iMovie '11 audio sync issues since 9.01 patch

Please note that a synchronization problem exists with the original version of iMovie '11 too--as noted in a post I just made.

I put a critical review of iMovie on the App store because of this issue. The critical review showed up for a few days and then disappeared. What a bunch of BS. Apple's getting really bad at support and fixing issues.

I would like to recommend we stop calling them "issues" and revert to the non-euphemistic word "problem". "Issue" was invented by corporate technical support to avoid calling a spade a spade. An issue is what in rhetoric is called a "stasis" (Greek; Latin = status)--the place where the argument has stalled: the point that remains in contention. An issue of fact is when the two sides assert different claims about what happened. An issue of law is when two sides assert different interpretations of the law. There are other sorts of issue, such as "equity". An issue is a disagreement that must be resolved by argument and evidence. A problem is something that must be solved. We have various problems with software. Whether iMovie '06 works better than iMovie '11 for importing converted video is an is issue since apparently we can't get agreement on the subject--and no one is willing to pursue the subject to its resolution. The fact that iMovie '11, in all is present variations, causes the soundtrack to detach from the video track is a problem. It is an obstacle. It is a burden. It is a pain in the ***. It is not an issue.

Forget the reviews. Did you use feedback?

I also sent in feedback.

I removed the patched iMovie 11 and installed the originally delivered Apple iLife program. The iMovie program works fine again (no sync problems anymore) but iPhoto can no longer be opened! What a mess!

You just need to do a Software update(click Apple icon). It'll say it needs to be updated, but ONLY do the iPhoto update NOT the iMovie one. After that you're iPhoto app should be back.

I removed the patched iMovie 11 and installed the originally delivered Apple iLife program. The iMovie program works fine again (no sync problems anymore) but iPhoto can no longer be opened! What a mess!

I had the same reaction as you, although I was a little more tentative. Upon further investigation, I discovered that the problem does not go away completely. It just becomes less severe. This is something that is more noticeable if you have long events, such as when you have transferred from analog tapes. Toward the end of one of my two-hour events (and presumably the others too) there is a gap between sound and picture. It is no longer several seconds, but it is enough to be irritating. So it appears that the update only exacerbated an existing problem with iMovie '11. And since the main difference between iMovie '11 and iMovie '09 is the ability to modify sound levels within clips (as opposed to on the clip as a whole), it is probably that innovation that gave rise to the synchronization problem. The sound track is slightly slower or faster than the picture track, so the further along you are in an event, the more noticeable it becomes. That's why it stands out most clearly near the end of two-hour events. Since the problem does not occur when the clip that has been imported into iMovie is played from the Finder with QuickTime, it is iMovie that is stretching out one of the tracks.

Message was edited by: Paul Bullen

Message was edited by: Paul Bullen

Does the problem still occur if you detach the audio from video?

Does the problem still occur if you detach the audio from video?

That sounds like a good question. I'm not quite sure what is involved, but I will try to figure it out and see. Thanks.

Since audio cannot be detached from events, I dragged a two-hour event to a project window, selected the two-hour project clip, and then chose "detach audio" from the Clip menu. Unfortunately, the gap between picture and sound remained. Since I was using a different event this time, I then double-clicked the video file in Finder and played it in QuickTime. Synchronization was fine. So, again, the problem is caused by iMovie '11--and not by the update, although the update makes the problem worse--and unfortunately the problem is not solved by detaching the audio.

I also realized why more people didn't noticed the problem in the un-updated version of iMovie '11. It is primarily when you have close-ups of people speaking that you notice a lack of synchronization. In other words, in many situations the connection between what happens in the picture and the sounds you hear is not clear anyway. And so you don't notice the gap. You might notice it when there is a sudden scene change, but it usually isn't irritating then. The sound of one scene will continue into another scene briefly (or not so briefly if you are using the update). But that can come across as artistic. So here are the circumstances in which people will notice the (presumably) universal lack of synchronization in the non-updated iMovie '11: later in very long clips, when the connection between events and sounds is transparent (as when voices are connected to close ups of people's faces with lips moving).

Thanks for the suggestion, by the way. Although it didn't lead to a solution, it has eliminated one possibility.

Detaching audio doesn't fix anything. It just makes things somewhat fixable. Like Paul said, the problem is worse with longer clips. I was digitizing hours and hours of VHS footage, so all my events are huge. Detaching the audio lets you split it in several spots and slightly realign things. But the gap isn't fixed: I can't just detach, bump it over at the end, and then have it turn out at the beginning. This is worse than DJ'ing. For those who bought it from the App Store (like me), I feel your pain. I have never been more tempted to "acquire" an iLife DVD just so I can have some working product.

For those who bought it from the App Store (like me), I feel your pain. I have never been more tempted to "acquire" an iLife DVD just so I can have some working product.

If I realized that iMovie '11 did not perfectly synchronize the sound, I would not have bought it. It is little consolation to me that the original version has the problem in a less severe form. Everything I have put on the Internet has to be reposted now in the less defective shape. Then, one day, when the synchronization problem has been eliminated, I will have to repost everything again. In the meantime, there is little point in making DVDs. I find it odd that Apple doesn't monitor what is said on these forums. But perhaps people need to be able to focus without the distractions. In that case, they should hire someone who can monitor the forums and report back important discoveries in summary form.

My previous reply was prompted by the impression I got that you believed that there was no problem with the original (non-updated) version of iMovie '11. I gather you don't get it if you buy via the Mac App Store.