iMovie Issues with macOS Catalina: Oversaturated Colors and More

I've been using iMovie for a while now, and I thought it was working fine until I upgraded to macOS Catalina 10.15.7. Now, when I try to import clips from Photos (filmed on my iPhone 12 Pro running iOS 14.2 in 4K), the colors of the movie become completely oversaturated or washed out when I pull them into the field to edit and create a movie. This is frustrating, especially since the sound and picture transferring process works just fine.

When I try to update iMovie through the App Store, it tells me that I need macOS 11.5.1 or later, which is not compatible with my current system. Instead, I've found an alternative solution. To update/redownload iMovie 10, I drag the app from the Applications folder into the trash, but don't empty it. Once installed, I see a circle and a cross through the iMovie icon, indicating that there's an issue.

To fix this, I update my present iMovie app to the highest version that Catalina will run. After doing so, I can install iMovie 6 HD (which I purchased from Fleabay) or download it from another site. For those who upgraded to Catalina and are experiencing similar issues, one solution is to partition your Mac disk or get an external disk, install Mojave on it, and change the boot drive just for the camcorder project.

Some users may be experiencing a different issue with iMovie quitting when trying to import video files. I've found that this problem can occur due to the removal of DV sound codecs from macOS by Catalina, which is necessary for iMovie 6 HD's compatibility with Quicktime 7.

As someone who has been working on camcorder projects using iMovie and FCPX (version 10.5.4) on macOS Catalina 10.15.7, I've encountered several issues with the software's compatibility. Despite these challenges, there are workarounds available that can help resolve the problems. By following the steps outlined above, you should be able to get iMovie up and running smoothly again.

Imovie for catalina 10.15 7