Still photos render black

Question

Level 1

60 points

Still photos render black

I have made many movies using iM HD 6 very successfully. Unfortunately, I upgraded to v6.0.3 and began to have photos rendering black with the Ken Burns effect. Found out about the bug. Trashed all my iMovies and reinstalled iM HD 6 upgrade to v6.0.2 and have had continued problems with photos rendering black. Even tried original iM HD with no success. Some change has occurred that I do not understand. Any suggestions?

g5 dual 1.8, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Apr 10, 2009 1:50 PM

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Answer 1

catspaw

Level 5

4,344 points

Apr 10, 2009 4:21 PM in response to Nick Bachur

Hi Nick - maybe the bug you refer to is indeed THE bug that affects pics that have already been edited using Ken Burns. So you know that re-editing under that circumstance creates a black image in photo preview because iMovie trashes the original imported pic. If the imovie trash is them emptied, the black screen results, and the only solution is to re-import the original photo. So, with iMovie 6, do not empty the trash!
This problem did not occur with iMovie HD (5), so if that is the 'HD' you are referring to, then you have some other problem.

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Answer 2

Nick Bachur Author

Level 1

60 points

Apr 10, 2009 6:18 PM in response to catspaw

Thank you for the advice catspaw. I had read about the trash problem and have been very careful not to touch the trash. Nevertheless, I am having real problems making jpg photos do what I want them to do. The version I am working in is v6.0.2.

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Answer 3

Rich839

Level 8

47,244 points

Apr 10, 2009 9:57 PM in response to Nick Bachur

There is absolutely no reason to be at 6.0.2. Go back to 6.0.3 like you initially did, unless you think that all the rest of us are at 6.0.3 because it doesn't work. Only this time, after upgrading do a permissions repair and delete preferences.

Delete preferences by closing iMovie and trashing the file com.apple.iMovie.plist found in User (the House icon)/Library/Preferences. Then do a permissions repair using the Utilities/Disk Utility App on your Mac. Open the Disk Utilities window and select the Mac hard drive icon at the top of the side pane at the left. Then click on the Repair Permissions button. When you have repaired permissions and deleted preferences, restart your computer and launch iMovie. iMovie will replace the .plist file that you deleted. Be sure also that you have sufficient free disk space on your hard drive for iMovie to function correctly. 25GB often is recommended by users of this forum. After doing all of the above, relaunch iMovie and see whether you still have the problem.

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Answer 4

Nick Bachur Author

Level 1

60 points

Apr 11, 2009 5:51 AM in response to Rich839

OK Rich, I will try what you suggest before I abandon 06. It will take me a few days because of the holiday but I have some great footage that a bunch of folks would like to have.

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Answer 5

Rich839

Level 8

47,244 points

Apr 11, 2009 8:17 AM in response to Nick Bachur

It should work out. Probably just some little glitch. I hope I didn't sound strident, but hated to see you abandon a program that could work well for you.

Good luck with this, and if you have time let us know how it came out.

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Answer 6

Nick Bachur Author

Level 1

60 points

Apr 13, 2009 9:26 AM in response to Rich839

I have done the following:
Trashed and emptied iM HD 6, deleted preferences, repaired disk permissions, installed fresh iM HD and upgraded to v6.0.3, repaired disk permissions, have over 130gigs disk space free - now
Open iM HD 6 and import jpgs from disk folder into clip pane and rendering automatically begins (?) on each image in order of import. When render is complete the image turns black. In the trash there are all the imported images which I move out into the clip pane and into the timeline. Any attempt to use Ken Burns effect (KB) results in a black file and no KB. I do not save anything and quit iM and try again.
Start up iM fresh, import jpgs from disk folder as before. This time, the images import into clip frame and remain images with no rendering or black frames and nothing in trash. I do not try KB with the jpgs but will try to build a movie without KB.
I have used iM HD over the past year successfully but this problem just started several weeks ago and I do not understand the cause or solution.

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Answer 7

Rich839

Level 8

47,244 points

Apr 13, 2009 2:47 PM in response to Nick Bachur

Is it possible that the photos are rendering, but are located off of the screen? That would leave you with a black screen. In the event this is the case, you might try using the hand-cursor to pull them back on.

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Answer 8

Nick Bachur Author

Level 1

60 points

Apr 13, 2009 7:19 PM in response to Rich839

Rich, Interestingly, sometimes the photos render and sometimes not. I have imported a batch of photos and a few do not render and the rest do. When the images in the clips pane turn black on rendering the real clip is in the trash and is pulled out and placed in the timeline. There are no other images to be found. Also, none of these images, rendered or not rendered will respond to a KBurns attempt. They do not open in the monitor.
So I am assembling movies without benefit of KBurns which I like to use, but time is of the essence.
I will probably abandon iMHD 06 and relearn FCExpress.

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Answer 9

Rich839

Level 8

47,244 points

Apr 14, 2009 7:20 AM in response to Nick Bachur

You might consider buying the application Photo to Movie, on the Apple software site I think. It works well with iMovie and is supposed to have better pan and zoom effects than Ken Burns. Users on this forum are very high on it.

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