Comparison: Windows Movie Maker vs iMovie

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featured windows movie maker imovie Video editor software serve a wide audience today as people naturally have the desire to give their clips a prettier look and add some cool effects before uploading to one of the popular video sharing sites. By managing the way a video clip is cut or with the use of effects, uploaders may give their audience a fuller experience. There are two basic video editors, Windows Movie Maker and Mac iMovie, that can be considered the most widespread programs in their category. They may have limited features compared to their "big brothers." Still, both editors wish to keep usability and effectiveness their leading traits.

Windows Movie Maker

Windows Movie Maker is a perfect choice if you are a general user wishing to spice up your trailers, home movies, or educational material, as it is easy to use program accessible to everyone. Windows Movie Maker is originally included in Windows with the desire to provide a simple, easy-to-use movie maker for the average user. It allows you to enhance your videos by adding filters and texts, cutting parts, rotating, merging, or trim video with Windows Movie Maker according to your liking.

Interface:

The Windows Movie Maker interface is split into 4 different parts based on their functions before: the menu bar and the toolbar, the timeline and storyboard, the monitor, and the collection displaying your clips. The interface has been significantly simplified, making the learning curve of the program as short as possible. Adding videos, audios, and voice records are incorporated on the "Menu Bar," as shown in the picture.

moviemakerinterface-

Ease of use:

The main advantage of Movie Maker is that it is widely available. Basically, any Windows computer purchased will come free with Movie Maker, and you can always download the newest version online. And since Movie Maker thus reaches such a wide audience, the designers made sure that any user group can use it easily, even if beginners.

moviemaker-edit

In terms of video editing performance, Movie Maker does not require advanced system requirements (1.5 GHz processor, 256 MBs of RAM, and runs smoothly once opened, but importing videos can take a long time and occasionally there are minor crashes.

Output video quality:

The quality of the output video will never be as good as a premium video editor's as Movie Maker is available for free. Still, you have the ability to choose from various qualities and presets depending on the device you wish to watch the output video on. Movie Maker offers recommended settings that will optimize your video's quality and size to match your device's specifications.

moviemaker-video-quality

Price:

Movie Maker is preinstalled on all Windows machines, and all its features can be accessed for free. You can always download the newest version free of charge as well.

moviemaker-animations

PROs

  • Movie Maker promotes simplicity and usability with tools like zoom control, clip trimmer, and splitter. Clips can be re-inserted anywhere by a simple drag-and-drop method, and basic operations for video editing can be reached through the tabs at the top of the screen. With Movie Maker, you will also be able to create stunning photo slideshows to which you can also add music from your computer. Moreover, Movie Maker boasts over 130 effects, animations, and transitions, which is a pretty large collection considering that the program is absolutely free.
CONs

  • Many users are frustrated by the fact that Movie Maker is not as stable as they expect it to be. Do not be surprised if your project crashes every now and then, or you suddenly get an error message for your imported clips that seemed to be working just fine 2 minutes ago. So saving your work often is a must with Movie Maker. Another drawback of Movie Maker is that its editing options are only very basic. Their built-in effects are overused to the extent that some people might consider videos edited with Movie Maker somewhat amateur. Although you will not be making Hollywood productions with this software, it is still the best Movie Maker app for Windows to put together short home movies that do not require advanced editing.

iMovie

iMovie is Apple’s very own video editor and is pre-installed on every newly purchased Mac computer. The concept behind iMovie is similar to that of Movie Maker; to provide beginners with an intuitive, easy-to-use interface and a decent set of tools to enhance their home movies recorded on any device.

Interface:

The interface of iMovie is built up of 6 core elements: the toolbar, the project pane, the event library pane, the event browser pane, the viewer pane, and the small pane in the bottom right corner. Learning how to use these elements just takes a bit of trial and error. Still, you can also find a great number of good tutorials on how to use iMovie.

imovie-blank

Ease of use:

Creating smooth flowing transitions is particularly easy to learn with iMovie. It is not hard to create impressive video clips and intros by turning your footage into classy films and include super-cool effects like adjusting the time to make a section faster or slower. With iMovie, video editing will be hassle-free and, at the same time, fun.

imovie

Video editing performance:

Video editing performance-wise, since you are editing with real-time playback, iMovie is going to need a large amount of free RAM on your computer due to the size of video files.

imovie-screenshot

Output video quality:

You can select from three different output resolutions when exporting your videos. Ultra High Definition (4K) is also available, but exporting in such high quality will produce files with large sizes and lengthy exporting duration. Keep in mind that you can only export in high quality if your original video is also in HD.

imovie-video-quality

Price:

Mac computers come pre-installed with iMovie, so you do not have to pay for downloading it, and small upgrades are also free of charge.

