Disappearing audio in iMovie

[poppi]

I have a new problem with audio vanishing in iMovie but first a little background.

I recently completed an iMovie project by following the usual sequence:

1) Opened a new project in iMovie, dragged in stills from iPhoto plus a few videos, added titles in various places, and added music clips from iTunes

2) Once satisfied I created an iDVD project from iMovie - Share > iDVD

3) From iDVD created a disc image File > Save as disc image

4) Burned a DVD from disk utility by clicking on the .img file > burn.

This produced a DVD of the project which played successfully on my TV. Unfortunately when I played it I found a major error in one of the title clips which made the DVD unacceptable. Biting the bullet I reopened the iMovie project, corrected the error, and tried to repeat steps 2 through 4 to create a new DVD. HOWEVER, when I clicked Share > iDVD I got several messages like this one

"The following audio files used in this project are not currently available:

/Users/johnhendrie/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Benny Goodman/Live At Carnegie Hall [Disc 2]/2-07 China Boy [Live].m4a"

There were several like that covering other 'unavailable' clips.

I went back to the project and saw that the green music bars under the clips were still there and those not listed as missing did paly when I scanned through the project but the listed as missing, while showing on the screen, did not play. Looking at those missing clips in iTunes (within iMovie) the clips do play when clicked.

This leads to two questions

1) Is the iMovie to DVD procedure outlined in steps 1 to 4 the proper way to finalize a project? It is very cumbersome and a more streamlined process would be easier. That said, I don't do these projects that often so if that is the proper sequence I can live with it.

2) More important, is there any clue why some, not all of the audio clips became unavailable in the iMovie project? I would hate to start over just to correct one small error.

Sorry for the lengthy discussion but I will really appreciate any insight offered

poppi

 

[MightyGem]

Is the iMovie to DVD procedure outlined in steps 1 to 4 the proper way to finalize a project?

No. That's the proper way to Share your Project to a dvd. Finalizing is different.

When you Finalize a Project, iMovie creates movies of your Project in every resolution that it can support and makes them available to other Applications by using the Media Browser. If you don't need/want this function, then there is no need to Finalize a Project.

"The following audio files used in this project are not currently available:

/Users/johnhendrie/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Benny Goodman/Live At Carnegie Hall [Disc 2]/2-07 China Boy [Live].m4a"

That normally indicates that iMovie can't find that audio clip because it has been moved/deleted from it's original location. However, this doesn't seem to be the case for you.

I would hate to start over just to correct one small error.

I would just delete those tracks from the Project and then re add them.

 

[poppi]

No. That's the proper way to Share your Project to a dvd. Finalizing is different.

When you Finalize a Project, iMovie creates movies of your Project in every resolution that it can support and makes them available to other Applications by using the Media Browser. If you don't need/want this function, then there is no need to Finalize a Project.


That normally indicates that iMovie can't find that audio clip because it has been moved/deleted from it's original location. However, this doesn't seem to be the case for you.


I would just delete those tracks from the Project and then re add them.

I have tried that with no success. I deleted the existing audio clip and dragged it in again but still won't play and still listed as unavailable

poppi

 

[johnodd4]

Can i tell you why no audio.

Certain iTunes tracks are protected by DRM still and won't work in iMovie or idvd

 

[MightyGem]

Is there a yellow triangle with a ! on those problem clips?

Probably not going to be of much help with this problem, but trying to find an answer I came across an online copy of David Pogue's iMovie11and iDVD Missing Manual. Well worth downloading as he writes just about the best manuals.
http://www.a2gov.org/departments/co.../iMovie_11_and_iDVD_The_Missing_Manual[1].pdf

 

[poppi]

Is there a yellow triangle with a ! on those problem clips?

Probably not going to be of much help with this problem, but trying to find an answer I came across an online copy of David Pogue's iMovie11and iDVD Missing Manual. Well worth downloading as he writes just about the best manuals.
http://www.a2gov.org/departments/co.../iMovie_11_and_iDVD_The_Missing_Manual[1].pdf

The vast majority of the clips are "unavailable". Only two of the 12 will play. Of those "unavailable" only two have the yellow triangles (with an exclamation point).

Thanx for suggesting the Pogue book. I actually own it and so far, after a lot of searching, cannot find a solution to my problem. I will pick it up again and see if I can find some help,

As stated earlier, I went back to the project, modified the one title which was in error, and that was when the audios became unavailable.

Thanx very much fr trying to help. If all else fails I will distribute the DVD to the family with a note that the opening title is in error. I just hope this doesn't happen in the next project

poppi

 

[MightyGem]

two have the yellow triangles (with an exclamation point).

That's definitely an indication that that track has been deleted or moved.

The only other thing that I would try, is to delete the problem tracks, then drag and drop the same tracks from iTunes onto your desktop, and then drag and drop them from the desktop back into the Project. But that is a stab in the dark.

It has to be said though, that iMovie does have habit of doing strange things for no reason. I can no longer Export as a Movie, as it just quits.

 

[poppi]

That's definitely an indication that that track has been deleted or moved.

The only other thing that I would try, is to delete the problem tracks, then drag and drop the same tracks from iTunes onto your desktop, and then drag and drop them from the desktop back into the Project. But that is a stab in the dark.

It has to be said though, that iMovie does have habit of doing strange things for no reason. I can no longer Export as a Movie, as it just quits.

Tried the drag and drop from iTunes to desktop to project - same result - does not play. The maddening part is that clicking on any of the unavailable in iTunes or in the iMovie listing makes them play but not within the project.

I agree that iMovie has a mind of it's own. This is just the latest in a long series of random mysteries. Angry indeed

Thanx again for trying

poppi

 

[poppi]

It has to be said though, that iMovie does have habit of doing strange things for no reason. I can no longer Export as a Movie, as it just quits.

I just discovered another interesting fact - The first two audio tracks in the project are fine. I deleted a bad track (third track) and inserted a new track from a completely different playlist. The green bar appears as normal but it will not play either. That makes me think the problems are not with the music tracks but with that particular section of the videos. Frankly it is beyond me. Guess I will need to add a note to the CD cases explaining the opening title is screwed up and hope this does not occur in future projects

poppi

 

[MightyGem]

Do those tracks work in a New Project?

 

[poppi]

Do those tracks work in a New Project?

Great suggestion - I just tried one of the "unavailable" tracks in a different project and it works just fine. Sounds like my original project has picked up some kind of gremlin.

poppi

 

[MightyGem]

That's good. You should be able to Copy and Paste all your video/photos etc from your old Project into a new one and then add the music. Hopefully everything will then work.

 

[poppi]

That's good. You should be able to Copy and Paste all your video/photos etc from your old Project into a new one and then add the music. Hopefully everything will then work.

That is probably true but redoing all that music will be a task. Will have to tgink about that.

Thanx for all your help.

poiip

 

[poppi]

That is probably true but redoing all that music will be a task. Will have to tgink about that.

Thanx for all your help.

poiip

well I bit the bullet and redid the project by pasting the photos and videos and reinserting the music and it worked perfectly. Took a lot less time than I anticipated. Thanx Mightygem dfor your help

poppi

 

[MightyGem]

That's ok. Glad it all worked in the end.