Can't get consistent sound importing to iMovie

Question

Hello -
I am having trouble when importing home movies from a JVC MiniDV Video Camera to iMovie. The video shows up fine, but the audio is either very choppy or completely silent. I see the audio track, can extract it, but it is nothing like the clear audio that comes from my camera. Any ideas??
Thanks in advance,
Jim

Answer 1

Hi Jim
See if my list is of any help:
Capture/Import problems:
a) File-Vault is on - turn it off
b) don’t Daisy chain camcorder - external hard disk - Mac
c) Slow hard disk (fragmented: repair permissions, repair hard disk, use a faster hard disk)
d) Something is occupying the CPU/System, like other programs, Internet etc.
e) Bad RAM-chips
f) drop outs on the miniDV-tape - make a camera to camera copy on a tape which You have previous recorded with a time code (dummy recording).
g) FW-wire cable OK?
h) Break in the time-code on the miniDV tape (make a camera to camera copy on a tape which is prerecorded with nothing/anything so that the tape has a time-code from beginning to the end)
i) defective camera TRY IT ON ANOTHER MAC !
j) remove bookmarks in iMovie project
k) Do You have desktop pictures or screen-savers active? Try turning them off.
l) Updating - OS has to be a clean install - not an update eg from X.3.x to X.4.x (no good)
  OS X.4.0-3 needs a clean install to work (I use X.3.9)
m) Updating QT and/or other updates (to 7 needs v6 to be cleaned out first)
  QT v.7 needs a clean install to work (I use 6.5.2)
n)
Have you tried the crazy fix:
Open GarageBand, play a few notes, close it and reopen iMovie. The camera should import fine now.
Sue/SDillini
o) Trash: com.apple.iMovie.plist and com.apple.iMovie3.plist : files (Xinram)
FILEVAULT is a way/program to protect files from prying eye - but it slows
down the computer. (See in System "-prefs" - under the Apple up to the left)
Yours Bengt W