IMovie + Preview Window = Garbled GUI

Hey everyone
Lately, I've been experiencing an issue with iMovie in which the preview window suddenly becomes a randomized mess of images from elsewhere on the screen (stuff from the menu bar, text, dock icons, pieces of the wallpaper, etc.) This is usually accompanied by a system freeze. After this occurs, it happens not only in iMovie, but any time I use quicktime (not VLC, just quicktime, so it's an apple-related issue). However, I've recently noticed that it also causes GUI issues, such as folder stacks and file icons also becoming garbled (there was even an instance where the address book icon ENGULFED HALF MY SCREEN).
A restart usually solves this, but does anyone know a permanent fix for this? Do I need to reinstall iLife?

I see you've had 50 viewers look at this question, but no one has answered it. No one commented on my post on the same subject two days ago either, but we both have a similar problem. Here's my situation:
I am not able to see my movie in the "Preview Window" of iMovie, after creating a project and event. I had just erased my hard drive, installed a new system directly from SnowLeopard and added iMovie09 (then updated it to v. 8.0.6). Before opening and importing photos to iPhoto, however, I downloaded a DEMO VERSION OF APERTURE, to see if I wanted to purchase that instead of using iPhoto. Next I opened iMovie and imported some photos from Aperture. Everything worked fine. After a few days of working with Aperture I decided to delete it and use iPhoto09. Here's where the problems started. I could bring photos into iMovie from iPhoto but when I tired to make them run as a movie, nothing appeared in the Preview window. I've made dozens of iMovies before, so I expected it to work as it always had.
I deleted everything I could find about Aperture, even the Library/Cache of Aperture. I deleted everything I could find about iMovie even the Library/Preferences/com.apple.iMovie08. I reinstalled iPhoto09 and iMovie09. I've emptied the iPhoto libraries and started over there too with photos only, no video even, but I still can't bring in even a simple photo and have it appear in the Preview window of iMovie.
There must be a bug somewhere. I'd just like to make simple old iPhoto work with iMovie without the ghosts of Aperture interferring.
I know I haven't answered your question or helped you with your problem, but by combining our efforts and complaint, maybe someone will help us both.
Best wishes.

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Also I have found this on the export video screen which narrows it down a bit...
Here's how the source tab of that screen looks...
compared to the output tab, with the black bars that are my issue...
So where did I go wrong here?

IMovie 11 projects no longer working, preview window is glitched or black, event library not playing imported vids

I am having a lot of trouble with iMovie 11. I bought a new MacBook Pro 15" for the sole purpose of editing surgical videos for work. iMovie 11 was working great initially for me (taking full length surgical video - up to 2 hours) and editing these down to anywhere from 5 to 30 min videos highlighting crucial steps for the surgeries along with transitions, ken burns, etc (with the plan of overlaying narrative voice-over later). I had about 15 of these videos edited sitting in my Project Library and multiple imported videos (dvd to m4v via handbrake then imported via iMovie 11) in my Project Library. Now none of my projects play in the preview window, it's either black or a weird glitchy picture (like messed up pic of my doc or desktop... really weird) and only about 2 of my imported videos play in the project library, otherwise they are just black when I roll over them. My projects are still intact as far as edited clip lengths and transitions, but nothing plays, even in full screen mode. I tried making a new project and the imported video shows in the event library but when I add it to a project it's black (but does play in full screen mode, but impossible to edit this way). I think the audio is actually intact although i'm not positive because these videos don't have any audio (there's some baseline level that fluctuates on the audio bars).
I tried finalizing and exporting a project as an m4v (one that was a combination of two edited imported videos - one of the source imported vids working in the event library and the other not working) and the first half is all glitched up with no surgery video, but the second half is there with the transitions and everything (the half that is working in the event library). This part does not show up when I am trying to edit the project.
fyi - I had deleted some of the videos from my event library to unclutter a little some time ago, the projects were still working after that.
I can find all of my imported videos (in .mov format) that should be working in the event library when I look in the folder:
users/me/movies/iMovie events
If someone could please help me resolve this issue, I would really appreciate it. I put a lot of work and time into these videos and it would be near impossible to start from scratch (which would probably be on some other movie editor like windows movie maker since my iMovie is not working properly even for new projects). I'm hoping this is just some sort of glitch that can be fixed and my projects are still salvagable. I can't remember if this started after I did a system software update or not. This will be a huge dissapointment for me in the Apple platform if I have to scrap my projects because I had just switched over from the PC platform.
I even got Norton antivirus and internet security to make sure I don't have some sort of weird virus.
I have a Feb 2011 15 in MacBook Pro 2.2 Ghz, 4 g RAM, 750 g HD, 1 g vid card. iMovie ver 9.0.4. Lion 10.7.2

