IMovie HD jerking

iMovie HD 6.0.3 on a MacBook Pro Intel Core Duo 2.6 GHz
When viewing a video on iMovie HD the framerate looks like being low. Zooming, SLOW pan shots, movements are jerking, not really smooth.
Imported music (playing without problem in iTunes) is stumbling, i.e. has from time o time very short breaks.
Any hints are welcome
Message was edited by: Urs Gruetzner

Hi
This can have may origins try:
• Plenty of free space on internal (start-up) hard disk ? > 25Gb after
project is captured and edited ?
• Deleted the iMovie pref file ?
• Known trouble maker: Lot's of audio clips. eg > 50 gives a stuttering result
Mix down audio to one audio clip.
• What kind of original material. 12-bit audio or recording in LP-mode (90min
on a 60min tape) GIVES problems + audio sync troubles.
• .mpg4, .avi, .wmv and other ailient file formats also is problematic.
• movie stored on an external USB/USB2 hard disk - often a troublemaker.
I use FireWire AND ONLY: Mac OS Extended formatted -
UNIX/DOS/FAT32/Mac OS Exchande DOESN'T WORK
Yours Bengt W

Similar Messages

Why does iMovie project jerk and stop and start in preview?

I have been making iMovies with iMovieHD for years using photos with the Ken Burns effect.
Recently after a movie project gets more than a few minutes long with typical audio and transitions, I no longer can preview it without it jerking and stopping and starting.
Obviously this does not allow me to see what I am doing, how the music matches or doesn't match my photos.
I have tried emptying the iMovie trash and emptying my finder trash, no change.
I have made sure there is plenty of hard disk space on my internal drive, where iMovie and the movie file is located.
Any ideas?

Hi
a. Emptying the trash - something I alway avoid - no matter why.
b. Plenty of free space on internal (start-up) hard disk ? > 25Gb after
project is captured and edited ?
c. Deleted iMovie pref file ?
d. Known trouble maker: Lot's of audio clips. eg > 50 gives a stuttering result
Mix down audio to one audio clip.
e. What kind of original material. 12-bit audio or recording in LP-mode (90min
on a 60min tape) GIVES problems + audio sync troubles.
f. .mpg4, .avi, .wmv and other ailient file formats also is problematic.
g. movie stored on an external USB/USB2 hard disk - often troublemaker.
I use FireWire AND ONLY: Mac OS Extended formatted -
UNIX/DOS/FAT32/Mac OS Exchande DOESN'T WORK
Yours Bengt W

IMovie clips jerk when an iTune is imported

I just recently completed my first IMovie and multiple iDisc copies. Everything worked beautifully, including music.
I'm now work on my second iMovie, and when I put a music track into the clips, and then play - the video portion "jerks/stops/goes again." Without the music track the video clips move smoothly as shot. The music is causing this jerking. It didn't happen on my first iMovie. What am I doing wrong? Was the first one just "beginners luck?"

Although the exact cause isn't known, that is a well-known problem. There's something about certain songs iMovie doesn't like. They can cause jerky playback, sometimes known as stutter.
The solution is to burn an Audio CD containing the song(s), then import the songs direct from the CD to iMovie. (Burning the songs to an Audio CD converts them to AIFF files, which iMovie prefers.)
First set iTunes preferences to burn an Audio CD, not an MP3 CD or Data CD. To do that, choose iTunes>Preferences, click the Advanced button, then the Burning tab, then set the Disk Format to Audio CD. Click OK to set preferences.
Then create a playlist with the song(s) you want and press the Burn Disk button at the bottom of the window.
After the disk is burned, drag the songs from the CD to the iMovie Timeline, replacing the songs already there.
With luck, everything should now work fine. If not, see this topic, which discusses the other main cause of stutter:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2597033#2597033
Karl

Audio stopped working for playback of all video file types (LR 4.4)

Been using LR 4.4 on same 64-bit Win 7 PC a long time with no such issues. No change to environment. Same files play fine through Windows Media Player and played fine in LR yesterday. What's up???

