Themes / Ken Burns effects don't render, Transitions and Video FX do render

Topic pretty much says it all. I'm working on some family vacation videos, and thought it might be nice to apply some travel themes to some sections of the video.
The red "rendering" bar that's supposed to crawl along the bottom as it's rendering, and then disappear when done, is dark red, and never fills with the bright red indicating that it's actually rendering the clip.
iMovie's at the latest version (6.0.3), and I've tried this with a number of projects, with no luck. Transitions and video effects work like a peach, so it's just something with themes and the ken burns effect on pictures.
I've deleted the imovie.plist, and repaired permissions.
I should also note, the preview, when dropping clips onto the drop zone(s), display's properly. As does the ken burns effect when setting up it's duration. It's when you apply the settings, and it drops the clip onto the timeline to start rendering it, that's where we hit a snag.
This is on the internal drive, Mac Extended (Journaled) format, there's about 40GB free space. I've emptied both the system, and iMovie trash. I've tried deleting the FontCollections folder.
I'm just rambling off suggestions I've tried from the various threads I've been gleaning in hopes of finding a solution to this.
When I started these projects, I chose DV Widescreen, as everything I film with my DV camcorder (Panasonic PVGS59) is set to widescreen.
I've even tried manually splitting the clips, so that the part(s) I want "themed" are only as long as the theme duration, hoping maybe it was choking on a longer clip (say around 1 to 2 minutes), when all it needed for the theme was about 4-10 seconds. Exact same thing, dark red "rendering" bar, but no bright red bar showing how the rendering is progressing.
I've dug through about 32 pages so far, still going and not finding anything that's actually helping. It seems though my issue is quite similar to others', it's unique as nothing that's worked for others is working for me.

Hi, Nice to be here, despite the problems!
Last night I reinstalled iMovie from the recovery disk and even manually deleted all plugins and prefs beforehand. It didn't make any difference in either my account or a new user account I set up. I repaired all the disk permissions again and also once again deleted the iMovie plist, all to no avail.
I had a software update flagged on Monday night (which I downloaded), the problem has only been since then. The other software flagged for download included a battery update and a SuerpDrive firmware update. The SuperDrive update seems to fail to operate. It would try to run it on startup but would advise that the program could find a device to update? Strange. I deleted the .pkg and also the program from nmy startup items.
So, with the version of iMovie rolled back to the original one off the recovery disk, I would have hoped that it would have started to work, which it hasn't! I subsequently searched for software updates and added a couple, one at a time to see if that would help (restarting every time). That didn't work either!
What on earth is there left to do, despite a full reinstall of Mac OSX?!
I wonder if this is an emerging problem following the latest seemingly recent software update for iMovie?
Sara

Similar Messages

Ken Burns Effects Don't Work in iMovie HD (I've Tried Everything)

