Since then, it’s been a given that the software would jump to the iPad, and with iMovie for iOS 1.2, we get to experience what was no doubt on the drawing boards, if not yet in the shipping schedule, of Apple’s engineers. iMovie takes what can be a complex task—just look to Adobe Premiere or Apple’s Final Cut applications to see how deep video editing can be—and makes it not only accessible, but touchable.

That tactile interactivity makes video editing more engaging. You get a better sense of assembling the movie using your fingers instead of being once removed by the mouse on a computer. My three-year-old daughter and I put together a quick movie, where she chose clips from the Videos pane by tapping on them. She became a co-editor, versus directing over my shoulder on the Mac (which usually results in her losing interest and walking away).

This update runs on the (but not, alas, the original iPad), the iPhone 4, and fourth-generation iPod touch, exposing potentially millions of iOS device owners to a top-notch video editor. iMovie for iOS 1.2 could be the friendliest version of Apple’s video software yet, a welcome introduction to the process of turning raw video clips into movies that say more than just, “I pointed my camera at that place.”

Without a doubt, having the larger iPad screen available for editing is an improvement over the small screen on the iPhone and iPod touch. When the iPad is in its landscape orientation, the Video pane appears in the upper-left corner. Tap a source clip to select it, and use the yellow selection handles (yellow circles) to choose which portion of the clip to use. As you drag a handle, the Viewer area to the right displays the current frame, giving you an idea of where the edit point will be.