Hello, berti,
Welcome to the discussions! It sounds as if you are doing all the correct things.
Problem # 1:
Some of us have had the same experience with IM HD5. The playback begins to jerk and stutter even though there is nothing wrong with the movie. If you can still work with your movie, you will find that the resultant DVD is fine, no stuttering or skipping. I have found that the playhead stops and jumps from one photo or clip to the other. To check that my transitions are ok, I manually move the playhead so I can see the effect. I have learned that the end result will be ok, so I just continue finishing the movie. Yesterday, I had to restart my computer after I quit iMovie (for another reason, not due to iMovie) and when I launched iMovie again, the playback was better. Restarts may not always help, though.
Problem #2:
I have also had problems exporting back to the camcorder. Previous to upgrading to Tiger, my exports went flawlessly. After Tiger, began having difficulty. Things worsened after the upgrade to QuickTime 7.0.3. Also, if iMovie is jerking and skipping, you will have problems with the exporting.
My solution is to save the movie as QuickTime Full Stream. You can easily do this because you have a lot of free space. (You are duplicating your movie, so you need space for it).
After the QuickTime movie has been created, open a new iMovie and name it. Then, import the new QT movie into the new project. Save it, and then try to export that to your camera. That has worked for me every time.
Post back if this does not help.

Import movie problem

Hi,
I have a new mac, and tried to do my first movie. I know I am doing something wrong, but cant figure out what. I have a sony HD camcorder (HDR-HC3). The firewire connects fine. The blue screen to import comes up fine. I am able to rewind and control the camcorder from iMac. I click Import after entering file name, etc. This is where I get into trouble. The tape moves fine, and it seems like it is importing, but the screen remains blue, couner does not move from 0.00. After I end import, of course my file is empty, and nothing makes it to the computer.
Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

I have the same problem. I haven't used iMovie in a while but nothing has changed except 10.5.x I have 10.5.3 and it suddenly iMovie HD 6.0.3 doesn't work. Same issue as the gentleman previously. I hit import and then the video camera runs fine but the iMovie HD jerks and fits and then the camera stops, and iMovie crashes...
BTW, there is no "manual import" button setting in iMovie Preferences under "import" that I can find. Don't know what you are referring to.... I've read such horror stories about iMovie 08 I wouldn't dare use it... I've made many movies on HD and predecessors, and have a lot of special effects. Is Apple building in obsolescence with 10.5.3?)
Thanks if you have any other suggestions.

IMovie HD 6 when "share" to QuickTime video "jerks" every two seconds

I'm trying to export a 2 minute movie by "sharing" it as QuickTime. I'm doing this for a friend so he can upload it to his YouTube account. I'm exporting using the "expert" settings required by YouTube (see http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?&answer=165543). When I open the movie to view it in QuickTime the movie image "jerks" every two seconds and the audio is out of sync with the video. I've never had this problem before. The video plays fine in iMovie HD 6. Any idea what is going on and how I may fix it? I've restarted, shutdown and restarted, "shared" numerous times and still have the same problem.

I have the exact same problem: iMovie crashes when you try to export. I believe it's the software update, not your virus scanner. Everything was fine with me until I downloaded this wonderful "upgrade" that has caused untold problems (as you can gather from these Discussions). I've just given up on it and purchased different video software. Which just works . . .

Scrolling credits jerk in iMovie

I am experiencing a jerky scroll when I preview my text additions. They move from bottom to top ok but I notice a jerk as it proceeds. Does anyone know how to make this more stable? I also notice on some of the zoom from bottom to top is not real stable. Any fixes for this?
Thanks!
Zardozz

There are unfortunately no alignment choices in iMovie 10. However you can do it manually with some fiddling about. Highlight and delete "Description". Then place the cursor to the left of "Name" and start pressing the space bar. Eventually after about 32 spaces "Name" will start shifting to the right. Do this for each row you need and adjust the number of spaces to centre the names.
In fact you can alternatively highlight and delete all of the Name Description fields, press line feed and type spaces up the point you want your name to appear. Another line feed or two and repeat for the second name etc. You can type anything and change the font and font size, you just have to write spaces to position each line of text.
Geoff

