Why can't I detach audio in imovie

I do not find this in iMovie 10.1.2. Both the 'Modify' menu and right-clicking a clip in a new project with no separate audio tracks show 'Detach Audio' as active. You have of course first to select the clip in the timeline, which gives it a yellow border.

Geoff.

Hi Geoff,

Yep, I was in Timeline, and with a yellow box around the clip, and there was just no way I could get a solid "Detach Audio" header in the drop-down. Until I took the action described previously.

However, I do find iMovie to be a bit unstable, and to behave differently on each of my Macs. For instance, on my 24 in iMac, I cannot import certain movies from my camera, whereas these same movies import perfectly on one of my MBP's. Furthermore, the app feels rock-solid on the MBP, but a bit flaky on the iMac. Could be something to do with amount of DRAM - 12 GB on MBP v 8 GB on the iMac. I also feel that the older iMovie '11 was much more stable and easier to run. This might explain why your experience differs from mine.

And another question: in iMovie 10.1.2, does your Timeline screen have a calibrated time scale behind the clips (like it did in iMovie '11) or is the position of the Timeline cursor given just by info such as 18:23/38:54 where the first figure is the cursor time position, and the second is the total duration of the project.

Thanks

Rob

Does this problem occur on both your macs (assuming they are running the same imovie version)? Does it occur on multiple projects or a new project?

8 GB memory should be enough unless you are editing 4K video.

The timeline only shows the position of the playhead in minutes and seconds plus the total project duration. No scale.

Geoff.

So basic.

All I want is to take audio from an iTunes paid-for Jimi Hendrix video, and work on it, take it to a fully-licensed bmi/ascap organization, and PLAY IT.

But NO. The audio won't separate anywhere.

This seems basic.