iMovie 3.0’s new features make short work of social videos

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iMovie 3 Storyboard feature
Storyboards provide a shot-by-shot guide to the most common social videos.
Photo: Apple

iMovie has long been Apple’s default tool for creating quick, gorgeous videos on your iPhone or iPad. With Tuesday’s update to iMovie 3.0, Apple added a pair of new creative tools designed to help “aspiring content creators and moviemakers learn to edit and improve their video storytelling skills.”

The ultimate goal? To make creating compelling videos easier than ever.

Storyboards in iMovie 3

The first feature added in the new version of iMovie is Storyboards. These offer a selection of template-based guides to help you shoot and edit your videos. Whether you’re creating a gaming video, a DIY tutorial or a “Day in the Life”-style vlog, these Storyboards suggest shots transitions and even story prompts to keep your storytelling interesting.

With the rising popularity of dream jobs like TikToker and YouTuber, Storyboards help teach the art of storytelling and video creation directly within the editing software. They can also help expedite the process of video creation, making it a powerful tool for on-the-go video production.

Magic Movie makes your movie … magically

iMovie Magic Movie Feature
Magic Movie converts a selection of photos and videos into a beautifully curated video in seconds
Photo: Apple

The second new feature of iMovie 3 is Magic Movie. This feature is similar to the automatically generated videos that Photos creates, but with a more personalized touch.

Starting with an album or selection of photos and videos, Magic Movie uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify the best parts of your content. Then, it instantly creates a movie from them — complete with titles, transitions and music. Once it’s created, you can quickly adjust the timing, remove or rearrange clips, or apply styles to change the look and tone of your video

“iMovie has empowered millions of people around the world to create and share their stories through video,” said Bob Borcher, Apple’s vice president of worldwide product marketing, said in a press release about the update.

According to Borcher, “this latest version of iMovie, featuring Storyboards and Magic Movie, simplifies video creation even further, and we think it will continue to inspire the next wave of video creators to dive in and get started.”

iMovie 3 is available now as a free update on iPhone and iPad. The new version requires iOS 15.2 or iPadOS 15.2.

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