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iMovie 09 Not Happy

Hikkadwa

Hikkadwa

macrumors member
Original poster
May 14, 2005
73
0
wild west wales uk
Have spent the last couple of days playing with iMovie 09. It has some nice effects and features that iMovie HD 06 didn't have (I refused to use 08). The main complaint with 09 is that there is no real timeline where you are able to alter the sound volume on music tracks as you could do with precision on 06. For the moment I'll carry on with 06 until I understand FCP.
 
I am very happy with it. I was using 08 before and FCE. I am very happy with the new effects, image stabilization and most of all the clip speed.
 
Hikkadwa said:
Have spent the last couple of days playing with iMovie 09. It has some nice effects and features that iMovie HD 06 didn't have (I refused to use 08). The main complaint with 09 is that there is no real timeline where you are able to alter the sound volume on music tracks as you could do with precision on 06. For the moment I'll carry on with 06 until I understand FCP.
Click to expand...

Well you have to expect some of the features you expect from other editing programs to be absent on iMove 09. It is intended for a more user friendly audience and not people who are experts in the editing world.

Best editing program by far (if your Mac or PC can handle it) is Premiere Pro CS3. Still trying to fiddle with all the color correction options they give but tremendous program for more experienced users.
 
mhokie said:
Well you have to expect some of the features you expect from other editing programs to be absent on iMove 09.
Click to expand...

Not really, especially if that feature was available on an earlier version, why TAKE out functionality that was already there?

It's like what happened to consumer camcorders, they made 'em dumber and smaller and took out some useful features that were ALREADY there because of this (viewfinders, manual focus ring, mic or headphone input)
:D
 
macrumorsMaster said:
Not really, especially if that feature was available on an earlier version, why TAKE out functionality that was already there?

It's like what happened to consumer camcorders, they made 'em dumber and smaller and took out some useful features that were ALREADY there because of this (viewfinders, manual focus ring, mic or headphone input)
:D
Click to expand...

I wasn't aware that they took out features from iMove 09, but if what the OP says is true then that's just plain stupid. I agree with your point about consumer camcorders. I do like that they are trying to go smaller, but taking out some integral features like a viewfinder is not worth the opportunity cost of a smaller package.
 
iMovie 08 & 09 was a complete rewrite by one of Apple's engineers. You simply can't compare iMovie HD to the new versions because they are completely different (as you know). Personally I refused to use iMovie HD. I thought it was complete garbage as it as hard to use and never exported what I wanted. However, I love iMovie 08 & 09. I do agree that it needs more advanced features like timeline editing for sound though.
 
Wait and see

I'll keep watching with interest to see what users say. I'm still going to try and use it but honestly the ability to fade music and the odd sound effect in and out on a time line was one of the best features of 06. I may yet find a way to achieve this on 09 but it doesn't look like you can do it as well. I have some lessons booked on FCP and we'll see how that goes. Please keep your comments coming - perhaps I've missed something. Oh the ability on 09 to rotate movie clips is an excellent tool.
 
Try this

Maybe you can try doing it(the fade) in garageband or protools and then add that audio to your movie. Not a great solution, but could be a temp workaround until you choose to go with FCE or FCP :D
 
Hikkadwa said:
I'm still going to try and use it but honestly the ability to fade music and the odd sound effect in and out on a time line was one of the best features of 06. I may yet find a way to achieve this on 09 but it doesn't look like you can do it as well.
Click to expand...

Double click on the track of interest and you'll see you can control fade in and out. See the "Adding Background Music to Your Movie" tutorial at the Apple iLife page. You'll see that HUD window nearer the end of the video.
 
iMovie 09 problem

I just installed my new iLife 09 suite. I have been using iMovie HD since it's beginning. Last year I installed iMovie 8 out of couriosity. I hated it & went back to using iMovie HD. Now I find that I can't use iMovie HD without having iLife 08 installed. I find some things in iMovie 9 that I like & will use occassionally. So how can I have both iLife 08 & 09 installed at the same time?
I have an external 250 gig, Firewire drive. Can I put iMovie 08 & iMovie HD in a folder & expect it to work?
 

