The new iMovie ’09 appears to have the same serious limitation on using stills as the previous version. Drag a still into the project and it’s duration is set by default to 4 seconds. In any other video editing software changing the duration is just a matter of dragging the end of the clip to the right place on the timeline. In the new iMovie you have to click on a tiny icon and enter the duration from the keyboard in seconds (no frames as in iMovie 6 HD). A matter of trial and error in equal quantities.
I found out about this from the Apple iMovie ’09 tutorial so I have posted a question on the iMovie ’09 discussion on the Apple Site to see if anyone had discovered a workaround. In the meantime I’ll be using version 6 HD, which I am assured does work after iLife ’09 has been installed.
According to one of the replies to my Apple Discussions posting there is a precision editing function in iMovie ’09 which may allow fine editing of the duration of a still against the sound track. I have ordered iLife ’09 and once it’s installed I’ll update the blog.