iMovie Video Editing Artifacts MacOS High Sierra

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Level 1

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iMovie Video Editing Artifacts MacOS High Sierra

Intermittent video artifacts during and post video editing in iMovie version 10.1.8. Hardware: iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, late 2015). 3.3 GHz Core i5, Memory: 24GB 1867MHz DDR3. AMD Radeon R9 M395 2 GB. MacOs: High Sierra 10.13.2. Importing video from Canon Vixia HFM41 HD CMOS PRO. Recorded in 1080p i60. Environment: Indoor sports (gymnastics). Lighting fair to good. Please help. I've tried to export the video through Quicktime by lowering the resolution down to 720p and 480p. Unfortunately, the video artifacts remain unchanged. I've search around and folks are saying this happens in iMovie based on several factors: the camera shot in 1080p i60 (interlaced), environment with low lighting (dark areas), and codec processing issues in iMovie. Recommendations suggest to upgrade to Final Cut Pro or use alternative video editing software. I'm not in the market for a high end expensive video editing software. I do simple videos capturing gymnastics and volleyball indoors. I was counting on Apple's iMovie to achieve simple video editing for indoor sports. I had an older 24" iMac before the upgrade and had no major issue with artifacts using that older hardware and software. BTW: Videos recorded in low light with Canon Vixia HFM41 is excellent and looks great on my 60 inch HDTV. Please help!

iMac with Retina 5K display, Mac OS X (10.1.x)

Posted on Jan 21, 2018 11:15 AM

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Answer 1

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delsam Author

Level 1

9 points

Jan 22, 2018 4:15 PM in response to Rich839

This work around was a success and very helpful. I was able to download the "clips" directly from my Canon Vixia HFM41 using finder. I selected AVCHD to access the clips through the Quicktime default program. I proceeded to export each individual clip into a folder as .mov, selecting 1080p with HEVC checked. I then imported those .mov clips directly into iMovie events. Created my iMovie project with those clips and I am happy to report each clip was running without artifacts. Thank you so much! I really appreciate your time and effort assisting and educating me on this problem.

-- Del

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Answer 2

Rich839

Level 8

48,156 points

Jan 22, 2018 3:56 PM in response to delsam

The Apple supported cameras website does not list your camcorder as a supported iMovie camcorder, and that might be the problem. Here's the link that you can look at in case I missed your camera:

iMovie supported cameras - Apple Support

The 60 interlaced may have something to do with this. Try importing your vid clips from camera to your desktop and then converting them to Mp4/AAC, using the free download, Handbrake. Handbrake will convert to Mp4/AAC by default. Just open the vid clip in Handbrake and click on File/Start Encoding, and in a minute the vid will be converted. Then you can import your converted clips into iMovie and work with them.

Alternatively, you might be able to open the clip in QuickTime Player and save it to your desktop. That would give you a .mov file that you can import into iMovie, as iMovie supports that format. If QT Player doesn't work, then do the Handbrake solution that I mentioned above.

-- Rich

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Answer 3

Rich839

Level 8

48,156 points

Jan 22, 2018 4:21 PM in response to delsam

You are very welcome. 🙂 Glad it worked for you.

-- Rich

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