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Adding Music

Thank you XStep. I've had a look at this - it looks useful and may be an interim answer pre FCP or FCE. I understand what your saying and think that it may be possible to achieve what I want. Give me a week and I'll give you some feedback many thanks, Hikkadwa.
 
Eric Mathes said:
I just installed my new iLife 09 suite. I have been using iMovie HD since it's beginning. Last year I installed iMovie 8 out of couriosity. I hated it & went back to using iMovie HD. Now I find that I can't use iMovie HD without having iLife 08 installed.
Click to expand...

You could try the following terminal command before trying to install iMovie HD. I don't know if it will work. I was just digging through the install scripts and found a check for the plist file.

sudo touch /Library/Preferences/com.apple.iLife08.plist

That command, after asking for a password, should create and empty plist file which is checked for during the iMovie HD 6.0.4 install.

I already had iMHD 6.0.4 installed before upgrading 08 to 09 and a simple test showed that HD still works.
 
Hikkadwa said:
Have spent the last couple of days playing with iMovie 09. It has some nice effects and features that iMovie HD 06 didn't have (I refused to use 08). The main complaint with 09 is that there is no real timeline where you are able to alter the sound volume on music tracks as you could do with precision on 06. For the moment I'll carry on with 06 until I understand FCP.
Click to expand...

You could finish it off in Soundtrack if you have FCP. I'm more than happy with the improvements iMovie '09 has made over '08. I'm disappointed only that Apple hasn't programmed it to utilise the power of my Mac Pro. Stabilising 34 minutes of AVCHD footage took more than 5 hours to complete using a meagre 150% CPU of the 8 cores. Importing footage though utilised 700% and took no time at all.
 
xStep thanks for your help. I have never used "Terminal" although I've been using Macs since 1991, but I'm willing to try. I've made a frame grab of my Terminal window & put a red mark in 2 places I guess I would paste the command. Which one is correct, if either one?
Again I installed iLife 9 & apparently it wiped out iLife 8. So I try to install iMovie HD & I'm told I need to install iLife 8 again. I loaned my iLife install & haven't gotten it back. Do I really have to install it or will this Terminal workaround do the trick? One other question, if I do this could it really screw up my iMac G5? I know... there's no way you can promise anything.
I have a question on another forum asking if I could put iMovie HD & iLife 8 on my Firewire external 250 gig. drive. It's been weeks & I have gotten many visits but not one answer... What do you think? Again thanks for your help. I love iMovie HD & am beginning to like iMovie 9 & really need both!
 

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Eric Mathes said:
Can I put iMovie 08 & iMovie HD in a folder & expect it to work?
Click to expand...

Yes, you can. When I installed '09 the installer itself put '08 and HD in a folder named iMovie (previous version). '08 did the same thing with HD and I was able to use HD after installing '08.

My question is, does '09 have everything that '08 has? I moved HD back to my Applications folder and just deleted '08, assuming '09 would make '08 redundant. Is there anything in '08 I might need before I overwrite my boot drive clone?
 
okay really noob questions but...
1. does iMovie 09 have slowmotion effects like 06
2. I have 06 and 08 on my macbook. is there a way i can get 09 for free?
 
Eric Mathes said:
xStep thanks for your help. I have never used "Terminal" although I've been using Macs since 1991, but I'm willing to try. I've made a frame grab of my Terminal window & put a red mark in 2 places I guess I would paste the command. Which one is correct, if either one?
Again I installed iLife 9 & apparently it wiped out iLife 8. So I try to install iMovie HD & I'm told I need to install iLife 8 again. I loaned my iLife install & haven't gotten it back. Do I really have to install it or will this Terminal workaround do the trick? One other question, if I do this could it really screw up my iMac G5? I know... there's no way you can promise anything.
I have a question on another forum asking if I could put iMovie HD & iLife 8 on my Firewire external 250 gig. drive. It's been weeks & I have gotten many visits but not one answer... What do you think? Again thanks for your help. I love iMovie HD & am beginning to like iMovie 9 & really need both!
Click to expand...

