iMovie Dropping Frames While Speeding Up Videos.
Hi,
I’m using an M1 iMac to edit some of my videos. Is it a problem with my iMac or iMovies?
Thanks.
iMac 24″, macOS 12.1
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What are the original frame rates of the clips you are working with, and what is the sped up frame rate? What is the frame rate that is set for your project? I would think that if you sped up a slow frame rate clip you would get what appear to be dropped frames and might give a jerky appearance. That would be normal. If that's the case here I don't think it is a problem with either your Mac or iMovie.
First, to cover the bases, read this help link about changing frame rates.
https://help.apple.com/imovie/mac/10.1/#/mov6c442b2eb
Also, go to iMovie/Preferences in the menu at the top of the page and deselect "Apply Slow Motion Automatically". The change will apply to clips added after the change.
Another thing you can try is to adjust the speed with the speed editor. It gives you a better visual adjustment. Expand out your time line with the slider above and to the right of the timeline. Control click on the clip and, from the drop down menu that appears, click on Show Speed Editor. That will cause a speed adjustment handle to appear in the upper right corner of the clip. Drag the handle to the left (make the clip shorter) to speed it up, and to the right (make the clip longer) to slow it down. You might be able to toggle it so that the jerkiness is minimized.
If the audio gets squeaky when sped up, you can click on the speed adjustment icon in the toolbar at the upper right of your screen and then select the Preserve Pitch box.
EDIT: You can also try increasing the frame rate of the project and see if that makes a difference.
-- Rich