iMovie not recognizing 60fps in timeline

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Level 1

8 points

iMovie not recognizing 60fps in timeline

iMovie is not recognizing 60fps clips when I drag them into the timeline. When I preview them before dragging them into the timeline, it is 60fps. However, when I preview them in the timeline, it becomes 30fps, which is noticeably choppier.

I've gone through dozens of threads about this same issue, and I've tried everything those threads recommended, but nothing worked. I've probably spent close to four hours looking through threads and trying combinations of solutions.

Hardware & Versions:

16" MacBook Pro (1TB preconfigured model)
macOS Catalina (10.15.3)
iMovie 10.1.14

What I've tried:

Deleting preferences by starting iMovie with command + option pressed
Creating a new project and dragging a known 60fps clip (created using built-in screen recorder, confirmed via QuickTime inspector) as the first clip in the timeline

How I verified:

Exported a project with a known 60fps clip and the result is a 30fps clip
Settings popup in timeline shows 1080p not 1080p60

Any help would be appreciated.

MacBook Pro 16", macOS 10.15

Posted on Mar 22, 2020 12:07 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Rich839

Level 8

47,730 points

Mar 22, 2020 11:56 AM in response to jerry1100

iMovie will knock down a 4k 60 fps clip to 30 fps in the timeline. With a 1080 60 fps clip that should not happen, and it should remain 60 fps in the timeline and export at 60 fps. Was your clip possibly 4k 60 fps originally?

In the timeline, verify the actual feet per second. Create a new project and put your 1080 60 fps clip into it. Expand your timeline full out with the slider next to the Settings Button above the timeline to the right. Then place your cursor on the clip and, while pressing down on the r key, and simultaneously pressing down on your track pad or mouse, slowly drag the cursor to the right. A frame counter box will appear that counts the frames as you drag. If it is a 30 fps clip, when the counter reaches 00:29 (meaning that you have dragged through 29 frames) the next tick will show 01:00 (meaning that on the 30th frame one second has expired, indicating 30 fps. If it is a 60 fps clip, the counter will not tick to 01:00 until you reach 00:59 frames, indicating 60 frames per second.

If iMovie still is not recognizing 1080 at 60 fps, then try redownloading iMovie from your purchases folder in the app store. You will first need to drag your present iMovie app from the applications folder into the trash, but don't empty the trash in case you need to drag the app back into the applications folder.

-- Rich