Merged clips in iMovie 6 HD

Currently I am working on creating an iMovie for my nephew's soccer tournament. It is being done in a Star Wars theme. In the original movie the Star Wars logo appears with the theme music and then zooms backward into infinity before the scrolling paragraphs. I have created the same type of effect, except it says Soccer Wars. I could not achieve this in iMovie using the titles because of the limitations. I did however create the title in photoshop 6 and import 3 size versions of this title. I need to create 3 because I discovered that the Ken burns effect would only zoom back just so far. I then used the sebsoft Join Clips plugin to tie all 3 clips together into one clip.
Here is my problem: When the first clip reaches zooms back to the point the second clip begins, there is a small "jump" or "jerk" between the first and second clip. The same happens between the second and third even though I have combined all three clips.
Here is my question: Is there a way to "smooth" this out so that it flows seemlessly?
Any suggestions are appreciated.
Greg Gertz

Hi
To join clips - most often not necessary but in Your case most probably.
There are no join clip tool in iMovie but can be achieved in several ways
1. I would test this first.
• add together duration of clip 1 and 2 and 3 - Frame exact ! !
• Now when they are in TimeLine and in a cont. select TEXT-tool
• select any eg Centered Text, here apply the very invisably letter "Space"
• now set the duration exactly
• drop the text-tool line ge Centered Text on the first clip in TimeLine
Now they should be joined (whit an invisably space as text
2. If this doesn't work - use Export Back to Camera
• Export the clips back to a new tape
• SET in iMovie pref - not to import as individual clips
• import back
And it will be just one new clip
3. This can as I get it also be done in QuickTime - But I do not know how
You'll have to investigate.
Use the search function and You'll find more.
Yours Bengt W

Imovie 09, slow, laggy performance, frequent hangs. Any reasons?

The Short:
iMovie 09 is slow and lags but my computer exceeds system requirments.
The Long:
Playing anything in full screen view lags. Many animations (as in ones performed by the computer) such as progress bars, and skimming just jerk along. Progress bars are not smooth and many of the titles etc appear jumpy inside imovie. Also, quite often, selecting a menu item results in a 5 second hang, with a spinning beach ball. This is annoying as everything worked quite fine in iMovie 08. My computer far exceeds system requirements (2.0GHZ Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB RAM, 100GB+ free hard drive space, one of those new 9400m graphics cards) yet things are so slow. Anybody have any fixes or reasons why, thanks!
PS, Latest iMovie build 8.0.4

I don't know all the ins and outs of the "Late '08" aluminium MacBook (..my Beloved has one, but she's taken it to work). So I can't remember what options it has under System Preferences>Energy Saver.
But I'd look there and see if you can switch between normal and High processor performance .or simply plug the the laptop into the mains instead of running it on battery power.
You should be able to specify a High processor speed (..you can on most other Mac laptops, I think..) and that should help, if it's not already running at its highest speed.
Whilst you're in System Prefs, check all your other settings, e.g; Displays, to make sure that everything's optimised for best running. And, of course, you'll want plenty of free space on your hard disc to store your clips and Projects ..especially if you are using hi-def video.
"..titles, maps, or themes.." have to be read into memory off the Mac's hard disc, and it sounds as if either (a) you've got a lot of other programs or documents open, clogging up memory, or (b) you just have insufficient memory for smooth running of editing, coping with HD material, and reading extra material off the hard disc and into memory.
I have 4 GB of RAM, and your laptop can take a max of 6GB (..according to MacTracker (click on that blue link), even though Apple say a max of 4GB).
- Ah, no; she hasn't taken it to work: I've just checked its Sys Prefs>Energy Saver: you should un-tick the box "Put hard disk(s) to sleep when possible" ..that'll keep everything running nice and fast -
So; keep the hard disc spinning, turn off everything else except iMovie, and add more RAM.

