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Apple spent quite a bit of time today on the new iMovie ‘09, and justifiably so. I didn’t like iMovie HD at all, mainly because it was a brand new program with a brand new way of using it, forcing users to relearn the system while not really offering anything new to justify the learning curve. With iMovie ‘09, the justification has arrived.

The demo during the keynote was stunning, offering fantastic, complex transitions and effects that can be easily implemented by users. There are now two layers in the timeline for precision editing, but only two. Still, anyone wanting more than that is likely going to be looking at Final Cut Express, anyway.

Advanced drag and drop makes it easier to splice video with other clips, which will please iMovie users who are tired of the Split Clip at Playhead command.

Dynamic themes and animated travel maps will really increase the look and “animation” of menus and such, and although they do look really good, you’re stuck with what Apple gives you. I expect it won’t be long before third-party companies start releasing their own map and theme modules, though.

Perhaps the coolest feature, though, is image stabilization. This’ll be great for both film geeks who want to play around with it, but also for pretty much everyone else who has trouble holding a camera steady. To explain what this is, think of those blurry videos of bigfoot or the JFK assassination where the camera bounces around the whole time. Image stabilization can center on the subject of the video, and rebalance the film so it there’s bouncing or shaking. It’s very cool, and open up a whole new world of boating videos, I’m sure. Even better, UFO video fakers will no longer have an excuse for bouncy video.

The image above doesn’t really do it justice, though. Check out the video at Apple’s website.

For more on the announcement, see our coverage of the Macworld Expo keynote.

iMovie ‘09 will ship in late January/early February with the rest of the iLife ‘09 suite. iLife ‘09 will be free on new Macs, and will retail for $79 for one license, $99 for a family pack.

Product [iMovie ‘09]