Steve Zavodny

Q: How to tell iMovie where to put stuff?

I dont want all my movies and projects and everything on my start up drive.  How do I direct iMovie to put all this stuff where I want it?

Thanks

Mac Pro (Early 2009), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Dec 16, 2012 9:13 AM

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Q: How to tell iMovie where to put stuff?

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  • by Karsten Schlüter,Helpful

    Karsten Schlüter Karsten Schlüter Dec 16, 2012 9:23 AM in response to Steve Zavodny
    Level 7 (32,668 points)
    Video
    Dec 16, 2012 9:23 AM in response to Steve Zavodny
  • by Steve Zavodny,

    Steve Zavodny Steve Zavodny Dec 16, 2012 11:36 AM in response to Karsten Schlüter
    Level 1 (89 points)
    iTunes
    Dec 16, 2012 11:36 AM in response to Karsten Schlüter

    Simple enough and thank you tho I was fooled because this option was not logically placed in preferences. SO now I wonder: the simplest thing to do would be move the entire "movies" folder out of "user" to the desired location?  But how would I point iMovie there for all future projects?  Or if I do what the manual says, and move everything that way, will iMovie recreate the old files system in "user" for new stuff?  How would it know to put everything new in the new location?  Thanks

  • by AppleMan1958,Solvedanswer

    AppleMan1958 AppleMan1958 Dec 16, 2012 12:56 PM in response to Steve Zavodny
    Level 7 (27,430 points)
    Dec 16, 2012 12:56 PM in response to Steve Zavodny

    If you have already made projects, it is very important to move the Events within iMovie. The reason is that a project is simply a text file in hexadecimal which consists of the paths and the in and out points of the event clips you used, paths to the photos and music that you used, and info on adjustments, titles, transitions, etc.


    So if you move an event in the Finder, the projects which reference it will not be able to find it, and they will give you a yellow triangle for "missing media" the next time you open them.

     

    From that description, you might wonder if it still might be OK to move your projects in the Finder. You you can. However, I would still suggest that you move over your first project from within iMovie. This will create the correct folder structure on your other hard drive. Then move the rest of the projects in the Finder.

     

    There is also a "FILE/CONSOLIDATE MEDIA" command. Once you move your project to an external drive, you can select the project in the Project Library View and run this command. It will move or copy all events, photos, and music used in this event to the external drive. Once you have moved over all events that are used in projects, you can move the rest of the events by the Finder, but do so at your own risk. Also be sure to restart iMovie after doing so.

     

    As for your question about future projects...

    Click VIEW/GROUP EVENTS BY DISK and you will see all your available disks. You can select a disk and then hit the + to add a project, and it will add in that disk. For Events, the next time you import from a camcorder, you can specify which drive to use on the import screen. Once you do this, it will remember your choice until you change it.

     

    So this user tip for more details, including the error in iMovie Help regarding moving projects.

    https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4141

     

    Also see this user tip so that your external drive is formatted correctly. iMovie will not see it unless it is formatted as Mac OS Extended (journaled). FAT 32 drives are not seen in iMovie.

    https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4362

  • by Steve Zavodny,

    Steve Zavodny Steve Zavodny Dec 16, 2012 1:52 PM in response to AppleMan1958
    Level 1 (89 points)
    iTunes
    Dec 16, 2012 1:52 PM in response to AppleMan1958

    perfect thank you both