iMovie Automatically Stops Camcorder Tape

I imported a short video earlier from my camcorder to my Mac desktop via Firwwire. I attempted to add to this video, but when I try to import, the "record" light comes on for 1/2 a second, and then the tape is stopped by iMovie. The camcorder will play when unplugged from the Firewire port, but when it is plugged in, iMovie immediately stops the tape every time, whether I attempt to play it or import video. The stop button on-screen looks like it has been clicked, as it displays as the lighter color the buttons show when clicked. It appears to be permanently depressed.
I have attempted to import different videos, deleted the original import, and still can't play or record anything. I have completely closed the program and reopened it, and had the same issue.
I have searched for anything related to a stop button-lock, without success. I am way behind on this project and have a short time to finish it--please, please, if anyone knows what happening, please let me know. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

You could always try importing manually. Just press the play button in iMovie and then hit Play on the camcorder. Then hit Import.

The stop "button" on the iMovie on-screen display appears to be "pressed" when I open the display. Any buttons I "press," like Play, result in the tape moving, for a split second, then stopping. It is as if the stop button (on screen) is locked down and the "stop" action overrides everything else.

Oh right, forgot to tell you to flip the switch on the left from Automatic to Manual.

Thanks, but I've done that...same result. It acts like it's about to record, and then stops.

I had some trouble understanding some of what you have tried.

Have you tried a different tape to see if that works OK?

Have you tried a different camera? You could try renting a playback unit.

Perhaps the tape is a bit messed up.

Maybe removing the iMovie preferences will reset it somehow.

I just had this exact same problem a few minutes ago while in the middle of importing several clips from a JVC GR-D770U. I had imported three clips without any problem and was able to play, rewind, and fastforward from the import window in manual mode. Then it just stopped allowing me to play the thing, whether I clicked the play button in the import window or pressed the play button on the camera it would whirl for half a second then stop immediately.

THIS FIXED IT:
Quitting iMovie, throwing away the iMovie preferences file in ~/Library/Preferences, then starting iMovie again fixed the problem for me.

This seems like an odd but that Apple needs to fix. I wish I had saved the original preferences file so I could send it to them. If this happens again I'll submit a bug report to them.

Cheers
--Dan

Fix for imovie automatically stopping camcorder, imovie won't play video camera

Thanks for the FIX. It worked perfectly.

For those that need a little more instruction, here is how you do it. The file that needs to be removed can be found by going to "finder" then "home" files. You can find the home folder by looking for a little house icon under "spaces" Often this file is your name. After clicking on the home files find the "library" folder. Click on the library folder and then find the "preferences" folder. When you open up preferences folder, there will be a bunch of files that end in ".plist" Find the one that has "imovie" in the file name. My file was labeled "com.apple.iMovie7.plist". Instead of deleting the file I put it on my desktop just in case I wanted to put it back. However, make sure that you move it out of the preferences folder; don't just make a copy of it. Now restart iMovie.
When you restart iMovie, it will have to regenerate the preference file. It took my computer a good 10 minutes to come back on line. Also, When it was done thinking iMovie wasn't working (I think it got hung up because my camcorder was plugged in. You might avoid this if you unplug your camcorder before restarting) However, on a second restart iMovie was working great.

If anyone knows where I should send the .plist file to have Apple fix this, let me know. In fact, I made a copy of the bad .plist file and I made a copy of the .plist file just after I got it to work, so a comparison to see what is wrong should be easy.

ash471 said:

If anyone knows where I should send the .plist file to have Apple fix this, let me know.

Click to expand...

Menu item; iMovie ->> Provide iMovie Feedback. That opens a web page when you can enter some stuff. I'm not sure if will handle a plist file though.