[wajisin]

Yanks, and always been at war with Oceania. Well, why haven't you given us Australians a good beating? Hurry up and get on with it, then pour a load of (your) money into our economy and we'll try and resent you for it. Those greenbacks will be used to offset the price difference between Apple products in the States and Down Under. My iLife arrived today!

[webraider]

hillstones said:

I think everyone that hates iMovie '08 already owns iLife '06 and also has a copy of the stand-alone installer.

I installed iMovie '08 in order to upload clips to my MobileMe Gallery, and iMovie '08 is nothing but a pain in the ass! As one person said, random clips stay in the event pane forever, and dragging and dropping them didn't work to get them in the project pane. iMovie '09 will be no better either. They need to fire Randy Ubillo if he couldn't understand how to use iMovie '06. iMovie '08 and '09 removed the ease of use that made the original iMovie so easy to use. Thankfully iMovie '06 is a universal binary, so when I do upgrade to an Intel Mac, I can still use it.

I have no use for iLife '09, so that is one to skip.

That's your loss because iMovie '09 beats the pants off of anything Apple has put out in it's previous iLife suite

[webraider]

MacKayaker said:

Quote

The big mistake with iMovie 08/09 is it fails to be the intuitively usable consumer program that iMovie's earlier iterations were. I have several customers that use iMovie and not one of them could handle 08/09 - it requires technical understanding (albeit some of it pretty basic) that the earlier ones don't. It makes sense for those who have used pro level apps, especially FCP or FCE, because workflow and conceptually it is similar - just without the flexibility and expanded capability of a pro level app.

I disagree with you completely. iMovie '09 is so much easier to use and faster. In my opinion it's now better than anything iMovie '06 had to offer.

[webraider]

mrbach said:

Quote

If you are going to dump an old program, make sure the new one can import the old files. Myself, I still use 06. The new design is ridiculous and looks like some kind of Microsoft "make a movie" nonsense. It fills up with every clip you have, with endless, confusing frames of movies.
If I am wrong, then it's still a failure, because most Apple products are intuitive and easy to use. 08 is not. I have no plans to use 09 either.

Okay... iMovie' 08 CAN import anything you did in iMovie '06. It just won't import effects that you added in iMovie' 06. Why? because the effects in iMovie '06 weren't that great. Yeah there was a lot of them but already I've been using '09 and it's just a superb product. '06 and '08 are completely obsolete now and this is the easiest/fastest iMovie ever released.

[wolfe]

I just received my Mac Box Set. I don't know why it isn't called Mac Boxed Set so I'll call it Mac Pack. I was running 10.5.1 so I had to move up to 10.5.6 or iLife '09 wouldn't install. I don't usually upgrade or install a new level of OS so I hope this doesn't break anything or change the way I work. You know Apple. SJ has no qualms about secretly limiting customers with programming tricks. Remember FCE3? It wouldn't run on Intels. Apple wanted money for an upgrade. Change one line in FCE3 and it runs on Intel. Same for old iPod RCA connectors. Unmatch the colors and a non-Apple, cheaper cable works fine.
I installed iLife '09. Using ordinary programming language to remake iLife '09, Apple changed some splash screens, adopted ideas suggested by customers, imitated features on other software, added a Mac touch like clicking on the left instead of the right and added a 9. iL'09 is heavy with GarageBand if you like that.

I then tried to install iMovieHD6. No good. It must have iLife '08 on the hard drive to install. Never mind that I have several purchased copies in a box on the shelf. I'm not going to try a dual '08/'09 install...yet.

iMovie '09 is sort of simple to use. I like the skimming feature since it is more compact than viewing a timeline. Background music is not on a track but you can see where it is by a change in color around the clips.

Clearly iM'09 is geared for memory based video based on the workflow design and the tutorials. It is not iMovieHD6 or FCE/FC.

[marco]

I switched from a Windows PC to an iMac a few months ago. When I started using iMovie08 I quickly found out that it was missing some important features that were available on a 5 years old Windows software, such as the possibility of setting chapters (in iMovie08 it's only possible to have chapters set automatically every X minutes, and this is unacceptable). So I started using iMovie06 HD that luckily allows to set the precise position of chapters.

I hope that in iMovie09 it's possible to define chapters as in iMovie06 HD, otherwise for many users it would be useless.

[wolfe]

Here is a link to video tutorials to see what iM'09 can do. Hint: it has chapter markers used in iDVD for the scene selection menu.
[quote name='marco']

I hope that in iMovie09 it's possible to define chapters as in iMovie06 HD, otherwise for many users it would be useless.

[btc2]

xStep said:

I simply opened my mind to a new idea and was able to adapt. It seems to me that many here aren't so flexible.

That's the kind of attitude that frankly annoys the hell out of me.

It's not a matter of being inflexible when iMovie 08 cut out so many essential features. Aside from a ridicluous interface that stands the existing nonlinear editing paradigm on its head, it was basically a beta product that clearly wasn't ready for prime time. The lack of chapter stops was not only a ridiculous oversight, it's the kind of thing that (Sorry, Jason), someone should get fired for (seriously...the workaround was to go to GarageBand. WTF?). No controls for clip speed. The fantastic themes in iMovie HD? Gone. No control over video/audio fade in/out. No plug-in support. No ability to manually adjust audio levels within a scene. Want more than one project open at a time? Not so fast, Chucky. The list is well-documented and goes on, and on, and on.


I have over 25 years experience with editing, and I've been doing this since before nonlinear computer editing became a reality. I've edited on Avid, FinalCut, and a number of other systems. iMovie, far from being "too complex", was the perfect combination of power and ease of use...the power features were there if you cared to look for them, but a complete newbie could edit a movie quickly and easily. There was no compelling need for a completely new version of iMovie, unless you were trying to force Mac users into purchasing FinalCut Express to get back the missing features they needed.


