Dear all,
I am trying to understand why transitions are locked down at 1-second duration.
Trying to edit them makes the Mac emit a bit as when you are not allowed to edit things.
Assuming I have ample space and material before and after the transition, how can I slow down the transitions, even by a little?
Thank you
MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 12.6
For transitions between video clips (as opposed to still images) you need to trim some frames off the clips on each side of the transition. This is because transitions overlap onto what is called "residual video", that is the invisable video that remains when one trims a clip. That is, the trimmed out portion does not disappear, it just becomes invisible. The residual still remains. So if you want to make your transitions longer in duration, trim back the clips to provide more residual video for the transition to hook on to.
The above does not apply to transitions between still images. When one trims a still image one is changing its duration, but it still fully displays without any portion being made invisible. Thus there is no residual footage. For transitions between still images all that is necessary is that the still image be of sufficient duration to harbor the transition. So for a 5 second transition the still images must be more than 5 seconds in duration, or 2.5 seconds on each side. If they are not, then you would drag to increase the duration, whereas with video clips you would trim back the clip to make it less duration.
As you probably know, to adjust the duration of a transition you click on the transition and set the duration in the little dialogue box that appears. If you set the transition duration beyond the available residual video, you will get a message that you can't do it.
-- Rich
For transitions between video clips (as opposed to still images) you need to trim some frames off the clips on each side of the transition. This is because transitions overlap onto what is called "residual video", that is the invisable video that remains when one trims a clip. That is, the trimmed out portion does not disappear, it just becomes invisible. The residual still remains. So if you want to make your transitions longer in duration, trim back the clips to provide more residual video for the transition to hook on to.
The above does not apply to transitions between still images. When one trims a still image one is changing its duration, but it still fully displays without any portion being made invisible. Thus there is no residual footage. For transitions between still images all that is necessary is that the still image be of sufficient duration to harbor the transition. So for a 5 second transition the still images must be more than 5 seconds in duration, or 2.5 seconds on each side. If they are not, then you would drag to increase the duration, whereas with video clips you would trim back the clip to make it less duration.
As you probably know, to adjust the duration of a transition you click on the transition and set the duration in the little dialogue box that appears. If you set the transition duration beyond the available residual video, you will get a message that you can't do it.
-- Rich
Thank you Rich, I will try that.
Re your last paragraph: when I do that anything I type inside returns the beep sound.
I will try to drag the clip start or end forward/backward and see if that helps.
Do I need to enter the precision editor for that?
No, you don't need to resort to the precision editor.
If you continue to have no luck after trying the above, iMovie is not behaving as expected. Sometimes that can be caused by a preference gone awry. Try deleting/resetting preferences and see if that cures it. To delete/reset preferenes, 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. Possibly you may need to reboot to set the changes. Deleting preferences is a safe procedure that will not cause data loss or disruption to your project.
-- Rich
How to stretch iMovie's transitions beyond 1 second?
