20050418
<http://www.sjoki.uta.fi/~shmhav/iMovie_4_bugs.html>
Here is a list of some old and annoying iMovie 4 bugs and issues. Many of these are even described in the Apple docs. Maybe iMovie HD will finally fix them :| There is also a similar list of the iMovie HD 5 bugs and iMovie HD 6 bugs.
- Audio out of sync in iDVD 4 with iMovie 4 projects
Audio may be out of sync when exporting from iMovie 4 to iDVD even if 48 kHz audio is used in all steps. A workaround is to extract audio in iMovie before exporting to iDVD (i.e. select all the clips in the iMovie timeline, select Extract Audio (can take several minutes on a long project) and send the project to iDVD.
Yes, the workaround is to extract audio, then send to iDVD. That's it! Don't move the exctracted audio in any way! The workaround is even mentioned in the Apple docs.
My very first burned iDVD 4 project had audio out of sync, and extracting audio in iMovie fixed it so now I routinely extract audio before sending projects to iDVD.
- iMovie 4.0.1 renders jaggy still images
iMovie 4.0.1 obviously deinterlaces still images just by duplicating the fields when it renders them for export to tape or iDVD. Now, this prevents flicker on a TV screen but the rendered still images are jaggy because vertical resolution is halved.
A better approach would be to optionally slightly blur the stills so that there are no 1-line horizontal lines that flicker on an interlaced TV screen. For example, 1 pixel 90° (vertical) Motion Blur may be a good way to reduce still image flicker on a TV (the 1 pixel value applies to PAL/NTSC 576/480 vertical resolutions and if the vertical resolution of the input still is larger you have to increase the filter's pixel value accordingly. For example: if the input still is 2048 x 1536, use 3 pixel value in the filter because 1536/576=2.7).
The workaround is to ignore iMovie 4's rendering prompt when exporting iMovie projects that contain still images. On the other hand, slow-motion clips and especially reversed clips need rendering to prevent flicker. Luckily there are workarounds: You get smoother slow-motion with 3rd party applications so slow-motion clips don't need iMovie's rendering. You can also convert still images to good quality video with Photo To Movie or Still Life or by tweaking iMovie's Ken Burns effect so they don't need iMovie's rendering either. So you really only need iMovie's rendering for reversed clips (the field order must be reversed to prevent zigzag artifact in motion). I hope this is fixed soon so no workarounds are needed anymore).
- Imported audio in .mov and MooV files is converted to 32 kHz
Audio is converted to 32 kHz when importing DV-encoded .mov files (or an iMovie reference.mov to another iMovie project) although the original file has 48 kHz, 16-bit audio.
iMovie 4 users need also to be aware that if the iMovie project has chapters, then iMovie 4's "Full Quality DV" QuickTime export preset exports the file with .dv suffix but the file is, infact, of TYPE MooV (i.e. it really should have .mov suffix). If you import such file back to iMovie 4, then the audio is converted to 32 kHz.
Using 32 kHz, 12-bit audio may make the audio out of sync as well as other audio glitches. This is mentioned in the Apple docs, too.
A workaround is to export the .mov as .dv with 48 kHz audio via QuickTime Player and import it to iMovie (a faster method is put the .dv directly into the iMovie Media folder -- iMovie prompts you to put it on the hself when opening that project).
- iMovie 4.0.1's "QT Full Quality DV" preset exports PAL-DVCPRO instead of PAL-DV
iMovie 4.0.1's "QT Full Quality DV" preset exports PAL-DVCPRO instead of PAL-DV which seems to be a bug: iMovie can re-import such PAL-DVCPRO .dv file but added titles, transitions etc are badly distorted if they are added to a PAL-DVCPRO clip. It is also not possible to export PAL-DVCPRO to a consumer camcorder (only audio is exported). This is even mentioned in the Apple docs here and here.
A workaround is to use the Expert export settings and PAL-DV with 48 kHz audio.
- Volume slider affects the volume of rendered clips
iMovie's volume slider affects the volume of rendered clips, such as overlaying titles, by setting the rendered audio to the level selected with the volume slider. Also this bug is mentioned in the Apple docs.
- You hear a pop or gap during a title or transition in iMovie 3, 4
This is mentioned in the Apple docs.
- Vertical lines in still image
Still clips may display as black and white vertical lines in your iMovie 4 project.
- If you Cut a clip and Save, you can't even Paste that clip back into the SAME PROJECT
This is a very bad part of iMovie's user interface. iMovie should warn the user that unreferenced clips are deleted when iMovie saves.
- Sluggish updating of FW info in passthrough to camcorder mode
iMovie 4 (as well as 3) have sluggish updating of the passthrough to camcorder info when editing.
With iMovie 2 the updating is very quick: you click another clip and it is instantly displayed on the camcorder's LCD (or on the attached TV).
In iMovie 4 the updating is sluggish: after clicking another clip it usually takes about a second or even more to update the camcorder/TV info which makes editing in passthrough mode irritating. And sometimes the updating does not occur until you actually play the clip.
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