[Archangel]

Anybody out there use iMovie2? From what I'm reading it sounds like a vast improvement over the first rendition. Is it worth the bucks?

On another note, would Final Cut Pro be overkill for a guy who will only use it for lightweight consumer use (ie homevideos).

[jamesbondsv]

Let's see: $49 for iMovie 2 and $999 for Final Cut Pro.

[Archangel]

Yeah, it's only $49, but is it even worth that? In my experience with iMovie1 I would only pay the dough because it's really the only entry-level DV editing program for the mac (at least that I know of). Otherwise, iMovie blows and is a waste of HD space. . .even though HD space is blessedly cheap these days.

[rlmorel]

I think iMovie2 is a great program for what it is intended to do. It is deceptively powerful, but it does have limitations. If you just want to fix your home movies so they are more enjoyable to watch, and be a little creative in the process, it is great. It has almost no learning curve, is intuitive, and does have some nice features, although I think the program is not documented that well. just my .02...

Try EditDV Unplugged. It's free at digitalorigins.com
It is way better than iMovie 1, although pretty complex and requires that you actually read the manual.
Can't compare it to iMovie 2 since I haven't tried it, but since it's free you might as well try it if you're looking for an upgrade.

Good luck!

[LoungeFly]

IMHO, iMovie2 is well worth the money. I used iMovie1 with my eighth graders last year and we encountered few problems creating 24 movies (on just 4 iMacs). The frustrating thing then was the things the kids wanted to do but couldn't because iMovie was just a simple program.

I have now had a chance to work extensively with iMovie2 and am amazed at how many new features Apple has added. You now have more control on fade in and out of sound clips (and sound within the video clips), clips can be reversed, slo-mo'd, sped up (all to a varying degree). You have more control on font size in your titles, and you can set it so that you are working with QT margins (titles will go to the edge of the screen) or TV margins (titles are brought in, so that they are still visible when you export to tape and lose some of the edges due to the difference in monitor size). You can now put as many clips as you want on your shelf, and users can zoom in and out on the timeline of video / audio tracks. In fact, all the complaints I saw on MacNN forums and Apple's iMovie forums last year have been addressed by the release of iMovie2.

I'm now teaching seventh grade, and I can't wait to see what my students will come up with this year!

[This message has been edited by LoungeFly (edited 11-23-2000).]

[petek]

Is anyone using iMovie 2 on a beige G3? (actual: rev A G3/233 MT, upgraded to G3/466/1M, with 192 MB & 40 GB 7200 rpm Maxtor, Orange Micro Firewire/USB card)

Also, is anyone running EditDV with this config? I'm using a JVC GR-DVF21U camera, which works fine with iMovie 1. I had audio capture sync problems with Premiere 5.1 LE, though.

I couldn't install iMovie 1 directly on this machine because it isn't on the installer's list of "capable" machines, despite (or because of) having the Firewire/USB board. I got around it by mounting an iMac disk image which had iMovie installed and copying everything over. (And yes, iMovie does work on this machine) I guess Apple's requirement for "built in Firewire" is taken pretty literally by the installer!

I see that iMovie 2 has the same "built-in Firewire" system requirement. I wouldn't mind spending the $49 for iMovie 2, but don't want to have to load it on an iMac and copy it if I can help it.

I'm using iMovie 2 on a beige G3/300 DT, 128 megs, Keyspan FireWire card, QT 5.0, and an IBM 40 gig 7200 rpm drive. No tricks to installation, everything works better than fine. It worked fine with the stock 6 meg 5200 RPM drive too. Captures and records seamlessly with a Panasonic PV/DV 100 digicam.

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