Version:
OS X 10.4.10
iMovie 6
*Hardware 1:*
PowerMac G4 Dual 500 Mhz, 1GB RAM, Internal 40GB HDD and Internal 320 GB HDD
*Hardware 2:*
PowerBook G4 500 Mhz, 512MB RAM, Internal 20 GB HDD
Problem:
This problem occurs on both of my G4 Macs. In iMovie HD, I imported a JPEG from iPhoto with Ken Burns Effects on. The still photo appeared properly in the Clip Viewer initially, but appeared as a black screen in the iMovie Monitor. Once the imported photo with the Ken Burns Effects completed rendering, the clip in the Clip Viewer turned white and appeared as a white screen in the iMovie Monitor. I have tried almost everything I read about in these forums in search of a resolution.
*Resolutions that Failed:*
1. The photo is definitely a .jpg
2. Tried importing the actual .jpg file as well as importing from iPhoto.
3. QuickTime and all other Software updates have been applied and are running on the most current release.
4. Repaired disk permissions.
5. Created, saved and manipulated the iMovie file in the standard Movie Folder on my main internal hard drive. (i.e. – I'm not saving to an external HDD)
6. Created, saved and manipulated the iMovie file in the standard Movie Folder on my secondary internal hard drive. (i.e. – I'm not saving to an external HDD)
7. Deleted the 'mac.imovie.plist' file and created a new one.
8. Attempted to do apply the effects logged on as a different user.
9. Saved file, restarted machine and reopened numerous times but the problem persists.
10. Tried a lower resolution photo and the problem persists.
11. Attempted to import all the photos I planned to use, added transitions to all of the clips and rendered completely. Saved the file, restarted the machine and reopened the file with no change to the blank clips.
12. The iMovie trash emptying issue did nothing to help.
*Additional Notes:*
1. The problem is confined to the Ken Burns Effects in iMovie. I am able to work with true video clips without incident.
2. Ken Burns Effects operate properly in iPhoto 6 using the slideshow functionality.
3. I would use iPhoto, but it seems like it would be easier to line up specific sections of an audio track with certain Ken Burns Effects in iMovie. (i.e. – a crescendo at the 16 second mark of the audio track coincides with the end of a 'zoom' on a photo, transition from second 16-17 second mark, new photo at the 17 second mark and pan left to right from 17 second mark to the 25 second mark.) Point is that it lines up precisely with the markers on the audio track, which seems far easier to do in iMovie than iPhoto.
4. Please help me, I'm going nuts troubleshooting this bug! I can't find any resolution that works.
Thanks in advance for the help.
Message was edited by: Charlie Brown Jr.

Hmmm. You seem to have tried, without success, most if not all of the methods of resolving a Ken Burns black screen issue.
Some thoughts that have occurred to me:
1. Perhaps your G4 500mhz Mac is not fast enough. I think that the minimum spec for iLife '06 is 733mhz. Might have nothing to do with this problem, but I just mention it.
2. Are the sizes of your images too large, as can happen with some of these new high def cameras? iMovie has trouble working with very large images.
3. Do you have any 3rd pary plug-ins, particularly in Quick Time, that could be causing a conflict?
4. Do you have enough disk space for the project to operate?
5. Have you done a recent Quick Time update? Some users have reported a problem with that.
6. From your post, it appears that you have continuously worked within the same iMovie file that exhibits the Ken Burns problem. If this is true, try creating a new iMovie project and experimenting with a few clips to see if the problem persists in the new project.
Ken Burns issues can be very frustrating. I think that you will need to keep trying things until something works. Wish I could be more help, but perhaps some of the tech experts on this forum will have some workable suggestions.
There is an application called Photo to Movie that reputedly has a far better Ken Burns type of effect. If you can't resolve your problem, you might try downloading that app. I believe that it offers a demo download.
Good luck.

IMOVIE THEMES, KEN BURNS EFFECT & VIDEO FX RENDER PROBLEM

Hi,
For some reason I can't seem to get any of the themes to render within iMovie HD 6, or the Ken Burn's Effect to render. The render bar just stays in the black & never goes red. I also can't render any of the Quartz Composer Video FX. Here the render actually completes but when you replay the movie the effect doesn't appear. Everything else works fine & I don't have a problem rendering anything else. The weird thing is that all of the above worked fine for me last year so I don't understand why it's giving me a problem now. I can see from this discussion group that quite a few people have experienced the same problem, but there doesn't seem to be one definitive answer. Just so you know, I've tried the following...
- Reinstalling iMovie HD
- Reinstalling QuickTime
- Using Software Update to update to the latest versions of everything
- Repairing disk & disk permissions
- Removing any 3rd party plug-ins for both iMovie & QuickTime
- Deleting the iMovie preferences file
- Emptying the Caches folder
- Moving my iMovie file to the desktop & reopening it from there
- Checking the file formats of my photos & movies are compatible
- Checking my screen is set to millions of colours
- Checking I have more than 10gb of disk space
- Logging in as different user
- Restarting my computer!
If anyone could shed any light on this I would be eternally grateful.
Many thanks,
Ed.

