I have always had difficulty to change the transition time from 1s to 2s between two clips. So I always used the precision editor to make that happen. However in the latest version of iMovie, the precision editor has changed and does not allow me to drag the transition time to more than the default 1s. It only allows the location of transition to change and not the time. Please help.
iPad Air, OS X El Capitan (10.11.4)
You can change the transition duration by double clicking on the transition and resetting the duration in the dialogue box that appears.
Also, you can change the default duration of transitions by resetting it in iMovie/Preferences.
Thank Rich for your quick replay. Double clicking is always my first choice. However when I change the duration to 2s, by hitting apply I see the transition going back to 1s. By putting my cursor on top of the transition or double clicking the transition again, I can confirm that 2s has gone back to 1s.
When I try to change the transition duration to 2s in preference as you have suggested, there is no apply button for it to take effect. When I check it after changing it, everything is still 1s. I really appreciate the help.
I believe that you need to change the default preference before you open the new project.
Because you are unable to reset the duration by double clicking on the transition, It does appear that your iMovie app is not working properly. You could try closing iMovie and then deleting the iMovie preference file in the User/Library/Preferences folder -- com.apple.imovie.plist. It will automatically be replaced
when you reopen iMovie. This doesn't usually work, but it is a commonly used troubleshooting procedure. Sometimes it does work.
You also could try shutting down and restarting your computer, which you might already have done.
You also cannot extend transitions if there is not enough clip either side of it to provide the necessary extra overlap - see: http://help.apple.com/imovie/mac/10.1/#/mov89cb8f56e
In such cases you have to remove the transition, trim back the video a bit from either side then reapply the transition.
Geoff.
Hi Geoff,
Thanks for your comment. The clips that I have are each more than minutes when I try to change the transition from 1s to 2s in between them. By the way, I don't have this issue with pictures. Only with movie clips. I have always have had problem with transitions in previous iOS's and previous version of iMovie. But precision editor was my last hope because I knew I could get the desired outcome. My projects sometimes are over an hour. When I try to change the transition time by double clicking it and try to "Apply to all". it hangs my iMovie and I have to Force Quit the iMovie to get back in it. It is really frustrating.
Thanks Rich. I appreciate your feedback to change the preference before creating the project. As I have always had problems with iMovie transition (see my reply to Geoff below), I truly believe that Apple does not a good job of QAing this capability. Do you know if there is way to increase the duration of transition in the latest precision editor as the functionality and user inreface has changed from previous versions of iMovie. I would like to make sure that I am not the only person that cannot change the duration of transition in precision editor. Thanks for your follow up.
It is not a question of how long the clips are in total but whether there is enough 'unused' video beyond the existing transition to allow the transition's duration to be increased without having to shorten the total duration of the two clips with the extended transition.
It's s bit difficult to explain. When you first add a transition and there is not enough unused video for the required overlap it warns you that it is going to shorten the clip in order to provide this overlap. When afterwards you tried to increase the transition duration in past versions it did not let you unless you trimmed the clips back first yourself.
I have just tried increasing a transition duration from 1 to 2 seconds in one of my projects now I'm using iMovie 10.1.2 and I got a warning that the clips would have to be (further) shortened - which is understandable:
However on clicking OK the warning was dismissed but the transition remained at 1 second so this does not appear to be working.
I then shortened the two clips either side of the transition and tried again. This time no warning appeared and the transition duration went to 2 seconds.
I hope this is clear. If you want say a 2 second transition the clips on both sides have to have at least 2 seconds of 'unused' duration to provide the overlap that the transition requires without decreasing the overall duration of the project. There is no such problem with stills since they can be extended to any duration.
Geoff.
Yes, you can still change the duration of a transition using the precision editor in iMovie 10.1.2.
In the timeline, double-click on the left or right edge of a clip that has a transition that joins it to another clip. The clip to the left of the transition will
move to above the timeline. The clip to the right of the transition will stay in the timeline. The transition itself will appear in a narrow space between the two clips. Drag the edge of the transition left or right to shorten or lengthen it. The help instructions will give you more detail.
However, try working through Geoff's suggestion, as that may be the problem.
Hope this helps.
Thanks for your long descriptive message. I am confused by "unused" video terminology. However to illustrate my challenge, I have created this one minute video. I don't get your warning message as you can see in video. Hope this helps. Thanks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkuavHpQtag&feature=youtu.be
Thanks Rich. My problem is that when I go to the precision editor as I showed in the video that I uploaded for Geoff, I don't get the transition that you have pointed by the arrow in your picture. That's what I was hoping to see as well. Very strange. Please take a look at the video if you can. Would love to get your feedback.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkuavHpQtag&feature=youtu.be
This is strange. I get:
The 'unused video' I refer to is the part of the original clip (from the media pane) that you have not included in the timeline. In the screen shot above it is the part of the upper clip to the right of the transition. (The lower clip is a still). If you have used your entire clips you will not be able to extend the transition.
What I am suggesting is that you remove the transition, trim back your clips either side of where the transition is to go then reapply the transition. You should then have 'unused video' available that will enable you to lengthen the transition.
Geoff.
My feedback dittos Geoff's. I don't know why your screen is not displaying the transition in Precision Editor. Have you tried trimming back the clips on each side of the transition as Geoff suggested?
Further, I noticed that you typed in "2" instead of "2.0" for the duration. Might or might not matter.
I get it Geoff in terms of what you mean by unused video now. The transition software should be smart enough to do the transition duration based on the clip and its length and as long as the clip is long enough it should automatically increase the unused video to the left in the upper video and to the right of the bottom video. Having said that, I tried to move or pan the video clips in the precision editor to leave enough unused video for both clips. But the challenge is I don't get the grey transition box that you show in your picture in between the two video clips that controls the transition time (as I showed in my video). Also when I try to move vertical lines to use the unused portion as the transition, all the lines seem to be lucked with one another preventing me to increase the transition after creating unused video. I just don't get it. I guess I am forced to go with my 1s transition period. Thanks for your help.
Hi Rich,
I have tried 2, 2.0 or any other number larger than 1.0 and it keeps going back to 1.0. Please see my response to Geoff after creating the unused video in the precision editor. Thanks.
After a lot of playing about I have been able to reproduce the behaviour you see. If I shorten the transition duration with the transition box (which at this point was visible and yellow) beyond a certain point it disappears and does not reappear again whatever you do, even after leaving the precision editor and going back into it:
Out of the precision editor I then double-clicked the transition and found it was set to a very small value (around 0.5 s). I was however able to change it to 2s (without getting a warning) and when I re-enetered the precision editor the transition box reappeared.
So the conclusion is that despite this quirky behaviour you can use the precision editor to create more unused video either side of the transition (without needing the transition box) and then (in the normal timeline) you can double click the transition to set the new duration.
Geoff.
iMovie 10.1.2 Precision Editor
