iMovie HD 6 and iDVD 6 for Mac OS X

13. Effects

By now, you're probably sold on the notion of working with digital footage, but just in case there are any lingering doubts, consider iMovie's effects capabilities. Because you're manipulating pixels instead of strips of film, you can apply several types of changes to your footage, ranging from rudimentary color correction to special effects.

When I first heard that iMovie offered effects, I admit I feared the worst. What better way to destroy footage you worked so hard to shoot than to apply a bunch of filters to mangle those pixels?

I'm happy that my fears were unfounded. Instead of garish methods of swirling video into a toilet bowl of colors, iMovie gives you genuinely useful and powerful tools to adjust color, sharpen blurry images, and easily turn your multi-hued images into classic-looking black-and-white footage.

iMovie HD 6 also adds something long anticipated: audio effects. Not only can you make your voice sound like a chipmunk, you can apply basic noise filtering and other effects.

The area of effects is also where third-party iMovie plug-in developers have focused their attentions. If you're looking for an effect that iMovie can't accomplish on its own, be sure to check the companies listed in Appendix B.