iMovie on the iPhone present that a simplified video - blue-pencil app could ferment on an iOS twist . With the release of the iPad 2 , Apple ’s also releasing an update to the $ 5 iMovie that permit it run on the iPad 2 as well . I used iMovie on my iPad 2 to edit out a few video projection ; here are my first impressions .
Getting video in
Although iMovie probably would n’t exist on the iPad without the iPad 2 ’s front- and stern - facing photographic camera , those are n’t the only ways to get videos into the app . Yes , you may shoot video with the iPad ’s 720p rear - confront photographic camera and then immediately edit it . But you’re able to also shoot video with the iPhone 4 and then spell the footage by connecting it to the iPad via the iPad Camera Connection Kit . I did this , and it worked pretty well .
you may also transfer iMovie projects from the iPhone to the iPad . ( But not to the Mac , strangely enough . ) Unfortunately , the work flow for this is so convoluted ( I counted 15 steps ) that I do n’t think it ’s in reality worth it . If you ’re plan to edit picture on the iPad , just channel the bleak video files and protrude your task on the iPad itself .
Unfortunately , iMovie ca n’t use video files that are n’t in the specific format shot by iOS gimmick . That does n’t signify videos shot on all other devices wo n’t cultivate , but lots of them wo n’t . My Canon T2i shoots H.264 videos , but at the wrong resolutions . My Canon HD camcorder shoots in a dotty compression data format that an iMac clamber to transcode , so I ’m not surprised that iMovie on the iPad refuses to acknowledge its existence . Still , if you ’re design on using an iPad to redact your vacation movies , plan on dash those movies on an iOS twist or search out a television camera that shoot iPad - compatible video files .
Using the app
Apple says iMovie work only on iPad 2 ; I was able to put in my sampling transcript on an original iPad and it seemed to function fine , though as projects got more complex it beget a little torpid . This may be one of those case where Apple decided that if the ware did n’t worth swimmingly and cleanly on the original iPad , it was n’t worth supporting at all .
Like iMovie on the iPhone , iMovie on the iPad features a scrollable timeline pane along with a video - preview pane . On the iPad , there ’s room for both of those to be much larger — and in landscape style , you also get a view into the iPad ’s video recording library , make it easy to pick clips and add them to your undertaking .
I was able to piece together a video recording , trimming clip , set conversion , and even record a voiceover in no time at all . The act of recording a vocalization - over feature of speech in reality feels superscript to the Mac translation ; after you record the track , you have the pick to review , discard , or keep what you ’ve done . How civilized .
Titles are limited , but functional . One of my favorite actions while editing picture , splitting a snip in two , is debauched and easy ( if not obvious ): you pick out a clip and then lift down on the play head , and poof , one clipping becomes two . It gain tactile sense , like you ’re physically chopping the clip in two .
Though I was able to get up and take to the woods in iMovie on the iPad quickly , the app actually has remarkable astuteness . I was really impressed with the app ’s help scheme , located by tapping the interrogation - mark icon on the main carte du jour screen .
In general , seeing iMovie on the iPad actually makes the design direction of the Mac variant of iMovie start to make sense . iMovie on the iPad is n’t the same as iMovie on the Mac , but you’re able to say how the two are related , and I ’d imagine that they ’ll become even more interrelated in the futurity .
iMovie look like a great way for someone go light to edit together home movies . The only thing that will really define its use is the limited number of television camera that grow iMovie - compatible picture files . ( Presumably the macrocosm of this product will spur camera - maker to verify their devices create compatible files , at least as an pick . ) If you shoot most of your home movies on your iPhone already , though , you will have few complaint about iMovie on the iPad .
These are my first imprint . We will have much , much more on iMovie on the iPad — including an in - profoundness first flavor and a full review — in the next few days at Macworld.com .
