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Hi
I made a nice movie with quicktime, it's a .mov file, the sound is wonderfully stereo. Now I would like to edit the movie in imovie, but after the import of the .mov file the audio is smashed to mono. What's wrong?
Thanks, moerli
There is no "problem" with iMovie and .mov files. However, not all .mov files are alike. Mov files are a container that can hold varying codecs. The iMovie timeline can be sensitive to slight variations. So, iMovie may not like one of the codecs in your .mov clip. container. iMovie likes Mp4/AAC. As you have found, when you converted to Mp4 it played fine in iMovie.
As for what is the "point", the first step in an audio analysis is to check one's settings, and then go from there. If you had mentioned that the clip played stereo when converted to Mp4, then the settings check would not have been necessary. The cause would have been easily identifiable as a .mov format issue.
-- Rich
There is no "problem" with iMovie and .mov files. However, not all .mov files are alike. Mov files are a container that can hold varying codecs. The iMovie timeline can be sensitive to slight variations. So, iMovie may not like one of the codecs in your .mov clip. container. iMovie likes Mp4/AAC. As you have found, when you converted to Mp4 it played fine in iMovie.
As for what is the "point", the first step in an audio analysis is to check one's settings, and then go from there. If you had mentioned that the clip played stereo when converted to Mp4, then the settings check would not have been necessary. The cause would have been easily identifiable as a .mov format issue.
-- Rich
Hi, moerli,
Start by checking your sound settings.
Check the sound settings in System Preferences/Sound/Output. Make sure that the balance slider is set to the middle for left and right channels. That might be enough to bring back the stereo.
If not, go to Applications/Utilities/AudioMIDI Setup.app.. In the Audio Devices window that pops up, click on the Output button. In the Master Stream section, adjust the sliders to preference. With the middle setting, your settings should look like this.
Next click on "Configure Speakers" in the lower right hand corner of the window. That will reveal a window like this:
Confirm at the top of the window that your configuration is Stereo. Then click on each speaker icon to test for connection to each channel. You should get a static sound. If all O.K, click Done.
Now see if your iMovie project will play your video in stereo.
-- Rich
Hi Rich, thanks for answering!
That's not the point. I have stereo through all my macbook. Now: after recording with Quicktime Player I have a .mov File which sounds in beautiful stereo. When I import this file in certain 3rd party video editors I hear wide stereo as well. So far so good. But when I import the .mov file in iMovie or in FinalCutPro as well it sounds like in a cardboard box. But: when I convert the .mov file e.g. to mpeg4 it works – stereo! So what's the problem with iMovie and .movs?
Best, moerli
You are very welcome. Yes, re-encoding often solves audio issues.
What happens when you play the unconverted .mov video in the media browser as opposed to the timeline? It should play in stereo there, I would think, since it is not yet in the iMovie editing system. Just curious.
Best,
Rich
Ok, the codecs brought enlightenment. My movie was recorded with Quicktime Player and an external audio interface which resulted in a "linear PCM 24 bit Big Endian" audio format. After re-encoding directly in mac the movie is still a .mov file but now with AAC audio format. And after importing this to imovie: tadaaa! Works. Thanks!
best, moerli
Thank you indeed! Sorry for not being precise from the beginning.
I did not know anything about codecs etc. In this case it can't be changed I assume and converting remains necessary.
Best, moerli
That's great. Glad you got it working. Have fun!
-- Rich
imovie audio mono after import .mov
