I know it is a recurrent issue, but I am completely blocked with an iMovie ready to export to MP4, that fails because of a so called lack of "app space" whereas there is still wel over 200GB empty on my HDD (McBook Air). Is there any solution other than reinstalling the program or other drastic measures ? Why has this issue not been properly addressed by Apple ? The reason for me to buy Apple is that you get better quality ...
MacBook Air (2020 or later)
Eventually, splitting up the movie in four parts worked. As I said, quite a hustle, but better than nothing. Just in order to give an overview of what I did, I resume the steps followed :
Remark : during step 2, I still encountered an issue with an overload of VTDecorderXPCService and had to try one of the chapters once more.
Remark : whereas the CPU was at full throttle in step 2, it was surprisingly quiet in step 4, even if this was the 'heaviest' export in terms of GB.
I will take this up with Apple Support as well. Maybe they have a better solution to keep VTDecorderXPCService under control.
Eventually, splitting up the movie in four parts worked. As I said, quite a hustle, but better than nothing. Just in order to give an overview of what I did, I resume the steps followed :
Remark : during step 2, I still encountered an issue with an overload of VTDecorderXPCService and had to try one of the chapters once more.
Remark : whereas the CPU was at full throttle in step 2, it was surprisingly quiet in step 4, even if this was the 'heaviest' export in terms of GB.
I will take this up with Apple Support as well. Maybe they have a better solution to keep VTDecorderXPCService under control.
Try these procedures.
Resetting the System Management Controller
Try resetting the System Management Controller (but no longer available for the new M1 computers):
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295
Resetting the NVRAM or PRAM
Try resetting the NVRAM or PRAM:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063
Contact Apple Support
If none of the above resolve your issue, contact Apple Support. The techs there have the capability of remotely accessing your computer that we cannot do here. To contact apple support click on the Contact Support item in the upper right hand corner of this forum’s screen. Navigate to a place where you can enter your phone number.
-- Rich
For a start try deleting the preferences.
Hold down the Cmd and Option keys as you launch iMovie and a window will appear.
Click “Delete Preferences” and iMovie will open in the default (as-new) mode with sometimes no projects etc. on the interface.
If your project doesn’t load automatically you will have to navigate to it and reopen it. Your project libraries by default are stored in your Movies folder unless you have specified somewhere different.
Thank you Ian, I tried this, but it did not work. Eventually, I also tried to most drastic option : removing the existing iMovie library, removing the program itself (the 'app'), putting back the back-up that I made of nothing else than the movie I want to export, and then trying to turn it into an mp4 with iMovie. Although I have over 750GB left on my hard disk and in spite of 40GB working memory, it did not work out. The export halted, once more, with a message that I did not have enough 'app memory' ... I especially took care of exporting it only in 720p and the total indicated for this movie was around 8GB ... I really do not understand.
Thank you, Rich, I tried it but it does not resolve the problem. In the meantime, I have discovered that iMovie failing to export the movie to MP4 is due to the VTDecoderXPCService, which is in inherent program for exporting the file. This program takes up all the app memory available (I have 40 GB and it goes well beyond this), up to the point that VTDecoder stops, which automatically stops the exporting and gives a 'failure' message. I tested this by stopping VTDecoder manually in the activity window and it did indeed make the export instantly fail.
The movie I had made is about 1h30m long and is composed mainly of very short takes (2 to 4 seconds). Maybe this is the reason why VTDecoder takes up that much RAM-memory, I don't know for sure.
Anyway, I did manage to export the movie in three parts of 30m each, in 1080p quality. I will now try to import these again in iMovie and 'stick' them together in one movie, which I will export again. A hustle, yes, but if it works, this might be the easiest of solutions, I imagine.
All comments and suggestions are, of course, still more than welcome.
Thanks a lot !
Good work in finding a livable workaround. If you have time, would you report back with whatever Apple Support came up with? It might help others with this same issue, and also adds to our data base here.
Godspeed. 😊
-- Rich
imovie
