iMovie '08: Third-party plug-ins not compatible; Kernel panics at launch

Third-party plug-ins may not be compatible Apple said during the announcement of iMovie '08 that it is a "completely new application." Apparently that means it also has a no plug-in architecture, and many previously functioning plug-ins no longer work after the update. Fortunately, iMovie '06 will remain on your drive after installation of iMovie '08, so plug-ins can be used with the older version of the application.

MacFixIt reader Chris emailed GeeThree, creator of the plug-in "Stabilizer," regarding iMovie '08 support. The company replied:

"We got our copy of iLife '08 today. The new release of iMovie '08 is a complete rewrite from the ground up and lacks the support for plug-ins. There are just a handful of transitions and titles, and no effects in this new version. It is nice if you need to create a very basic video quickly, but you will likely want to keep using iMovie 6 for most of your video projects. Fortunately, if you install iLife 08, a copy of iMovie 6 stays on your system. Please bug Apple to update iMovie'08 to support third party plug-ins."

Kernel panics at launch MacFixIt reader Leonard reports repeated kernel panics when attempting to launch iMovie '08, an issue for which we are seeking corroboration. Leonard writes:

"I have a Power Mac G5 2 GHz, dual processor. I just installed iLife '08. If I open iMovie '08 I get a Kernel Panic every time."

If you are experiencing a similar issue, please let us know.

Knowledge Base articles Apple has posted a slew of Knowledge Base articles detailing issues, quirks and changes in iMovie '08. Among them:

• 306110 iMovie '08: Set the DVD camcorder recording format to "Standard" or "Video" mode to import movies
• #306171 iMovie '08 Camcorder Support
• 305919 iMovie '08 and Sony HDR-SR1 compatibility
• 305915 GarageBand songs are named "output" when dragged to an iMovie '08 project
• 305914 iMovie '08: Project names with periods are truncated
• 305912 iMovie '08: Exporting two movies of equal size to YouTube results in one rejected as a duplicate
• 305911 iMovie '08: Pixelated & choppy preview on Sony DCR-SR100 MPEG-2 camera
• 305910 iMovie '08: Thumbnails won't update if photo is cropped
• 305909 iMovie '08: Preview of MPEG-2 content from a random access camera is interlaced
• 305917 iMovie '08: HDV cameras must be set so the output format matches the source material
• 305913 iMovie '08: Some titles may not fit within TV safe area when burned to DVD
• 305905 iMovie '08: Keyword List and Keyword Filter are case sensitive
• 305904 iMovie '08: Multiple background songs are "stacked" when dragged to a project
• 305903 iMovie '08: Can't drag movies from Media Browser
• 305902 iMovie '08: Dragging media from the Finder
• 305880 iMovie '08 does not playback audio during import from DV and HDV camcorders

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