Apple has touted iMovie '08 as a complete rewrite of iMovie, but it would seem that not everyone is thrilled with it. Sure, iMovie '08 has some interesting features, but it lacks many things that the more mature codebase of iMovie HD 6 offers like:Use Spotlight as a reference tool. Type any word in the Spotlight box and one of the top entries will be a definition. Click on it, and it will bring up the dictionary application to check the word in either the dictionary, thesaurus, Apple database, or Wikipedia.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Ted said 10:54AM on 8-09-2007
likewise it is worth pointing out iMovie 08 doesn't work on a G4 Powerbook- only G5 1.9Ghz or faster
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Matteo said 10:26AM on 8-09-2007
... Guess iMovie 08 is proving to be the worst upgrade Apple has made to any software release... I bet they are currently working hard to get some of the features back in.. I only hope they will take advantage of Core Animation...
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Gandalf said 10:02PM on 8-09-2007
Scott is not quite accurate: iMovie HD is currently in version 604 for non iLife'08 users. At least that's my case.
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Chuck said 10:50AM on 8-09-2007
Another glaring omission in iMovie '08 is the lack of G4 support. If Apple hadn't released this free download, I wouldn't have bought iLife '08.
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Mike Riley said 8:13AM on 8-10-2007
This morning I installed iLife 08 on my MacPro and iMovie HD was left in my Applications folder, but was placed in a folder named "iMovie (previous version)" Anyone care to guess if this is an on the fly change the Apple could do (perhaps the installer get its install script via the web at the time of install if a connection is available) or if it does this by default.
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Joe said 11:28AM on 8-09-2007
No multiple audio tracks? That's crazy. It sounds like you'd have to replace the audio track with music, or merge it all down destructively.
I'm glad I learned Final Cut. I may enjoy iMovie's library style yet, but I doubt I'll use it for any editing.
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Candace said 11:52AM on 8-09-2007
Thank goodness!! I have spend the entire night stressing over this because it seemed this amazing "upgrade" to the current iMovie was in fact a "downgrade" because all of your options were pretty much stripped of you! I do have to admit that the premise of the new iMovie is solid. But when it comes down to it I feel it was stripped of all the creativeness that the previous had and the reason I loved it! If they could only blend the two...I would be a happy camper!!!
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Macintologist said 11:52AM on 8-09-2007
It seems like they already had a winning formula even with just iMovie 2 and onwards. I guess this is the best they can do to keep the old timers happy.
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sknifton said 12:44PM on 8-09-2007
piece of shiite. i used to create enhanced podcasts on imovie 06 ... i stayed up all night, too.
i thought i was missing something .... i'm not.
it's less than useless to me.
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Aaron Miller said 12:49PM on 8-09-2007
I know this sounds corny and naive, but Apple will prioritize the needed iMovie '08 fixes if the customer feedback compels them to do so. I'd like to encourage everyone who wants the best of old and new iMovies to give Apple feedback at the following link:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/imovie.html
Also, if you write a letter, I know from past experience that they will read it. I think iMovie '08 is headed in a great direction, but it is basically unusable to me because of the lack of granular editing.
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Ron said 12:55PM on 8-09-2007
It won't let you install the update to iLife '06 unless you own iLife '08.
Why on earth wouldn't they give this update to iLife '06 owners?
Why on earth would Apple replace an integral product in their product line with something that a single developer made in his spare time? I know it has some cool features, but they don't replace ALL of the functionality that was in the '06 version!
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Tim3308 said 12:55PM on 8-09-2007
Ha! I was wondering about this, watching the QT presentation as Jobs was throwing this and that around. I'm like, This is no iMovie upgrade, this is "a down and dirty thrash a quick clip together and just slap a song behind it" and e-mail/upload it" program.
It gave me pause, as we take way more pics than movies and I use iMovie (and Ken Burns effects) to make DVD team memories for the youth teams I coach and even my business presentations --I know this was likely gone when I saw no "timeline" as Jobs was going through this. Yikes!!! Something like iMovie 6 better stay around!!!
Are they "storming the gates" over at iMovie Discussions site at Apple?
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KR said 1:00PM on 8-09-2007
Seems to me that they should've kept iMovie as it was with an update or two, and made the new app "QuickMovie" or some such thing. Have both apps come with iLife so that people can get the best of both worlds.
I guess that's what they're trying to let people do by installing both after the fact.
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GLS said 1:13PM on 8-09-2007
Wish I could digg this article down for innacuracy... It is possible to have multiple audio tracks going at the same time. You can have background music, voiceovers and original audio from the video track running simultaneously and adjust their levels, individually. This covers about 99% of most users and their needs.
Also, the link referenced in this article shows that iMovie 6.0.4 was posted on the day of the announcement. This doesn't seem like something Apple did in response to an outcry, but more of a calculated decision. They understood that veteran users would take time to win over, and thoughtfully move aside the old iMovie so that it's there for you if you want it and provide a *free* download of software you used to have to pay for (!). I think new users aren't even going to bother with iMovie HD.
