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Audio Clips Keep Getting Altered In iMovie

In iMovie, my audio clips are set at the lowest possible position in the timeline and are not attached to anything. When I bring a video into the timeline and edit it, those audio tracks keep getting trimmed, cut, altered, etc. Why is this happening and how can I stop it?

Posted on Feb 7, 2020 11:26 PM

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Posted on Feb 8, 2020 2:21 PM

In the video that I attached, the audio clips are not attached and you can clearly see that the duration of the audio is being altered. When the video clip is deleted you can see that the audio is being rearranged and I don't want that to happen either.

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8 replies

Feb 8, 2020 8:13 AM in response to Aylo925

Hi, Aylo925,


Sometimes it just appears that the audio clip is being altered or cut, but it is not actually happening. Try expanding out your timeline with the slider located next to the Settings button just above the timeline on the right hand side of your screen. That might cure it.


If the clips are really being altered, possibly a corrupt preference is causing that. You can try opening iMovie while holding down the Option and Command keys and selecting to delete preferences in the box that appears. iMovie will open in a new library. Reopen your old library to get back to your projects. Now see if the audios behaves properly.


It might also be that the problem is confined to only one project. Try creating a new project and see if the clips work O.K. there.


-- Rich





Feb 8, 2020 2:17 PM in response to Aylo925

Any audio clip that is attached to the video clip above it will be automatically deleted when you delete the video clip above it. If you do not want that to happen, put your cursor on the audio clip and, while pressing down on your track pad, pull the clip straight down until the little handle that connects it to the video clip above it pulls free from the video clip. The audio clip will now be residing in a lower audio well and will not be deleted when you delete the video above it to which it was previously connected.


When you delete video clips the audio clips may change configuration in the timeline but they are not being altered. They are still the same duration with nothing changed.


-- Rich


Feb 8, 2020 4:36 PM in response to Aylo925

Somehow that looks normal to me.


The recommended work flow is to get your video clips arranged and edited, and then import your audio clips. Otherwise, as you have found, it is a mess if you have a lot of rearranging to do.


I suggest that you select and Edit/Copy your audio clips in the project, then Edit/Paste them into a newly created auxiliary project. Then go back to your original project and arrange the video clips. After you finish that, go back to your auxiliary project and do an Edit/Copy, Edit/Paste, of the audio clips back into your initial project. Then you can easily arrange the audio clips to sync with your video. Do the audio editing in the lower audio well and you can move them up later if you want.


—Rich

Audio Clips Keep Getting Altered In iMovie

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