I don't know whether QT 7.5 is your problem. Apple has upgraded that program to 7.5.5, which apparently cured some of the problems with the earlier version.
Some contributors to this forum have downloaded earlier versions of QT from this website:
http://www.digitalrebellion.com/blog/posts/listof_quicktimedownloads.html
in conjunction with another program called Pacifist.

Automatic Ken Burns Effect in iMovie HD 6.0

I'm creating a slideshow in iMovie HD 6.0. I've imported about 300 still photos from iPhoto. If you create a slideshow in iPhoto, it applies the Ken Burns effect to all the photos at once. And the effect varies from photo to photo. (It will zoom in, zoom out, move right, move left, etc.) In iMovie HD 6, it appears you have to apply the Ken Burns effect to each photo individually and the only effect I could see was a zoom in.
Similar to iPhoto, if possible in the my iMovie project: I want to apply a Ken Burns effect to all of them at once and (ii) I want the Ken Burns effect to vary from photo to photo.
Possible? How?

The remaining problem (which is the reason I ended up trying to do this in iMovie rather than iPhoto) is that I can't figure out a way to lay down audio tracks that tie to certain slides, fade in and out, etc.
Is there a way to do this in iPhoto that I didn't realize? Or is there a way to do it in iMovie to the imported iPhoto slideshow?
If you want to make these changes to the audio, that editing can be done in iMovie. However, you first should create the Quicktime movie of the slideshow without music. Then import this film into iMovie. You are then able to import your music and do the editing to get the results you want. I have used this method on a project I am currently working on.
I have a question for Rich839. Could you explain what you mean by "Full Quality" Quicktime movie? I want to be sure that I didn't overlook anything.

Ken Burns Effect not working as expected.

Hi,
I have created a slideshow in iPhoto 08 and want to have all of the slides use the ken burns effect except the first one (i want this to be a 20 second title photo). To get this to work, i have disabled the Automatic Ken Burns effect in the settings menu and then clicked the Ken Burns checkbox in all of the photos from the second one onwards. Even with these checkboxes selected, the photos just stay still and the ken burns effect does not work. Am i going about this the wrong way?
Any ideas appreciated.
Joe.

I believe that if you do not use the automatic ken burns effect you need to set the effect for each photo - pick one or two and with the KB slider to the left set the view for the beginning photos and then slide the slider to the right and set the end view - then it will transition between those two (I'm thinking that you can turn auto automatic and override it for just the first slide by making the start and end the same so the transition does not really do anything
Try that first (it is easier )
LN

Ken Burns effect won't work with imovie 6.0.3

I'm hopeful to find a way to use the Ken Burns effect in my 6.0.3 HD imovie. Does anyone have a solution to this problem? I can't get it to work.

Did you empty iMovie's trash after creating your clips? Did you previously apply the Ken Burns effect to that particular clip and now want to change the settings?
If you already had the clip/photo imported using the Ken Burns effect, and then emptied the trash, you cannot redo the KB settings. It is a bug in iMovie. You will get the black frame when you try. The only thing you can do is reimport the photo.
Here is an explanation of the problem (Thanks to Matti Haveri) :http://www.sjoki.uta.fi/~shmhav/iMovieHD_6_bugs.html#stillupdate

IMovie 6.0.3 won't render Ken burns effects or Themes

I'm working in iMovie 6.0.3. Whenever I try to apply a Ken Burns effect or a theme, the red "render" bar completes, but then I just end up with a frames of empty black the same length as whatever I had tried to put there.
I tried deleting the com.apple.imovie file in the Preferences.
I used the disk utility to restore permissions.
I emptied my caches.
I've restarted my computer.
Do anyone have any suggestions of what I could try?
Thanks!

Just saw this June thread - I have iMovie 6.0.4 and am having this exact problem. I can't believe that there aren't more threads about it. This is the first video I've done since upgrading to OS 10.5 and iLife 7 and then importing the old iMovie 6.0.4 for obvious reasons.
I filled the timeline with photos, set them to the music, then previewed Ken Burns Effect and it looks great. But when I tried to update using KBE and all I get is a BLACK clip that acts like a blank in my timeline. If I apply KBE directly to a photo in the photo tray the same thing happens. KBE is completely unavailable to me!
Let's keep this thread going until we find a solution. It's not the version. Thanks!

