To anyone using Apple’s iMovie to edit video with, you will be excited to hear that with the release of iLife ’11, iMovie now offers much better control over audio levels. I’ve been using iMovie on and off since iMovie HD (version 6). When Apple redesigned iMovie in 2008, they severely crippled the access to audio . . . → Read More: iMovie ’11 gives greater control over audio]]>

To anyone using Apple’s iMovie to edit video with, you will be excited to hear that with the release of iLife ’11, iMovie now offers much better control over audio levels. I’ve been using iMovie on and off since iMovie HD (version 6). When Apple redesigned iMovie in 2008, they severely crippled the access to audio editing functions. iMovie ’09 was marginally better, but we are almost back to where we started with this new release.

The main improvements include:
- audio waveforms are plainly visible now, so you can see how well your clips match up, and where they may be distorting.
- keyframing ‘aka rubberbanding’ allows targeted control over whole clips/music files. You can raise and lower levels visually right where you need to.

You are still limited to a small number of concurrent audio clips, but this takes users that much closer to getting their videos to sound (and look) like they want. I personally opt for Final Cut Pro when I edit my own videos, but we use iMovie to teach film classes with. I am so impressed with how functional iMovie is, given that comes free with Mac computers.

I think the new audio capabilities are worth the price of upgrade, which I think is around $49 or so.

Check out the upgrade here: iLife ’11