User profile for user: Douglas Griffin
Douglas Griffin Author
User level: Level 1
65 points

Anything good to say?

I'm considering upgrading to iLife '06, particuarly for access to the new features in iMovie and iDVD. I wanted to do this now because I just clean-installed my entire system and didn't want to reinstall '05 with '06 available.

However, from reading everything here, the new iMovie and iDVD versions sound like a couple of buggy s.o.b.s (Apple, please don't go Windoze on us). Granted, every app will have a few problems and these discussion boards are primarily housed with people looking for answers to problems, but can the apps really be that bad? Has anyone upgraded to iLife '06 and found it the great suite it's supposed to be?

By the way, as far as my usage goes, I'm at the pro-sumer level. I really need FCP and DVDSP for the quality of work I'm trying to produce, but I don't have the funds or training time I need at the moment. For now, I just need this version of iLife to be fast, stable and better than the previous version.

PowerBook G4, 1.67 Ghz, 1.5 GB Ram, Mac OS X (10.4.4)

Posted on Jan 21, 2006 10:27 AM

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11 replies
User profile for user: Matthew Morgan
Matthew Morgan
User level: Level 7
22,643 points

Jan 21, 2006 10:58 AM in response to Douglas Griffin

Douglas,

I have iLife '06 and am very pleased with it. Some great new stuff!

As a matter of good practice though, I don't recommend upgrading if you are still in the middle of a project you started with iMovie 5.

With regard to iDVD, I've heard that the new file structure of iPhoto breaks links that slide shows may have had with iDVD.

Again, if you're in the middle of something important, it's not the time to fix that which is not broken.

But if your making a fresh start on some new projects, go for it.

Matt
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User profile for user: Douglas Griffin
Douglas Griffin Author
User level: Level 1
65 points

Jan 21, 2006 11:48 AM in response to Matthew Morgan

Thanks Matthew,

I actually use the apps to create and update demo reels. So while I'm not officially mid-project, I will periodically need to revisit old projects for re-editing. If worse comes to worse, I can rebuild them from the ground up, but it's obviously not my preference.

Do you think the version cross-compatability issue is one that will be fixed? Or do you think it's something I'll just have to resolve myself to dealing with?
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User profile for user: Matthew Morgan
Matthew Morgan
User level: Level 7
22,643 points

Jan 21, 2006 12:16 PM in response to Douglas Griffin

Douglas,

I've been able to open iMovie 5 projects in iMovie 6 without any problems.

Still, it's entirely possible that some of the difficulties some have had could be related to compatibility issues of some kind. That's why I suggest some caution.

In your case, it would be wise to at least keep a back up of the original project before making changes with iMovie 6.

It sounds like some of the work you do is fairly important. That's why my suggestions are perhaps erring on the side of being overly cautious.

As I said, I've not really found cross compatibility to be an issue other than with some problems with third party plugins.

I'm sure these and any bugs that Apple uncovers will all be fixed in time.

Matt
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User profile for user: Bob O'Halloran
Bob O'Halloran
User level: Level 3
820 points

Jan 21, 2006 12:33 PM in response to Douglas Griffin

Doug,

If I were you, and wanting to upgrade to iLife 6 I would do the following:

1. Make sure that you've checked s/w update and are up to date with 10.4.4.
2. Repair permissions.
3. If you have iLife 5 then change the name of iMovie HD 5 and iDVD 5.
4. Install iLife 6.
5. repair permissions again.

This way, you will have iMovie 5 and iDVD 5 if you want to finish projects. if you don't change the name BEFORE you upgrade to iLife 6, then iLife 6 overrights iLife 5 and your lose that ability.

Just FYI, incase you have iLife 5 and haven't updated the s/w, there are updates to iMovie and iDVD, be sure to do that BEFORE you change the name to iMovie and iDVD, because if you don't and you cahnge the name, then the updates willnot work. But I'm sure you've done the updates.

Bob
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User profile for user: grandpa
grandpa
User level: Level 4
1,980 points

Jan 22, 2006 12:46 PM in response to lz

Well, I'll be the 3rd person with "good" to say about iLife apps. I know another person who is absolutely delighted with it, using a G5 iMac.

IMovie 06 is working as advertized, a bit faster than 05. It has more gingerbread/bells & whistles that I have yet to explore.

iM 6 allowed me to load 2 different movie projects, and then combine them. I saved the combination under a different name to preserve the originals for the moment.

iDVD took 3 attempts before finally reacting properly to the "export to iDVD" function in iMovie. It is now working as advertized.

I was hoping the rendering process would be faster, but at least it is no slower.

I'm currently burning a home movie with iDVD 06 as I type.

I feel I received good value in this package. It can do everything I need it to do.
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User profile for user: Lertie
Lertie
User level: Level 1
4 points

Jan 22, 2006 5:20 PM in response to Douglas Griffin

NO!

So far I've been trying to use iMovie and have nothing but trouble! See the other posts about rendering problems. That's exactly what's happening to me. No solution has been posted yet in these discussions, and I'm now on my third phone call to Apple. So far, I am NOT impressed with what my $80 bought - a waste of several hours and a LOT of frustration.

iMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.4)
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