Famous pairings include Apple pie and ice cream; Apple’s Steve and Steve; Jason Chen and pantsing new electronics; and, of course, the iPhone and video editing.

It’s just a rumour for now, bits of newly discovered beta code, really, but that last pairing could be true, and soon.

Now, video editing and the iPhone isn’t total out of the blue. Just last month, in the aftermath of the big firmware 3.0 beta reveal, intrepid cyber sleuths uncovered an “upload my video” option in the MobileMe section.

But this tip from Gizmodo reader Ben is something a bit new. Buried in the beta are some graphics that future iPhone directors might use for video editing. There are also some art resources that allegedly show scrubbing and clip features.

And naturally, if these features pan out, they would make massively more sense paired up with a device that has a faster processor, more storage, etc. You picking up what I’m laying down? [Benm.At - Thanks, Ben]

Let’s face it, iMovie ‘08 was a step backwards for the iMovie software, so much so that Apple even made it a point to keep iMovie ‘06 available as a download well after the software had been updated. The biggest complaint with iMovie ‘08 was it lacked all the special features found in the previous version that made video editing so fun and easy.

iMovie ‘09 has regained most of the features that were lost in the ‘08 version and even has some new ones like video stabilisation, green screen and animated maps. The UI still lacks a dedicated timeline that most video editors are accustomed to using, but to make up for it iMovie ‘09 has new tools like the precision editor and advanced drag-and-drop capabilities.

Here’s a closer look at the new features of iMovie ‘09:

Precision Editor

Apple’s response to all the complaints about iMovie ‘08 lacking a timeline is this new precision editor window. Once you’re in a project, you select precision editor in a clips pop-up window, and the bottom half of iMovie becomes the editor. This tool is intended to help make more precise edits between two clips in your project, and does this by showing the two clips in an overlapping fashion. You simply click the spot in a clip you want to cut at and than iMovie automatically moves the clip to create the cut you want.

The window can also display audio tracks, effects and titles along side the video clips so it feels more like a timeline than a simple project window. There is also the option to move titles and change audio tracks of clips. The problem here is that the precision editor won’t let you do precise manipulation of a music track. This is frustrating, especially when you’re trying to line your video up with music. For the simple trimming of clips precision editor works pretty well—better that than nothing—but it’s still no substitute for a timeline.

Advanced Drag-and-Drop

After checking Show Advanced Tools under iMovie Preferences, this drag-and-drop tool shows much more features. In iMovie ‘08 dropping a clip from the library on-top of a clip in the project window simply inserts the library clip into the project. Now in iMovie ‘09 the same action brings up a pop-up menu filled with choices. It has options to replace the clip four different ways into your project or just to insert it the same way it would have in iMovie ‘08. The best features though are the Audio Only, Cutaway, Picture-in-Picture and Green Screen—all of which are completely new to iMovie ‘09.

Video Stabilisation

For the common shaky video clip using video stabilisation will impressively make the annoying camera movement disappear. iMovie ‘09 does this stabilisation in two steps. First it will analyse the video clip frame by frame and pixel by pixel, comparing one side of the frame to the other. Once it has analyzed the clip it applies a function that scales, rotates and moves the video based on the comparison. It zooms and trims the clip as much as it needs to apply the reverse movement of the camera shake and still not go outside the video frame. What’s more interesting is this video stabilisation is the same effect Apple uses in their professional visual effects program Shake.

Video Effects, Themes, Titles, and Transitions

Thank God or maybe Jobs, but video effects like speed, reverse play, and colour adjustments are all back in iMovie ‘09. The clip inspector window now has options for all these effects. There might not be as many effects as there were in iMovie ‘06 but there are some new ones, like the cool Sci-Fi and Heat Wave colour shifts.

Themes have also returned to iMovie. There are six different themes to choose from and each one puts a visual effect on the first and last clip in the project. The first will show an intro title like a scrap book with video playing on it and at the end it will insert a directed by title over your last clip. What’s cool is it will also add theme-related transitions to the transitions selection. Same goes for the titles. You only get about four new transitions and titles, but it’s nice to keep each element of the project in theme.

iMovie ‘08 only had 12 titles to choose from which was pretty pathetic, but now iMovie ‘09 has over 32. The titles aren’t as customisable as they were in iMovie ‘06 but with new additions like Clouds and Organic Main it might make up for it. As for transitions, only a few new ones have been added but nothing spectacular.