Imovie will not render photos with ken burns effect

I have started to produce a video and have tried to import photos from both iphotos and straight from desktop however when i do this the red bar showing the state of rendering does not move. The photo will not render and therfor i am unable to use the ken burns effect. Could anyone please give me any idea of what i am doing wrong.
Thanks.

Hi
What file type is Your photos eg .tiff, .pict or .jpg ?
What size are they eg 1Mb, 10Mb or 100Mb ?
How much free space is there on Your internal (start-up) hard disc ?
Ps When ready - Don't use Share/Export to iDVD from within iMovie. Just drop Your movie icon
(with a Star on it) into iDVD theme window.
OR - Your movie project in iMovie will be harmed and You'll have to re-do it ! ! AND
the DVD disc will be severely pixelated - extreme low quality Ds
Yours Bengt W

Blurry Ken Burns effect and transitions problem in IPhoto6

I've never seen an answer for these problems, so i'm hoping someone can help. Whenever I use the Ken Burns effect (both the auto and when i do it manually) the photos are very blurry. I have tried large hig resolution photo's as well as lower es. Same result. I thought it might be proessing power or a graphics card issue, but even if i export it to Quicktime or IDVD it's the same blurriness. Is there a setting I need to change? Is my current set up just not capable of utilizing this?
Second problem is transitions. If I do different transitions between slide they frequently will be wrong. Mostly they default to dissolve. If I begin with say Mosiaic, it will work fine until i switch to dissolve, and then it will stay on dissolve, no matter what I change it to. Any help?
Sorry for two seemingly different issues, but I'm trying to do both at once.

Excellent. The generator suggestions worked like a charm. Just curious. What did you mean by adjustment layer. Surely it's something simple, but forgive me for not knowing.
Trey

Trouble saving transitions and Ken Burns Effect

I have tried to reverse the Ken Burns effect and add panning and zooming in I-movie and it will not save. When I preview the photo (it's a still photo) the preview plays like I've designed it to play; however, the new effects do not save on the movie. When I add still photos to I-movie, they are all added with the same effects-in other words, they all are panning the same way. I want to switch it up, but can't seem to get my photos to save.
IMac Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Found my answer...
Don't use FCP to create slideshows of still images. David S. provided the real answer... use Fotomagico.
What had taken me five hours to create in FCP, downsizing images, creating start and end markers for motion and adding sound... took me TEN MINUTES in Fotomagico. It's nuts.
I don't even care to guess at the insane amount of hours I spent creating slideshows over the last 8 years in FCP. I could cry.
As a photographer, I'd much rather be spending time shooting than sitting in front of a computer. This program will allow me to do that.
Again, big thanks goes to David S. for providing the answer.
Al Romero

I have an older version of imovie. After I change the photos using the Ken Burns effect and save them, the next time I open the file and click 'show photo settings' to change the zoom, the picture appears black and I can't change the zoom?

I have a five year old version of imovie that generally works fine. However, when I add a photo using the 'Ken Burns' effect then save the movie, the next time I open the file and click 'show photo settings' the picture appears black and I cannot change the zoom. Any suggestions?

Have you rendered both iOS 7 and iOS 8 (both of which will work on your iPhone 5) out of the question entirely without trying every possible configuration? The animations can be disabled entirely, if that's the problem. And if the whiter-brighter user interface is the problem, there's reverse-contrast modes that darken everything. You can expose accessibility controls to gain immediate access to these functions to toggle them on and off. I guess my point is you may have decided against upgrading the OS based on an early experience with iOS 7 when Apple has since made changes in later revisions to address some of the usability complaints.
Now, Apple's instructions for downloading older versions of apps is to do so from the Purchased list, not from the app's product page.
See here:
Install the latest compatible version of an app on an earlier version of iOS or OS X - Apple Support
Let us know how that works for you.

