Ten Missing Features in iMovie ’08

In this my second post about iMovie ’08, I thought I’d make a quick list of important features that are missing from this latest version of iMovie. I’m pretty sure that Apple will either have to do something about upgrading iMovie ’08 really soon or continue to maintain and support iMovie HD, the previous iMovie version.

So here are 10 major iMovie HD features that I can’t find in iMovie ’08.

1. No audio extraction feature. As I said in my first post about iMovie ’08, the lack of an audio extraction feature is a serious development flaw. Extracting audio from video clips are very useful for advance editing. Sure, you can silence audio in video clips and bring in say music or sound effects in the background, but you can’t extract audio from video clips that you captured while shooting. Until this feature is included in iMovie ’08, I will definitely not be using it for advance work.

2. No chapter markers for DVD authoring. Seriously don’t know why that isn’t here, especially since that has been a major integration between iMovie and iDVD for at least the last two versions of both programs.

3. No iMovie themes. iMovie HD comes with really nice cinematic themes that you can use at the beginning through your movie. They’re completely gone from the latest version.

4. Lack of control over fade-in and out of audio. iMovie ’08 does the fading out for you. That’s okay for simple projects, but not good for advance editing.

5. You cannot open completed projects in older versions of iMovie in the newer ’08 version. You can import the source clips of older projects, but you’ll lose the transitions, special effects, and maybe even music tracks you imported into the older projects.

6. You can’t slow down or speed up the content of a clip! I can’t find this feature anywhere in iMovie ’08. Another serious development flaw.

7. No advance video editing controls. Apple included Audio FX and Video FX in iMovie HD, but only parts of these features appear in iMovie ’08. You can do some color adjustment of clips and normalize the audio of clips. But that’s it. Gone are FX features like Pitch Changer, LowPass, Fast/Slow/Reverse, or Aged Film adjustments.

8. No support for third-party plug-ins. I’m not a developer, but I would bet that third-party plug-ins for iMovie ’08 will have to be built from scratch. It doesn’t appear as if existing iMovie HD plug-ins can simply be upgraded with a few code changes for iMovie ’08.

9. There’s no pause control for titles. You can change the speed duration, but you can’t set for how long you want a title to show after it’s fad in. You’ll have to make a still clip if you want the title to pause and then fade out.

10. While iMovie ’08’s library feature enables you access all your iMovie projects, it doesn’t appear that you can have more than one project open at a time. You have to switch back and forth between projects that are listed in the library pane.

I’m sure there are a few more features present iMovie HD that are not found in iMovie ’08. The lack of the above features is a serious disappointment for avid and even professional users of iMovie.

The smartest thing that Apple did with introducing iMovie ’08 is not cause it to replace iMovie HD. There’s little doubt that avid and professional users of iMovie will continue to use iMovie HD until major and much need improvements are made to ’08.