I just did my first movie in iMovie 08 last night. It was awesome - 20 minutes and I had a 2 minute video that was beautiful. I could never have done that before. If I want to make an hour long movie with frame accurate editing - I have the option to use iMovie 06 - but to be honest - I don't see why iMovie 08 wouldn't do a stellar job of that either.
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Jeff Weitzman said 2:01PM on 8-09-2007
I posted similar comment in an earlier thread, but before everyone goes crazy, TRY IT. It is a very different interface, but people are discovering that most of the options are still there. See above about multiple audio tracks. Also the timeline is STILL THERE, at least in a sense--you can pop into an audio timeline view and scrub and adjust the audio while watching the video in real time. It may take some getting used to, but many will find it far more powerful to match audio to video.
Similarly with Ken Burn effect. At first I thought 'great, you can't tweak the Ken Burns effect any more!' but then I found the little crop icon right on the clip, which takes you into a very nice tool including Ken Burns adjustments with pro-style start and end wireframes.
Explore, people! It may not be your cup of tea, but there's a heck of a lot there.
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Aaron Miller said 1:46PM on 8-09-2007
@GLS,
Can I mod your comment down for inaccuracy? ;P Those aren't true multiple audio tracks. They are dedicated to only a particular source. The old iMovie can have two concurrent audio tracks, plus the sound from the video track. (You can even extract the audio from a video clip, allowing you to interview your grandpa on camera and play his voice over pictures of him as a kid. You can't do this in iMovie '08)This is a huge difference and certainly not limited to 1% of circumstances when using iMovie.
I wonder from your comments how much you actually used previous versions of iMovie. 20 minutes to make a two minute video is a piece of cake in iMovieHD. This new emphasis by Apple on "quick and dirty" movies basically threw the baby out with the bath water.
This is coming from someone who has never used iMovie for anything more than family reunions, soccer games, and the like. iMovie '08 is fine for making clip shows, but all of the little things that make them feel like movies are basically gone.
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GLS said 3:05AM on 8-10-2007
@ Aaron - well, I certainly didn't mean to get into a flame war about whose the biggest baddest iMovie 6 user out there. But - yes - I've used iMovie 6 plenty, although to be honest, I'm more of an FCP guy, so I tend to go there for true NLE style editing. I'll freely admit to having used the split audio tracks feature although I always felt that it was a bit of a kludgy mechanism given iMovie's NLE bent. That was one of those features that hung in the tension between delivering pro features and providing ease of use.
My point was that there is indeed the concept of multiple audio tracks, albeit in a different form than iMovie 6. The article is somewhat inaccurate because it asserts that multiple tracks have disappeared entirely which leads to well-meaning, but misunderstood comments like #4. Also - the assertion that the 6.0.4 giveaway is a reactive move from Apple, as opposed to a proactive decision is unfounded.
Obviously Apple is trying to make putting together family and fun videos dead easy - which in truth - was not the case with iMovie HD. This approach covers the vast majority of the needs of the target audience in an easier to understand way. It sounds like what you're looking for is more pro features. There's obviously a disconnect between what you want and what Apple has decided its target market wants. Notice how all the example footage for iMovie all the way back from version 1 onward has always been "family reunions, soccer games, and the like"?
If you're looking to make featurettes - maybe it's time to graduate to something a bit more capable, like FCE or FCP?
I fully agree with Jeff - don't knock it before you try it - which I have. It was cool.
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derek said 3:13PM on 8-09-2007
I think they limited the # of formats it can read also. I have this random really bad digital camcorder that I keep around for various things:
http://www.amazon.com/Flip-Video-Camcorder-30-Minutes-White/dp/B000ONDRDU/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4/102-9302577-2816915?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1186686595&sr=8-4
Records in .avi and iMovie06 recognizes the files just fine. iMovie08 has a cold shoulder and won't read the files what so ever.
Going to try to import them into 06 and see if i can save it and open it up in 08. Dumb
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Al said 3:45PM on 8-09-2007
We need to be able to extract audio. Transitions need to be customizable... Those are my two biggest gripes so far.
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Greg said 4:28PM on 8-09-2007
Please correct me if I'm wrong but, using a few of iMovie 06 I found sometimes that 2 audio track isn't enough. But, there is an option to share the (finished) movie to garageband to create the actual movie soundtrack.
I have to admit that I didn't used this feature but as I use iPhoto to manage my photo stuffs, even if they go into a movie, I would found normal to use Garageband to do a movie soundtrack.
Though I haven't tested iMovie 08 yet, I would appreciate to still be able to export to Garagebad to play with sound rather than having two audio tracks. And I'm am really looking forward to experimenting 08 to see if it is really faster than 06 (and I hope so...)
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