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Get iMovie HD’s editing timeline back in the new iMovie ’11

Get iMovie HD's editing timeline back in the new iMovie '11

When the completely redesigned iMovie ’08 came out, a vocal group of users complained that the user interface didn’t include the traditional editing timeline. With Apple’s new iMovie ’11, however, a couple clicks bring the timeline back.

Apple touted the radical changes in iMovie ’08 as a way to make video editing more approachable to novices with little to no experience. They were right in that regard, but intermediate level users avoided it in favor of the pricier Final Cut Express or the older iMovie HD. The multi-line editing panel in the upper-left corner of iMovie ’08’s window was not as familiar to these folks as the single-line horizontal timeline they used for so long.

Now that iMovie ’11 is here, the updated iLife application offers the best of both worlds. The default user interface is the same, but more advanced users have the option to get their beloved timeline back with just two clicks.

Traditional editing timeline in iMovie 11

The first step to enabling the traditional editing timeline in iMovie ’11 is to click the Single-Row View button in the upper-right corner of the Project Browser. Next, click the Swap Events and Projects button on the left side of the middle toolbar. Now the entire bottom half of the screen is utilized by the timeline.

Traditional editing timeline in iMovie 11

Pretty easy, right? If you’re one of those who have avoided iMovie ’08 and iMovie ’09 for the past few years, this definitely makes iMovie ’11 worth checking out.

4 Comments Have Been Posted (Leave Your Response)

Would this be good to edit skateboarding?

Finally – any news on plug-ins and effects? All the ones for iMovie HD were made instantly redundant when the new iMovie came out, and the supplied selection with the new version were anaemic at best. Have they added any more? Is Apple actually listening to its customers?

Cheers.

They should just take iMovie HD 06 and change the name to iMovie 12 and publish that.
I’d be fine with that, especially if they added a few more effects.
This is the only Mac editor I know (Movie Maker for Windows can)
where I can just put in 1 song, then put in muted video to go along with it.

Shepherd Iverson
March 8th, 2011, 4:35 PM

iMovie HD 06 was perfectly intuitive and versatile for including photos, video clips, and your favorite songs into a travel or home movie. The two channels of audio, with easy sound clip importing and editing, and easy to adjust levels made this application fun to use and produced a great final product. I want the exact same functions, features, and look as iMovie HD 06! I would pay $100 for this. I do not like using FC Express. I bought it but do not use it.