5 ms·

The cool part about iMovie and Garageband is they're basically a more approachable UI layer to Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro. They share a lot of the same core c

by npunt 5y ago

The cool part about iMovie and Garageband is they're basically a more approachable UI layer to Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro. They share a lot of the same core code, and teach you the same concepts just without the fiddly pro bits. I love that bifurcation because it really makes the pro apps more approachable without compromising their usefulness (pro apps require info density, consumer apps avoid it), and it allows their power be scaled down to iPhone and iPad. I wish more software was made this way!

doctorhandshake 5y ago
As a longtime user of various pro apps in these categories - AE, Premiere, Final Cut, DVR, as well as ProTools, Digital Performer, Logic, etc, all of which share a lot of UX paradigms that make it relatively easy to switch between them, I find the type of simplification at work in iMovie and Garage Band makes them almost unrecognizable, stymieing my ability to use them at all almost every time I try.
- scarecrowbob 5y ago
  I started in Sony Vegas back around the turn of the century and share your enjoyment of the standardized UI paradigms of professional software. It's great to be able to pick ups something like Davinci Resolve and just know what I can do and find the 10 keyboard shortcuts I want and then get to work, just because I learned Ae and Premiere a decade and a half ago. I also share your frustration with iMovie and garageband... I can't get a damn thing done in GB and I've tried several times. It's like the CLI: I already know exactly what I want to do, and I have an understanding of how the computer is going to deal with it. These apps feel like trying to drive a car with an iPhone app. However, I work with a lot of non-professionals and they love these tools. So more power to them. I remember using logic back when I started 20-something years ago and had no idea baout how MIDI worked. I remember being able to actually have fun getting things done in fruity loops or rebirth. I'm glad there are tools out there which are nerf'd up for the beginners.
- npunt 5y ago
  It's hard to go back to Duplo once you know Lego. Curse of knowledge.
- Groxx 5y ago
  I have had nothing but endless struggles trying to get iMovie to produce what I want (often extremely simple) and not a Ken Burns slideshow. Honestly, after fighting with it for several hours, I almost always end up googling some ffmpeg incantations and get close enough to be happy.
  - smcnally 5y ago
    It’s interesting how many iMovie defaults you have to un-check — Ken Burns, Stretch to Fit, Fit length to Soundtrack, e.g. — to produce what you want because the defaults were selected by people who know what they’re doing. VLC logs its ffmpeg incantations which is handy for cribbing, extending
- smcnally 5y ago
  100% re ProTools, Logic and other DAWs that share core UX paradigms with analog tape recorders like Tascam. When GarageBand moved away from this core, I dug into Live. Amazing, powerful and complicated. “Plug in, arm track, record” is still very appealing and I sometimes miss gBand’s familiar simplicity. I used Final Cut steadily through v7.x but still used iMovie for quick slideshows and rough edits. Final Cut X felt unrecognizable and stymieing, so I moved to Blender VSE. It’s incredibly powerful and configurable and complicated. iMovie is simple for working w mobile screencaps and I like the Storyboard concept in this new release. I’ll see where it fits in my workflows so long as I don’t completely blank the next time I’m in Blender.
warning26 5y ago
I'm still salty about how they had a pro photo app, Aperture, and then killed it unceremoniously in favor of a neutered approachable equivalent.
- scoot 5y ago
  You're salty? I bought Aperture a couple of months before they killed it! In hindsight I probably should have contacted my credit card provider, but I guess I naively thought Apple would do the right thing. No such luck.
- CharlesW 5y ago
  It's hard to lose a favorite app. You might check out RAW Power¹, which has some Aperture DNA in the form of Nik Bhatt². Last year I left Lightroom for Photos, which is surprisingly powerful when used with 3rd-party apps and extensions³. ¹https://www.gentlemencoders.com/raw-power-for-macos https://www.gentlemencoders.com/raw-power-for-macos ²https://www.gentlemencoders.com/about/ https://www.gentlemencoders.com/about/ ³https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205245 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205245
  - noyesno 5y ago
    Which extensions would you recommend for Photos?
    - CharlesW 5y ago
      I'm using it with the Photos integration provided by RAW Power¹, Affinity Photos², and Pixelmator Pro³. ¹https://www.dpreview.com/news/0399283051/raw-power-3-available-for-mac-and-ios-includes-workflow-improvements-and-new-editing-tools https://www.dpreview.com/news/0399283051/raw-power-3-availab... ²https://affinity.help/photo/en-US.lproj/index.html?page=pages/Extras/applePhotosExtensions.html?title=Using%20Apple%20Photos https://affinity.help/photo/en-US.lproj/index.html?page=page... ³https://www.pixelmator.com/tutorials/resources/a-quick-guide-to-the-new-pixelmator-pro-extension/ https://www.pixelmator.com/tutorials/resources/a-quick-guide...
- 5y ago
daniel_reetz 5y ago
I'm not sure this is correct. Have you worked on software at Apple?
- npunt 5y ago
  https://alex4d.com/notes/item/imovie-2013-is-consumer-ui-on-fcpx https://alex4d.com/notes/item/imovie-2013-is-consumer-ui-on-...
skhr0680 5y ago
iMovie is like other Apple software in that it's great if you're on the happy path but worse than useless the moment you try to do something that Apple thinks you shouldn't. For my basic use of stabilizing clips then putting them in sequence with transitions, DaVinci Resolve was easier and less frustrating to use (for me).
hda111 5y ago
I wish Apple would still make Aperture.

