You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!
When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.
When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.
Can anyone comment on iMovie's ability to do simple editing (essentially just appending videos and adding an audio track with basic fade in and out transitions) for 3-4 hour long 4k, 6oFPS videos?
It would be on a base Mac Mini with 16 gig RAM.
I can put up with some hiccups and delays, but it would need to be able to load and export the entire movie.
Or, do I need FPC for better memory management?
Thanks
Mac mini (M2, 2023)
Hi,
An iMovie project cannot export at 4k 60fps. It can export at 4k 30fps or 1080p at 60fps. A 4k 60fps clip can be downloaded into a project for editing but will be reduced to 4k 30 fps. A 3-4 hour video is no problem for either loading or exporting, but you need sufficient free space on your application drive for iMovie to function efficiently. For a 3-4 hour video you would probably want around 25 GB free space.
— Rich
Hi,
An iMovie project cannot export at 4k 60fps. It can export at 4k 30fps or 1080p at 60fps. A 4k 60fps clip can be downloaded into a project for editing but will be reduced to 4k 30 fps. A 3-4 hour video is no problem for either loading or exporting, but you need sufficient free space on your application drive for iMovie to function efficiently. For a 3-4 hour video you would probably want around 25 GB free space.
— Rich
Understood.
iMovie should be fine as long as you don't mind exporting 4K at 30fps.
As the videos are relaxing and presumably don't contain any fast action, there should be no need for 60fps.
If 60fps is essential you have several choices . . . buy FCP or download the free 90 day trial (if you only wish to use it for a short time).
Alternatively you can download the free version of Davinci Resolve which can export up to 4K @ 60fps.
You are most welcome.
You wouldn’t need 60 fps unless there is a lot of fast movement in the video. For a nature video 30 fps should be very satisfactory. Try 4k at 30 fps and see if you like it.
— Rich
A 3 - 4 hour long video is ridiculous. Who is going to watch something that length?
Unless it is superbly crafted most viewers will be wishing they were somewhere else after 3 - 4 minutes.
FCP will probably be no different in its ability to handle such a project with the exception that it can export 4K at 60fps.
It would be much better splitting the hours of footage into smaller chunks (projects) rather than putting all your eggs in one basket.
These videos are films of nature and ambient nature sounds. They are designed to be played on big screen TVs in waiting rooms, meditation studios, homes that might want to have back ground noise going, on your other computer for background noise while you sleep or study.
They are decidedly not the usual Fails of the Week, or cute puppies videos you see on YouTube.
Most of the time I use my 2017 27" iMac which is very capable.
Last October I bought the base M2 mac mini with 8 GB RAM and a 256 GB SSD.
It is 2 - 3 times faster than the iMac and the tiny SSD is no problem as I have a Crucial 1 TB USB 3.0 connected which cost £60.
In fact I have the whole machine running (booting) off the external so there is absolutely no wear and tear on the internal SSD.
Surprisingly (to many people) the whole caboodle runs just as fast as the original SSD even though the Crucial is only a fraction of the speed.
I simply installed Sonoma on it and set it to boot the mini in System Settings.
Much of the time I don't need its extra speed so I still use the iMac.
Thank you for that information.
I had not heard of Davinci Resolve. Thank you for cluing me in.
Now that both you and Ian have discussed the FPS overkill, I am even more include to go get a Mac Mini.
Thank you both.
Ha!
The last time I used an iMac, it looked like an half an egg and came in neon colors.
I bought the last one they made in 2001. That was my introduction to Macs. The only other computers I had used were in my school (teacher not pupil).
Imovie limits - Base Mac Mini, 16 gig RAM
