iMovie 3.0.1 Users "Upgrading" to 2.1.2

gsfprez writes "It seems that the general consensus is that iMovie 3.0.1 really sucks bad. Compaints range from randomly splitting cuts when importing, audio/video syncing issues, random crashing, and most common - performance issues so bad that capture and playback at full framrate is unattainable - and that's on DP machines. My experience is all this and worse on my previously very useful iBook 800. One can only wonder how galactically awful iMovie 3.0.0 was. Can anyone give a positive report on iMovie 3.0.1?" It looks nice. I just wish I could use it without it crashing.

Comments

positive report

[Twirlip of the Mists]

Can anyone give a positive report on iMovie 3.0.1?

Yes.

First things first: the machine I'm using to run iMovie is a dual-processor 1 GHz with 512 MB of RAM. A faster machine will undoubtedly run it better, while a slower machine will undoubtedly run it less well.

I've used iMovie 3.0.1 to import a fair amount-- about 40 minutes, I think-- of DV footage from files I had on my computer. I don't have a camera myself, so I can't comment on how well or poorly the camera interface works, but I do have lots of DVCPRO footage left over from a previous project. The footage plays back in real time from the timeline with no problems at all.

I have about 5,000 songs in my iTunes library, and the first time I clicked the "audio" button I had to wait about five seconds, maybe ten, for the list of songs to appear. After that, there was no noticeable delay.

The effects and transitions seem to work just fine. I don't think I've tried all of them, but I haven't had one fail or work in an unexpected way yet.

Integration with iPhoto is, in a word, incredible. Just click a picture, set a duration, and poof, there's a clip on the timeline.

Do I have any complaints? Not really. Sure, this is just the free iMovie; it would be nice if it supported multiple video tracks on the timeline or such, but that's what Final Cut Express is for.

So, to summarize, iMovie 3 does not really suck, and no, I have had no problems with it at all.

Hit or miss

[DebianDog]

I am an Apple help and run the "Unofficial iMovie FAQ". I believe it is either works pretty good or runs like crap. Symptoms seem to vary based on CPU and memory. The most happy group are the dual processor folks. I have a movie here that shows me running top, playing a QT movie and also editing and playing with the new iMovie 3, on top of that there was the overhead of doing a 6 FPS screen capture. So when it is running right, it is fast!!!

I have also received e-mails for 3rd party plug-in manufactures that state:

"Some of the other plug-ins have a problem with screen redraw using NavServices (open/save dialog), but other parts of iMovie have this same problem. Some of the titles have the same centering problem as the Apple plug-ins, so we'll need to see how to address this."

So some folks have "fixed" there system by removing all third party plug-ins.

Some people say that shrinking the window to the smallest it can be "helps" with performance.

Some people have reported that running your Unix cleanups and prebinding "fixes" everything up:

1. Open Terminal (/Applications/Utilities).
2. Type: sudo sh /etc/daily
3. Press Return.
4. Enter your Admin password when prompted, then press Return.
5. Quit Terminal when the task is complete.
OR
Run Mac Janitor to be sure every is nice and clean
AND
1. Open Disk Utility (/Applications/Utilities/).
2. Select the Mac OS X startup disk in the left-hand column.
3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Click Repair Disk Permissions.
IF ALL ELSE FAILS and your still running slow
-Update Your Prebindings
1. Open up Terminal (Applications/Utilities)
2. Type: sudo update_prebinding -root /
3. Press return
4. Enter your Admin password when prompted, then press Return.
4. Wait... (you will see text-glore scroll by for about 10-20 minutes)
5. Quit Terminal when the task is complete.

I am personally not having any issues other than the following:

o Cannot center titles
o Cannot "always" reverse a clip
o Transitions add a black or white frame
o Timecode date/timestamp defaults to today

With all that being said Apple should have released this as a beta or done a a better job in QA. I have told them so too! I urge everyone to keep on Apple's backs and report all errors to them. They must have expected this in some way because "Report feedback to Apple" is a menu option!


Dan Slagle Keeper of the "Unofficial" iMovie FAQ