Why does my iMovie does not export to 60FPS?

Question

Level 1

8 points

Why does my iMovie does not export to 60FPS?

Hello all. For many years I have been exporting iMovie videos at 1080p30 not knowing that iMovie could actually export to 60fps.

I have not figured out how to. I have followed steps to fix the problem, such as manually checking imported videos and ensuring the first video in an event is 60fps, but none of these work. All my videos are edited with a framerate of 60fps, and there is never any indication in iMovie about this.

I also have no option to export to 60fps.

Does anyone know how I can fix this issue?

Thanks in advance.

Posted on Jul 1, 2018 2:50 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Best reply

Jim Wanamaker

Level 5

6,311 points

Jul 1, 2018 3:53 PM in response to DMSPKSP

iMovie sets the frame rate for the project based on the first clip you add to the timeline. When you export/share, the movie is shared at the project frame rate. There is no option to choose the frame rate. You can use the speed editor to speed up or slow down clips in the timeline to effect the same results as a frame rate change for those clips.

Reply

Answer 2

Jul 2, 2018 2:20 PM in response to DMSPKSP

How are you determining your export is 30fps? When you play the exported file is it in slow motion? Does it play normally without any jerkiness or hesitation? 60fps clips played in a 30fps timeline will either be in slow motion or play erratically based on how iMovie blends the 60 into 30 or deletes half of the clips each second.

Reply

Answer 3

DMSPKSP Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 3, 2018 9:30 AM in response to Jim Wanamaker

The exported files are all at normal speed. They play smoothly, without any interruption. I will link an example of one of the exported videos on iMovie below.

"Farther" - War Thunder Kill Montage - YouTube

This video was made entirely of 60fps videos. They are 60fps on my Laptop, it is only when they are placed into iMovie that they lose their fps.

Below is an example of one of the videos I am trying to edit, using a different software on my computer. It is in 60fps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBpFjUqoqk0

Thank you for your help.

Reply

Answer 4

Jul 3, 2018 3:13 PM in response to DMSPKSP

This truly doesn't make any sense to me. Take one of your clips and open it in Quicktime. Look in the inspector does it say 60fps? Are these MP4 clips? Then in iMovie select one of the imported clips in the media browser and export it and open in Quicktime. Alternatively select a clip in the browser and in file menu select show in finder. Double click it to open in Quicktime and check the frame rate. Does the inspector say 30 or 60fps? Do the same with your exported movie. Does it say 30 or 60fps? Don't know the source of your video but some cameras/devices record at 60fps but export at 30fps. That is why I suggest using Quicktime to verify frame rates.

Reply

Answer 5

DMSPKSP Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 4, 2018 1:49 AM in response to Jim Wanamaker

I think I've found the issue. Before I updated my laptop, Quicktime inspector said the movies were 60fps, now they are 59.87fps. This was on one of the videos not in iMovie.

In the iMovie library, the clips are 59.99fps.

The exported film is 29.97fps, and is a .mov file.

All other files are mp4 files.

[edit]:

Another issue just appeared. A newly imported video is stuttering, but seems to be at 60fps. This is all after I updated my computer last night.

In the event, the clips seem to be around 60fps (but likely they are 59.xx), whilst in the project they seem to be around 30fps. Both are stuttering like you once mentioned they might have before.

[edit 2]:

Now, to make this even more confusing, when I checked the FPS of the videos on my thumbdrive, where they were transferred from, the FPS of all videos is 60. There must be a tiny frame loss (0.01-0.03) in the transfer from Thumbdrive to Mac to iMovie.

Reply

Answer 6

Jul 5, 2018 2:44 AM in response to DMSPKSP

The standard fps for 60fps is actually 59.94 and 30fps is 29.97. It may be that the source of your video is giving a variable frame rate. You said that the clips in the library are 59.99 so it is only when added to the project timeline they share as 29.97. What is the resolution of the clips? Just a thought but iMovie is not compatible with 4k at 60fps only 30fps. Seems as though iMovie is importing at 60 but sharing at 30 as you originally said. You might try opening iMovie holding down the command and option keys and deleting preferences. Then reopen your library and see if it exports at 60.

Reply

Answer 7

DMSPKSP Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 4, 2018 5:45 PM in response to Jim Wanamaker

The resolution is 1080p.

After the update, the clips in the editor play near 60fps too. Holding down Command and Option does nothing on my iMovie, I will be searching to see if I can find how to delete preferences otherwise.

Is it the file Settings.plist?

Reply

Answer 8

Jul 5, 2018 2:44 AM in response to DMSPKSP

This is probably a late question, but what is your OS and iMovie versions. Deleting preferences in iMovie 10 has always been using the command and option keys. What update are you referring to?Don't know what setting.plist file is. The preferences .plist file is buried in containers in your user library. Hold down the command and option keys and launch iMovie that should work if you have iMovie 10.1.x.

Reply

Answer 9

DMSPKSP Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 5, 2018 2:49 AM in response to Jim Wanamaker

macOS High Sierra, Version 10.13.5

iMovie version 10.1.9.

I just deleted the preferences. I misread and thought you had to click when you had it open. Doing this doesn't allow me to see all the files and movies I had in iMovie, although I can see they are still there in the Library. How do I get them to show again?

Reply

Answer 10

DMSPKSP Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 9, 2018 4:01 AM in response to Jim Wanamaker

Alright thank you, I found you can start iMovie with the second library and that fixed it. Now my projects are displaying at 60FPS in both my timeline (I think that's what you call the place where you edit the movie) and in the project itself. I am hopeful that they will export to 60FPS as well.

Reply