iMovie version 10 uses a new system for storing clips and projects. It is very easy to be able to create and use multiple iMovie libraries and move items between them. You can store archived projects in libraries, and even spread your projects across multiple hard drives.
Want to know more about how to use iMovie on your Mac? Check out this MacMost course!
Comments: 22 Responses to “Managing iMovie Libraries and Files”
Adam
10 years ago
Question: Recently (just before updating to iMovie 10) I pulled off all my old videos off my Mac and put them on an external HD (freeing up internal HD room). I only use the videos shared to iTunes from iMovie on a regular basis. However I don't want to get rid of the originals. So the ext. HD it is. It used to much easier to cut and paste certain videos using Finder. Watching your video I see the folders that contain my content. What's you're suggestion on moving only certain videos?
I don't understand your question. It sounds like you have moved the videos you don't need to an external drive already. So what are you asking?
Michael Houser
10 years ago
Excellent lesson, I was dragging and dropping these files using the finder and am glad to know how to do it within iMovie itself.
Bob
10 years ago
Great video. So it's a hierarchy storage structure: projects, trailers and raw footage are stored in events. And events are stored in a libraries. Correct?
Stuart J
10 years ago
Very informative video.
When upgrading to iMovie 10, limited disk space dictated only importing a few of many iMovie 9 and iMovie11 projects and events. Total 450gb on 3 external drives
Now I have a large capacity external HD.
What's the best strategy to organize all iMovie data files onto LC external HD and use it as default iMovie disk?
Do I start by import and converting iM 9 data into iMovie 10?
How can I direct the converted data to a specific library on new HD?
Out of space..
The video gives you the answer to most of your questions, you just need to apply it to your specific needs. Try playing around with the library and learning how it works. If you still can't come up with a solution, perhaps get some first-hand help.
Jerome
10 years ago
Thanks, I had my suspicions that was how it worked. Just a little nervous about experimenting on my existing events and projects. Good job!
Jennifer
10 years ago
Would the process for IMovie 11 be the same? Is iMovie 11 the most current program?
No. iMovie version 10 is the latest. It is for Mavericks. iMovie '11 is an earlier version from iLife '11 (as in 2011). You can see how to handle files in iMovie 09 and 11 in this old video: http://macmost.com/how-imovie-stores-files.html
Bill
10 years ago
I started using iMovie 10.0.3. When the library (4 star icon) is disclosed another item is shown below (paper looking icon) which does not show in your video. When this item is disclosed the event item below (1 star icon) is shown. So there is 2 items below the library. The item with the paper looking icon is named 2014 and can not be changed. This is confusing as it does not seem to be a library or an event. Is there a way to hide this item? Thank you.
Paper? Do you mean the calendar icon? That is just a way of dividing the projects into years. You cannot change the name of a year. If you had older events they would be under 2013, 2012, etc.
If you prefer, you can control+click on the library there and choose to sort by name instead of date, then they will all be grouped together instead of by year.
Jonathan Hoffman
10 years ago
Does the same procedure apply when moving/archiving events and projects in FCP X?
No. Only somewhat. This tutorial is specific to how iMovie works. FCP works differently.
Sean
10 years ago
I copied my Movies folder using Finder to an external HD before my MBP crashed and now can't get them back into iMovie library!! 1) If I try and open a movie in iMovie from the Movies folder, none of the movies are highlighted so I cannot open them. 2) When I open a movie using Finder in the Movies folder, it goes through this conversion process with QuickTime player which takes several minutes. Please help.
Simon
10 years ago
Thanks Gary; I have a related question. I've just been through a lengthy exercise of moving most of my iMovie events to an external HD to save space on the Mac HD. But they still show up in the iMovie library (by clicking on 'show package contents'), thus making this library nearly 500GB. These events DON'T show in iMovie when I don't have the external HD plugged in. What's happening?
iMovie will show you all of the iMovie libraries on all of your attached hard drives. So that makes sense. But I don't understand where/why you are doing the "Show Package Contents" thing. Are you doing that to the original iMovie library? Perhaps a first-hand look by someone at the Genius Bar will clear it up.
Simon
10 years ago
Yes - I'm unplugging the external drive that contains the mass of footage, then using Finder and 'Show Package Contents' to view the iMovie library as located on the Mac HD. I don't understand why, if I've moved the events off the Mac HD, that the library is still huge. The events I've moved don't show in iMovie. So you would think that the iMovie library should be small. A new library has been created on the external drive that presumably encompasses all the events that are stored there.
I'm guessing that you didn't "move" the events to the external library, but simply copied them there. But a first-hand look by an expert may be required to diagnose the problem.
Farshid
10 years ago
Hi Gary, great videos. I have a question that is related to the same topic. In previous iMovie 9 version you had shown us how to archive our projects similar to what you have shown here in this version 10. How do I upgrade my old archive files from iMovie 9 to iMovie 10 so that later on they don't get outdated? It would be great to see a video on this topic or I hope to see a response from you here if that works better for you
You'll need to experiment. I would try restoring the files to their original iMovie '09 locations, then running iMovie '09 to check to make sure they are in order (installing iMovie 10 doesn't erase older versions). Then see if running iMovie 10 will initiate an update of those projects. Report back.
Richard Jellicoe
10 years ago
I have watched this clip a bunch of times. What I want to do should be simple but I can not figure it out. I want to save a group of credits that I can add to a movie, But I can not figure out how to do this without sharing the credits when then do not allow me to edit them later. I want to be able to save an editable set of credits that can be added to a movie with the ability to edit them then share the movie, Can not figure it out
Two ways come to mind. One is to have a Credits movie. Export (share) it and take that export and add it to your current movie. Then if you need to edit it, just go back and edit the Credits movie, export again, and replace the credits at the end of the current movie with the new version.
