Image editing
In addition to these three new features, iPhoto '09 has also made some improvements in its existing features. First, there are improved editing tools. There's now a "Smart Saturation" check box below the Saturation slider so that you can enhance the vibrancy of your photos while keeping natural-looking skin tones. In our tests, we found this to work as advertised.
Another image editing improvement is a better Enhance tool, which promises to improve a photo with a single click. As the one-click wonder of iPhoto '09, Enhance is designed to better adjust contrast, exposure and colour in the photos. Sliders in the Adjust window move automatically to detail the changes.
Other image-editing enhancements include a new red-eye correction tool, a Definition slider to adjust clarity and sharpness, highlights and shadows and an improved retouch brush. The red-eye correction tool now uses iPhoto's face detection so it automatically knows where the red eyes are. The Definition slider is just as it sounds; sort of an amateur version of Photoshop's Unsharp Mask for cleaning out blurry edges. Highlights and shadows is simply a way to adjust the light and dark areas in your photos — Aperture users might find this familiar, as it's the same technology from Apple's pro-level photo management software. Lastly, the improved retouch brush now detects edges, so it's easier to clean out stains, blemishes or anything unsightly in the photo.
The last major update to iPhoto '09 is the revamped slideshow tool. It now has six themes: Ken Burns (pan-zoom effect), Classic, Scrapbook, Shatter, Sliding Panels or Snapshots. Thanks to the new face detection in iPhoto '09, image cropping in the slideshows now centres on the person's face, which works really well in the pan and zoom effect in the Ken Burns. Of course, you can also add your own music to the slideshow, and if you prefer, you can create your own custom slideshow theme. A nice bonus is the ability to export your slideshow to iTunes for syncing to your iPod, iPhone or Apple TV. Note that you can only do so after you exit the slideshow interface, and make sure you export it immediately after creating it; it's easier that way.
One final note to the new iPhoto '09 is that you can use it to create new printed albums or keepsake books complete with the maps you created using your location data in Places. You can even customise the map with notes, zoom in or out and create route lines.
iMovie '09
When iMovie '08 first debuted, there was quite a substantial outcry in the Mac community. iMovie '08 was drastically different compared with its predecessors, without a lot of the depth and advanced features to which most Mac users have become accustomed. The outcry got so loud that Apple allowed users free downloads of iMovie '06 (also known as iMovie HD), which offered the lost functionality.
Fortunately, it appears that Apple has learned its lesson; iMovie '09 brings back many of the features that were missing from iMovie '08. These include dynamic themes, video effects like speed and reverse play and plenty of new title animations. And of course, iMovie '09 has a couple of new offerings that help replace the missing timeline that was in iMovie HD.
Precision editor and advanced drag and drop
The most interesting addition is a new precision editor window. Right-click on one of your selected clips and choose "Precision Editor" to access it. The precision editor essentially lets you "zoom in" on your video clips, magnifying the transition between the selected video clip and the one preceding it. A greyed-out area will show where the clips overlap in transition, which will give you better control over the spot you want to cut.
You also have better control over the audio track, the title animation and the sound effects. But we still would prefer a more precise manipulation. For example, we wanted to match up an exact part of a song to a specific point in a video clip. We could only do this after a lot of dragging and dropping and trial and error. If we had a timeline, lining them up would be a lot easier. For better transitions and edits, the precision editor works great, but we still miss the timeline.
iMovie '09 also features an advanced drag-and-drop tool. Now when you drag a clip on top of another clip on your project, you're presented with a few options: insert the clip, replace the clip or just insert the audio. There are also a few ways you can replace the clip: Cutaway, which lets you replace the video but not the audio; Picture-in-Picture, which fills in the new clip in a tiny little window in the corner of the existing clip; and Green Screen, which lets you place the new clip in front or behind the other clip (provided you shot one of the video clips in front of an actual green screen).
Video stabilisation
If you've ever had a problem with shaky videos, you'll like iMovie '09's video stabilisation feature. Just select "Analyze for Stabilization" and iMovie will do its best to analyse every pixel to correct any jerky movements. Bear in mind, though, that if you're using a low-quality camera, it can't fix the blurriness inherent in the hardware. iMovie '09 does promise to stabilise most photos, even the ones taken in a car or a boat. If you want, you can adjust the amount of stabilisation in case you want the video to look shakier.
Themes and transitions
As we mentioned earlier, themes are back in iMovie '09. Themes are basically video templates that let iMovie add titles and transitions automatically to your project. You can go back and manually add theme elements like titles and theme transitions. iMovie '09 has six different themes: Photo Album, Bulletin Board, Comic Book, Scrapbook, Filmstrip and plain.
Other video effects include Cartoon, Aged Film, Film Grain, Vignette and more. These effects give your videos a nice professional finish, without a lot of work. There are also more than 32 title animations, like Lens Flare and Pixie Dust. You can combine the title animations with animated backgrounds or green screen effects. Lastly, you can speed up or slow down a clip with the speed change slider.
Maps are a big feature of iMovie '09 as well. You can choose from a variety of animated maps to show your location, or if you're shooting a travel video, you can create a map that animates your journey and make your own mini travel documentary.
Edit music
The last addition to the iMovie '09 application is the ability to edit to music, especially when you're making a music video or something that's music-focused. You drop beat markers in a music track and iMovie '09 will attempt to match the video clip durations to match the markers. Of course if you want fine-tuning, you can use the precision editor.
GarageBand '09
GarageBand '09 may quite possibly be the sleeper hit in the iLife '09 package, owed simply to its new music lessons feature. Yes, you get the same GarageBand controls as before; you can create layered songs with multiple edit points, create podcasts in a snap, make your iPhone ringtones and jam in a virtual band. But the new "Learn to Play" feature is the main reason to get GarageBand '09.
Indeed, instead of just targeting those who already have some musical know-how, GarageBand's Basic Lessons are for those who have little to no musical ability at all. GarageBand '09 comes with basic lessons for both guitar and piano and, through a series of instructional videos, will teach you everything from how to hold the guitar to learning a whole song.
16%
7%
I will primarely buy iLife '09 for the Places feature in iPhoto. I'm a geotagging fan and now there is a cool way to handle my geotagged photos. I'm using the iPhone app GeoLogTag for a while now to geotag my Flickr photos, but since it also exports GPX files, I can use it to geotag all my photos (in combination with HoudahGeo).
The good: Places in iPhoto '09