Eric,

I'm guessing that will work because of what I found in the install script. I haven't tried it. I already had iMHD in stalled and don't want to mess with that.

The thing is, if you had iM08 installed, that file is likely still there. It is for me. If true, then Apple has done more to stop the load. That would be ridiculous in my opinion.

As for the command, yes just type it or drag into the terminal. You can also try this one first to see if the file still exists;

ls -l /Library/Preferences/com.apple.iLife08.plist
 
Terminal says iMovieHD not there,iMovie 8 goe too

xStep.
I did the 2 things you recommended I try in the Terminal. I get a message saying "Library/Preferences/com.apple.iLife08.plist" did not exist & when I look at it in "Library/Preferences/com.apple.iLife08.plist" it shows it's there but it has 0 kb. of data. So what i"m going to try is a install of just iMovie 8 off my 10.5 install disk. Then if it works I should be abel to install iMovie HD. Right?
Thanks again xStep. I'm a 40 year vet in TV and used to the world of Avid & FCP at the PBS station I was a Director/Producer at until recently retiring. So my goal is to use the lowest common denominator equipment when it comes to making broadcastable quality video. It can be done now with a $400 3 ccd Panasonic miniDV cam & iMovie in any of it's incantations. When I first used iMovie I almost cried, I've been waiting for something iMovie HD that I could have on my own desk at home for 40 years. I'm really trying to show the average guy & gal that they now have the power to do tv as effectively as the big guys. Examples of what I mean at http://web.mac.com/emathes/iWeb/Summer 2008/Peacock.html
 
Hikkadwa said:
The main complaint with 09 is that there is no real timeline
Click to expand...

ARGGHH. I hate everyone that goes on and on and on about friggin timelines. Ok, they're helpful and how the video is set out in real time, but with timelines you have problems moving clips, inserting clips, confusing tracks... it's all crazy. That sort of thing goes in a pro app such as FCE. iMovie is a whole lot simpler for pulling in your segments of clips, chopping them to size, and exporting. The End.
 
xStep, the problem is solved !!

xStep

I Remember you saying "could try the following terminal command before trying to install iMovie HD. I don't know if it will work. I was just digging through the install scripts and found a check for the plist file.
sudo touch /Library/Preferences/com.apple.iLife08.plist
That command, after asking for a password, should create and empty plist file which is checked for during the iMovie HD 6.0.4 install."

So i tried installing iMovie HD one more time. I'll be damned if i doesn't work!!!
Now my video life is all good !

Re: mhokie..a major item HD has is export to tape. It's the fastest,real time, highest quality, least expensive way to archive & deliver to broadcast or DVD maker. iMovie 8&9 operation logic is very different, iMovie's stabilize is outrageous, & import .png format graphics, with transparency, in PIP & you have a virtual graphics track for the first time!!

Thanks to you all again
 
I just got iMovie 09 but haven't tried it yet. From all the bad posts about it, probably stick with iMovie 06 HD along with the plugins from geethree. If your using 06, would highly recommend the pluggins from here.. http://www.geethree.com . These plugins have really spiced up my videos.
 
Eric Mathes said:
So i tried installing iMovie HD one more time. I'll be damned if i doesn't work!!!
Click to expand...

Glad to here it worked. I'm assuming you did not install iM08.

The touch command either creates an empty file (zero Kb) if it does not exist, or updates a time stamp of an existing file.

The ls command lists the file or directory path. It showed a file zero size which means the file did not exist when you used the touch command.
 
bearcatrp said:
I just got iMovie 09 but haven't tried it yet. From all the bad posts about it, probably stick with iMovie 06 HD...
Click to expand...

I recommend you give iMovie 09 a chance. Don't let others keep you from doing at least that. You may or may not end up agreeing with them or find a work flow that fits for you. That whole timeline issue is over argued in my opinion.
 
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