The other way is to have a Credits movie, then copy and paste all of the elements in that project from the Credits movie to the current movie project. For the next project, copy and paste again.
Create sample movies right now and play around with these ideas. See how they work for you.
Question: Recently (just before updating to iMovie 10) I pulled off all my old videos off my Mac and put them on an external HD (freeing up internal HD room). I only use the videos shared to iTunes from iMovie on a regular basis. However I don't want to get rid of the originals. So the ext. HD it is. It used to much easier to cut and paste certain videos using Finder. Watching your video I see the folders that contain my content. What's you're suggestion on moving only certain videos?
I don't understand your question. It sounds like you have moved the videos you don't need to an external drive already. So what are you asking?
Excellent lesson, I was dragging and dropping these files using the finder and am glad to know how to do it within iMovie itself.
Great video. So it's a hierarchy storage structure: projects, trailers and raw footage are stored in events. And events are stored in a libraries. Correct?
Very informative video.
When upgrading to iMovie 10, limited disk space dictated only importing a few of many iMovie 9 and iMovie11 projects and events. Total 450gb on 3 external drives
Now I have a large capacity external HD.
What's the best strategy to organize all iMovie data files onto LC external HD and use it as default iMovie disk?
Do I start by import and converting iM 9 data into iMovie 10?
How can I direct the converted data to a specific library on new HD?
Out of space..
The video gives you the answer to most of your questions, you just need to apply it to your specific needs. Try playing around with the library and learning how it works. If you still can't come up with a solution, perhaps get some first-hand help.
Thanks, I had my suspicions that was how it worked. Just a little nervous about experimenting on my existing events and projects. Good job!
Would the process for IMovie 11 be the same? Is iMovie 11 the most current program?
No. iMovie version 10 is the latest. It is for Mavericks. iMovie '11 is an earlier version from iLife '11 (as in 2011). You can see how to handle files in iMovie 09 and 11 in this old video: http://macmost.com/how-imovie-stores-files.html
I started using iMovie 10.0.3. When the library (4 star icon) is disclosed another item is shown below (paper looking icon) which does not show in your video. When this item is disclosed the event item below (1 star icon) is shown. So there is 2 items below the library. The item with the paper looking icon is named 2014 and can not be changed. This is confusing as it does not seem to be a library or an event. Is there a way to hide this item? Thank you.
Paper? Do you mean the calendar icon? That is just a way of dividing the projects into years. You cannot change the name of a year. If you had older events they would be under 2013, 2012, etc.
If you prefer, you can control+click on the library there and choose to sort by name instead of date, then they will all be grouped together instead of by year.
Does the same procedure apply when moving/archiving events and projects in FCP X?
No. Only somewhat. This tutorial is specific to how iMovie works. FCP works differently.
I copied my Movies folder using Finder to an external HD before my MBP crashed and now can't get them back into iMovie library!! 1) If I try and open a movie in iMovie from the Movies folder, none of the movies are highlighted so I cannot open them. 2) When I open a movie using Finder in the Movies folder, it goes through this conversion process with QuickTime player which takes several minutes. Please help.
Thanks Gary; I have a related question. I've just been through a lengthy exercise of moving most of my iMovie events to an external HD to save space on the Mac HD. But they still show up in the iMovie library (by clicking on 'show package contents'), thus making this library nearly 500GB. These events DON'T show in iMovie when I don't have the external HD plugged in. What's happening?
iMovie will show you all of the iMovie libraries on all of your attached hard drives. So that makes sense. But I don't understand where/why you are doing the "Show Package Contents" thing. Are you doing that to the original iMovie library? Perhaps a first-hand look by someone at the Genius Bar will clear it up.
Yes - I'm unplugging the external drive that contains the mass of footage, then using Finder and 'Show Package Contents' to view the iMovie library as located on the Mac HD. I don't understand why, if I've moved the events off the Mac HD, that the library is still huge. The events I've moved don't show in iMovie. So you would think that the iMovie library should be small. A new library has been created on the external drive that presumably encompasses all the events that are stored there.
I'm guessing that you didn't "move" the events to the external library, but simply copied them there. But a first-hand look by an expert may be required to diagnose the problem.
Hi Gary, great videos. I have a question that is related to the same topic. In previous iMovie 9 version you had shown us how to archive our projects similar to what you have shown here in this version 10. How do I upgrade my old archive files from iMovie 9 to iMovie 10 so that later on they don't get outdated? It would be great to see a video on this topic or I hope to see a response from you here if that works better for you
You'll need to experiment. I would try restoring the files to their original iMovie '09 locations, then running iMovie '09 to check to make sure they are in order (installing iMovie 10 doesn't erase older versions). Then see if running iMovie 10 will initiate an update of those projects. Report back.
I have watched this clip a bunch of times. What I want to do should be simple but I can not figure it out. I want to save a group of credits that I can add to a movie, But I can not figure out how to do this without sharing the credits when then do not allow me to edit them later. I want to be able to save an editable set of credits that can be added to a movie with the ability to edit them then share the movie, Can not figure it out
Two ways come to mind. One is to have a Credits movie. Export (share) it and take that export and add it to your current movie. Then if you need to edit it, just go back and edit the Credits movie, export again, and replace the credits at the end of the current movie with the new version.
The other way is to have a Credits movie, then copy and paste all of the elements in that project from the Credits movie to the current movie project. For the next project, copy and paste again.
Create sample movies right now and play around with these ideas. See how they work for you.