iMovie Scrubbing Breaks

Hi,

I'm running Mojave with iMovie 10.1.12 on this particular computer. The scrubbing feature works fine on my system.

I suspect that the problem is caused by an iMovie preference that has gone awry. Try deleting/resetting preferences and see if that cures it. To delete/reset preferences 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 empty library. If 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.

If you are noticing a lot of what appear to be iMovie bugs, deleting preferences often fixes the problem. Personally, I have not noticed many bugs in iMovie except possibly immediately following a new update release.

Another thing you can try is to create a new project and see if the scrubbing function works properly there.

-- Rich

Hmmm. Try the deleting preferences procedure again. Sometimes it takes more than once to be successful.

Also, have you tried a redownload of iMovie? You can redownload it by dragging your iMovie app from the Applications folder into the trash (but do not empty the trash) and then signing into the app store and going to your list of purchases from your account. You can download it from there.

Another thing that you can try is to reset your system management controller. It is simply a matter of shutting down and rebooting while holding down certain keys. This isn't an available procedure for the new M1 or M2 Macs. In any event, here's a link that describes how to reset the system management controller.

Reset the SMC of your Mac - Apple Support

All else failing, you might consider contacting Apple Support and talking to the techs there. They have the capability of remotely accessing your computer, that we do not have on this forum. To contact support click on the support item in the main menu bar at the top of this forum's screen and navigate to a place where you can enter you phone number.

-- Rich

Try using the j, k, and l keys to move the playhead through the timeline. Tap the l key to move forward, and repeatedly tap it to increase the speed of the playhead. Tap the k key to stop. Tap the j key to scrub backwards and tap repeatedly to increase the speed. Those procedures should work, unless there's some issue with your setup.

-- Rich

Yes, that is an odd glitch. That it is happening in both iMovie and Final Cut Pro is even more puzzling. I assume that you have done the procedures outlined in my earlier posts with no success?

You might want to discuss this with the techs at Apple Support, as they have the capability of remotely accessing your Mac to fix problems.

As a last resort, you could take your Mac into an Apple store that has a Genius bar, where they have testing equipment. Perhaps they can isolate the issue.

-- Rich