Imovie

There seem to be a few questions as to the compatibility of the Flip Ultra HD and iMovie 09.  The Flip Ultra HD and iMovie work great together! The latest version of iMovie 8.0.3 added the ability to optimize video. I started with 8.0.3, so I’m unsure on what I couldn’t do before .0.3 was released. A couple of quick points: The Flip Ultra HD comes bundled with FlipShare. It seems to work well enough for trimming and emailing videos but when you have iMovie at your fingertips, FlipShare is a bit lacking. FlipShare requires the 3ivx MPEG decoder. This decoder is included in the FlipShare software. If it isn’t installed, FlipShare will ask to install it. FlipShare can trim video and “create a movie” by linking videos together, adding a title and credits, and a music clip. No great shakes but its free and is easy to use AND it comes on the camera so you can use it anywhere. ...

FANTASTIC! When iMovie 08 came out there was a tremendous uproar from the fans of the prior iMovie versions. This new version was dramatically different than prior versions and frankly, wasn’t finished. In January, iMovie 09 was introduced at MacWorld and what a difference the new version is! Many of the disparagers now agree that while different, iMovie is no longer incomplete. It is just different. I’ve made films with iMovie (both types), Final Cut Express and Final Cut Pro/Studio. The pre-iMovie 08 version, Final Cut Express and Final Cut Pro were all the same type of film-editing application. Typically referred to as  a non-linear editing tool, the concept is to roughly approximate the work flow one performs in editing movies using the older tape-based process. Much of the terms –bins and clips – used in Final Cut, are the same used for years in the film industry. ...

OK, so Apple messed this one up. In Final Cut, when a clip is missing FCS has a sufficiently sophisticated method of finding the files. iMovie? Not so much. In fact, it doesn’t even ask for help! Background: I don’t like using iPhoto Library for my video files so I moved them out of iPhoto (using Finder, not iMovie) and into a separate iMovie Events folder. iMovie found these files no problem and can even help me maintain them (moves, adds, changes). BUT, it wouldn’t scan this folder for missing clips! ...

iMovie 08 was a bit controversial on introduction last year. It was substantially different than the previous versions of iMovie, so much so it angered most heavy users. It was clearly a version 1.0 release and Apple was atleast kind enough to keep the old version iMovie HD around so we could still use it. This January, iMovie 09 was released and this new version has made all the difference in the world. Many of the missing or incomplete features were fixed and some significant additions were made, most notably “precision editing”. ...