iMovie export has "tears" purple distortion

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Level 1

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iMovie export has "tears" purple distortion

Hi everyone. I've used iMovie on this iMac for years now, doing video work.

Recently it's started having "corrupted" video files on export. There will be a flash of garbled, jumbled, sometimes inverted sort of colours with particular clips. It seems to overlap two different clips on top of each other.

I am recording from an iPhone XS Max, and it tends to be certain clips that the iMovie export does not like. But, it can also be semi random - sometimes I can export the same iMovie project file five times, and the glitches will be in slightly different spots, showing, or not showing in that particular problem area.

I've tried turning my computer off, leaving it overnight to cool down....wondering if it's a GPU overheating issue? But no, straight away, while cold, same issue.

Can anyone guess what the solution to this is? EG

iMac 27" 5K, macOS 10.12

Posted on Feb 14, 2020 11:13 AM

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Answer 1

Rich839

Level 8

48,168 points

Feb 14, 2020 11:38 AM in response to JayWontdart

Hi, Jay,

The artifact issue that you are experiencing has been reported by several others on this forum. There seems to be some correlation with videos taken on recent iPhones and particularly with the HEVC format. Take a look at this thread and see if anything in there helps you:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250751600?page=4

So far there seems to be no actual fix. One workaround that has worked for many is to import the videos to your desktop with the Image Capture app on your Mac and then use a video converter like Handbrake to convert the clips to H.264, Mp4/AAC. Then import the converted clips into iMovie. You can get Handbrake here:

https://handbrake.fr/

You might also try changing your iPhone settings to Photos/transfer to Mac or PC/Automatic that will give you the most compatible export setting.

-- Rich

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iMovie export has "tears" purple distortion

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