DV for Teachers

Macintouch points to an update of Flip4Mac’s QuickTime plugin to play Windows Media and a security update for Office 2004

I just met with Dr. Kamphaus, the new dean of our college, to help him prep for a presentation tomorrow. He uses a black Apple MacBook. I said, “Oh, you have a MacBook.” He said, “I don’t like viruses.”

I found Danny Gorog’s review of Apple’s new iMovie” via My Apple Menu this morning. I felt alarm at the changes I’d read about, but Danny takes a long hands-on look, describing the good and the bad:

After spending a couple of nights creating a five minute movie I can tell you that it’s a vast improvement from the old version, and as promised, lets you create movies much faster. But those comfortable with the old way are in for a bit of a shock.

Danny likes it better than the old iMovie, especially the Event-oriented organization (rather than the old project-based setup) and the easy clip trimming, but acknowledges that while easier for whipping out an edited video, those who need more audio capabilities or who want to add effects will need to work in iMovie 6.0.4.

iMovie guru Jeff Carlson (among many others) points our that Apple has left iMovie HD form iLife ‘06 available as a download. But it only works if you’ve already got the new iMovie from iLife ‘08:

Perhaps silently acknowledging that iMovie ‘08 is a completely different approach to video editing, Apple has made iMovie HD 6 (the previous version) available as a free download. The release note states that it’s available “for those who have purchased and installed iLife ‘08.” I’m still downloading the 154 MB file (fairly slow DSL at home), so we’ll see if there’s something in the installer that checks for the presence of iMovie ‘08.

Updated: Yes, the installer checks to see if iLife ‘08 is installed before continuing. This means that anyone buying a brand new Mac that comes with iLife ‘08 (and who therefore wouldn’t have a previous copy of iMovie HD 6) could download this installer and get iMovie HD as well. But if you’re still using an older version of iMovie, you can’t upgrade to iMovie HD 6 for free.

Many have cried foul over Apple’s re-imagining of iMovie. We should get some new Macs within a few weeks, and I’ll have more to say about it when I’ve gotten my hands on it. Overall, though, as long as Apple supports the older version, it seems the best of both worlds: the new version’s quick editing with support for and export to more of the latest video formats, and the older interface with support for plug-ins, much more audio flexibility, and a great well of familiarity.

Derrick Story details the overhauled Adjust Palette in the new iPhoto..

...I’m particularly enthused about the overhaul of the Adjust palette with the inclusion of Highlight and Shadow sliders. These are professional-level tools that can really help you improve your pictures.

I think the improved Adjust palette is a truly a highlight for iPhoto ‘08. Photographers now have the most vital image editing controls right there in their digital shoebox, eliminating the need to roundtrip to outside applications for the bulk of their editing work.

Pro photo editors make very frequent use of the adjustment capabilities he describes – this makes iPhoto a much more valuable application. Does anyone know of an app with a similar degree of control for free, or nearly so? If so, leave a comment.