Level 1

8 points

iOS 16 breaks cinematic mode in Final Cut Pro (and iMovie)

After spending an hour wondering why I can't activate the cinematic editing in FCP with footage I shot on my iPhone 14 Pro Max in cinematic mode, I stumbled over a several Reddit threads discussing this issue. It seems that iOS 16 broke this feature in FCP, which will show a "The cinematic effect cannot be activated" error (and according to other users the latest iOS 16.1 and macOS Ventura betas also don't resolve the issue). So an update for FCP (and iMovie) is needed in order to fix the issue. I already contacted support and filed a bug report, but are there other ways to bring this to Apple's attention? I'm working on corporate footage shot with cinematic mode that needs to go live next week, so it is rather urgent for me to get this feature working again.

MacBook Pro Apple Silicon

Posted on Sep 23, 2022 2:10 AM

Top-ranking reply

Thaddäus

Level 1

8 points

Posted on Oct 29, 2022 12:38 PM

I'm using FCPX 10.6.5 on MacOS Ventura 13.0 (22A380) and iOS 16.1 (20B82) on an iPhone 14 Pro.

Cinematic Mode clips still can't be edited in cinematic editor so, nothing really is fixed yet. The only workaround for me is to edit the clips in Photos App on MacOS and THEN import them to FCPX.

View in context

Similar questions

37 replies

James Cude

Level 4

1,587 points

Sep 23, 2022 12:57 PM in response to Ulmi

I’m having the same problem! Cinematic clips shot on iOS 16 don't work in Final Cut Pro 10.6.4. I read somewhere that installing macOS Ventura might fix it, but I haven't tried yet (and who knows if it introduces other issues). Are you able to see if Cinematic is fixed in macOS Ventura?

Ulmi Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 24, 2022 11:51 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

Nope, all the footage I shot with iOS 16 over the last month and showed the error in FCP now works (so I can finally activate the cinematic checkbox in FCP and all the edited videos finally have the effect activated).

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,777 points

Oct 25, 2022 5:41 AM in response to AndieMoepse

Third party plugins. Playback components for some Canon camera formats. Incompatibility with 10.5.4 but not 10.4.10. Many application crashes in the background. Too early to say of these are fixed in the release version.

Oct 25, 2022 6:40 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

Can't confirm a single one of those (beyond maybe some plugins not being incompatible period, which in those cases has nothing to do with FC or Ventura). 🤷🏼‍♂️

And compatibility with 10.5.4 and 10.4.10? Really? 😄

Oct 28, 2022 8:37 AM in response to Ulmi

If I airdrop a clip from 14 pro to iMac it preserves the cinematic settings as applied on phone, but if imported from photos within FCPX 12.6.5 the effect is not preserved.

For both clips, the "Show Cinematic Editor" is grayed out in FCPX.

My iMac cannot be upgraded to Ventura, so if that's the only fix here, then that's a pain in the butt

Oct 30, 2022 8:21 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

Unless you were previously using beta versions, there's no logical reason why it should be that way. Whereby you don't even mention which versions of what—aside from iOS—we're even talking about, so… yeah…

Dec 1, 2022 9:20 PM in response to Ulmi

iPhone 14 Pro shoot video on iOS 16.1.1 cinematic mode importing into FCP 10.6.5 on Ventura 13.0.1. Just upgraded macOS from Monterey just to get the option to edit. Still not working regardless of how I import cinematic mode videos. Super frustrating given I'm due to give a presentation on video editing at a conference in a couple of months. Would have been nice to show off these features.

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,777 points

Sep 23, 2022 1:11 PM in response to James Cude

It does not fix Cinematic for FCP, and it creates other issues.

Sep 25, 2022 3:15 PM in response to Ulmi

well document bug of ios16 now. many reddit posts on it. no workaround. both FCPX and iMovie have same issue with footage from ios16

Oct 4, 2022 2:59 AM in response to Ulmi

Same here. I even tried it with the Photos app as mentioned in the link below and it didn't work.

Edit a Cinematic mode video in Photos on Mac – Apple Support (AU)

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,777 points

Oct 24, 2022 11:48 AM in response to Ulmi

Not for material previously shot in iOS 16. The fix is probably iOS 16.1.

Oct 24, 2022 11:54 AM in response to Ulmi

Does it also work in the Photo app and does it work for portrait photos?

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,777 points

Oct 24, 2022 11:55 AM in response to Ulmi

Not mine. Still has no Cinematic in the inspector.

rreens

Level 1

8 points

Oct 24, 2022 2:47 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

Not for me. Apple says only on Ventura.

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,777 points

Oct 24, 2022 3:07 PM in response to rreens

That’s correct. The current versions of software.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

iOS 16 breaks cinematic mode in Final Cut Pro (and iMovie)