iMovie mic volume stuck at zero

Question

Level 1

8 points

iMovie mic volume stuck at zero

tried the fix from 3+ years ago - settings > privacy ? check box or slider for iMovie to use mic. Mine was already slid on - toggled it. restarted imovie - neither fixed issue. System settings and garage band both see my external mic through my presonus USB96. also this was all working fine the other day and now it's not.

apple has become such a massive disappointment and source of immense frustration more and more ever since steve kicked off. the magic truly died with him.

Mac mini, macOS 14.7

Posted on Oct 23, 2024 4:22 PM

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Answer 1

Rich839

Level 8

47,730 points

Oct 25, 2024 11:53 AM in response to lavapirate

Hi,

Try deleting preferences.

To delete preferences open iMovie while holding down the Option and Command keys and select to delete preferences in the box that appears. iMovie will open in a new empty library. Reopen your old library to get back to

your projects. (To reopen your old library close iMovie and go to your Movie folder or wherever you have your old iMovie library stored. Double click on the library’s icon. iMovie will open in that library.) Now see if the iMovie mic works correctly. Possibly you may need to reboot to set the changes. Deleting preferences is a safe procedure that will not cause data loss or disruption to your project.

Also, check your built-in mic input settings. Go to Applications/Utilities/Audio MIDI Setup App/Built-in Microphone/input. Make sure that the mute box is unchecked.

-- Rich

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Answer 2

Rich839

Level 8

47,730 points

Oct 28, 2024 11:01 AM in response to lavapirate

Just to cover the bases, have you checked that your external mic is turned on? Happened to me once.

I plugged in an external mic and checked my Audio Midi Set-up. It recognizes the mic.

iMovie also sees it.

I am wondering if the problem might be with your mic.

-- Rich

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Answer 3

lavapirate Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 28, 2024 8:00 AM in response to Rich839

thank you Rich - i will try to update my progress as i get a chance. I did check the Audio midi setup utility and as i have a mini, there's no built in mic but my presonus 96 shows my external mic setup - only thing is the Mute and Thru checkboxes for either input are both greyed out so i can't toggle them on or off (they are not checked)

so that seems good.

next i will try deleting the iMovie prefs.

It is so much nicer when someone takes the time to let others know what solutions worked or not. ;)

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Answer 4

lavapirate Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 28, 2024 11:12 AM in response to Rich839

yes i've always had a lot of troubles with the mic/sound settings glitching both with current audio input and a previous mixer setup - but in this case, iMovie was seeing my mic and it was correct input but the iMovie setting was showing volume at zero without being able to slide it up.. still haven't had a chance to test the other tip.

my family member apple expert was saying 'why am i not doing the VO in garageband instead of iMovie?" to which i replied, i've always done it in iMovie as it's just faster and easier and wasn't having so many problems in the past.

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