User profile for user: doulos9999
doulos9999 Author
User level: Level 1
5 points

I need to know if IMovie 10 can do what iMovie 5 could, or if there is an alternative that duplicates the virtues of iMovie 5.

I am using MacBook Air from 2015 with OS 10.12.5. I'm not tech savvy at all. (I'm 61). I learned how to use iMovie 5 without difficulty, since everything was intuitive and simple. All the buttons were marked. The great virtue of the presentation screen of IM5 was that there were only three sections: a very large movie screen; the clip panel at right that you could switch to show the clip editor; and beneath the view screen and the panel/editor was the timeline that allowed you to see the single-frame clips in a row or to view the multi-frame clips that could be edited for length above the visible audio file.


When I open IM10, the presentation screen is so complicated I can't make sense of it. When I click on "library" or "event," I see audio files displayed under images; sometimes images stand alone, at other times they are stacked, and a click lets you go through them. I can drag clips from desktop to timeline, but not from desktop to library. The ****** view screen is incredibly small. I have looked at the instructions in "Help" and in a tutorial, and can't figure out how to do what I want to do. For instance, in the timeline the multi-frame clip stands over a blue strip whose function I cannot discover, and which I cannot hide; sometimes the timeline does not show the top of the multi-frame clip.


At any rate, please bear with me if I belabor points, and if at the end of it all you realize that IM10 will allow me to do what I want to do.


I want to be able to do the following things in making a movie.


  1. For any one project, I want to be able to see only the clips for that project, not an entire library.
  2. I would like to be able to drag jpeg files directly onto the clip pane for that single project.
  3. I give my jpeg files names. IMovie 5 would retain those names. If IM10 will not do that, I would like to know how to give them names that will always be visible..
  4. IM5 allowed me to hide the audio file. When the audio file was invisible, only the plain, single-frame clip showed, and I could transfer clips from the library pane to the timeline and then click and drag a single-frame clip from one position to another.
  5. If I wished to edit the image for length, I would open the multi-frame view above the now-visible audio file.
  6. Audio files always have a silent intro and outro that bookend the music; in IM5 I could so position audio file 2 so that its silent intro overlapped with the silent outro of AF1; that is, when the song 1 ended, song 2 would begin without a break.
  7. When I wished to apply the KBE to a clip, IM5 would allow me to open an editing pane. I would click the start button, and the editor would show me the amount of the image visible in the pane, e.g., it would say 1.00 if the whole image was visible, or 0.33 if only a portion was visible.
  8. If the jpeg was in landscape, the entire image might appear with no black background; if it was in portrait, it would appear with a black background. I was therefore free to zoom in to a point where there was no black background, and then I could toggle to center the image as I wished.
  9. When I had settled on the ratios I wished, I would click "Update," and the clip would be updated.
  10. I was then able to add to the bottom of the clip the following information: the length of the clip and the ratio change.
  11. I could then make a copy of that clip, place the copy in the pane, and make as many copies of it that I wanted.
  12. I could then arrange the clips according to length and ratio change from shortest to longest in clusters so that whenever I needed a clip that was 1 second long and changed ratio from 1.00 to .33 or from .33 to 1.00, I could find it.
  13. in IM5, if clip 1 changed ratio from .33 to 1.00 over a two-second duration, the image would reach the 1.00 display only at the expiration of the two seconds; IM10 reaches the 1.00 display BEFORE the expiration of the clip. This means that I cannot follow clip 1 with a clip 2 whose SKBE is 1.00 and whose EKBE is .25. I want smooth visual transitions between two clips.
  14. If IM10 will allow me to do all the foregoing, please direct me to a written document that will explain how in simple terms. I do not wish to go to YouTube—I find that people take too much for granted, and don't explain things well. Besides, I want to go at my own pace.
  15. If IM10 will not, but there is an alternative to iMovie that will, please direct me to it.


If I have failed to make myself clear, I will gladly clarify. My thanks for any help.



Posted on Dec 12, 2018 10:57 PM

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User profile for user: Rich839
Rich839
User level: Level 8
48,168 points

Posted on Dec 14, 2018 12:33 PM

Hi,


Your iMovie 5 functions checklist is a little hard to compare to iMovie 10, because of the different structure and nomenclatures of the two programs. Sometimes iMovie 10 has a similar feature but not exactly the same.  In some cases you can accomplish the same thing with iMovie 10, but because of lack of a specific feature for the function it is necessary to use a workaround. I'll give you my best recollection of the functions of iMovie 10 versus iMovie 5. Don't base your decision on anything I have said, but check it out independently. You would best refer to the online help menu for more detail, in case I have misunderstood what you want, and also for completeness. I'll give you the link below.


I hope the numbers sync up properly. I had difficulty with the formatting of this post.


