iMovie 9 vs Adobe Premiere Elements 9...better by miles!

Having exhausted attempts (even phoning Apple's tec support for hours failed to resolve this) to produce a good quality HD movie from iMovie 9 some months ago, I have read a number of reviews that spoke highly of Adobe Premiere Elements 9. I downloaded a trial version and have to say that, post editing, the finished article is far superior to that of iMovie. The HD video is exactly that...HD! Also, the added feature of Dolby Digital sound. Come on Apple... where are you! This is why I bought an iMac in the first place!!!

Most of the problem I encountered with iMovie was Apple's own codec (AIC) which I discovered reduces the quality of the native file (.MTS from my Sony SR12E) during the file upload. I do, however, prefer the features and interface of iMovie and wanted to know if Apple were going to improve the program any time soon?

I know that I am certainly not alone after reading similar threads on this (excellent) forum. For a non-professional user, I can easily produce something of reasonable quality, but due to the failings of Apple's iMovie, I had delved deeper into the technical stuff (a little tricky given the non-professional status!) and the codec is the real issue here.

Adobe have produced an excellent editor but lacks the features and 'MAC' feel and interface. Its a shame you cant get a mix of the two!

Anyone else had a moment of discovery?

Apple AIC is only applied during the preview process and is not indicative of the final render quality... I would be surprised that the final outcome was not what you expected unless one of your settings was askew..Not blaming just suggesting. Many people have great success and produce high quality movies from iMovie 09...

I wish it was something I had incorrectly set, but having spoken to Apple about the quality I was experiencing, it looks like its the AIC which is the issue and only improves if you purchase Final Cut Pro!

Did you buy an iMac so you could properly edit video?

Yes, I'm a bit disappointed as this was the main reason for the purchase of a MAC.

HD home movies are great but frustrating as the editing/software side has not caught up yet! A little premature I think!!! I might have to wait even longer (already been a year) to see something satisfactory.

What about FCE...it's only 169.00 at B&H Photo...( an incredible deal actually ) same interface as FCP..doesn't have everything FCP has but huge capability over iMovie and your on the same FCP platform so when the time comes...also accepts third party plug-ins...

I bought FCE and later found out that it uses the same codec, namely AIC, so no better really!

Still no luck with Apple, so I bought Adobe's Premiere Elements 9 and the results are fantastic. HD video with no degradation in quality, so it can be done!!!

Shame I had to buy more software as I really like the user interface and some other features in iMove 11.

Got any comparisons...? I've used iMovie 09/11 without any quality issues and would put it up against anything else with regard to final render...also considering the original source material.

Codda,

I have comparisons and Apple's tec support have also agreed that the quality of the HD finished video is sub-standard. I am very surprised as I am using a Sony video camera and an iMac for editing but the results are very poor, this is why I ended up having to buy Adobe Premiere Elements.

I just wonder why it would vary from computer to computer...as I mentioned...I get what I consider to be stellar final outcomes from my machine using iMovie 11 and a Canon t2i w/H.264 files no conversion necessary using standard high def. render settings....