Transitions - iMovie '09 vs. iMovie HD

[trekmedics]

just opened up iMovie '09 for first time and, among other problems, i having a hard to working with the transitions.

iMovie HD made is super easy, but iMovie '09 doesn't have "Fade In/Out" only "Fade to Black", and i'm having trouble adjusting the time lengths.

What am i missing?
Thanks

 

[pilotrtc]

This question is interesting to me. I am doing the opposite. I've created my first movie with iMovie 09 and now I'm trying to create a movie in iMovie HD and finding the same difficulties trying to figure out how to do things that I found easy in 09.

I found some HD tutorials on the Apple site so I'm going through those. iMovie 09 has the same thing here. Also, for 09, you have the added luxury of Apple offering free workshops in that program which is how I first learned. You can find your nearest store here by entering your location in the upper right area.

Good luck

 

[chrismacguy]

There is a simple answer for the OP: just go back to iMovie 'HD - 'HD is vastly superior to both '08 and '09 (Ive used all 3 - and iMovie HD is much better). Im lucky in that I learnt with iMovie '04, HD5 and HD6 - so find it quite easy to use them. Even if I think Final Cut Express is much better (more complicated, but has a lot more features, many of which just seem like they should be in the iMovie line).

 

[spice weasel]

Blame the YouTube-ification of the market. At least that's what I blame it on. It seems that with iMovie '08 (and carried over into '09), Apple realized that a large segment of the home video market was mainly interested in creating short clips that they could easily share on the internet or with family members, etc. The new interface is great for being able to just drag and drop clips into a sequence, toss in some easy transition, and be done with it.

But like the OP, I miss the details and the power of iMovie HD. The learning curve was a little bit steeper, perhaps, but the pay-off was better control over the editing process.

It took me a while to get used to iMovie '09. I don't hate it as much as I used to, but it still leaves me frustrated a bit too often. I would suggest that you give it a bit of time and see if you end up liking it. If not, then go back to using iMovie HD. But it may start to grow on you a little bit.

The one thing that I really love about iMovie '09 is the way it handles your clip library. In iMovie HD, sharing clips between projects means copying them entirely. This takes time and eats up drive space quickly. With iMovie '09, all your clips are available to you for use in any and all projects you like. This is the main reason that I stopped using iMovie HD.

 

[chrismacguy]

Heh, Im just glad I jumped ship to Final Cut Express 4 when I did - its much more professional and also lets you store your clips in Bins which are accessible across multiple projects

 

[trekmedics]

Apple realized that a large segment of the home video market was mainly interested in creating short clips that they could easily share on the internet or with family members, etc. The new interface is great for being able to just drag and drop clips into a sequence, toss in some easy transition, and be done with it.

It's funny you mention that because now that i've forced myself to use '09 more, i'm beginning to suspect that it was designed with moms in mind who just wanted to throw together a low-expectations, minimal effort highlight reel of their kids kicking a ball.