Did you by any chance upgrade your Mac OS from version 10.6 (Snow Leopard) to 10.7 (Lion) during the time you were working in iMovie on all these projects?
If not, start by deleting the iMovie Preferences file.
Go to the Desktop
Hold down the Option key and choose the Go Menu > Library
Go to Preferences > com.apple.iMovieApp.plist
Move the .plist file to the trash and restart iMovie
See if the Project files react any differently. Failing that try doing a Repair Disk Permissions:
Restart the Mac, hold down the Option key continuously until 2 hard drive icons appear
Choose the Recovery Volume as your startup disk and let it run until you see the Desktop
Choose Disk Utility from the Recovery Menu
Run Repair Disk Permissions in Disk Utility
Reboot the Mac and when you see the Desktop appear launch iMovie
See if the Project files are the same or different. Next step after this is to one at a time take the Project folders out of users/me/movies/imovie projects. Move one to the desktop and start iMovie. Try skimming the projects that acted up recently. Moving one project at a time might help isolate which project may be causing problems. You can also place project folders back in their original location after doing this testing and iMovie will recognize them on the next relaunch. It won't hurt anything.

Scale import preview Windows in iMovie 11 ?

how can I scale the import preview window in iMovie 11 ? It worked in iMovie 09 (iLife 09) but it does not anymore in iMovie 11 .
Actually I did not find out how to scale my import preview window in iMovie 11 when I connect an external Firewire Camera. The Import Preview- Windows stays fixed. This worked fine in imovie 09 !!
When I switch to the internal iSight Camera then You can scale the Import Preview Window as I was with other iMovie Versions.

This forum is for mobile iMovie (iPhone & iPad).
You may need the iMovie Mac forum:
https://discussions.apple.com/community/ilife/imovie

IMovie, some photos on timeline will not play in preview window

There are a bunch of photos on the timeline that will not play in preview window.
I've tried all the tricks that were suggested in other posts. (moving photo to the desktop and then reimporting, etc)
several hours have been lost on this problem.
IOS 10.7.5
iMovie '11 rev. 9.0.9

I think it's a bug. It happens to me as well. You have to switch between windows, refreshing it.

Audio Disappeared in iMovie Event Preview Window

I've been using iMovie 09 for about 2 years with no major issues. Today I added some new clips, and for some reason I can no longer hear audio in ANY of my "events" in the preview window (or whatever it's called--I'm talking about the box where you look at your clips and decide which parts to add to your project). If I select a section and add it to a project, it plays fine (ie with audio) in the project window, but nada still in the preview window. Anyone know what's going on?

Are you able to check the Volume setting for those imported clips? I've had clips that I've dragged from the Event Library into a project suddenly lose their audio. When I looked at the audio waveform it was flat. But I could drag the volume up to get it back to 100% where it should have been when I dragged it originally.
Try this: Click on the clip in the Project time line, where the little 'gear' icon appears on the clip. From that pop-up menu choose Audio Adjustments:
You will see the iMovie Inspector window open with a whole series of audio adjustments you can perform on just the audio track iself. The one you want is Volume, near the top of the window. That should always be 100%.

IMovie 11 - Black/Empty Preview Window

This is a problem that arose yesterday and after searching the Internet I can't seem to find an answer other than "You need to re-install the OS" - but obviously that's a last resort for me.
Basically whenever I import a clip in to iMovie 11 the preview window on the right shows up as black - sound doesn't seem to play either.
I'm using iMovie 11 on a 13 inch MacBook Pro using a 2.4Ghz dual core processor (the model that came before the current quad core ones) with 4GB RAM. I've happily been using it without any real problems up until now.
I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the software but that doesn't work.
Any solutions? I'd really rather not have to install OS X all over again. Random, nonsensical issues are the reason why I jumped ship to OS X.
Update: The preview box now shows a preview image, but it's a frame of a video that I did not import in to iMovie. http://i51.tinypic.com/2mg3uh.jpg

well... after a lot of trial and error, with a similar problem...
I have narrowed mine down to 2 differnet approaches that work (anything else results in black/blank video in preview and export)
If the photos already fit the proper aspect ratio (i.e. cropped in iphoto to 16:9 already)
- setup project with NO transitions when you define it to start with
- before you import anything, turn ken burns off, set it to "fit image" or whatever
Regardless of size/shape of image
- setup the project WITH transitions (i've just used the default Disolve i think it was)
- leave ken burns ON...
Bottom line, if i try to turn off Ken Burns AND have it Crop the photo.... i'm dead in the water... and the transitions seem to be tied with Ken Burns.... either take em both or neither....
of course your mileage may vary... but maybe that will help someone .... or maybe apple will read it and fix it

