As part of its update to iLife today, Apple wheeled out a new version of its entry level video editor, iMovie. It seems Apple listened to the negative feedback which followed the last version, tweaking its interface and adding tons of new features, including shake correction, editing refinements and animated maps for video-happy travelers.
Apple’s marketing boss Phil Schiller introduced iMovie 09, admitting Apple had made some mistakes with the last version. “Last year it was all new, we had an amazing new way of editing. We did a whole new version of iMovie… Not every feature was there for every customer… some people missed the features,” he explained.
But the new version should put some of those missing features back, as well as adding new ones on top.
Apple’s added a new ‘precision editing’ system, and made it easier to select just the audio from a clip, or add sounds from one video to another.
There’s also built-in image stabilisation for shaky or blurred clips too, as well as new filters that apply to videos in real time and complex 3D effects and transitions.
It’s a hefty upgrade, but we’ve a feeling some users will still lament the loss of the traditional iMovie ‘timeline approach’. The new version still seems slightly amateurish in its approach, although as we’ve said – it’s an entry level video editor, so that’s probably fair enough.
Out late January | $79 (or free with new Macs) | Apple
