Why is iMovie turning my videos upside down (iPhone 4S)?

Question

Level 1

8 points

Why is iMovie turning my videos upside down (iPhone 4S)?

The video files themselves are fine - viewed in Quicktime, no problem. iMovie is turning them upside down and I want a bulk fix. Thanks!

Posted on Oct 18, 2012 11:34 PM

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Answer 1

Oct 19, 2012 6:15 AM in response to Petey Mac

The problem is that video files from iOS have an orientation flag. Natively all movies are recorded in iOS exactly the same way. A flag is added to the video to turn it upside down, rotate it left, rotate it right, etc. so that it matches the way you were holding the camera. You will need to rotate the video manually in iMovie or another video converter.

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Answer 2

Petey Mac Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 19, 2012 9:25 AM in response to Brad Wright2

That sounds like a good possibility, Brad - but the files themselves are not upside down. When I open them in Quicktime, they're fine - the .mov files that I navigate to within the iPhoto library play back normally. In addition, the thumbnails in iMovie are al fine. It's strictly the video playback in iMovie that's upside down.

Also, I pulled these same videos into a work Macbook, and it's not doing it - which is what leads me to believe this is something my software is doing. It's version 9.0.4 on my work machine, and version 7.1.4 on my personal Macbook Pro. So - I'm guessing it's a software bug that needs an update to fix. I'll chime in if it doesn't work!

Thanks

-Pete

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Answer 3

Oct 19, 2012 9:34 AM in response to Petey Mac

The Quicktime Player correctly reads the orientation flag and make the video right side up. iMovie has a bug that is not correctly reading the orientation flag. You will notice that the same thing happens to photos from the iPhone if the orientation flag is not set correctly.

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Answer 4

Petey Mac Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 19, 2012 10:25 AM in response to Brad Wright2

Aha - ok. Well, I'll upgrade first, as the later versions don't seem to be doing it. And you know, I'm due to pick up Final Cut X anyway, which may make it an entirely moot point. I was just hoping there might be a preferences fix I could make or something... Oh well. Thanks for your inut, guys!

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Answer 5

Oct 19, 2012 5:09 AM in response to Petey Mac

I don't know but here is an idea. On your iPhone, press the Home button twice. Then swipe the botom row to the left. See if the Portrait Orientaion is locked.

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Answer 6

Oct 20, 2012 5:00 PM in response to Petey Mac

GeeThree has a Video Flipper plugin that fixes this quickly.

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Answer 7

Oct 21, 2012 11:48 AM in response to Petey Mac

Click on the Action Button (small blue button with the gear lolgo) on the clip. Choose; Cropping and Rotation. Use the curved arrows in the top center of the viewer to rotate the clips.

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