It's not long ago I bought my first and cheap video camera and began to use iMovie'05 which is the one I have. I was waiting for '08 to upgrade but now I really don't know. OK, so I get iMovie'06 but then, perhaps I should only look for iLife'06 at amazon.com?
What bothers me most is the lack of audio-controls. But looking at the demo and reading comments, it doesn't seem that easy to edit it in details as earlier.
Yes, I have been considering FCE but it is a steep step to climb, economically.

Sometimes I wonder if not people at Apple suffer from a lack of grip with the kind of reality most people have to struggle with? Most of us can't just run out and buy the newest and the best camcorder and when we're tired of the quick'n'easy videoediting for the YouTube-generation, we can't order a version of FCE just like that.
iLife has been a boost to the creativity of a lot of people and what has been most compelling with all of the applications in it, is that it doesn't take much to get into them. And then, when you've found out the basics, you discover more and more things you can do.
Schools have been mentioned. Grandma, too, but believe me, if grandma was interested, she would rather use iMovie as it was than throw together something for YouTube. You see, granny ain't interested in UTube, y'all.
So this isn't for granny, that's for sure.

I've also become a little worried as I have watched various Stevenotes. The man seems to be more and more obsessed with the kitschy, family-cosy stuff you can do with iPhoto and iMovie, and less concentrated about the creativity in itself. Is that because he loves it himself or does it reflects his views of his customers? In any case, that worries me a bit.

If Appleproducts are going to be developed more and more in the direction of something-for-the-dummies and Linux is for nerds only and Windows is just that thing you can't avoid but seldom choose, what is left for the rest of us?

Eh, Steve?

The more I look at the online coverage about iMovie '08, the more I think: iTube

And, that's not a good thing for iMovie. Don't get me wrong, I very much like the quick access to clips as shown in the SJ demo ... but the omissions?

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PM G5 DP 2.5 - G4 Cube - G3 iMac - iPod 4G & 5.5G

Okay, I realise many have complaint about this new iMovie. I don't know how many try it, but I did.

I use iMovie for sometime in the last few years, the program has many limitations where I found myself always turns to FCP to do even a simple edit. The only reason I'll import footage into iMovie is iMovie is not that selective to video source quality so it can take it and work with it. But then it's not that intuitive, and request trips to the menu to get functions that should be easily done through the timeline. Not ot mention iMovie is pretty slow.

But the new iMovie may be very different, but I think the way to do editing is very direct, make a lot more sense for a simple edit which exactly what iMovie suppose to be. The speed of the program is amazing.

Scrubbing through footage and choose segment of the clip in this manner is very smart.

I really like this change. It's really what iMovie should be.

In case you're tempted to download the free iMovie HD 6 without buying iLife 08, note that:

"The installer checks to see if iLife '08 is installed, so it's not a gift to owners of earlier versions of iMovie." (from Tidbits)

Well, what's left to say other than I agree with just about everything said here. I haven't upgraded yet, and now I'm not sure I will either. Sure, it's nice to upload a 5 minute clip to .mac for family and friends, I do it all the time with ease in iMovie 6. But these 5 minute clips are only for quick sharing and do nothing for me in the long-term as to archiving my videos and making nice creative professional looking DVD's from all of my tapes. The main reason I use iMovie is to create DVD's with iDVD. Being able to share a 5 minute clip of them on .mac is just a very nice side benefit in my opinion, and is NOT the main purpose of iMovie. Apple could have very easily enhanced iMovie 6 to have better .mac/youtube features and still keep it in it's current form.

Mini-DV tapes and DVD's ARE NOT DEAD. I'm sitting on a pile of about 30 tapes taken over the last few years. As someone else said earlier in this discussion, I too am about 3 yrs behind in my editing, but not because iMovie HD is too slow or cumbersome to do it with, it's actually very easy to use. I just take too much video to keep up with. If I had a hard-drive or memory-stick video camera, my only option would be to store all of my video memories on an external hard drive when the camera fills up, and I'd probably have about 10 external hard drives and hope none of them ever bite the dust before I get around to making a DVD. I just don't understand the trend toward hard-drive & memory stick cameras, unless you just don't care about editing and want to quickly dump your video to DVD's. But since I wouldn't do that, I'd still be 3 yrs behind and not have the security of DV tapes waiting in the wings. If you're on vacation and fill up your hard-drive camera, then what? I just think they're dumb. Sorry, I digressed.

Anyway, the fact is I will use tapes, and I do want to continue to edit and convert them to high-quality DVD's to preserve and share and pass on to my kids. I want to view these DVD's on my living room TV, and share the memories with family and friends rather than huddling around a computer to watch them. I need DVD chapters, audio editing, timelines, etc. iMovie 6 and iDVD 6 were (and still are) perfect for me, and I don't see the need to start over rather than just continue improving these 2 great programs. How disappointing.

By the way, here's an email address to send your gripes to: sjobs@apple.com.