Preview Window Not Working

Problem:
The preview window in the top right of iMovie 08 does not work. It is either checkered or black.
Possible Solution:
If your iMovie project is using video from an event that has a lot of video in it, split that event up. Do this via right click->Split Event Before Click.
Background:
When I would start up iMovie '08 (7.1.4) everything worked fine until I clicked on a certain project that I had made. Then the preview window would not work--it showed a blank screen or was checkered, even though the audio would play. Weird things would continue to happen, and none of the other projects would play in the preview window, it seemed to get progressively worse.
The project used video from an even that had a lot more video in it than other events I was using. It had 45:45 and the others less than 30min. I split the event up half way via right-clicking about half way and then selecting "Split Event Before Clip". This split the event into two events, and everything works fine now. (When you split the event, you need not worry about messing up your project, it knows that you have split the event and can still find the video.)

Well, I just seemed to have solved the problem...at least as I was experiencing it. As mentioned, I have my Motion content on an external drive, so I decided to revisit this.
I had installed all my Final Cut Studio content on the external drive using the "Content Installer" (after first installing the apps to my laptop). When opening Motion for the first time, it couldn't find the content so I manually typed in the appropriate path...or so I thought:
250GB Drive : Final Cut Studio Content : Motion Content.
Oddly enough, a few things worked this way, but not everything. It turns out I had to specifically point one folder deeper:
250GB Drive : Final Cut Studio Content : Motion Content : Motion
After doing this, all my content seems to preview, although there still are a few anomalies. Some things have to be clicked on more than once to preview, or sometimes I must preview something else first, then try the desired effect a second time. In some cases waiting quite a while produces something.
I'll try moving the cursor about as Mabou suggested and see if that makes any difference.
At least I'm getting somewhere!
Thanks,
Doug

How to scale Import Preview Window?

how can I scale the import preview window in iMovie 11 ? It worked in iMovie 09 (iLife 09) but it does not anymore in iMovie 11 .
Actually I did not find out how to scale my import preview window in iMovie 11 when I connect an external Firewire Camera. The Import Preview- Windows stays fixed. This worked fine in imovie 09 !!
When I switch to the internal iSight Camera then You can scale the Import Preview Window as I was with other iMovie Versions.

Now I have the proof. There is a Bug in iMovie 9 (iLife11) with the import preview window..
In iMovie 8 it is possible to scale the import preview window to any size You like while importing video. In iMovie 9 this is not anmore possible, except with the built in iSight camera. I have checked on different mac's with different imovie builts and I can reproduce this problem anytime.

Preview window stops working when skimming

I have a top end MacBook Air (i7 / 4Gb) and find iMovie 11 works very well on it.
However, recently I've been having problems with the preview window. I can be editing for some time when the preview window will just display the last frame that I played and stops displaying what I'm skimming with the cursor. If I start the playback again the preview window will work but once I stop it will not show the skim. If I quit iMovie and restart it, it all works fine for a while but eventually starts misbehaving again. I'm editing dozens of short clips into a 5 minute movie and working full HD resolution.
Has anyone else experienced this? Curiously I found a couple of archived threads from 2008/2009 (presumably with older versions of iMovie) which mentioned similar behaviour but no solutions.

Interestingly, having a minimized app makes no difference - the Alt key stops working when the last visible window is dismissed.
I've not reinstalled Gnome yet, but will give that a try.

Video will not show in the preview window

I am using iMovie 08 and have some video that I pulled into iMovie using my iSight. Whenever I am trying to preview my movie it will not show in the preview window. I did a software update for iMovie and the issue is still happening. Any ideas??

Although the same not preview-able iMovie event played perfectly fine when transferred to a different mac running perian and divx, disabling Perian solved the issue on my macbook, too!
Thanks for the tip!
I still wonder why some clips preview and some don't (with perian running)...

Movie does not fit preview window

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I cannot figure it out.
I made a short movie clip with my iPhone 5. Imported it into iMovie (it looks perfect when I preview it from the event library) and then dragged that clip to a new project. Then when I play the video from within the project, it has been heavily cropped, ie the movie does not fit in the preview window.
I have tried changing the aspect ratio of the project and this made no difference. I also change the setting File > Project Properties > Initial Video Placement to Fit in Frame.
Any help appreciated.

