When it comes to video creation, editing is probably the hardest part. To properly edit a video, you need to be proficient with a good video editing software and have a great knack for video storytelling.
IMovie is the free video editor application for macOS and iOS. It's created by Apple and used only in its own operating system macOS and iOS. Apple hasn't released any Windows version of iMovie and it has not announced any scheduled plan to develop iMovie for PC. Actually, Apple won't earn money by selling iMovie for Windows. Apple iMovie is now free to download from iTunes and use on the latest Mac computers and the latest iOS as well, which is big news for Apple fans. With this free and intuitive video editing app developed by Apple, you can do some basic editing like trimming, cropping, merging, etc.
Looking for a best iMovie Alternative? Check out Movavi Video Editor.
However, there is a myriad of video editing software out there. So, it begs the question, which video editing software should you use? Well, if you are Mac user, you can easily turn to the default iMovie that comes preinstalled on your computer.
iMovie is often overlooked by many as a good video editing software. Most people think it's primitive and so it's not up to the task of making a great and well-edited video. Well, is it?
In my over 4 years' experience as a video creator, I can confidently say that making a professional looking video has more to do with your technique and less to do with the tools you use.
Regardless, there are certain professional features that I judge every video editing software I come across by. Let's put iMovie to the test and see how well it performs.
1. Color Correction
Color correction is one feature that I immediately check any video editing software for. These tools enable you to fix any color problems you may have in your video arising from various lighting conditions or white imbalance that may have been present during recording.
iMovie features a default color correction tools that enable you to tweak the brightness, color saturation and contrast of your video.
There is also a color temperature shift control that comes in handy when you are trying to fix a white balance in your recording.
2. Video Speed
Video speed control is another critical feature that I look for in any video editing software. Video speed control allows me to alter the speed of any video clip. Speeding up or slowing down a video clip is ideal for representing various scenes in a video.
iMovie allows you to either increase or reduce the pace of a video clip to illustrate multiple scenes in your video clip better.
3. Multiple Video Tracks
This feature is an absolute must. Having the ability to view multiple video tracks gives you an added flexibility and edge during video editing. This can come in handy if you ever need to add more video footage to your project. This is also called b-roll into your project.
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Also, you can use this feature to add a green-screen, split screen and picture and picture.
iMovie does permit those features; however, you can only make do with only one extra video track. For very complex 4 or 5 layers composting effects, you are going to look further than iMovie.
Although, for most video editing projects, dual track multimodal editing system will do just fine.
4. Text and Titles
One other important feature to look for in any video editing software is the quality of the on-screen titles and texts.
Texts are important parts of a video, and they can be used to add text, captions and titles.
Your video editing software should be more than capable of adding quality on-screen texts. You really do not want to have a separate software for editing videos and adding titles and texts.
Which is why having a video editing software that edits video and is capable of adding text is a big plus. iMovie has a plethora of nice templates for titles, captions, credits and lower thirds.
Most of the templates are already pretty much animated, although you may choose to edit them to your liking. You can use a bunch of tools to tweak the color, sizes and fonts. However, you are a little restricted as you cannot change the location of the text on the screen.
But with a little technique and creativity, the default iMovie templates will come out right.
5. Picture overlays
How about when you need to show custom graphics or text in your video?
To achieve this, the video editing software has to be capable of importing graphics file from another source – the ability to use graphics overlay is another essential feature that I am keen about in any video editing software.
Basically, graphic overlays are custom animations, images or graphics that you create in other applications and then import them into your video project. But to use this feature, your video editing software must first be able to import graphics that contain transparency information or something known as an alpha channel. There is a limited amount of image format that is compatible with an alpha channel, with the most common ones being tiff and PNG.
iMovie can import either of TIFF and PNG including their alpha channels.
6. Key frame animation
This feature is one that you may not ascribe too much with a video editing software.
Key frame animation enables you to choose the position, appearance and size of objects on your screen. Having this feature in your video editing software is very useful as it saves you the hassle of having to work with other applications such as Adobe After Effects, even for some of the simplest animations.
iMovie has the key frame animation feature that can be found within its picture and picture feature. Although its pretty basic. But once you get a hang on it, you will find it very useful for creating simple animations.
7. Audio Editing Features
Audio is an essential part of any good video. People might bear a bad video quality, but nobody will put up with terrible audio quality. Poor audio can render even some of the best videos unwatchable, which is why I am very particular about the audio editing features of any video editing software I use.
1. Audio Meters
Audio meters help you gauge the sound of your audio and tell you if it's going to be too low or too loud for your audience.
They also help you to set a reference audio level for all your videos so that they all come out at a consistent audio level, which is great. You certainly don't want your audience either scrambling for the remote or adjusting their speakers each time they see a bunch of your videos.
In the case of iMovie, there is no traditional audio meter. Instead, there is a color-coding and waveform that helps you measure sound levels.
2. Audio Filters
Another crucial feature I always search for in any video editing software is the range of its audio filters. Audio filters are important for enhancing the sound elements in your videos.
In iMovie, you can find a bunch of basic audio filters, among which is an automatic optimized filter that helps you to even out and boost all the low-quality sound levels. It also contains several equalization and noise reduction filters to help you enhance the sound of your project.
3. Multiple audio tracks
In my opinion, multiple audio tracks is a crucial feature that any video editing software should have.
With multiple audio tracks, you can add sound effects, music and voiceovers to your project to make them more exciting and engaging.
iMovie allows you to create multiple tracks of audio that enables you to add several layers of voiceovers, sound effects and music to your project. However, they could all come out weird if you cannot possibly control the audio levels of each track.
iMovie allows you to adjust the individual sound levels of each of these tracks. This is a reasonably easy and effective way of controlling the sound levels.
4. Sound Mixing
In a process known as audio ducking, iMovie also features a sound mixing tool that automatically reduces the audio levels of other video clips on the timeline in relation to a chosen clip.
To Conclude
After walking you through those features, do I still think iMovie is a good enough video editing software?
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Well, for most of the videos which we see today, I would say iMovie is more than capable. Sure, it's not the best software to use If you are creating lengthy videos or videos that contain lots of animations or effects.
Regardless, you can always create animations and other special graphics and effects on a separate application and then import them into your iMovie project.
Once you factor in the features, usability and price, iMovie becomes a decent competitor.
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Hey, My name is Paul – nice to e-meet you 🙂 I'm a freelance video editor who has over 4 years experiences of making all types of videos. I founded this website to provide step-by-step and easy-to-follow instructions to first-time editors or beginners like you who want to start their journey in video editing.
