Q: iMovie Problems since macOS Sierra upgrade

Hi, Anny,

I don't know what is going on with the color change in your timeline.   Whenever there is an upgrade of an operating system there always is the possibility of conflicts with specific applications until the bugs get worked out.  So it's possible that your issue is associated with your recent upgrade to OS Sierra -- hard to tell.  I am not aware of anyone posting with your problem as yet. 

Since the problem only appears in your time line, possibly the media is complex and your computer is having trouble processing it in the time line or keeping up with your editing. 

You can see if the problem is project related by creating a new project with the same or different media.   Is it possible that you inadvertently have a color filter activated?  You can also try reopening iMovie while holding down the option and command keys, and selecting to delete preferences.  Sometimes it helps to launch iMovie in a different user account, like your Guest account, in case there is a conflict with your present user account.  If none of the above works, you can try creating a new iMovie library on your boot drive or Apple formatted drive and see if your projects work properly there.   Another possibility is to restore your old operating system from Time Machine. 

In any event, I suspect that once the movie is shared out it will play with its normal colors.  Try sharing to file on your desktop to confirm that.   If it plays fine, at least you will be able to maintain your uploading schedule while you are troubleshooting your issue. 

Best,

    Rich 

I have the same problem, here. After I updated my iMac (27 inch, End 2012) from OS El Capitan to OS Sierra all imported video clips in iMovie are too bright and very foggy. Even when I export a videoclip it's the same. That's really strange...

I have nearl the same Problem. All of my clips in the Project are tinted red.

New Import makes no change. After exporting the movie all clips are still inted red :-)

All Clips running clear in Quicktime.

Mmmm... I just imported some video clips from an SD card into iMovie 10.1.2 on Sierra and they look fine.

What camera do you use? Mine is a Panasonic. How about iMovie, what version do you have on Sierra?

Dear Anny,

I used to have this problem too!

This same thing happened to me when I upgraded to Mac OSX El Capitan. It turned out that I had not upgraded my I movie version. Try to check if your version is up to date or try to "force quit" imovie. force quit: alt, cmd, esc

Exactly the same thing happened to me and I also do Youtube videos. I edit and upload every day so I definitely know that the problem started when I upgraded to Sierra. I have been trying to update my imovie from the app store but it just keeps on loading and nothing is happening. Hope we can finally resolve this issue.

I have a similar problem. I recently updated my MacBook Pro to Sierra and iMovie is 10.1.2 — there are no updates beyond this version.

I import video as I normally do (from Sony video cam and also from iPhone), and I can see the video images in the timeline portion, but the Viewer area it is entirely green. When I export the video, it remains green, although I can hear audio.

I really need this to be fixed. I need this for my class.

What are the specs on your video from your Sony? There was a previous post about color problems with certain MP4 video which was corrected by transcoding to 'mov using Quicktime.

I am not allowed to post in iMovie forum for some odd reason. But I'll piggyback this one...

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iMovie is not the same after we upgraded to Sierra.

1. File -> New Movie no longer works. That option is greyed out. We used to create a new event, and then select New Movie. Now we are re-using old movie as a work around, losing what we previously edited.

2. We can no longer drag specific part of movie clip in the browser. We have to select the whole clip and then move the left and right side to the part we want to use.

Don't you guys test iMovie, one of the most important apps, before releasing OS? Please fix, thank you.

I had viewed an iMovie 9.0.9 project within iMovie earlier in the day and it looked fine. I had also previously exported a copy, which looks OK, but after updating to macOS Sierra 10.12 in the evening, everything looked de-saturated, exactly the "foggy" description. Previously black frames are a dull red. The thumbnails in the source and project windows look OK, but as soon as you select a section, the shots in the viewing window have the "milky" appearance, as does the whole project.

Hoping that this was just a monitoring issue, I created a 720p movie and lo and behold, it was fine, except that I needed to modify a caption, which I did and re-exported, only to find that the newly exported 720p movie was now similarly desaturated ~ thank goodness I kept the one with the duff caption ~ that's a lot better than a whole movie looking as though the monitor has the contrast wound down and the brightness wound up! Older projects look exactly the same i.e the thumbnails look normal, but in the viewing window everything is desaturated. I have one project in iMovie 10.1.2 and that seems to be unaffected.

All of these posts is EXACTLY why I haven't upgraded to Sierra. And does it still support FIREWIRE? I have an old Sony camcorder that I am trying to import mini-tapes to iMovie via a firewire440/880/lighting config and I cannot lose this ability. Too many times I have upgraded to new OS and my Toast7 no longer works, my editing program goes caput, I had to purchase a new scanner because the mfg doesn't upgrade drivers. I get that you can't keep old tech forever, but it's a serious issue when you are forced out and made to purchase new equipment for no other reason than the mfg. Good example: May Canon Vixia HFS20 camcorder is 3 years old. I cannot get a battery now for under $120 from Canon, or a cheap knock off that barely can hold a charge. THREE years old, not 10. $1200 camera doorstop?

I upgraded my 2009 IMac to Sierra and got the latest IMovie at the same time.  I installed IMovie 9.09 as well simply because I like it.  However, I have the same issue, the fog or washed out look is considerable.  I manually correct this by knocking down the brightness values manually.  The picture looks great.  This problem is not apparent when I switch over to the newest IMovie app.  Additionally, I have the same system on my 2012 MacBook Pro, though I am running El Captain OS.  Both IMovie versions import clips without a foggy background, the colors are vibrant.  Any thoughts on the fogginess issue for my IMac?

Your iMac is running Sierra and your MacBook Pro is running El Capitan.   If that's the only difference, the fogginess issue would seem related to Sierra.  But hard to tell.  Possibly might be related to your comparative computer specs.  A 2009 computer is starting to get a little long of tooth. 

Yes, the mac is an oldie but a goody.  Runs fairly well otherwise. Again, the spooky part of this is that the new version IMovie imports video that looks fine while the old version imports faded/foggy versions of the same clips.  And, yes, I am disinclined to change my OS on the MacBook Pro at this point.