  1. iMovie10 can do that by viewing the clips in an Event or in the project media view.
  2. There is no clip pane in iMovie 10. You can drag files into an Event (folder) that you create for the project, and then access the clips from the Event. Or you can drag clips in from the Media Browser view.
  3. You can name jpegs in the Photos app and in the Finder and they will keep their names in iMovie 10. You need to to a File/Export as Photo from the Photos app. The names will not be visible in iMovie 10 unless you select the clip and click on the Information button.
  4. There is no feature in iMovie 10 to hide an audio clip. You don't need to do that. In the timeline view, you pull the audio clip down to a lower well to detach it from the video above it. Then you can move the video clips anywhere you want.
  5. You show single and multi-frame clips by expanding and contracting the time line with a slider. You can change the duration of a clip in either view by dragging its edge or changing it with the Information button.
  6. You can do that in iMovie 10 by placing audio clip #2 in the audio well located below clip #1 and sliding it underneath clip #1. Or you can trim both clips.
  7. In iMovie 10 you edit the start and ending Ken Burns points by adjusting rectangles. There is no numerical display of the image size.
  8. You can do this in iMovie 10 by selecting the Crop to Fill option.
  9. In iMovie 10 you do this by clicking on the Reset button to apply your Ken
  10. Burns changes.
  11. The length of each clip is displayed when you place your cursor on it. The ratio change is not displayed.
  12. In iMovie 10 you can do an Edit/Copy of the clip, and Edit/Paste, or Edit/Duplicate Clip as many times as you like. There is no pane, but you can put the clip in the Event that you an create for a project, and access the clip from there.
  13. The ratios don't display, but you can automatically sort clips by duration. Or do it manually. I don't know if that is exactly what you want.
  14. You point out an annoying difference in the Ken Burns function. Trimming back the first KB clip doesn't solve it. I seem to recall that there was a workaround for this, but can't think of it at the moment.
  15. Here's an online help menu link, with a good search feature: https://help.apple.com/imovie/mac/10.1/.

I am not familiar with other iMovie apps. Final Cut Pro is a professional app that has more features,

but, as I say, I have not used it.


In the last analysis it would be your call as to whether iMovie 10 addresses your needs. iMovie10 does have some handy features that iMovie 5 does not have, such as Cutaway, Green Screen, Split Screen, Picture in Picture and the ability to share to Theater to link to other devices by way of the Cloud.

 

-- Rich

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User profile for user: Rich839
Rich839
User level: Level 8
48,168 points

Dec 14, 2018 12:33 PM in response to doulos9999

Hi,


Your iMovie 5 functions checklist is a little hard to compare to iMovie 10, because of the different structure and nomenclatures of the two programs. Sometimes iMovie 10 has a similar feature but not exactly the same.  In some cases you can accomplish the same thing with iMovie 10, but because of lack of a specific feature for the function it is necessary to use a workaround. I'll give you my best recollection of the functions of iMovie 10 versus iMovie 5. Don't base your decision on anything I have said, but check it out independently. You would best refer to the online help menu for more detail, in case I have misunderstood what you want, and also for completeness. I'll give you the link below.


I hope the numbers sync up properly. I had difficulty with the formatting of this post.


  1. iMovie10 can do that by viewing the clips in an Event or in the project media view.
  2. There is no clip pane in iMovie 10. You can drag files into an Event (folder) that you create for the project, and then access the clips from the Event. Or you can drag clips in from the Media Browser view.
  3. You can name jpegs in the Photos app and in the Finder and they will keep their names in iMovie 10. You need to to a File/Export as Photo from the Photos app. The names will not be visible in iMovie 10 unless you select the clip and click on the Information button.
  4. There is no feature in iMovie 10 to hide an audio clip. You don't need to do that. In the timeline view, you pull the audio clip down to a lower well to detach it from the video above it. Then you can move the video clips anywhere you want.
  5. You show single and multi-frame clips by expanding and contracting the time line with a slider. You can change the duration of a clip in either view by dragging its edge or changing it with the Information button.
  6. You can do that in iMovie 10 by placing audio clip #2 in the audio well located below clip #1 and sliding it underneath clip #1. Or you can trim both clips.
  7. In iMovie 10 you edit the start and ending Ken Burns points by adjusting rectangles. There is no numerical display of the image size.
  8. You can do this in iMovie 10 by selecting the Crop to Fill option.
  9. In iMovie 10 you do this by clicking on the Reset button to apply your Ken
  10. Burns changes.
  11. The length of each clip is displayed when you place your cursor on it. The ratio change is not displayed.
  12. In iMovie 10 you can do an Edit/Copy of the clip, and Edit/Paste, or Edit/Duplicate Clip as many times as you like. There is no pane, but you can put the clip in the Event that you an create for a project, and access the clip from there.
  13. The ratios don't display, but you can automatically sort clips by duration. Or do it manually. I don't know if that is exactly what you want.
  14. You point out an annoying difference in the Ken Burns function. Trimming back the first KB clip doesn't solve it. I seem to recall that there was a workaround for this, but can't think of it at the moment.
  15. Here's an online help menu link, with a good search feature: https://help.apple.com/imovie/mac/10.1/.

I am not familiar with other iMovie apps. Final Cut Pro is a professional app that has more features,

but, as I say, I have not used it.


In the last analysis it would be your call as to whether iMovie 10 addresses your needs. iMovie10 does have some handy features that iMovie 5 does not have, such as Cutaway, Green Screen, Split Screen, Picture in Picture and the ability to share to Theater to link to other devices by way of the Cloud.

 

-- Rich

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I need to know if IMovie 10 can do what iMovie 5 could, or if there is an alternative that duplicates the virtues of iMovie 5.

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