Our Verdict
When Apple issue iMovie for the iPhone 4 last yr , I felt a tangible sense of longing . I was mad to have a mobile interpretation of iMovie , but a video recording - editing app seemed ideally suit to work on the iPad ’s large screen . I could easily ideate how it would forge , and yet it guide only on the iPhone 4 and fourth - coevals iPod touch .
Since then , it ’s been a given that the software system would leap out to the iPad , and with iMovie for iOS 1.2 , we get to experience what was no doubt on the drawing boards , if not yet in the shipping schedule , of Apple ’s engine driver . iMovie takes what can be a complex job — just calculate to Adobe Premiere or Apple ’s Final Cut app to see how cryptical video redaction can be — and makes it not only accessible , but tangible .
That tactile interactivity makes video blue-pencil more engaging . You get a better sense of tack together the movie using your finger’s breadth instead of being once removed by the mouse on a computer . My three - yr - former girl and I put together a quick movie , where she chose clips from the Videos pane by tapping on them . She became a co - editor , versus directing over my shoulder on the Mac ( which normally results in her losing sake and walk away ) .
Choose a section of source video to include in your movie.
This update runs on the iPad 2 ( but not , alas , the original iPad ) , the iPhone 4 , and fourth - generation iPod touch , expose potentially millions of iOS machine proprietor to a top - pass video editor program . iMovie for iOS 1.2 could be the friendly version of Apple ’s video software yet , a welcome introduction to the process of turning raw video clips into movies that say more than just , “ I pointed my camera at that place . ”
Editing video
Without a uncertainty , having the bombastic iPad screen available for redaction is an improvement over the small blind on the iPhone and iPod soupcon . When the iPad is in its landscape painting orientation , the Video dose appears in the upper - entrust corner . rap a source clipping to pick out it , and use the xanthous selection handles ( icteric circuit ) to choose which part of the cartridge holder to utilise . As you drag a handle , the Viewer orbit to the right displays the current frame , giving you an mind of where the edit point will be .
prefer a discussion section of germ video to let in in your movie .
It ’s also potential to preview a snip by dragging across it , but the speed depends on how you move your fingerbreadth , and there ’s no audio . In portrait orientation , the Video pane appears as a popover , with previews appearing in a thumbnail boxwood above your digit . I found myself want to preview a snip in existent time without first lend it to a undertaking — a Video pane - specific play release that affects the current choice , for representative .
When working in portrait orientation, source video appears in a popover.
When figure out in portrait preference , root video appears in a popover .
Clips that come out in your project are marked with an Orange River bar , so you’re able to see which sections you ’ve already used . Editing clip in the timeline is simple , and as intuitive as you could bear a video editor in chief to be : When you tap a clip , those bright xanthous selection handle orbs appear , beg to be dragged .
What ’s not as intuitive is add together a championship , where you need to double - rap a clip and pick out a title trend from the popover that appears . This is consistent from the previous translation of iMovie for iOS , and once you ’re familiar with the mechanism , it ’s not a big deal . ( This would be a in effect opportunity to point to iMovie ’s novel well - organise help system of rules , accessible by tapping a question mark [ ? ] ikon on the main CRT screen . )
The Precision Editor lets you see more of the clips surrounding an edit point.
As soon as I started commit together a retentive project , I notice that swiping across the length of the timeline was time - consuming and less than ideal . However , Apple has a couple of solutions : Pinch with two fingers horizontally on the timeline to expand or contract its breadth , or — the behaviour that ’s now become second - nature to me — tip and hold the left or right remainder of the timeline just above the picture clip to jump off to the beginning or end .
Editing audio
The audio tool at your disposal have broadened in this translation , which is a alleviation . It ’s now possible to view audio waveforms for video and audio snip , relieve oneself it promiscuous to determine edit point .
iMovie for Io now offers multiple audio tracks : One for the video track , one screen background music track , and three foreground audio raceway ; a circumscribed library of sound effects are also uncommitted . It ’s now possible to include multiple background Song , versus having to choose just one , by turning off the Loop Background Music choice in the Project options .
However , as welcome as these feature are , I ’m still left yearning for more control . When you trim an audio clip , there ’s no way to pass out the edit point , leaving an disconnected ending if you cut back mid - good . you could correct only the overall bulk of a clip . The background knowledge euphony cart track is also automatically ducked ( made soft ) when there ’s sound in a TV cartridge clip , but no control is usable to enable , disable , or adjust the stratum of ducking .
Although iMovie offers several audio tracks, you can only change the overall volume of each audio clip.
Although iMovie offer several audio course , you could only change the overall bulk of each audio clip .
Also , iMovie makes an premise that any audio runway under one minute in duration should be spotlight audio frequency , not a scope music track . That can be a trouble if you want to open a television with a unforesightful piece of medicine from your iTunes music library , and then keep up with a longer piece . iMovie identify the short part as a good essence ( a gamy track beneath the TV ) ; when you add the next call , it appears as a background rails , which interlace to the beginning of the movie . Unlike the behavior in the desktop rendering of iMovie , you ca n’t immobilize a backdrop racetrack arbitrarily .
iPhone 4 and iPod touch
Sharing your movie
In the previous version of iMovie , you needed to institutionalise a finish up pic back to the twist ’s Camera Roll before exporting it . Now , you may export the motion-picture show directly to YouTube , Facebook , Vimeo , and CNN iReport , as well as to the iPad ’s Camera Roll . ( It ’s remaining that MobileMe is n’t on that list ; Apple signal out to me that uploading to MobileMe is available via the Camera Roll , which means you call for to go to the Photos or photographic camera apps to access it . ) HD - timber options are offer for each of them , which is good if you have the bandwidth to send 720p files .
iMovie now exports movies to more communion internet site .
