[MacDV] Re: iMovie'08 Pro's and Con's

[sb]

Here are some of my pro's and con's sort of off the top of my head.
Please feel free to add to the list, or disagree.

iMovie 08 is much faster to throw together a quick rough cut,  
especially using the Magic Wand.
It works with the latest hard drive and flash storage cameras, as well  
as the HDV/AVCHD codec.
It is non destructive (iMovie 06 only said it was non-destructive - it  
really wasn't), and you can use the same source material in many  
projects without duplicating the media. Also, clips that you use don't  
"disappear" from the clipshelf, they are merely marked with an orange  
stripe to let you know you've used it.
It auto saves.
It is much easier for true beginners to learn, since they don't really  
have to learn to edit - only to pick footage and drag and drop.  
(though once you know how to edit, you can make frame accurate edits  
using the trim edit window or the ends of clips)
iMovie 08 has a very odd non-timeline interface that makes it very  
simple for beginners to edit without frame accuracy (though it does  
support frame accurate editing)
You really cannot do "b roll" edits in iMovie 08
iMovie 08's audio features are mostly missing or difficult to use.
iMovie 08 audio has "ducking" which is nice if you are doing a very  
straightforward project. But incredibly bad, if you want to raise and  
lower the audio is specific places. You have to output to GarageBand  
to do it.

iMovie 06 has separate video and audio tracks and allows you to  
extract the audio from a video clip. This allows you to replace  
portions of the video with other footage. This is virtually impossible  
to do in iMovie 08, if you want to be even close to precise.
iMovie 06 supports output to tape.
iMovie 06 supports adding DVD Chapter markers in the timeline
iMovie 06 has bookmarks
iMovie 06 has speed control (slow down a clip/speed up a clip)
iMovie 06 has effects - earthquake! lighting!
iMovie 06's timeline paradigm allows the editor to work with much more  
accuracy

  regards,

  sb

On Oct 13, 2008, at 4:59 PM, Shirley Kehr wrote:

> Just curious. Did these groups have any prior experience with movie  
> editing? It would also be interesting to try it the other way  
> around. With no experience of any kind editing videos, ask them to  
> start with '08 and then '06. I'd be interested in anyone else's  
> experience with that. Otherwise, I think a major part of what gets  
> measured is how much people like to change the way they do something  
> after having learned it one way.
>
> Shirley
>
>
> On Oct 13, 2008, at 7:48 PM, Allan wrote:
>
>> I recently asked two groups to edit their projects using both  
>> iMovie 06 and then 08. When I asked for thier opinions 96% of all  
>> participants chose 06. (4% were absent.)
>