Won't render ken burns effect

When I try to apply the ken burns effect to a picture, after I check enable and click apply, the red loading bar appears on the image in the time line, but then instead of rendering the effect and showing progress like it should, it makes a "bing" noise and the red loading bar disappears! The end result is no ken burns effect, and the duration of the image is set to 1 second. I have never emptied the trash in imovie, which I know doing so can cause problems. So with the "emptying the trash" bug out of the question, I have no idea what could be wrong. Any help would be very much appreciated!
Thanks!
DRWebster93

Thanks for the response!
Earlier today, I actually tried just for testing purposes creating an imovie project on a different networked server we have and it worked fine. I don't think the problem is happening only because I am storing my imovie on a server. If I could, I would just keep it on the server it works on, however, due to differences in disk capacities, I am only allowed to store it on the server which I have the issue with. On a side note, imovie also works fine opening the project file from different shares on the same server I am having trouble with. It seems like The problem is only happening on the one particular share on the one particular server that I have to store my imovie in/on.
Also, just wanted to mention that the reason I was able to test it on different servers, and different shares on the same server I have to use is because right now my imovie is very small (all it is is a few pictures) so I can move it around fast for testing. Even then, I have to delete it from the other places after testing (can't leave my imovie anywhere but this one share on this one server). I'd like to get this solved, because right now what I do is move it to my local hard drive, edit it, and re-upload it to the server. Once I start adding video in, I would like to be able to just leave it on the server, because I don't have enough room on my hard drive for all the video, and plus the network transfer to move the file back and forth would take forever. Once again, any help is much appreciated!
Thanks!
-DRWebster93

Imovie templates, titles, ken burns effect wont render. why?

Hi I am having great issues.
Once my templates or ken burns effected pictures are in a timeline they wont render. Ive tried everything, but no rendering takes place. Just sits there and does nothing.
Ive even tried wiping imovie and reinstalling still does the same thing help!!!

Hi gregles76 - welcome to the forum!
Two possible angles on this:
1. You are not applying the KB effect correctly - make sure you are following the procedure shown in this tutorial:
http://www.apple.com/ilife/tutorials/imovie/im3-2.html
2. Were you trying to change the setting on photos that already have a KB effect applied? If you were, and you have emptied the iMovie trash after creating KB effects on your photos, you will not be able to further modify the setting, because of the way iMovie deals with the photos.

Front Row and Aperture : i don't want ken burns effect

hello
is there a way to configure front row so that it doesn't have Ken burns effect when showing Aperture's pictures?
there is a PLIST file to modify for iPhoto, bu no such a thing for Aperture...???
can you help me please?
Excuse my english, i'm french !

I have the same problem: used to use Aperture on front row without a glitch up antil I just updated to the newest aperture version 3.1.1 Now Im getting the same error message. Hope someone from apple actually sees this discussion forum.

Ken Burns Effect Pollutes Everything

If you're putting together a slideshow, do not turn on the KB Effect for anything. Ever. I hate to say this, for I love this feature. It has enhanced many of my slides. However, it's a sorcerer's apprentice.
It causes nightmares once it's in your timeline. You can't update its durations, unless you delete the slide & start all over. I've found, oddly, that if a transition is connected, and you try to reduce the duration of the slide, after the transition is rendered, the slide, instead of having reduced duration, is actually increased by the amount of the reduction you wanted!
Beware of using KBE for any photo in your iPhoto imported album. Once you invoke KBE on any photo, it pollutes every photo you click on, thereafter, whether you turn it off or not. Karl Petersen posted a message last month, praising this polluting feature of KBE:
"The most important is that all of the Ken Burns settings, the KB checkbox, zoom, pan and duration are controlled by the LAST imported clip you made, or a previously-imported clip you clicked on. THAT's what sets the default setting for your next import(s). (A very nice feature, by the way, for it lets you apply the Ken Burns settings of one clip to the next photos you import. You don't have to reconfigure settings each time.)"
First, it's boring to an audience to have repetitious effects. Second, I don't know what he means by "import." iM4, in moving a photo from the Pane to the Viewer (timeline), says it's importing it, but I already imported it from iPhoto4. Third, I'm not so lazy as to resent having to reconfigure individual photos, if it means I have control over what I want to reconfigure & what I don't want to reconfigure.
Third, I wish Apple would realize users do have a brain: They don't need everything automated. There should be two buttons: KBE on for all, another KBE off for all. KBE off would allow the user to select which photos KBE is confined to. One thing I like about Microsoft is, it doesn't assume anything about the user. The user has choice & is always in control.
I'm really at the point of not invoking KBE for anything, anymore. It's causing too much frustration, & it's not worth the time trying to figure it out, especially once the photo is in the timeline.
BTW, what's the relationship between the Monitor, the Timeline, & the window in the upper right corner of the Photo Pane?