Of course , you do n’t need to send your pic across the net to reckon it outside the iPad . iMovie support toy a moving-picture show on devices like the Apple TV that support AirPlay . When you start play full - cover and tap the AirPlay ikon , iMovie make an AirPlay - compatible reading that come out to be 720p answer . ( In fact , I noticed the distinctive full - screen playback on the iPad itself was sometimes slightly grim answer , presumably to play the movie in real time without rendering . )
iMovie now exports movies to more sharing sites.
Another option enable by the iPad 2 is direct playback to an HDTV or projector via HDMI , usingApple ’s Digital AV Adapter . When connected , the idiot box mirrors what ’s on the iPad . However , I was surprised to discover that tap the child’s play Full Screen release on the Projects Thomas Nelson Page does not use the full boob tube the mode playing a movie from the Videos app does . Instead , you get what ’s mirrored on the screen : widescreen playback limited to the resolve of the iPad ’s screen with taproom at top and bottom . To get the full screen outcome , you want to first share the movie to the Camera Roll , and play it there .
Sharing projects between iOS devices requires a slow trip through iTunes .
One other detail in the sharing list is Send Project to iTunes . The idea is to be able to export an editable version of your project , for share with other iOS gadget running iMovie or for creating a reliever ( other than the backup that ’s automatically made when you synchronise your iPad ) . It ’s the same mechanism used for transplant document between the iPad and the computer , only in this cause , alas , you ca n’t reach the projection in iMovie ‘ 11 on the Mac .
Sharing projects between iOS devices requires a tiresome trip through iTunes.
I hoped that I could employ the feature of speech to channelize a undertaking instantly from my iPhone to the iPad using a sync cable and Apple ’s Camera Connection Kit USB arranger — that ’s one way to shift beginning movies and exposure between twist . But Send Project to iTunes really think of iTunes on the desktop : The feature piddle a copy of your project ( including the entirety of the root video files used , even if you ’ve let in just a few seconds of each in the movie itself ) and stack away it on the equipment ; the next time you sync , it becomes available in the Apps pane of iTunes when the iPad is selected in the sidebar . From there you must save the file cabinet to somewhere on your computer , get in touch your destination iOS machine , and total the project Indian file to the File Sharing section in the same Apps window pane . Then , finally , opened iTunes on the machine , go to the Projects screen , and beg the Import button .
Even after you ’ve transferred a project to another gimmick , you need to replicate it into iMovie .
The procedure works , but it ’s ill-chosen . If you do some redaction and want to send the project back to the original twist , you must do all of those whole tone again , plus be willing to put up with twinned source clips ( because the incoming project now includes all that footage , too ) . fortuitously , I do n’t forestall many people going to all that trouble .
Even after you’ve transferred a project to another device, you need to copy it into iMovie.
Little annoyances
have more option in this version of iMovie is scotch me , because I find myself wanting more — and cue myself that iMovie was create as an app for mobile machine .
For model , Apple does n’t even seek to support the assortment of video format that the great unwashed are likely to be shooting in . Footage is assumed to come from the iPad ’s cameras , an iPhone 4 , or a fourth - generation iPod touch ( H.264 up to 720p , MPEG-4 ) . AVCHD ? Go to the background . Based on the video - seizure devices at hand , I was able to spell and edit footage from a Flip Mino HD , but not a Canon Powershot G12 .
Now that iMovie stand multiple audio running , I would like to see the capability to elicit audio from a video recording clip , so I could intercut scenes or execute a cutaway model shot while the video clip ’s audio frequency continues to play .
Going back to the projects concealment , the movie you were just working on is n’t choose . So if you need to bring that picture full - CRT screen , or share it to a video service , you must scroll to turn up it again in the list .
last , get at Song and photos ask finer organisation . If you sync pic from iPhoto , for example , event , albums , voguish albums , and Faces are toss into one retentive alphabetic list . And the Audio pane , particularly the Songs list , really need the same sort of letter shortcut control that runs alongside the Contacts list in the FaceTime app for jumping through the depository library .
Macworld’s buying advice
Some of its shortcoming , such as the inability to gracefully evanesce audio clip and a clunky method of moving undertaking between Io devices , incite that same sense of hungriness I had with the first translation of iMovie for iOS . Now that the app is usable on the iPad ( though deplorably only for the new tablet ) and take the same added functionality to the iPhone and iPod touch modality , it makes me want more . However , priced at $ 5 ( free if you purchased the original interlingual rendition ) , iMovie for Io 1.2 is a great bargain .
[ Jeff Carlson is the writer of Photoshop Elements 9 for Mac OS X : Visual QuickStart Guide ( Peachpit Press ; 2010 ) and a older editor in chief ofTidBits . ]
