I just got a miniDV camcorder to film our new baby. I have a powerbook g4 with a Superdrive. I'm new to video editing and I'm looking to use a good, user-friendly program. How is iMovie? How does iMovie compare with FCE and FCP? Thanks.
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How is iMovie?
- Thread starter chuchichan2524
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The visual communication department at my University thinks highly enough of it to use it as their primary movie editing software. We do have Final Cut Pro as well though. Most of the professors prefer FCP, but they say iMovie is easier to teach the students and sufficient for all but the most advanced editing. Unless you have a lot of experience and are doing very advanced stuff, I'd stick with iMovie.
The first time I tried video editing was with iMovie, took me 20 mins how to figure out, it has good features and is VERY easy to use, it cant compare with FCP and FCE because those programs are in aohter league, harder to use and with WAY MORE features, not worth it unless you are doing a professional project or unless you are really into video editing.chuchichan2524 said:
iMovie is very easy for a new user to step into (same for iDVD). Of course neither compares to their pro counter parts (FCP and DVD SP), but those have a much higher learning curve, tons of features you won't ever use, and cost significantly more. 
If you use iMovie extensively you might want to look at FCE, but for a newb I wouldn't suggest starting out w/anything but iMovie.
Lethal
If you use iMovie extensively you might want to look at FCE, but for a newb I wouldn't suggest starting out w/anything but iMovie.
Lethal
iMovie was essentially designed with people like you in mind, so it is perfect for your purposes. it makes a great starter app for video editing, it has excellent features and is extremely easy to learn and use, as well as being fairly speedy. If you get really into it you can always upgrade your skills with FCE, but iMovie is capable of producing some excellent results with very little work, it lets you concentrate on the story your video tells instead of the technical details, which I think tis the way it should be.
iMovie is great particularly if you don't have any current editing skills and don't particularly want to have to spend a long time learning things.
I did buy the O'Reilly book, iMovie HD and iDVD: the Missing Manual which is absolutely brilliant. Helps you get a lot out of iMovie, is full of little tips and also gives some good ideas on shooting/editing to help it look less like a home movie.
I did buy the O'Reilly book, iMovie HD and iDVD: the Missing Manual which is absolutely brilliant. Helps you get a lot out of iMovie, is full of little tips and also gives some good ideas on shooting/editing to help it look less like a home movie.