iMovie3 crashes « Videomaker Community Forums

nvsolitude
Member

:( I'm working on a video that is up to 1:20 minutes long and my IMovie3 keeps crashing. Sometimes when emptying trash, sometimes switching from clips to timeline, sometimes just when moving along the timeline bar and sometimes just for the heck of it! When I turn iMovie back on, I always have 3.6 to 5.3 gigs of trash in the folder???? I save the project alot,, a lot!, since it first happened and I lost hours of work but the whole issue is getting frustrating to say the least. The mac is not conected to the web and used just for editing. Any suggestions as to why? Maybe it's a characteristic of this iMovie version? If so is 04 or 05 or 06 anymore stable?
thanks much if you can advise.................................

Posted 6 years ago #
Video-maniac
Member

I don't use that program but usually when a computer crashes a lot, it's either from a major conflict some where or a lack of resources.

How much RAM are you using and how much space is available on your HD(s)?

Also... what are your computer specs?

Might be able to help if you can come up with those answers.

RAM

Posted 6 years ago #
nvsolitude
Member

RAM, thanks, here's what I have.

G4 mac OS X 10.2.6
memory 1024 MB
RAM 512 MB times two
dual processors 1.25 GH
dual dard drives each 149GB

Posted 6 years ago #
BTS
Member

Wait, a Mac that crashes???? I thought this NEVER happens! I'm not trying to be an @ss, I've been loosely considering a Mac for my next editing computer. This is not normal, is it?

Posted 6 years ago #
KBVP
Member

I read on Google a few days ago about a virus that hit Macs- a first. Are you up to date on anti-virus software? You might want to run a system scan. When done with that, disable your internet connection while editing. Disable any software you don't need to be running- including anti-virus. Some software tries to run automatic update searches- get these under control.

Posted 6 years ago #
nvsolitude
Member

I have just found out that these problems were very common with iMovie3 and the 3.0.1 version I have. Apple had several upgrades available and the last 3.0.3 is supposed to fix these problems. I sure hope so. Unfortunately I purchased this computer and let it sit for over a year before I used it. This mac is not connected to the web and was intended to be soley dedicated to video editing just to avoid these problems. I'll contact apple for advice..............I would prefer to get a disc with the upgrades. thanks again!

Posted 6 years ago #
nvsolitude
Member

MAN, I want to let everyone know what happened here. Maybe it will save others the headaches I have gone through. I ended up hauling my mac to a high speed connection at another location. Sixteen apple downloads/updates later and the trash/crash problem went away (it was a software problem and apple had fixes for it). But I then lost all ability to do voiceovers and because of the upgrades i installed, I could not reinstall the orginal operating system (like I guess why would I want to!). So, stuck between a rock and hard place, I bought the tiger upgrade and the iLife '06 package. Everything went OK transfering project files but iMovie 06 has issues also! In my case the audio gets all garbled and out of sync with the visible audio timeline. Saving the project will sometimes bring it back close but never perfectly. And the problem returns. So it's currently unuseable and worthless until more fixes and upgrades are available. I for one am very disappointed with apple for releasing such untested, unreliable products to it's customers. I bought my upgrades last week and I see they have two upgrades for tiger already and one for Imovie 06. And direct from the apple website I see postings for other audio issues with 06. Not good business.

Posted 6 years ago #
Video-maniac
Member

Have you thought about taking the plunge and switching to Final Cut Pro?

Your eyes will fall out of your head when you see what that thing can do.

RAM

Posted 6 years ago #
nvsolitude
Member

thanks, I am looking into final cut express. I have heard it is stable and a very good package. I still would like to use iMovie6 to finish a couple of projects while training for Xpress. I just have to much invested to bail on my mac yet. Hopefully it gets better soon.

Posted 6 years ago #
jetson
Member

Funny, I've never experienced a single problem using iMovie - even on my old 366 iBook...

I would agree though that a movie that long would be better suited in FCE or FCP...

In iMovie, if you have to make a long movie, you can make a bunch of smaller ones and stitch them together with Quicktime Pro.

Posted 6 years ago #
nvsolitude
Member

Good idea! My shorter projects are having no problems.

Posted 6 years ago #