iMovie ‘11
iMovie continues to improve, which is a considerable relief to me. I use the application extensively when first teaching students about making digital films, so its imperrative that the tool work effectively. Otherwise I have to change software. This happens frequently enough in my classes, and I’ve had to move to FCE in the past to avoid issues that iMovie has created. But since the debacle of ‘08 the software has continued to improve. Now, I am extremely pleased to say that the Timeline is back! Without the timeline, it’s been more difficult to use the software - especially for novice users. Audio editing is also improved and a minimal storyboarding feature is “meh” but I’ll likely incorporate it in class because I still struggle to incorporate effective storyboards into the class projects. There’s also a much touted trailer feature, but I don’t see the value until I can think f an effective way to incorporate it into the class projects.
Overall though - its nice to have a strong update to the software that has been such a valuable tool for teaching neophytes about digital film editing. Here’s a link to the MacWorld review with more details.
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Comments:
I don’t see it as the next big meme - there’s no doubt that this will make certain elements of digital filmmaking more accessible to a broader audience, but not THAT much. I got a chuckle out of your MU observations though - I’ve seen that happen before. Its easy sometimes to view slick productions as time intensive, even when they aren’t. It frustrated me too to see folks think things are easier or take little effort (like real web development) when that actually take a ton of time!
Bodes well for someone’s first birthday video!
The value of the trailers feature is the “WOW! That was cool!” factor. I can’t see a ton of use for it outside of an amateur filmaker’s realm. A few tech bloggers have called it out as being the next big meme. I have already seen a couple of students at MU use it for the reaction of “You put a lot of time and effort into that” from the profs who know nothing about it.