Jpegs to imovie to QT to Video2SWF settings

OK tough 3 part question...
I've been trying to figure this out for months but can't seem to find a clear answer on this anywhere. I've looked at Roddy, OT, and all the usual suspects iweb help sites.
I am using Photoshop jpegs (of my photography) to import into imovie, export/share as QT mov files and then either convert to flash using Video2SWF (or keep as QT file). Basically making my own slide show with transitions exactly to the size I need it. The final size in iweb needs to be 942 x 596 to fit my space.
What I'm asking is
1) what size to save my photoshop jpegs.
2) what settings to use to export/share from imovie to QT and then...
3) if I should convert to flash... what settings to use with Video2SWF.
All without losing quality, keeping my dimensions and not making the file too large to load.
I created a QT file via imovie using photoshop jpegs and dropped it into iweb. This is the file that WAS automatically playing on my home page the last couple of days. I originally had the photoshop jpegs at 1650 x 1044 and exported/shared from imovie as a 980 x 620 QT mov file. This made a 56.6 meg file. It doesn't take long for me to load but others have told me it did... (Roddy/OT) not sure if you let it play or not when you were looking at my files the last couple of days... anyway, I thought that would be way too big a file to load. Then I took that file and used Video2SWF and got a 15mb SWF file. The quality does not seem to be that great. It's blurry and lower res for sure. you can see this on the FAQ page now: http://web.me.com/lisasandlerdesign/lisasandlerphotography/faq.html
So I remade the imovie QT file using jpegs at 942 x 596 this file was 22.2 mb. I thought maybe I should get it down in size more.
(Side note: I don't understand when I drag the mov file into iweb it comes in as 300x90 and needs to be sized up to 942x596)
So I made a smaller QT file 15.4 mb out of the 942x596 jpegs. This is the one playing now on my home page (http://web.me.com/lisasandlerdesign/lisasandlerphotography/Home.html). Unfortunately I can definitely see that the quality is not as good and my photos look blurry.
Does anyone have a formula that works for figuring out sizes and settings for this without file sizes getting too big but keeping best quality?
I know it's a doozy of a question so if something doesn't make sense please ask me!
thanks, Lisa

What planet are you from???!?!?!? Thanks for choosing to make up your own answers and ignore my specific questions.
Don't give me BS about coming to the point... send me to some useless information and tell me I'm lying. It WAS sized proportionally. movie IS 800x506 which is proportional to 942x596, not 942x612. That was a typo re 300x(1)90. I did not resize it disproportionally. When I click on 'use original size' the file is 800x506 (then sized up to 942x596) and fits in exactly the same space as a 942x596 box...
With the bigger file... iweb tells me the file is 942x596, my jpegs are 942x596 and imovie settings are 942x596. Everywhere the #s are 942x596 no matter how you slice it. SO I DID CREATE A MOVIE THE SIZE I WANTED IT. It was too large. Re authority... you're telling me it's ok to have a 56.6 mb file playing on my site? You'd be the first.
And it only took me 1/2 hour to do it... Mr. I Made Coffee and did it in an hour. Was there alcohol in your coffee? Because you sure seemed to be reading someone else's post and not mine. I was referring to researching for months to find an answer on correct sizes for quality. The file itself was easy and quick to make.
I don't use keynote so that's useless to me. There's no reason I should have to and that was not my question.
thanks for nothing, Wydor. Oh I take that back. The 'Use Original Size' part was helpful. I'm certainly not going to listen to you because you have no authority or credibility in my eyes not to mention you're a pompous jerk.
Please don't ever waste my time by responding to my posts.
NEXT, HELP please!

Making iMovie copy from corrupted iMove that was sent to Quicktime

Edited iMovie played in jerks, jumps, skips and freezes, so I exported it to Quicktime. Now it runs smooth in Quicktime Pro, but the images are terrible, like I am seeing mostly pixels. Sound was okay.
I want to make a DVD of it for DVD distribution, but, first, I need to get the images right, clean up a couple of rough spots, and find a way to export to iDVD to make the DVD copies. This is a complex film with many overlays and tweaks.