Other features:

iMovie's built-in Green screen effect can be used to cut out the subject of a clip that has been recorded in front of a green screen and place the figure in different backgrounds. Another great feature of iMovie is that it includes several Hollywood-style movie templates that you can customize to your own movie. Also, you can easily add YouTube video to iMovie.

imovie

PROs

  • iMovie is renowned for its intuitive and simple yet professional interface. It has come up with a simple way of cutting and merging videos. Insert clips anywhere to the timeline by dragging them there. The neighboring videos will be joined and marked by a line. You do not have to worry that the colors will not match because with the "Color match" option, it is possible to unify the color and the atmosphere of the videos shot at different places. Another advantage is that with iMovie importing and sharing videos, it will be more convenient than ever since most Apple devices can be synced. This applies to edit as well as it can be continued at another device at any time. For example, having started in iOS, you may finish the project on your
    desktop.
CONs

  • Like Movie Maker, iMovie has also been reported as crushing way too often, and these stability issues continue to frustrate users who are in the middle of a project that has not yet been saved. Another drawback of iMovie is that not all of the most common audio formats such as the widespread MP4, and not all video formats are supported. One more negative factor with iMovie is that nothing else is standard with iMovie when we come to studio work except the three-pane interface for video editing. Instead of track divisions, we have to drag clips to the timeline where they would extend and show their running time. With iMovie, only two video tracks are available. The standard number for this is 100-plus, and this is what we get from most PC video editors out on the market.

AceThinker Video Master

Another software that has the same functionality as the two tools mentioned above is the AceThinker Video Master. This tool can convert video to MP4, MKV, AVI, MOV, FLV, GIF, and more. It can also edit videos by rotating or cropping them, adding effects and filters, putting watermarks, audios, and subtitles. It is compatible with both Windows and Mac.

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Free DownloadWindows 8/10/11

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Interface:

This tool’s interface is easy to understand and use because you can add videos by dragging and dropping them on the tool. It has a “Star” icon beside the video file that you can click to open its editing feature. From there, you can flip the video to horizontal or vertical. If the video you are editing is for work, you can write your name and display it on the video as your watermark.

video master interface

Ease of use:

Adding filters or effects on the video with this tool is easy. It has pre-made filters that you can choose to add video effects. Examples of those are Whirlpool, Hong Kong movie effects, Sketch, Grayscale, Pixelate, and more.

vmpremium filters

Video editing performance:

It can edit and convert videos at ease. Even if you have a large size of videos to edit, this tool will only use a minimum of percent of your computer’s RAM and CPU. Assuring you that your computer will not overheat once you start rendering the video.

vmpremium editing

Output video quality:

As you choose your preferred video format before converting it, you can also select the quality of the video output. The highest quality that you can choose from this tool is Ultra-HD or also known as 4K resolution.

video master quality output

Price:

AceThinker Video Master will only cost you $29.95 for its PRO license per year on both Windows and Mac. But it has a free trial version where you can start editing videos that have a duration of 5 minutes.

PROs

  • This tool can convert videos to an audio file to extract the sound of it.
  • It also allows you to add audio to the video that you are editing and subtitles.
CONs

  • You cannot convert multiple GIF files to MP4 at the same time. You need to merge them first into one file before you can do it.

Comparison Chart

The table below shows some more differences between the two programs. It might be good to start examining one's needs before choosing a certain software because the features that are offered in the market are quite extensive. All video editing software gives us a certain handful of these editing options. Media Player is still the best movie maker app for Windows. Since Microsoft has stopped developing it, iMovie has become more and more up-to-date than it. Having included 4K video support, and with its marvelous sharing options, it is among the best movie making programs in its category. If you have Apple devices, it is difficult to find a better and more simple video editing tool for novices. Still, iMovie's alternative for Windows is no option.

Windows Movie Maker iMovie AceThinker Video Master
Where to find? Included in Windows Essentials but you have to install the whole package It’s available for free from the Mac Apple Store You can find this tool on AceThinker’s website. You can also refer to the “Download” buttons below its description.
Unique Features Voiceover recording, anti-shake iMovie has most elements, filters, and effects available of the consumer editor programs available in the market This tool allows you to add your logo or name as a watermark of the video.
Highlights Simple interface with tabs Built-in color matching for unified looks, powerful audio-editing tools Its capability to convert videos to any popular video formats you desire.
Weaknesses Not enough effects and filters, history window not available, poor lightning control, there is no new windows movie maker Only two video tracks available, tools are not organized as well as in Movie Maker, no multi-cam or motion tracking Its interface looks old school. Some young users might find this tool’s look boring.
Development They have stopped developing Movie Maker iMovie is up-to-date with 4K compatibility AceThinker Video Master is fresh and new and can edit videos to 4K resolution.
Compatibility Available for Windows Available for Mac Available for Windows and Mac
Price free for Windows users free for iOS and MacOS users It has a free trial version, but you can pay for $29.95 for its PRO license for Windows and Mac
Quality of output videos Optimizes the quality to best fit your PC, highest available resolution: 1080p Highest supported resolution is 4K (UHD) It support 4K resolution
Output sharing options YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, OneDrive, Flickr iTunes, YouTube, Facebook, iDVD YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo, Instagram, Flicker
Create slideshows from photos? Yes Yes Yes
Record narration/voiceover Yes Yes No

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