Imported DV is missing sound

I followed the tutorial here: Get iMovie 9 On Mac OS Sierra 2017! - YouTube to install iMovie 9.0.9 on my High Sierra iMac and then imported from my tape based DV camera to there and was able to retain all the sound and the time code. Plus the .dv file it creates works fine in the current iMovie.

Hi, Joseph,

Your Canon ZR25MC is not listed as a supported camcorder on Apple's website. Here's the link where you can check it out in case I missed it:

iMovie supported cameras - Apple Support

That might explain why the sound is not importing. The audio might be in a codec not liked by iMovie. iMovie supports AAC (Advanced Audio Coding), aiff, Mp3, and Wav. AAC would be the one I would choose.

Instead of importing directly into iMovie, try importing the video to your desktop using the Image Capture app on your Mac. Then see if you can import it into iMovie from there. You can drag it into iMovie or use the iMovie import button. If it doesn't import, you might need first to convert the DV into Mp4/AAC. You can use the free download Handbrake to convert it by default.

-- Rich

Hi, Joseph,

The .dv may not have an audio codec that iMovie supports. Also, the Apple website doesn't list your camcorder as being a supported one, although if yours is tape based it may still be supported even if not listed.

iMovie supported cameras - Apple Support

Try importing to your desktop using the Image Capture app on your Mac, and then converting your .dv footage to Mp4/AAC. The AAC stands for Advanced Audio Coding. You can do the conversion with the free download Handbrake. After converting, drag the clips into iMovie and see if you get audio.

Another thing you can try after importing to your desktop, is to open and play the video in QuickTime Player. If you can hear audio, then save the vid, and that will give you a .mov file that you can drag into iMovie and see if it plays properly.

-- Rich

I might not have been clear in my process, allow me to break it down.

1. Capture footage from miniDV camera using iMovie 9. (Instructions for getting iMovie 9 on your up to date Mac here: Get iMovie 9 On Mac OS Sierra 2017! - YouTube)

2. Once you've captured the footage in iMovie 9 control-click the clip you've captured and reveal that clip in the finder. The file should be the date on the timecode and end with ".dv" file extension. Copy that file.

3. Open iMovie 10.1.9 and paste the file into the timeline.

4. Edit as needed and export.

I have no idea why, but moving the .dv file into iMovie 10.1.9 returns the quality to what it should be.

Apple stopped listing specific model numbers of DV and HDV compatible camcorders some years ago.

They currently make a statement at the beginning of each manufacturers list for DV and HDV like this...

Also the iMovie help says that DV and HDV formats are supported.

You are the second person in about a week to report that no audio accompanied the video

when importing DV and I believe they also were using High Sierra so this could be the reason.

You could try to import using QuickTime Player ( Record function)

How to use QuickTime Player - Apple Support

Try a short test first and see if it plays back OK in QuickTime with audio.

If it does, import test piece into iMovie and see if audio is present.

The audio may still not import but may be worth a try.

It would be interesting to know if the recording using QTP,record function, does in fact include the audio.

Don't know what version of High Sierra you are on but version 10.13.2 was released

about 10 days ago, just in case this makes a difference.

This is probably a long shot ,but thought it might be worth a mention.

Several posts in FCPX have talked of import problems since High Sierra 10.13.2 .

One or two concerning no audio when importing AVCHD and others with importing Mini DV in general.

The advice has been to uninstall Perian and A52.

I don't know much about these , only what I read in the posts.

The following is copy/paste of sections from 2 posts.

Luis Sequeira1Dec 21, 2017 3:40 AM in response to Mickeyfilm

Level 6 (19,586 points)

Mac OS X

Dec 21, 2017 3:40 AM Re: When I import a .mts files, also known as AVCHD, only the picture appears, no sound.in response to Mickeyfilm

To uninstall Perian, I think you have two things to delete: the preference pane, and the Quicktime plugin.

And then RESTART your mac!

The preference pane is inside your Library folder: ~/Library/PreferencePanes

The Quicktime plugin is either in ~/Library/Quicktime or /Library/Quicktime.