Edited iMovie played in jerks, jumps, skips and
freezes, so I exported it to Quicktime. Now it
runs smooth in Quicktime Pro, but the images are
terrible, like I am seeing mostly pixels. Sound was
okay.
I want to make a DVD of it for DVD distribution,
but, first, I need to get the images right, clean
up a couple of rough spots, and find a way to
export to iDVD to make the DVD copies. This is a
complex film with many overlays and tweaks.
Edited iMovie played in jerks, jumps, skips and
freezes, so I exported it to Quicktime. Now it
runs smooth in Quicktime Pro, but the images are
terrible, like I am seeing mostly pixels. Sound was
okay.
I want to make a DVD of it for DVD distribution,
but, first, I need to get the images right, clean
up a couple of rough spots, and find a way to
export to iDVD to make the DVD copies. This is a
complex film with many overlays and tweaks.

Third party software for imovie to enable Sony HD cameras to import footage

Pretty much I bought a camera that won't work with my Mac unless I jump through hurdles to make it do so. (which is nice because I spent a crap ton of money on the camera) Apple support told me I had to find third party software and that they have no clue when an update for imovie would come out which allowed avchd to read on a mac. Please god let some one solve my problem for me. I'm not too technically savoy so if the answer is complex, dumb it down a little. I really don't want to have to return the camera. it's a sony Sr-1 pretty sweet little guy and the jerks at best buy said it would be compatible with mac.

The answer is the same as in your original post:
iMovie: Cannot See or Control Camera
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=43000

Hang ups and jerkiness in iMovie HD export to mini dv camera

I have a big problem-- while I am trying to export a TV show created in *_iMovie HD 6.0.3 (267.2)*_ to my *Sony DCR TRV-900*, which I have done many times.
Suddenly, there is jerkiness upon export to my camera. My iMoive video which plays back normally on the coputer looks jerky and almost slo mo while going to camera, and is also like than when the mini dv is played back. However the audio quality seems to be ok on the mini dv.
FYI, this show is made up of a series of Full Quality Quicktime chunks (ie individual scenes that I made and exported thru iMovie as Full Quality QuickTime, and then re-imported as individual Quicktime video chunks so not to tax the exporting capacity of iMovie too much).
The show is about 26 minutes, and the size of the iMovie file is about 26 gigs. The file resides on a Maxtor external drive with firewire 400.
I have plugged and replugged, turned camera on and off, and changed mini dv tapes a couple of times...
Does anybody out there know what is up with this jerky outputting problem?
Thanks
Michael in LA

Not sure why you should have this problem now, but you can export the entire movie as a new Full Quality Quicktime, and then reimport that into a new iMovie and export that new iMovie to your camcorder.
Just be sure you have enough free space on your hard drive where your iMovie is located.
.....that MIGHT be the problem with the jerking......how much free space do you have?

Stuttering Workaround (and iMovie observations)

I too had experienced stuttering issues once I really got into a project in iMovie HD. Here is what I found, and how I fixed it:
I had dozens of short clips, sound files, and narration in the lower project bar, the area in which you make your linear project. My linear creation was about 40 minutes long. I had dozens more clips up in the clip storage area.
As has been noted many times, iMove HD starts to stutter the audio and skip about the video. Yet, as other posts noted you could export to Qicktime and have it pipe-out ok (mostly). I found the same was true if I exported what was in my project bar back to my DV camera: While the video and audio skipped and stuttered on my G5, it was coming across smooth in my camera screen...for about ten minutes. Then the video began skipping in my camera too.
My next intended workaround found an interesting problem with iMovie. My intended workaround was to delete the first ten minutes (that I'd gotten on my camera in nice form) from the project bar, and then simply record the next ten minutes or so in good fashion, and so on. But, with the first ten minutes gone, the export now lasted a good twenty minutes without beginning the skipping in my camera.
Ah-hah. iMovie must have a problem holding a lot of data!
So, I deleted all unused clips from my storage area, and tried the whole export again. This time it ran flawlessly to the end. I now had two perfect pieces of a movie (video, narration, music, sound effects) in my dv camera.
This tells me that iMovie has a problem holding a lot of separate data while trying to play video and audio.
I imported my two pieces of finished video that were on my camera into a new iMovie project, so that now I only had two big clips. iMovie handled these two clips flawlessly. I made some minor adjustments, put the pieces nicely together in the project linear project pain, and ran iDVD. It all went fine.
In the end, iMovie just could not handle so many pieces of video and sound.
Interesting.
G5 Duel 1.8 Mac OS X (10.4.5) 1 gig RAM

