Flipsonic

Q: Will iMovie (4K) Work On Early 2009 iMac?

2.66 Intel core duo El Capitan 10.11.4. Graphics card is NVIDIA GeForce 9400 256 MB. Upgrading soon to 8G RAM. I read playback is choppy. What can I do to make it work? Thanks.

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.4)

Posted on Jun 26, 2016 6:16 AM

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Q: Will iMovie (4K) Work On Early 2009 iMac?

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  • by GeeD,

    GeeD GeeD Jun 26, 2016 11:31 AM in response to Flipsonic
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    Jun 26, 2016 11:31 AM in response to Flipsonic

    Your Mac does not support 4K video in iMovie.   See: Edit and Share 4K video with iMovie - Apple Support

    which says:

     

    4K editing and sharing with iMovie for Mac is supported on Mac computers from 2011 or later with at least 4GB of memory.


    Geoff.

  • by Flipsonic,

    Flipsonic Flipsonic Jun 26, 2016 2:32 PM in response to GeeD
    Level 1 (12 points)
    iLife
    Jun 26, 2016 2:32 PM in response to GeeD

    OK thanks. I did read that already. Just thought maybe someone figured out a work around. If I can't do it on my iMac, at least I can do it on my iPad Air 2. Can I still use iMovie with my iMac and export to 1080p? iMovie 09 exports only to 720p. Wanted to know if it's going to install on my iMac.

  • by GeeD,Apple recommended

    GeeD GeeD Jun 27, 2016 1:46 PM in response to Flipsonic
    Level 5 (7,730 points)
    Video
    Jun 27, 2016 1:46 PM in response to Flipsonic

    4K video is VERY processor-intensive and your Core duo (and probably also the graphics card) are not powerful enough.   Increasing RAM will help but not much (and note that your Mac will not be supported by the next operating system due out later this year).

     

    I have just tried editing a 4K clip using a 2.2 GHz 2007 Core 2 duo Mac Pro from 2007 with 4G RAM.  To my surprise iMovie does import the clip and allow editing, though it can only display an occasional frame when scrubbing in the timeline.  I could also export a 4K movie (taking about 5 minutes for an 11-second movie!), though Quicktime Player could not actually play it properly - it just manged the odd frame.  I then exported a 1080p version in about 2 minutes which it could play.

     

    So there appears to be no software 'block' preventing you from using 4K material but, as I expected it is really not workable.  It will be a bit better on your iMac but don't expect it to be useable.  If you want to edit a movie in 1080p using 4k clips you would be better off converting the clips to 1080p before importing because 4K clips will not play properly in the timeline even if the project is set to 1080p.

     

    By the way iMovie 9 can export 1080p provided the aspect ratio is set to 16:9.

     

    Geoff.

  • by Flipsonic,

    Flipsonic Flipsonic Jun 27, 2016 2:06 PM in response to GeeD
    Level 1 (12 points)
    iLife
    Jun 27, 2016 2:06 PM in response to GeeD

    Thanks for that information Geoff, very informative. Just what I was looking for. I was able to import 4K clips in iMovie 9 but as you said, it is choppy in the timeline. I dont care if it is choppy in the timeline as long as it plays the final product. I was able to export it straight to 720p. I was also able to play it in QT with no issues.I will have to set it to 16:9 to export to 1080p. Would 1080p look better if the original clip was 4K? If it will not be any better, then I will record in 1080p until I have a machine that will process 4K. Thanks again.

  • by GeeD,

    GeeD GeeD Jun 28, 2016 2:23 AM in response to Flipsonic
    Level 5 (7,730 points)
    Video
    Jun 28, 2016 2:23 AM in response to Flipsonic

    I was using iMovie 10 (on a MacBook Pro not Mac Pro as I stated).  I'm surprised you were able to import and edit 4K in iMovie 9 according to Apple support for 4K was only introduced in version 10.1.  (Are you sure you are using iMovie 9?)

     

    Editing in 4K then exporting in 1080p should produce slightly better results than editing in 1080p since the quality reduction associated with things like stabilisation will be performed at 4K resolution that will only be downsized when exporting.  It also gives you the opportunity to zoom in and pan down to a quarter of the clip frame area and yet still have enough pixels for 1080p thus avoiding up-sampling during export.   In fact these are these are currently the main arguments in favour of shooting 4K since most viewers won't have a 4K display device.

    If the editing experience with 4K clips is acceptable to you and you are happy with LONG export times then the results should be fine.

     

    Geoff.