A lot of people who shoot video on the iPhone will hold the phone vertically oriented (portrait orientation). For shooting movies, you will get the best results when you rotate the phone 90 degrees to landscape orientation.
iMovie will always edit in landscape orientation (long side on top and bottom, short side on the sides) because this is the way TV screens work.

Frozen video/preview window

hi there!
running iMovie 8.0.6 on my brand new macbook pro. have had great success with iMovie thus far until last night when i cut a 1hr 5min long video down to 8 minutes. all was well, but this morning when i come back to edit some more and add music, titles etc, the project won't play. when i click play on the project, either in full screen or regular screen mode, the audio starts playing and the little yellow line starts moving through the clips but the image in the preview window and in full screen is simply frozen on the very first clip in the movie. any thoughts why i can't see the actual video but can only hear it??
all help is greatly appreciated!
thanks!
Message was edited by: ariel444

hi there,
sorry for the delayed response. i actually had to call apple and unfortunately the fix wasn't that great. the project file was somehow corrupted - when i removed it from the iMovie program per their suggestion, the program and rest of the projects in it started working fine. their thought process was that sometimes when you're working in iMovie for too long without shutting it down/quitting, iMovie does not have the time to process the project files correctly, which is what could've messed up my project file. so i essentially needed to quit iMovie every once in a while to give it time to process the project. whether this is true or not i don't know, but it's the only answer they could give me. i actually had to remove the project and start all over! before removing the project though, i started a new one - you know how the event leaves a little orange or green line in the parts that have already been used and transferred into a project? i just followed those orange/green guidelines to get the clips i had previously chosen for the messed up project and put them into a new project. i then deleted the old messed up project that wouldn't play and everything has worked fine ever since. hope this helps a little!
Message was edited by: ariel444

IMovieHD Preview windows

I think I have a gremlin in here... have just upgraded to iMovieHD and having problems 'fixing' a photo, in place, in the preview windows. I position the photo in the small (upper right) preview window, then update... but, once update is complete, the photo in that small window jumps out of allignment. This is frustrating... all the settings are lost, so to make a change I have to constantly reposition the photo. Got smart, figured would try KB... set the end and start number the same... success, got the picture to stay 'put' in the small preview window... but the clip panel photo jumped out of allignment! Also, even though I am careful to zoom in and position the photo in the smaller window... the photo in the clip/larger preview window still shows a thin black band, usually at the bottom. I have to make a 'guess' at how much to zoom in for the photo to be 'clean' of frame. I checked prefences, settings, updated and cleaned both iMovie and QT, removed older versions ...even reinstalled iMovieHD. Is there a setting, or something I have missed? Or, does anyone have a good 'mouse' trap for this really annoying little gremlin?

Hi Ann. Welcome to the forum.
is is frustrating... all the settings are lost, so to make a change I have to
constantly reposition the photo. Got smart, figured would try KB... set the
end and start number the same... success, got the picture to stay 'put' in the
small preview window... but the clip panel photo jumped out of allignment!
In iMovie HD, if the Ken Burns checkbox is OFF when you import an image, there's a bug that fails to restore the prevew settings when you click on the clip in the Timeline. As you say, the preview window places the image in the wrong place. It creates a real mess.
(That's only true if the preview wasn't centered when the photo was imported.)
There is no workaround for the bug, which makes it very irritating.
The bug does NOT occur if the Ken Burns checkbox is ON when you import the photo. When you click on the Timeline clip, the Ken Burns settings are correctly displayed.
The other alignment problems you see can be cured by re-setting the Ken Burns pan/crop. In effect, you want to return the preview window back to its default position.
To do that, click on the Ken Burns Start side of the Start/End thingy. Pause. Drag the zoom slider a bit to the right, then all the way to the left. Repeat for the End side of the Start/End thingy. Now the preview window is centered.
Please complain to Apple about this bug. Hopefully it will be fixed sometime soon. (But I'm not counting on it.)
http://www.apple.com/feedback/imovie.html
Karl

Preview window goes black

hey everyone,
i have final cut pro on my macbook running mountain lion, it has worked forever and although it takes some time to start, while it's running its great. I had to use it for a project today because iv had another problem on imovie. Anyway, im importing mov and mp4 videos from my harddrive, into two seperate events. The first event, had the same problem, but after i started using a movie, they all showed up. the problem is that they are on my library and in the event, but the preview window shows as black. and if i pull one of these videos to the time line, the audio plays but the image continues black. I cant understand what the problem, is and why one of the events turned ok and the other didn't... any ideas? what can i do?
Thanks
Gui

We're having similar issues. A couple of us posted 2 days ago.

IMovie + Preview Window = Garbled GUI

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