Don't forget to RESTART.

Luis Sequeira1Jan 25, 2018 10:05 AM in response to ericalex47

Level 6 (19,586 points)

Mac OS X

Jan 25, 2018 10:05 AM Re: Import of Sony Avchd filesin response to ericalex47

Do you have Perian or A52 installed?

You may not realize it, as it may have been there for years.

Perian would appear in System Preferences, in the last row.

The A52 codec may be present in /Library/Quicktime or ~/Library/Quicktime.

Both of these are known to cause sound disappearing in AVCHD material.

Some posts say that removing Perian has cured their fault whilst others say that it hasn't, so this may not work for you, but worth a look to see if you have Perian or A52 .

@smarie: I suspect it is a Sierra issue. I was able to do the import on 10.11.6 (El Capitan) on an old iMac (2007). Then I transferred the .dv files to my newer mac and iMovie was able to export them to mp4 with sound. Not ideal, but that old iMac will never be going to Sierra or High Sierra, no matter how many times Apple prompts me.

@Apple: any help? Or at least confirmation? Seems pretty bad that all firewire video import is failing and no fix is offered.

I went back to using iMovie 9.0.9 as suggested and it didn't work out. After all the hassle of loading it and installing it I found the video quality was so incredibly low that it was of no use to me even for basic home movies.

I am in the process of working with my first import with LifeFlix DV Importer and Editor, available in the App Store.

itunes.apple.com/us/app/lifeflix-minidv-importer/id630212114?mt=12

Seems like it will be easy to export to iMovie when I get to that if I want to. I may just leave them in LifeFlix though as I won't want to deal with iMovie. Why not just keep everything in the one that works? If you do want to move them over:

www.lifeflix.com/pages/using-lifeflix-with-imovie-final-cut-premiere-pro-and-oth er-editors

www.lifeflix.com/pages/using-lifeflix-with-imovie-final-cut-premiere-pro-and-oth er-editors

Open the new video in Quicktime and click on Window/Show Movie Inspector. Does it show an audio codec? If so, convert the movie to Mp4/AAC.

-- Rich

I followed MarcGoat's link to install iMovie 9 and ran a test import: audio is there. Looks like iMovie 10 is the issue?

Just had the same problem myself. I bought a new MiniDV to Firewire 800 cable and put it into the back of my thunderbolt display. Imported a bunch of DV material only to find no audio on the clips. Thought at first it was the cable but looked into it to discover others saying similar things with different configuration of cables etc. Then realised I could download Adobe Premiere on my CC account and that fixed the issue. Expensive if you don't already have a Creative Cloud account. Proved though it's an iMovie issue. Premier makes .mov files so it is possible to reimport to iMovie if you don't want to work with the massive Premiere package.

Al Hooter has the solution! To quote from the movie Forrest Gump:

Drill Sergeant: Go*****it, alhooter! You're a go****ned genius! Thats the most outstanding answer I have ever heard. You must have a go***mn I.Q. of 160. You are go*****ned gifted, Private alhooter.

For some reason I was unable to paste the file into the timeline of iMovie 10. I was, however, able to locate the clip as you said, and just drag and drop it onto whatever I chose in the Event list.

The second solution was to download LifeFlix directly from their Web site:

www.lifeflix.com

I had downloaded it from the Apple App Store, but that version is not compatible with (older?) Canon DV cameras. Their tech support got back to me at the same time as you did. The one from their Web site works great however.

LifeFlix is not a super complex program, but it does everything I need. Since I don't know if Apple will be fixing their OS to work with iMovie 10, I may just stick with LifeFlix, especially because I may continue using miniDV for years to come, and they are more likely to continue to support than Apple.

Try using the free download MPEG Streamclip to convert the clip. Just drag it into the MPEG Streamclip window and do File/Export to MPEG-4. I mention this because MPEG Streamclip was successful in converting a .dv file I had when neither Handbrake nor VLC could do it.

-- Rich

Try importing into the Photos app, and from there drag to your desktop.

-- Rich