I built my business on iMovie, having purchased the iMac DV and a Sony camcorder to do some freelance video work. It paid for itself in the first few months. To this day, I still use iMovie for simple video projects that require neither the complexity or confusion of FinalCut (I own and use both the Pro and Express versions).


My 10-year-old daughter has made amazing movies in iMovie, discovering ways to do things I never even thought of, and she got started with—literally—a 10-minute "tutorial" from me. To say it was too complicated for the average user is disingenuous at best and a lie at worst. iMovie '08 was a marketing tool for FinalCut Express, plain and simple.


I'm reserving judgement on the new version until I can get my hands on it and see what it's capable of, but I doubt that it will live up to iMovie HD.
Message was edited by: btc2

[Steve_S]

hmurchison said:

How can I put this succinctly. iMovie 06 is a turd. It's UI is an abomination and I'm sure Apple is gladly snuffing the last vestigal trace of that app.

Under the hood, I'd agree that iMovie had it's limitations. It needed a new engine, one derived from it's big brother, FCP and that's what it received. That was a good thing. Unfortunately, in the process, they gave iMovie 08/09 what amounts to a worthless interface. It's horrible. The original iMovie interface was FAR better than what they are shipping today.

Quote

If you find iMovie '09 complex then you have no business editing video IMO.

Editing in iMovie '08 is far less intuitive than '06. It's okay if you're just making a 2 minute YouTube video that requires minimal edits. But, try doing something like a wedding in '08. It's horrible. I have no choice but to use FCE. It's a great tool, but more than I should need for such a task.

Quote

Come on iMovie 09 is like a Ferrari to iMovie 06's Edsel.

More like a Ferrari engine in an old Edsel body.

Look, iMovie '08 brought a needed engine improvement but was essentially a universal disappointment (interface and feature wise) with the exception of a few sycophants that will simply praise anything coming from Apple. Supporters of iMovie '08 have certainly exposed themselves in this way.

[hayesk]

[quote name='Steve_S']
>

hmurchison said:

> Come on iMovie 09 is like a Ferrari to iMovie 06's Edsel.

More like a Ferrari engine in an old Edsel body.

Look, iMovie '08 brought a needed engine improvement but was essentially a universal disappointment (interface and feature wise) with the exception of a few sycophants that will simply praise anything coming from Apple. Supporters of iMovie '08 have certainly exposed themselves in this way.

Get over yourself. Is it really so hard to believe that other people may have different opinions? iMovie 08 was a disappointment to those used to iMovie 6. People new to iMovie didn't really complain. I've heard of lots of people making movies just fine with 08. Not only that, hmurchison was talking about iMovie 09, and you keep complaining about iMovie 08. Have you even tried iMovie 09 (not 08)?

There's no point in continue to whine about 08 since it's not even current. Try 09, then get back to us.

[hmurchison]

Under the hood, I'd agree that iMovie had it's limitations. It needed a new engine, one derived from it's big brother, FCP and that's what it received. That was a good thing. Unfortunately, in the process, they gave iMovie 08/09 what amounts to a worthless interface. It's horrible. The original iMovie interface was FAR better than what they are shipping today.



Limitations is an understatement. No Core Image/Video , no QTKit, no Core Animation and probably 50 other modern OS frameworks that I won't mention I think the people raving about iMovie 06 are the ones that got used to it. I fired up iMovie 06 just a few months ago and attempted to due some easy edits and dropzones and I just didn't feel like it was a modern app with modern performance. I think you can whip something up barebones easily but my initial impression was that it was old legacy software. iMovie 08/09 certainly is a new beast. It eschews a timeline (which I think is better for newbies) and makes everything project based. The media browser is better and working with audio is simply a matter of pulling it around and lengthening/shortening the tracks.

Will people used to iMovie 06 continue to scream? Of course ...just like the Office 2003 and earlier people continue to scream about Office 2007 (which I find much more appealing from a UI standpoint). Old habits die hard. I'm testing out iMovie 09 tomorrow and if I'm wrong about my assertions i'll make my feelings public. I've just got a sneaking feeling that i'm going to love iMovie 09 and the majority of Mac users wanting to do video will feel the same.

[Jason Snell]

wajisin said:

Yanks, and always been at war with Oceania.

We have always used iMovie to edit our home movies of our vacation in Oceania.

[xStep]

[quote name='btc2']
>

xStep said:

>
> I simply opened my mind to a new idea and was able to adapt. It seems to me that many here aren't so flexible.
That's the kind of attitude that frankly annoys the hell out of me.


It's not a matter of being inflexible when iMovie 08 cut out so many essential features. Aside from a ridicluous interface that stands the existing nonlinear editing paradigm on its head, it was basically a beta product that clearly wasn't ready for prime time

I never said iMovie 08 was perfect. I do find it easy to use though, despite its new way of presenting an editing environment. Sure there are annoyances, like with any software, but that doesn't take away from its ease of use.

Clearly others have conflicting opinions. I appreciate that, but those asking for someone to be fired over this change are going overboard.

As for 'essential features'. That too is a matter of opinion. One persons essential feature is another persons confusion or fluff. Although I do agree chapter markers should have been there, others might not care.

You (and others) may be right that Apple saw this as an opportunity to push advanced users to up to FCE. I have no issue with that. Apple has provided an intro level video editing application that they thought many new users could use, and if needed, they have an inexpensive and more capable product for those wanting more control.

[xStep]

Several people have complained that the timeline is so critical. Why?

Consider the target audience who are making little videos for the family, or even longer ones. Their care is to simply get the highlights in an sensible order and perhaps place some music over it. Why should grandma care about the timeline?