First Impressions: iMovie ’08

I have been trying out the new iMovie ’08 that comes with the iLife ’08 package. This is a completely reworked version of iMovie and Apple makes this distinction by changing the dock icon from a clapper to a star.

You can check out my very first project in my previous post as I recorded something with Kate Alvarez on this oven fresh software version.

The philosophy behind the rewritten application states that anybody should be able to make a movie in less than 10 minutes. All you need is the feed from your digicam and no editing skills at all.

So what did I think? iMovie ’08 allows you to create video projects faster than the previous iMovie HD because all you need to do is cut and paste clips from a real time track and add transition effects. However, when it comes to more advanced editing tools such as extracting audio from video clips, pasting multimedia over tracks (let’s say I want to put a picture over a video without disrupting the sound), I would have to do this using the old version of iMovie. The new version also lacks transition features and themes! Despite my Mac fanboy admittance, I do find this move very disappointing.

Apple admits this huge flaw in the new version of iMovie to such an extent that they are making iMovie HD (2006) available for download for free — that is if you already have a copy of the new iLife ’08. It’s a bummer though to have to rely on two copies for separate purposes.

Don’t get me wrong – the new version of iMovie is good for beginner videographers like me or for those who need to whip out a presentation in ten minutes! But as you move up the design chain, you will quickly outgrow this piece of software and settle for iMovie HD or Final Cut Pro. I would like to believe that iMovie ’08 is what GarageBand was when Apple first introduced easy-as-pie podcasting. This new version makes it so much easier to churn out video podcasts.

Some resources to read:

10 Missing Features from iMovie ’08
Buy iLife ’08, Get iMovie HD for free!