The conclusions you've reached about the Ken Burns Effect are so strange it makes me wonder if you've understood how it works. Unlike the Ken Burns Effect in iPhoto — which adds the effect on-the-fly as a sequence of photos is played — the Ken Burns Effect in iMovie affects how the photo is imported and rendered. iMovie renders video — creates a movie clip — based on your Ken Burns settings.
Remember, iMovie is all about creating video clips that play as part of a movie. iPhoto, on the other hand, has no movie. It simply displays a series of images. It never creates a movie until we export the slideshow to a QuickTime movie.
Changing the Ken Burns settings of a photo in iPhoto simply changes how that image is played in the iPhoto slideshow. Changing the Ken Burns settings of an iMovie clip, on the other hand, changes how it is (immediately) rendered into a new video clip.
You can't update its durations, unless you delete the slide & start all over
Of course you can change a duration. Click on the rendered clip in the Timeline, change the duration, and Update the clip.
Of course, if you've edited a previously-rendered clip — added a title or transition, for example — then it is no longer a KB clip. But if you remove the title or transition you can update the KB settings normally.
First, it's boring to an audience to have repetitious effects.
I never suggested you use the same KB effect on all your clips. I suggested that if you want to avoid having to reconfigure your Ken Burns settings before importing a photo, first click on a clip that already uses those KB settings. This saves time and considerable aggravation. I find this especially useful because the KB settings window is so clumsy (and buggy).
Second, I don't know what he means by "import." iM
Each time you add a photo from the iPhoto list to your iMovie project it is imported to the project. iMovie adds the photo to the project, then renders the video clip, if needed. (The imported photo is retained so you can Update the clip later, if you want.)
Third, I'm not so lazy as to resent having to reconfigure individual photos, if it means I have control over what I want to reconfigure & what I don't want to reconfigure.
Fine, iMovie lets you do that. There's nothing preventing you from configuring new Ken Burns settings for each photo. (My suggestion was to avoid having to do that unnecessarily.)
Third, I wish Apple would realize users do have a brain:
Apple DOES assume we have brains. And that we use them to learn how the program actually works, and why.
There should be two buttons: KBE on for all, another KBE off for all. KBE off would allow the user to select which photos KBE is confined to.
It's that point which makes me wonder if you've misunderstood something important. The Ken Burns settings we apply in iMovie do NOT control how the movie PLAYS in iMovie, at least not directly, like it does in iPhoto (and other slideshow software). The KB settings control how a clip is RENDERED when the photo is imported to iMovie. Once rendered, that clip is FIXED unless we re-render (Update) it. Changing its Ken Burns settings changes the clip ONLY if we re-render the clip.
Another way to think about it is that the Ken Burns Effect affects how a photo is imported. Once imported, it does not affect how it plays.
Once you invoke KBE on any photo, it pollutes every photo you click on, thereafter, whether you turn it off or not
There's no pollution of anything. For the reasons I mentioned earlier, the settings do NOT change anything about existing photos or clips until you Apply those settings, which (usually) causes iMovie to re-render the clip.
Try to re-think how Ken Burns works, where you assume iMovie is creating video, not just a series of images it plays in sequence. Those are two very different things.
Karl

Themes / Ken Burns effects don't render, Transitions and Video FX do render

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