iMovie: copy-paste a title moves it ever so slightly to the right

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Level 1

8 points

iMovie: copy-paste a title moves it ever so slightly to the right

Hi,

I've noticed some annoying behavior when copying title elements. For my video I'd like to keep copy-pasting a title element over and over again, throughout different points of the video, with very slight modifications each time (just 1-2 characters changing). I'm using the 'Standard Lower Third' element, and every time I copy past it, it moves ever so slightly to the right.

After a single copy paste, it's barely noticeable. But after a couple copy-pastes, it's very clear that the text is shifting to the right. I am copy pasting because I am not using the default font and text size, and have used spaces to move the text a little more central - it would be a pain to do this whole process every time.

How can I make this stop?

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.13

Posted on Dec 24, 2020 7:28 PM

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Answer 1

Rich839

Level 8

48,214 points

Dec 26, 2020 3:40 PM in response to peterm387

Using the Lower Third title, I cannot replicate the issue that you describe.

Lower Third was perfectly centered, but I added a few spaces and changed the font. I made a title and then copied it three more times, changing only the number 1 to 2, and then 3 and then 4. They all copied perfectly with no shifting to the right.

You might try deleting preferences and see if that helps. Open iMovie while holding down the Option and Command keys and select 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.

You might also try experimenting with different titles, fonts, and sizes, as sometimes different titles react differently to changes.

-- Rich

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Answer 2

Rich839

Level 8

48,214 points

Dec 28, 2020 6:24 PM in response to peterm387

My work flow was a little different. I always went back to Title A to do my copying. So: Create Title A > copy-paste Title A, modify slightly (now Title B > copy-paste Title A, modify slightly (now C ) >copy-paste title A, modify slightly (now D). . . and so on.

I don't know if it would make any difference but you might try the above workflow and see.

-- Rich

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Answer 3

peterm387 Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 26, 2020 9:30 AM in response to Rich839

I realize it's not just when you copy paste - it's whenever you edit a title, the spaces seem to get larger:

I've linked a video showing a screen recording of what I've described. It appeared to me that the title was moving slightly to the right because in my title, I used spaces to move the title more central to the screen.

https://youtu.be/zlTBqSxIL68

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Answer 4

Rich839

Level 8

48,214 points

Dec 24, 2020 11:28 PM in response to peterm387

Would you post a before and after screen shot of what you are seeing?

— Rich

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Answer 5

peterm387 Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 28, 2020 5:47 PM in response to Rich839

Hi Rich, I tried deleting preferences as you suggested and it didn't seem to help. I still see the spacing seem to get larger each time I modify a title. It's only evident because I do the copy-past-edit process over and over. If you only do it once it's barely noticable, but after 3-4 times it's pretty clear to me. To replicate, were you copy-pasting from a single source title? The workflow that produced this was:

create title A, some text -> copy-paste title A, modify slightly (now title B) -> copy-paste title B, modify slight (now C) -> copy C .... so on

Each edit, followed by a copy-paste, results in the spaces getting slightly larger each time, which is what i tried to show in the video I linked (sorry I wasn't super clear).

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Answer 6

Rich839

Level 8

48,214 points

Dec 27, 2020 10:24 AM in response to peterm387

Were you able to get the title working properly?

-- Rich

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iMovie: copy-paste a title moves it ever so slightly to the right

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