Maps and Backgrounds

The maps visual affects are pretty cool but not something that can be used with every project. There’s eight different moving maps to choose from—not just fake Indiana Jones maps but real ones that you can put your real locations on, as well as set your desired duration. When changing the destination points on a map, it conveniently pulls up a search window for city or airport, which makes finding a specific location very simple. After playing with these maps, I can say the best feature is the ability to add video effects. Since you can add the same effects to maps that you can to video clips, you can make Sci-Fi-looking worlds, like I did in the the video above.

It’s very sad that a background selection was not available in iMovie ‘08. Something so simple like a background is really essential to giving users the freedom to create any type of project they want. With an assortment of solid coloured and moving backgrounds, iMovie ‘09 now has the the option to a add a simple colour frame to the project. I for one am glad backgrounds are finally back.

Edit to Music

This is another new feature in iMovie ‘09 that is intended to assist at editing to music or making a music video. What this option does is allow the user to drop beat markers on a music track and then using those beat markers iMovie ‘09 will adjust the video clip durations to match the markers. This option will take some getting used but it seems like a valiant effort on Apple’s part to create something useful.

After playing around with the edit to music and green screen options I was able to create a fun little video. Before you start asking who the hell these kids are, all the sample video clips I used were provided by Apple so ask them.

Overall
Apple attempted to recreate iMovie for iLife ‘08, and in many people’s views, this was a massive failure. With iMovie ‘09, the company is really trying to make up for it—or perhaps prove that it had to tear down the previous system to make a decent new system. Most of the points that experienced enthusiasts complained about, like lack of creative features, has been addressed. But are the additions of features like video stabilisation and effects enough to make this iMovie
‘09 as useful as iMovie ‘06 was? At this point, I still think it’s not. The new tools like precision editor and drag-and-drop are nice needed additions for the layout but a timeline is still better. Bottom line is this: If you didn’t mind the new iMovie layout but wanted more creative tools, you got them. But if the lack of a timeline layout in iMovie ‘08 is what got your goat, you’re probably not going to like iMovie ‘09 either. Sorry. [iMovie '09]

The sequence was assembled by one guy who operated each puppet by hand and completed the project for US$3,000. But…wouldn’t a YouTube version have been more fitting? [via bbGadgets]

Essentially, you shoot some crappy, low-rez video of a still scene. You then reshoot the same scene with a digital camera (with higher resolution). Software can automagically combine these images to upconvert the video AND fix problems in the image– all while compensating for 3D space. Make sense? The remarkable demo will clarify things a bit:

What’s especially notable is that the software can fill in the nasty bits of the scene despite the videographer/photographer rotating their view (you see this as they shoot around the tree) and despite any lens differences (the software can compensate for different lens sizes/distortions).

Also, note that many details from the source video are retained (the glass reflections in the statue shot may be the best example), which means that the photograph’s information isn’t the only information we see in the composite image.

I’m not quite convinced that the entire process is quite as automatic as the students would make it, but the technology is extremely promising all the same. And at this point, it should only be a matter of time before we see the idea work its way into our favourite post production products. [Project Page via bbGadgets]

The name’s Nick Broughall. Some of you might recognise that byline if you’re a reader of Australian T3 magazine — I was editor there for the past 18 months, reviews editor before that and staff writer before that. I’ve also done a spot of tech freelancing around the place. Think Rolling Stone, OPSM, Paperplane, and probably a few others I’ve forgotten about and you’ll get the idea.

So why should you care? Well, I know you lot are a pretty dedicated lot. You love gadgets as much as me. You hate missing out on the latest product just because you’re Australian too. My aim is to give you all the best local gadget info, plus keep you informed of all the overseas goings on.

I also want to build the Australian Giz community… some of you guys are awesome commenters (applause). But there’s more of you lurking in the corners, maybe to shy to make your opinions heard. Well I want to hear them. In the coming weeks, look out for some great competitions for commenters, plus I also have a few ideas for  some Giz-reader get-togethers.

It’s going to be an awesome ride. Feel free to tell me what you like about the site, what you don’t like, tips, tricks, ideas, or if you simply want to send me money. I’m all for receiving anonymous cheques, by the way.

