New iMovie- Good or Bad?

[tweakers_suck]

I bought iLife '08 on the release date. At first I was disappointed with iM '08. It was different from iM HD and there was a learning curve. I wasn't sure that I liked it or thought it to be an improvement worth the upgrade fee. But after playing around with iM '08, sharing my experiments with the media browser, then using Garage Band for audio and chapter marking I find that overall iM '08 is an improvement for me and my purposes.

Skimming is a great benefit in reducing time spent editing.

I don't miss the video FX -- never used them.
I don't miss themes -- never used them.

Using GB is an extra step for audio adjustments and adding chapter marker for iDVD, but overall iLife '08 will be a nice upgrade for me.

I especially like the sharing capabilities now. The preset options for apple tv, ipod, computer exporting of various sizes really results in nice looking projects with small file sizes. This is much easier than using Expert mode when sharing as a Quicktime file.

Sorry to those of you who like iM HD better. You can still use that...

 

[AppleEater]

My response

I still prefer iMovie '07 HD. It had a solid interface, great features, and created a profession-looking product in a relatively short amount of time. I haven't gotten my hands on the new version yet, but from what I've heard, the lack of features, more difficult interface, and disgruntled customers who've bought it already speak for themselves. For now, I'm sticking with iMovie HD.

 

[faustfire]

Honestly my biggest fears about all of this is that apple is starting to abandon optical media creation. They pretty much left iDVD untouched (from what I gather) and they didn't touch DVD Studio Pro with the last FCS update. The only thing I can figure if they aren't abandoning it is that they are completely revamping their tools to take advantage of HD burners they will add to their lines.

I think your probably right. I think apple is quietly waiting for HD burners to become more common and then introduce their new versions of DVDSP and iDVD. The authoring environment, from what I have seen, is completely different when it comes to HD DVD and BRay. I think we will see some incredible new features when these new versions hit the stores.

 

[xplainwhy]

Please try before you criticise!

I tried iMovie 08 over the weekend and i think was great.

It was quick and easy to select and drop clips together and i had a movie done in 3 hours that took me 8 or 9 hours in iMovie 06. The thing that made the biggest difference was the ability to "skim" over a clip to find the exact bit that i wanted to include in the video.

It even had the options to automatically add in your transition of choice so that you don't have to drag and drop the same transition between every clip (i like to keep movies simple by using just one transition =).

Sure, there's no audio rubber banding, but there's something even better... pick a clip you want, and you can tell it to "duck" audio from other sources automatically. Easy. It can even normalise audio so that all your clips have a consistent volume.

Sure, there aren't any themes, go use iMovie 06 if you want them.

Sure, Video FX are now gone, that might not necessarily be a bad thing... videos should be simple... just because you can doesn't mean you should.

Sure, there's no timecode, and at first i was a bit annoyed with this, but really, you don't need it... the aim here is to get the clips you want to put into the movie you're creating. Skimming is actually really good at letting you find the bits you want... and even after you've added a clip, you can change the start and end point of that clip with footage from the original footage! Magic.

So my impression is, sure, iMovie 08 may lack a few features that iMovie 06 had, but in my opinion, those features took away from the actual task of creating a movie. iMovie 08 really puts the focus on creating a movie that you can send around to all your friends and relatives, and it achieves this every well.

Well worth the upgrade, IMHO. =)

 

[GFLPraxis]

I still prefer iMovie '07 HD. It had a solid interface, great features, and created a profession-looking product in a relatively short amount of time. I haven't gotten my hands on the new version yet, but from what I've heard, the lack of features, more difficult interface, and disgruntled customers who've bought it already speak for themselves. For now, I'm sticking with iMovie HD.

Then you're falling for the FUD.

The interface is spectacular; those that complain about it have not actually tried it and are going off of hearsay. I VASTLY prefer iMovie 08. I've made a total of two videos for each version if iMovie and everything I've done on 08 has been vastly easier.

 

[mrgreen4242]

Hm, I was just thinking about how Apple combined all the pro media applications into FCS a few years back and made them available only as a bundle. I wonder if they have plans to do a Final Cut Studio Express?

I could see them updating iMovie '08 to include a basic DVD authoring system, which really would make more sense now that it's also a video library. Offer some templates, add a few options to customize those templates, etc. It seems like it would make much more sense to combine all of this together.

Then, take iMovie '06 and FCE and sort of combine them. Give people the FCE features and power but put it into the old iMovie mold to make it easier to use and more flexible in terms of how much of that power you want to use. They could update iDVD '08 to be more full featured - not quite DVDSP, but more than iDVD can do now. Build your own templates/layouts, basic HDDVD/BD support, etc.

Maybe add in some other nearly-pro level media app (not sure what... maybe a GarageBand Pro type sound editor, or even just an expanded library of music loops and effects for GB) and sell it for somewhere between $149 and the current $299 that FCE sells for (I could see a price drop in order to pick up more customers who used to use iMovie and iDVD to their fullest capacity but weren't willing shell out $300 for FCE).

 

[Wild-Bill]

Can you export an iMovie 8 project into a format that will be accepted by iMovie HD 6 ???? I'm thinking, for workflow purposes, you can scrub and trim your video to your heart's content, then import the scrubbed piece into iMovie 6 and then split it up, add video FX and transitions, chapter markers, and do other things. Possible???

 

[Artofilm]

I can understand why some people are upset about the new iMovie and how it works. Others are confused at how to use it and work with it like the old versions of iMovie, but here's the thing.

iMovie 08 was created because iMovie was becoming far too complicated for a simple "consumer" program, along with all the bugs and errors that it had as well.

The new iMovie promises quick, fast, automated-editing, so a consumer that knows nothing about computers, can make a fairly nice looking video.

On the other hand, no, it does not have much control to what you can do with it. This is what Final Cut Express is around for. It has much better layout, control, speed and not to mention a lot less bugs.

If you want control and customization, buy Final Cut Express.
If you want quick automated editing, get iMovie.

 

[oduinnin]

Can you export an iMovie 8 project into a format that will be accepted by iMovie HD 6 ???? I'm thinking, for workflow purposes, you can scrub and trim your video to your heart's content, then import the scrubbed piece into iMovie 6 and then split it up, add video FX and transitions, chapter markers, and do other things. Possible???

This is the #1 question I'd like answered. I couldn't find anything on the Apple web support site. Has anyone tried?

I'm still waiting on the new 24" iMac I ordered last wednesday, which will come with iLife '08 installed. Then I could give it a try.