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iMovie '09

Macworld Rating

4.0 out of 5 Mice, Jun 24, 2010

Pros

  • Better editing control with Precision Editor
  • Lots of new features such as picture-in-picture, green screen, motion maps, and themes
  • Return of long-lost iMovie HD features like slow motion and iDVD integration
  • Ability to store project files on external drives
  • Image stabilization
  • Archiving of tapeless source video without transcoding

Cons

  • Still no precise audio editing
  • No support for writing back to tape
  • No third party plug-in support
  • Single-field processing for interlaced video

Software Details

  • Apple
  • 10.5 (Leopard)
  • Universal
  • $79 (part of iLife ’09); free with new Macs

Macworld's iMovie '09 Coverage

  • Review: iMovie '09 iMovie ’09 has caught up with iMovie HD and surpassed it in features and performance. There are enough improvements in iMovie ’09 that I think it is no longer competing with iMovie HD, but instead with Final Cut Express.
  • How to pull still images from your videos Have you ever captured a fleeting moment on digital video, only to wish you also had it as a still image? Follow these simple directions to turn any frame of a video into a photograph.
  • Relocate your iMovie projects Do you need to offload digital video from your main computer? Jeff Carlson gives you a simple way to relocate your iMovie files.
  • Four ways to speed up iWeb '09 iWeb ’09 lets you create attractive Web sites quickly, but quickly isn’t always fast enough. Adam Berenstain offers tips on how to make iWeb even faster.
  • Six things you can do to make iMovie faster While iMovie '09 is fairly speedy all on its own, you can still streamline your video editing process. Jeff Carlson takes us through the steps.
  • We've got the beat (markers) Everybody get on your feet! Jeff Carlson shows you how to create your own music videos with iMovie.
  • Bugs & Fixes: A long time ago in a bug far, far away... Bugs & Fixes takes on a Star Wars flavor this week, as Ted Landau looks at a bug in iMovie '09 involving the Far Far Away title inspired by George Lucas' space epic.
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