Apple iMovie Review

As video editing apps for the iPad go, Apple's own iMovie is hard to beat, but it’s wanting in some advanced features and usability.

Start Screen

Right from the start, you can see the new iMovie for iPad's emphasis of theatrical trailer creation.

Theater View

You can watch sample trailers to get ideas for your own Hollywood-style preview.

Outline

To get started building a trailer, you fill in the outline, which will populate the credit rolls. Your "studio" can uses a choice of logo footage.

Storyboard

iMovie tells you what kind and the length of shots you need for your trailer. Just tap on a storyboard thumbnail on the left, then on a clip at lower right to display an arrow that lets you insert the clip. You can slide the clip back and forth so that the best section fills the yellow rectangle that's the length required for the clip.

Sharing

You can upload directly to YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, or CNN iReport. You can also send your movie to the Camera Roll, iTunes, or your Apple TV via AirPlay.

Project Audio

New for the latest version of iMovie for iPad are blue audio bars that reflect volume changes. Note also the yellow clip-trimming handles.

Transition

Tap the icon between clips to set transition properties.

Background Music

iMovie includes a selection of thematic background music for your movie soundtracks.

Clip Settings

Here's where you choose whether you want sound from the clip, title style, and location info.

Voice Over

Even some PC video editing software can't handle voiceovers, but iMovie for iPad can.