iMovie '11 - clips are zoomed/cropped when added to project

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iMovie '11 - clips are zoomed/cropped when added to project

I have been using iMovie ('11) to process some old VHS home movies. All of a sudden new clips added to a new project are zoomed/cropped - not showing the whole of the video frame. A substantial portion is missing (outside the viewer frame). At first I wondered if this might be a stabilization effect but I am sure it is not as (a) other clips have worked fine, that are just as unstable and have had stabilization applied and (b) the zoomed frames are just as unstable (wobbly camera work by cameraman!) and (c) I imported some clips taken when camera on a tripod and it STILL crops them (though the amount of crop might be less - hard to say).

I've spent 30 minutes importing/testing different clips, have restarted iMovie and have rebooted. Still it happens.

What is going on? How can I stop iMovie deciding randomly (and permanently now) zooming clips added to a project and force it to add clips as original size?

MacBook Pro 15″, OS X 10.11

Posted on Feb 17, 2021 7:41 AM

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Answer 1

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george57l Author

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Feb 17, 2021 8:15 AM in response to george57l

OK - so just to confirm what I just said, I went to iMovie preferences and they are as previously/always set.

So, I unchecked 'Automatically stabilize clips...' and 'Apply rolling shutter ...' and this fixed the problem. The weird thing now is that I know these were always the settings (I did NOT change them today, they were set up like that a long time ago) but it is odd that I have previously not had this problem despite having as bad (if not worse) 'unstable' footage in my projects - i.e. it's as if that setting was NOT working before (and technically THAT was an issue) and it suddenly decided to start working today.

Still, I can get on with my projects now. I'll have to apply that preference ad hoc when I think footage may benefit, and see what cropping ensues.

(Hopefully this might help anyone else who comes looking for help re this and uses search terms to bring this up.) ;-)

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Answer 2

george57l Author

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Feb 17, 2021 7:48 AM in response to george57l

Adding ...

I am not so certain that it is not a stabilization effect. Even though it has not happened on any of the previous projects I've created, all of whose footage also had stabilization analyzed, but not one of which zoomed/cropped the footage like the current problem.

If it is a stabilization issue, how can I add clips to a project WITHOUT it automatically applying stabilization? (Something I'd like to know anyway, even if it is not the fix to the issue...)

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Answer 3

Rich839

Level 8

47,742 points

Feb 17, 2021 7:59 AM in response to george57l

I'm not that familiar with iMovie '11, which is iMovie version 9. iMovie 9 was discontinued quite some time ago.

It looks like you may have your crop settings set to Ken Burns or Crop to Fill in iMovie 9. If these settings are set in the iMovie 9 preferences then by default the clips that you import into your projects will be zoomed. Reset your preferences to turn off the above settings. In iMovie 10 you would set the preference to Crop to Fit. It might be different with iMovie 9. If you are having difficulty, go to the iMovie 9 Help menu item and type in Crop Settings, or Preferences, for instructions.

-- Rich

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Answer 4

george57l Author

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Feb 17, 2021 8:08 AM in response to Rich839

Hi Rich

No - there are no crop settings set. I checked the project properties before importing any clips and ensured the video setting (Initial Video Placement) was 'fit in frame'. (choices are 'fit in frame' or 'crop')

PS I emphasize - this only just started happening today - earlier today it was fine, and has been fine for several days/weeks/months. I have not (AFAIK) changed any iMovie preferences half-way through today.

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Answer 5

Rich839

Level 8

47,742 points

Feb 17, 2021 8:16 AM in response to george57l

Was there anything in the help menu that addressed this issue?

iMovie 9 started to malfunction a bit beginning with El Capitan. It got worse with each successive operating system. Perhaps that is the cause of the problem.

I would try creating a another brand new project and importing your media into the new project. That's to rule out a glitch that may be confined to just one project.

Hopefully someone who is still using iMovie 9 will chime in here. iMovie 9 will not longer run on my Mac, so I can't do any testing.

-- Rich

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Answer 6

Rich839

Level 8

47,742 points

Feb 17, 2021 10:19 AM in response to Rich839

Great. Glad you got it resolved. The digital world can indeed be mysterious at times.

My previous post was being composed when you sent your last post, so I didn't know that you had posted ahead of me.

-- Rich

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Answer 7

george57l Author

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12 points

Feb 17, 2021 10:25 AM in response to Rich839

Rich

FYI I run El Capitan anyway (and won't be going beyond it unless really really forced to!) I was not aware iMovie started to fail at this point. My other EL Capitan machine has iMovie10.1.1 (a slightly later version) but it's an Air with less disk space and screen size. Which is why I use iMovie 9.0.8 on my MacBook Pro with the giant screen and a lot more disk space.

I need to figure out how to get the 10.1.1 version onto my Macbook Pro from my Air. Or find whatever the last/latest version of iMovie is that works with El Capitan. (Which won't be easy, given Apple's hatred of anyone deciding not to go with the constant change for change's sake programme!)

But thanks for your help.

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iMovie '11 - clips are zoomed/cropped when added to project

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