by npunt 5y ago

doctorhandshake 5y ago

As a longtime user of various pro apps in these categories - AE, Premiere, Final Cut, DVR, as well as ProTools, Digital Performer, Logic, etc, all of which share a lot of UX paradigms that make it relatively easy to switch between them, I find the type of simplification at work in iMovie and Garage Band makes them almost unrecognizable, stymieing my ability to use them at all almost every time I try.

scarecrowbob 5y ago
I started in Sony Vegas back around the turn of the century and share your enjoyment of the standardized UI paradigms of professional software. It's great to be able to pick ups something like Davinci Resolve and just know what I can do and find the 10 keyboard shortcuts I want and then get to work, just because I learned Ae and Premiere a decade and a half ago. I also share your frustration with iMovie and garageband... I can't get a damn thing done in GB and I've tried several times. It's like the CLI: I already know exactly what I want to do, and I have an understanding of how the computer is going to deal with it. These apps feel like trying to drive a car with an iPhone app. However, I work with a lot of non-professionals and they love these tools. So more power to them. I remember using logic back when I started 20-something years ago and had no idea baout how MIDI worked. I remember being able to actually have fun getting things done in fruity loops or rebirth. I'm glad there are tools out there which are nerf'd up for the beginners.
npunt 5y ago
It's hard to go back to Duplo once you know Lego. Curse of knowledge.
Groxx 5y ago
I have had nothing but endless struggles trying to get iMovie to produce what I want (often extremely simple) and not a Ken Burns slideshow. Honestly, after fighting with it for several hours, I almost always end up googling some ffmpeg incantations and get close enough to be happy.
- smcnally 5y ago
  It’s interesting how many iMovie defaults you have to un-check — Ken Burns, Stretch to Fit, Fit length to Soundtrack, e.g. — to produce what you want because the defaults were selected by people who know what they’re doing. VLC logs its ffmpeg incantations which is handy for cribbing, extending
smcnally 5y ago
100% re ProTools, Logic and other DAWs that share core UX paradigms with analog tape recorders like Tascam. When GarageBand moved away from this core, I dug into Live. Amazing, powerful and complicated. “Plug in, arm track, record” is still very appealing and I sometimes miss gBand’s familiar simplicity. I used Final Cut steadily through v7.x but still used iMovie for quick slideshows and rough edits. Final Cut X felt unrecognizable and stymieing, so I moved to Blender VSE. It’s incredibly powerful and configurable and complicated. iMovie is simple for working w mobile screencaps and I like the Storyboard concept in this new release. I’ll see where it fits in my workflows so long as I don’t completely blank the next time I’m in Blender.

warning26 5y ago

I'm still salty about how they had a pro photo app, Aperture, and then killed it unceremoniously in favor of a neutered approachable equivalent.

scoot 5y ago
You're salty? I bought Aperture a couple of months before they killed it! In hindsight I probably should have contacted my credit card provider, but I guess I naively thought Apple would do the right thing. No such luck.
CharlesW 5y ago
It's hard to lose a favorite app. You might check out RAW Power¹, which has some Aperture DNA in the form of Nik Bhatt². Last year I left Lightroom for Photos, which is surprisingly powerful when used with 3rd-party apps and extensions³. ¹https://www.gentlemencoders.com/raw-power-for-macos https://www.gentlemencoders.com/raw-power-for-macos ²https://www.gentlemencoders.com/about/ https://www.gentlemencoders.com/about/ ³https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205245 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205245
- noyesno 5y ago
  Which extensions would you recommend for Photos?
  - CharlesW 5y ago
    I'm using it with the Photos integration provided by RAW Power¹, Affinity Photos², and Pixelmator Pro³. ¹https://www.dpreview.com/news/0399283051/raw-power-3-available-for-mac-and-ios-includes-workflow-improvements-and-new-editing-tools https://www.dpreview.com/news/0399283051/raw-power-3-availab... ²https://affinity.help/photo/en-US.lproj/index.html?page=pages/Extras/applePhotosExtensions.html?title=Using%20Apple%20Photos https://affinity.help/photo/en-US.lproj/index.html?page=page... ³https://www.pixelmator.com/tutorials/resources/a-quick-guide-to-the-new-pixelmator-pro-extension/ https://www.pixelmator.com/tutorials/resources/a-quick-guide...
5y ago

daniel_reetz 5y ago

I'm not sure this is correct. Have you worked on software at Apple?

npunt 5y ago
https://alex4d.com/notes/item/imovie-2013-is-consumer-ui-on-fcpx https://alex4d.com/notes/item/imovie-2013-is-consumer-ui-on-...

skhr0680 5y ago

iMovie is like other Apple software in that it's great if you're on the happy path but worse than useless the moment you try to do something that Apple thinks you shouldn't. For my basic use of stabilizing clips then putting them in sequence with transitions, DaVinci Resolve was easier and less frustrating to use (for me).

hda111 5y ago

I wish Apple would still make Aperture.