Imported DV is missing sound

Just adding another voice to the field. Trying to import miniDV from a Canon ZR45. No audio.

I tried the quicktime option and had the same experience - audio meters seem to recognize the native audio, but nothing on playback.

Same set up worked in the past, but haven't used it since upgrading to High Sierra. I'm hoping that this is a glitch somewhere that can be corrected.

Thanks for all the ideas, everyone.

Try exporting from iMovie at Best Quality (pro res). For some reason that seems to resolve some problems, hopefully this one.

Also, you could try exporting from iMovie at any other setting but Best Quality (pro res), that would give you an Mp4 file. If it still doesn't play sound, try uploading it to You Tube and see what their converters do with it.

If you have iMovie 9 on your computer, try importing into that version.

I realize that this is a little like shooting in the dark, but since nothing else seems to be working, it can't hurt.

-- Rich

I'm having the same problem on Sierra 10.12.6. I've tried iMovie 10.1.8 and LifeFlix DV Importer 2.5.4 (and the Lite version). I've tried 2 different macs (MBP mid2010, MBP 2012), 3 different cables (using macs with firewire ports) and 2 different camcorders (Canon ZR45 and Canon ZR950). I've also tried using QT record video. iMovie and LifeFlix import with no errors but the clips have no audio, even after exporting from iMovie (using Best/ProRes quality). The QT results are also the same: audio meters show input corresponding to the video I'm importing and yet no audio after importing. This was working at some point since I have about 10 of my tapes imported and converted and audio is working on all of those.

I've checked the ~/Library/PreferencePanes dir and it's empty. ~/Library/QuickTime does not exist and /Libary/QuickTime contains:

# ls -l /Library/QuickTime

total 0

drwxr-xr-x 3 root wheel 102 Jul 30 2016 AppleIntermediateCodec.component

drwxr-xr-x 3 root wheel 102 Jul 30 2016 AppleMPEG2Codec.component

I've also tried this on an iMac (2007, firewire 400 port) with iMovie ('08 - 7.1.4) and it imports with audio, but the video quality is dramatically worse.

@Apple: Help.

I am experiencing the same problem with mid 2015 iMac and HS 10.13.3 and canon GL2 mini DV camcorder...I purchased 2 thunderbolt to firewire adapters and multiple firewire cables 800 to 400....and imovies 10.1.8 with high sierra will import the video into iMovie but no audio files...I have a mid 2011 iMac with the previous iMovie and i have no problems....i am still researching alternatives to iMovie.....I am hoping someone in the community has found a solution....I have a couple other mini dv cameras that i can try later in the future....But it sure is frustrating to say the least....

Any fixes to this problem, is it the Sierra update. I had no problems importing dv video, now I cannot get audio to import, I hear it out of the camera but it is not being transferred. HELP! This is crazy, I have done this a ton of times before.

@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 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.

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.

MarcGoat, did you have any issues with video quality using iMovie 9? I am running High Sierra and the video quality looks poor. I'm reading that High Sierra and iMovie 9 might not get along so well. If so, we're stuck until Apple fixes the High Sierra/iMovie 10 issue.

I spent about an hour on the phone with support and got nowhere. I google a little while longer and found the iMovie 9.09 work around, which seems to be working. This guy's tutorial is what I used iMovie 2018 - Full Tutorial for Beginners - 16 MINUTES! [+General Overview] - YouTube

Got the LifeFlix installed and got footage off my Canon ZR80 miniDV. Same problem: no sound. So this has to be a Mac OS issue.

alhooter,

I control-clicked on version 10's "iMovie Library", selected "Show Package Contents" and copied the file from version 9 to version 10. Couldn't get it to show up in iMovie 10. Did you copy it over a different way?

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.

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.

I'm having the same issue. Importing from an old Canon camcorder into iMovie. Getting an image, but no audio. Does anyone know if this issue exists in FCP? I'm also on High Sierra 10.13.2

Just a thought

This camera worked in previous versions of iMovie.

Have you any .dv files from previous imports that you can import into your 10.1.8 version

to see if the audio is carried over.