Do you think it's memory? Tried to "shrink to fit TV" a 3:45 min. iPhoto slideshow using a complicated procedure listed in MACWORLD, only to find the transitions jerking around. Only have 256MB memory so guess I have to install more RAM...
I too had experienced stuttering issues once I really
got into a project in iMovie HD. Here is what I
found, and how I fixed it:
I had dozens of short clips, sound files, and
narration in the lower project bar, the area in which
you make your linear project. My linear creation was
about 40 minutes long. I had dozens more clips up in
the clip storage area.
As has been noted many times, iMove HD starts to
stutter the audio and skip about the video. Yet, as
other posts noted you could export to Qicktime and
have it pipe-out ok (mostly). I found the same was
true if I exported what was in my project bar back to
my DV camera: While the video and audio skipped and
stuttered on my G5, it was coming across smooth in my
camera screen...for about ten minutes. Then the
video began skipping in my camera too.
My next intended workaround found an interesting
problem with iMovie. My intended workaround was to
delete the first ten minutes (that I'd gotten on my
camera in nice form) from the project bar, and then
simply record the next ten minutes or so in good
fashion, and so on. But, with the first ten minutes
gone, the export now lasted a good twenty minutes
without beginning the skipping in my camera.
Ah-hah. iMovie must have a problem holding a lot of
data!
So, I deleted all unused clips from my storage area,
and tried the whole export again. This time it ran
flawlessly to the end. I now had two perfect pieces
of a movie (video, narration, music, sound effects)
in my dv camera.
This tells me that iMovie has a problem holding a lot
of separate data while trying to play video and
audio.
I imported my two pieces of finished video that were
on my camera into a new iMovie project, so that now I
only had two big clips. iMovie handled these two
clips flawlessly. I made some minor adjustments, put
the pieces nicely together in the project linear
project pain, and ran iDVD. It all went fine.
In the end, iMovie just could not handle so many
pieces of video and sound.
Interesting.
G5 Duel 1.8 Mac
OS X (10.4.5) 1 gig RAM
iMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.4)

Stuttering iMovie Ken Burn Stills in iDVD

I am going crazy, and wasting DVD discs, using iDVD to record iMovies with stills that have the Ken Burns effect. While the movie (book trailer, 212 Mb) looks great when played back in QuickTime, the Ken Burns stills stutter/jerk on the final DVD.
I finalize the project, then share as a QuickTime movie at H.256 compression. I am on a 17" MacBook Pro, 2.5 GHz Intel Core i7, 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3, Mac OS 10.7.5.
Any help will really be appreciated!

How much free space do you have on your boot drive.
What speed did you burn at.
What brand disc are you using?
When working with iDVD is strongly recommended to have a minimum of 25 GB of free space.
Also follow this workflow to help assure the best qualty video DVD which will prevent burning coasters during testing:
Once you have the project as you want it save it as a disk image via the File ➙ Save as Disk Image menu option. This will separate the encoding process from the burn process.
To check the encoding mount the disk image, launch DVD Player and play it. If it plays OK with DVD Player the encoding is good.
Then burn to disk with Disk Utility or Toast at the slowest speed available (2x-4x) to assure the best burn quality. Always use top quality media: Verbatim, Maxell or Taiyo Yuden DVD-R are the most recommended in these forums.
OT

IMovie HD jerking

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