Whats the Buzz

Question

Alright i am kinda an amateur film maker. but im really into it. I pretty much changed from a PC to a mac because of its filmmaking software. But, i dont really get whats the buzz. I mean in Imovie HD it takes longer to add an effect or title because it has that red bar at the bottom of the clip showing how much the effect or title has downloaded. But i really like the mac and all. But am i missing something? Please tell me whats so great about Imovie.

Answer 1

To be honest, there is nothing 'so great' about iMovie - except when you compare it to other video editors in the same price range (it may be good if you take a look at AVID's free video editor). As the saying goes: "iMovie is the worst video editor possible - except when compared to any other video editor available". Video editing could be more intuitive, faster, simpler, more forgiving, granted. iMovie should perhaps anticipate what I want, and be done implementing it the second I come up with the idea. Now that would be the ideal video editor. But unfortunately there is nothing like that on the market.
iMovie has a lot going for it -- .DV download via FireWire, non-linear editing, non-destructive editing (ok, a mixed bag because of it's impact on file size, and performance), an array of f/x, titles, and a handful of themes. Audio-editing is also rudimentary implemented, and integration with iPhoto, iTunes, GarageBand and iDVD is a real timesaver. If you take a look at other solutions you will soon find out that there are a number of applications (for any platform) that excel in one area, but are pitiful in many others. iMovie happens to be very well rounded, and thus has appeal to a great number of people.
If you greatly enjoy filming, and quickly want to throw together a cool cut from your last outing, iMovie's the ticket. The result may not be polished, and will not stand up to professional scrutiny. But that's not the point - iMovie's mostly about having fun both during filming, and during production.
If you are willing to go up the price range, Apple also offers Final Cut (Pro and Express). These editors are more powerful by orders of magnitudes, but definitely not by ease of use. It all comes down to your preferences and aspirations. If you are 'serious' about filming, there is no way you can get around Final Cut Studio (FCP, DVDSP). But their requirements in both hardware and time are hefty. Still, there is a reason pros use it. Using these tools is hard work, but the result is much, much better than what can be done with iMovie.
The trick is to find out what you want to accomplish, and then (and only then) choose the best tool for you. If your highest requirement is video processing speed (you brought up the red bar in your post), then iMovie is not the tool for you. Of note: the red bar shows the progress of the filter running on the clip - there is no download per se involved.
Why does iMovie take so long, to apply a filter? Well, you'll have to remember that video processing is a very processor intensive task. If you process a 720x480 NTSC clip, iMovie must process at least 1.4 MB x 30 = 41.5 MB for each second (1.4 MB per frame, 30 frames per second). If you go up to HD resolution, this number increases enormously. This is why iMovie takes it's time to render clips. But why does it pre-render clips during edit instead of at the end of the editing process? The advantages of pre-rendered clips are that it takes relatively little performance to manipulate them after they have been rendered. iMovie is a low-end app that is expected to run on low-end hardware (yes I agree that it could be 'snappier' even today).
Other video apps take different approaches, giving the impression of real-time effects during editing. They do, however, usually require a mastering/rendering pass during production. They also require top of the line hardware (I do not know what Mac you are using).
Take a look at other video editors, and choose which one is best for you. iMovie is definitely not for everyone, much less for every task. But it may be worth your while if you can overlook some of it's shortcomings.
Hope this helps,
-ch
Please Note:
I work for cf/x, and may profit from posting here.