Descript vs. iMovie

I've recommended Descript many times as it has really helped me in my video production. In my experience, Descript is well suited for importing multi-cam footage and creating a script from the video / audio. Sharing the project file and having the client highlight key moments or sound bytes of interest. Exporting XML files to be opened up by video editing software and speeding up the process of finding files to creating a rough edit. If you are just using Descript for transcription, I think that is where it is less appropriate since there are many other services that offer this. Where Descript shines is: - adding content that sounds just like the original - being able to build the actual file with an editor - use AI to help clean-up words or add to - and more

Incentivized

iMovie is a great editing tool for beginners and users with little to no experience. If you are looking for a simple, straight forward way to edit your videos without having any training, this is the tool for you. If you are looking for a robust and very advanced editing platform, you may wish to look elsewhere.

Incentivized

• I like the sidebar - breaking my scripts up into different "chapters" makes it easier to create quickly.
• I like that it auto-corrects punctuation, capitalization, etc. as I polish the scripts.
• It's easy for my team and my collaborators to read/listen, remark, and create useable transcripts.

Incentivized

• iMovie allows users to upload their own clips and edit them together. You're able to add in more clips as you're working on your project which is great as some film editing software don't allow add ons of video clips once you've begun the editing process.
• iMovie continually saves as you're working on your project and syncs with your devices so you can work on your project from other like computers.
• iMovie is quick to update changes which allows time to be saved during the editing process. It's very helpful when you need to adjust 1-2 things and don't want to spend hours waiting for the changes to go through.

Incentivized

• UX Performance. Because it's synced to the cloud, there can be some delay or lag in the UX when editing.
• Editing Transcriptions. Machine-based transcriptions always need some post-editing. While Descript makes it pretty easy, I still think there is some room for improvement. For instance, I would like to be able to automatically update for all occurrences of a word after fixing it in the transcript.
• Automatic importing of YouTube and hosted video files. I often have to download a video from YouTube to be able to import it into Descript. Would be nice to be able to just paste in the URL to the video and have Descript automatically import it.

Incentivized

• Audio for video editing is a bit limiting. A pro user would feel limited, but the average person can pretty well do what they need in iMovie and that's what matters for this platform.
• The design of the UI could use some updating so it doesn't feel so bubbly. This may purely be an aesthetic concern, and maybe the old style makes it more approachable, but i'd prefer to see a more slick design so you don't feel like you are using a kids program.
• If you ever want to share the project or manually manage files, it can be a bit difficult to figure out. Fortunately Apple allows you to import a project from iMovie into FCPX if you ever want to be upwardly mobile.

Incentivized

It's pretty user friendly, has a easy-moderate learning curve. However during updates they do change the features in different panes / sections that make them harder to find. The text editor is near perfect, some of the other tools such as colour, templates, audio etc. are arranged in a slighlty less intuitive manner

Incentivized

Once again, iMovie is a fast application. It's easy to use and navigate through. It has never frozen or glitched. There is an auto-save feature which helps you to easily close and re-open the software and continue from where you left off. Being an Apple product I do believe there is a level of superiority that surpasses Windows as well.

Apple does a great job supporting its products. I have never encountered trouble that could not be solved through chat or email. The knowledgebase section of the website, video tutorials online and various user forums also help with most issues. If after using all of these avenues you still have an issue, it may be time for you to outsource your project to a professional!

Incentivized

Descript is by far superior to the other editing software you can get on Apple computers. It's able to do a lot more and really save us tons of time. Other Adobe apps are great, but take a while to learn. Descript is very user-friendly, making it easy to start from day one with very little training.

Incentivized

Not as easy to use as iMovie, and a similar cost structure. iMovie is easier for Apple users / and MS users, to both get proficient at. Movie Maker isn't bad, it just isn't as slick as iMovie. We actually used MovieMaker for a couple of years before migrating most users over to iMovie. We have not regretted the move.

Incentivized

• I can get video completed much more quickly and cheaply
• We can produce more video content because of the speed with which we can have a finished product
• We can have shorter timelines for example I record on Monday and we publish on Tuesday which wouldn't be otherwise possible with other methods I've used

Incentivized

• iMovie is a very inexpensive alternative to other video editing software.
• It's very easy to train new users on iMovie, so time is saved there.
• We started a project where we were tasked to create a new 5 minute video every week. We started with little to no knowledge of video editing, but iMovie was so easy to pick up and use that we were able to start filming and putting together videos right away. If we had to learn a more complex program, like Premiere Pro, it would have pushed our timeline back considerably.

Incentivized