iMovie for iOS - Can't export 4k @ 60 fps

Well, I recorded my files on Yi 4K Plus camera, that takes 4K60 footage with 135mbps quality. Once recorded, I dropped my clips to iMovie and edited them on the timeline. When pressed 'settings', I expected iMovie to show '4K60' but instead of that, it shown '4K'. When I rendered my movie (again - it was showing 4K, not 4K60), I could see it was 60fps, not 30. It took ages for YouTube to process my short movie. First, the quality was 720p60, then 1080p60. Much later it was 1440p60 and at the end 2160p60.

So yeah, iMovie does work with 4k60. I was looking for that answer everywhere and had to test it on myself :)

Hi anyone by chance knows how to fix my problem. My movie project can’t export. It keeps getting stuck half way and stop there. My photo library still has all the files from the video and I’ve tried trimming the project by seconds yet still can’t export. Please help

Hi,

Same problem here. Using a iPhone 8 Plus with IOS 11.0.2.

My video settings are on 4k60, and in iMovie the 60fps is ON.

When I export to YouTube it will only be 4k30fps.

Other stange problem; when I use iMovie to export my 4k60 iMovie video to iCloud it's only 1080p60. In the uploaded movie was NO 1080 content at all.

If you want to use your 4k60, the only way is to save the 'raw' file to your mac or Windows PC. Using iMovie will downscale it!

Shame you Apple for not testing these export functions.

Yes it's quite annoying. However I believe I have found a workaround, so Apple pay attention as it sadly requires 29$ for buying 2 apps to get a functionality that should be in IOS from the first place.

1) For best results in recording video I downloaded and installed MoviePro for 7$. It allows me to capture 4k @60fps videos just like the standard IOS app. The difference is that I can change a) the bitrate of the recording and b) change my microphone settings to just using the front microphone (to prevent the standard wind noise). Change the MoviePro settings to a bitrate of 225%.

Change the settings so that the videos are getting saved to the MoviePro editor first. In the editor, don't choose to make a video project there as it only allows exports at 1080p. Instead copy the video files to the standard IOS photo app. Saving them there directly doesn't work, it will change to 4k @ 30fps which isn't what you want.

2) Download the LumaFusion app (22$) on your IOS device. It's a professional video editor which allows you to use the full 60 fps videos and, more importantly, export to 4k @60 fps.

Naturally you can skip step 1 as well, if you are happy with the standard audio quality and don't want to maximize the video quality in your standard video recordings. The higher chosen bitrates in MoviePro will cause faster battery drain and you'll notice your phone will heat-up.

To be honest, I haven't done step 2 yet, just waiting for the compatibility to be added by Apple for now. That will probably change for me at a compelling event where I want to use the 4k 60fps settings, such as creating a holiday video. Tell me if the above has indeed worked-out for you.

I have tested the exact same scenario with the exact same outcome with the exception of instead of using my iMovie on my iPhone 10 I've tried importing HEVC files that are 4K/60 frames per second into iMovie on my Mac. When I export it comes out as 4K but also comes out at 30 frames per second (there appears to be no way to switch it to 60 frames per second). You can see the result by importing the files in the photos for Mac. I should also mention that the output is H.264 (as HEVC files will not import to my photos for Mac since my MacBook Pro is a late 2013 model.).

I tried to reproduce that, but couldn’t. The end result still remain 4k @ 30fps. I used the standard app as well as MoviePro to create 4k 60 fps video’s which I imported in iMovie. Saving it to 4k just results in a 30fps movie.

I run 3 YouTube channels - all edited with iMovie.

There is a serious issue with 4K60 and 1080p240 files recorded on latest iPhones. iMovie sees them and will process them, but when it gets to exporting clip - it will not go above 4K30 / 1080p120.

For a short time I was using Yi 4K+ camera that records 4K60 clips and - surprice/surprice - iMovie WAS PROCESSING it’s files in 4K60! Yi 4K+ does not use HEVC codec - maybe that was the case.

Going back to iMovie - can someone from APPLE actually tell me, when will we get ability to fully process HEVC files in iMOVIE and EXPORT our clips in 4K60 / 1080p240?

Is this the point, when we have to switch to Final Cut Pro? (yes, my trial version of Final Cut Pro DOES export in 4k60 / 1080p240).

Tom

cause iMovie does not currently support 4k 60FPS export (only HD aka 1080p)

Yes I am half disappointed and half annoyed 😠😕

Go through "Photos and Videos" there and iMovie is one of your editing tools.

Hello. I can confirm that imovie DOES SUPPORT 4k60 files. Here's an example.

https://youtu.be/sK8rYPKuzLE

u were totally wrong... i follow your steps and i got 4K but its not 60fps.. but 30fps... i checked the detail of the file.