Any programs better than iMovie'11 but still relatively inexpensive?

[Jen N.]

Hello there! I’m someone who likes to edit videos for fun using iMovie’11 on my Macbook (07). However, I’ve lately been disappointed with the video quality that it produces. Experience, as well as research on forums such as this one, has lead me to conclude that degraded video quality is unavoidable with iMovie’11. No matter what settings are used to export the video, the quality will always be a bit lacking – at least, that’s what I’ve come to understand.

Here’s my question. I was hoping someone could recommend a program that produces better results than iMovie. However, I am a poor student. I can’t justify spending a ton of money on something like Final Cut Pro or similar programs. Editing is just a hobby. I really don’t need anything fancy, anyway.

I have heard good things about iMovie’06 HD. This would be perfect for me, and iLife’06 still seems to be available for purchase, but I’ve read that it’s sometimes incompatible with my operating system, Snow Leopard 10.6.6. Any other recommendations? Keep in mind that I’m a novice, so technological jargon will go right over my head. I might be asking the impossible – an inexpensive, yet quality program – but I thought I might as well ask. Feel free to suggest more expensive programs, too, as long as they're less than FCP. Thanks!

[rman]

Final Cut Express 4.0 - Apple Store (U.S.)

[codda]

Are you talking about imovie 11 quality or final render quality? The final render from imovie 11 has the ability to rival pretty much anything out there. Perhaps it's the source video that should be questioned...