The Intensity Pro also lets you capture and play back any analog source using S-Video, or component connections. If you don’t need that analog capability, for $249 you can just get the previously available Intensity card that handles HDMI only. HDTV shooters and editors, consumer and pro, are going to love this.

AU: FYI, the awesomeness of Blackmagic Design comes straight outta Melbourne. We’re chasing up local pricing. Word is the local price is $415 for the Intensity and $565 for the Intensity Pro (from New Magic Australia).

Many of the latest consumer-grade HD camcorders have HDMI ports, and they’re able to send their uncompressed video images directly out that HDMI port and into an Intensity card installed in your Mac or PC, bypassing the HDV compression that’s necessary to lay it down on tape. This way, you get mainline 1920 HDTV video straight from the camera’s imaging chips.

Of course, you’ll need to have a desktop Mac or PC nearby when you’re shooting this video, a cumbersome prospect for on-location shooting but perfectly suitable for studio work. Once your footage is captured, you’ll end up with some huge files on your hard disc, but Blackmagic also includes its own compression technology, if you choose to make those files smaller and easier to edit, too.

Either one of these cards could also be extremely useful when you want to view your footage on a television set while you’re editing HD footage. This is really hard to do in real time using HDV camcorders, whose video can’t looped through in real time as you can do with standard-def DV camcorders. Using Intensity’s HDMI output, you simply plug in an HDTV set and then you can see all your video in real time as you edit, even effects that usually need to be rendered if you want to see them on an external monitor. The Intensity Pro’s analog outputs can also send video to an S-Video or component monitor in the same way.

What a neat idea, solving a few of the pesky problems of shooting and editing HDV with one card and a few connectors. – Charlie White

Product Page [Blackmagic Design, via Bios Magazine]

Hey, that format’s fo’ reals, and is here to stay, right? Yep. Well, what else can Ulead VideoStudio 11 do?

Also along for the ride with this latest version is Windows Vista compatibility, an MPEG Optimizer that helps you get the most out of video compression, and Ulead’s wizard-based interface that makes it easy to accomplish complex tasks. And the Plus version also lets you author HD DVDs if you have such a burner.

We’ve used previous versions of Ulead VideoStudio, and found the software to be a good value. It’s a whole lot more stable than its Pinnacle Studio rival, which was also recently updated. VideoStudio is priced right at $70 for the standard version (no AVCHD editing capability) and $100 for the Plus version, and both ship sometime in May. – Charlie White

Product Page [Ulead]

Vegas 7 Professional will have a free update, downloadable from May 1. Huzzah! Users of the consumer Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 8 will get their update in July. Ouch, but at least you’ve finally got a date.

It is native editing too, not transcoded to an intermediate codec, so you won’t be getting any generational loss. No decision yet on recommended spec, but it will have to be more than general Vegas use because real-time editing AVCHD is going to cane your CPU. We’ve been told:

It does not do too bad on a Duo CPU! Sony CS have come up with a faster way of editing naively that’s all I can tell you…

Let’s assume that’s ‘natively’… I don’t want to call them naive about this just yet. Zing!! -Seamus Byrne

Avid Technology announced the latest version of its wildly popular consumer video editing software package, Pinnacle Studio 11, set to ship next month. Now the software is offered in Basic, Plus, and Ultimate versions.

If you don’t need to edit HD, the Basic version for $49 will probably do everything you need. Bump up to the $99 Plus version and you can edit HD videos and also burn HD DVDs. Another 30 bucks gives you Pinnacle Studio Ultimate, unlocking chromakey and film-look effects, panning and zooming tools and a few audio tweaking toys.

Sounds good, but the previous version of this software sucked. Find out more:

This used to be the most popular video editing software in the world for good reason—it’s traditionally been easy to use and well-priced. Let’s hope Avid has fixed the disastrous problems with its crash-prone and balky-to-install versions 10.0 and 10.5 of Pinnacle Studio, which almost sunk the entire franchise.

Beyond that, we wish the company would just release one version of Studio with all the features intact, rather than crippling it two different ways and confusing the issue with all these various versions. Even so, Pinnacle Studio is a great value if you don’t feel like spending five times more for Apple Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere Pro. – Charlie White

Product Page [Avid Technology]