Searching more powerful than iMovie, but affordable

[catchmikey]

Hello everyone! This is my 1st post to the community, so I'd like to say hi and hope to share some chats.

I've been editing movies on iMovie for a while, and was curious whether there are some other video editing software available that are as easy to use and affordable (meaning something below $200)

I would like to have more options such as playing two separate clips simultaneously, creating video boxes, and more flexibility with text controls.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
-Mikey

 

[NeoMayhem]

I think final cut express is your best option. It is $200, but will do all of the things you want and much more. It also very similar to FCP, so you will have no problem learning that in the future if you want to do even more.

 

[yoyo5280]

iMovie 6 is better then iMovie 8 (with plugins) and is free

Final cut express is good too.

 

[bearcatrp]

I second iMovie 6HD. I have FCE and went back to iMovie 6 after buying plugins from geethree. Very cool plugins.

 

[ChrisA]

...was curious whether there are some other video editing software available that are as easy to use and affordable (meaning something below $200)

You are in luck, Final Cut Express sells for $199. To get a feel for how FCE works, watch the tutorials at http://www.apple.com/finalcutexpress/

FCE does require some study. It is a multi-track nonlinear editor and is really a different kind of editor then iMovie

 

[Courtaj]

iMovie HD does not support more than one channel of video. Final Cut Express 4 will do what you want, and it's really very good value for money - especially if you're a student or teacher at a university in which case it's a little less than half price after the higher education discount.

Andrew.

 

[heynsmd2]

I used iMovie 06 for several months and liked the simplicity and layout... It is very intuitive to start using requiring almost no prior experience... The main problem was the instability of iMovie '06, and would crash many times during a session (especially after importing a 60min DV tape).

FCE is relatively challenging to learn but is MUCH more stable in my experience and therein lies its advantage to me... The fact that it is so much more powerful was a secondary consideration that I only now start to appreciate... There are a great number of tutorials on-line for FC pro that applies to FCE too!

FCE's pro user interface looks 'unsightly' at first if you are only used to the usual mac UI, but it is built for efficiency and it stopped bothering me after a while.

iMovie 08 turned out much better than expected (after reading the negative reviews and complaints on forums)... It is actually my first choice for making quick movies for youtube or MobileMe.

Consider getting QTpro if you do lots of video transcoding...

In short - Learning FCE is worth your investment in time for great results. iMovie 08 is great for video sharing on-line in my opinion...

 

[catchmikey]

thanks everyone for the thoughts and advice! Hopefully I can talk with Santa and see if FCE may work within the budget.....this seems like the way to go