembling package. Great if you want a quick movie, terrible if you like control.

I own FCE, so i'm covered, but i feel sorry for the people seduced by the 'Get A Mac' ads. They are going to be bitter.
 
So, Apple are letting you keep the old iMovie when installing the new one and allowing for a free download of the old one if you buy a new Mac( but for how long?)). That's great for now but, that means no more development of iMovie 06, and that really sucks. What will they be dumbing down next I wonder? Garage Band mybe?

Actually GarageBand looks pretty slick. The addition of Magic GarageBand. It's great for the musically challenged
 
iMovie'08

Well, I have just started playing with iMovie'08 and I am simply blown away. I have been using FCP for years as I shoot weddings as a business (yes, on average 3 a month) and I also "play" with making short films and attending festivals such as Tropfest. I will not move away from the power of Final Cut Studio 2, but I just cannot see what the majority of people are complaing about when they begin working with the new iMovie. Sure, the handful that have really made a business from working with iMovie, will need to change their thinking, and yes, that can take time, but if you are truly using it as a business, you would not have been using the themes that came with the old iMovie. OK, if you had purchased 3rd party plugins, that may suck, but at least you can still use the old iMovie and keep all your plugins.

Today I connected my Canon XH-A1 and imported some clips (simple, smooth and elegant interface). After the import, I was astonished at the speed in which iMovie could skim over the HD footage. Editing was a breeze and syncing a soundtrack was a no-brainer. Sure, all the little effects have gone, but who the hell would use them execpt maybe for the kids? The new titles are elegant and tasteful. Uploading to the web and youtube is a breeze and of course, you can still open up in iDVD and make yourself a nice DVD menu. What is the problem? Really?

* Again, the handful that made a business out of using iMovie may still do so, as iMovie'06 is STILL THERE!
* Plugins still work in the old iMovie.
* You can make elegant, high quality movies in a fraction of the time and all the tools you require are all layed out well.
* You have access to all your videos that you probably didn't watch anymore because they were burried in folders and forgotten.

Look, I don't know, I like it, that's all I can say. I think the whole suite is nice and iPhoto is really fast for me now. Especially on my MacBook Pro 17".

Just give it a go. Learn the new interface and churn out some video. If you are still not happy after you have put together a few videos, just rollback to iMovie'06. You still have the rest of the iLife suite for a BARGAIN price. Be happy with that.
 
Let's say Apple decides to remove RAW support from iPhoto. Most people have P&S cameras right? Who needs RAW. It's too complicated. Sure, a lot of people don't know it's there, but let's get rid of it anyway. What they don't know is somehow hurting them.

Would people then claim that you should have to buy Aperture if you want to use RAW? Based on this thread it sounds like it.

I see a lot of talk about how it's just as good, but the examples posted haven't exactly proven that theory. I'd like to see something with delicately synced audio using only chunks of any given song using only iMovie. I am not anti-'08, but I don't get the sentiment of thanking Apple for stripping features.

All it needs is the simple/advanced modes and this would be a mind blowing application. I like everything about it except the stuff they took out.

iMovie '06 as a consolation prize doesn't cut it. Why? If forced to choose one reason, it's the library in '08. Import your '06 movies into '08 you say? iMovie '08 kills the audio, titles, and transitions, so no thanks. This "A Tale of Two iMovies" kludge is worthy of Microsoft, not Apple. If I could import an '06 project intact I would have no beef. It would still be a kludge, but it would at least work.
 
It took just 2 minutes to crash imovie'08....just playing around with the clips and moving them to the upper window (on a MBP with 3GB of ram)
 
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