iMovie for iPhone (Kyle J)


With the release of the iPhone 4, Apple released a mobile version of its basic video editing software, iMovie. The app works on iPhone 4, the 4th generation iPod Touches, and now the iPad 2 (I tested the iPhone version). Apple claims that you can “Make beautiful HD movies anywhere with iMovie, the fast and fun moviemaking app for iPhone, iPod touch, and the iPad 2” however, I find the interface and the experience frustrating and sometimes slow. The app costs 4.99 on the App Store.

 

 

Adding movie clips to the timeline is very simple. Users can either shoot photos or video in the application, or import from the library. When you add video/photo’s to the timeline, it automatically adds them to the end of the timeline. If you need to shorten the clip, or edit where it starts and ends, that is relatively easy. The problems start if you would like to split a clip into two. The app does not allow that. Users would need to import the clip twice and edit the start and beginning of the clip to make it right. The app also seems to slow down and lag the longer the video gets, and it happens rather quickly.

 

iMovie is not very open when it comes to transitions and effects. The app includes eight themes, which is a lot, but only one theme can be applied at a time, and it applies transitions and the themes music to the movie. Text overlays can be added to each individual clip, but the text stays on the clip for its entire length.

 

Overall, iMovie is a neat little video-editing app. I would recommend it to people who want to make quick fun videos, but it would never replace a real video editor, even online-based ones. It does have its practical use for making short, quick videos. For videos longer than a minute, it would be best to stay away from this app.