Finally a SOLUTION!
To set a poster frame (thumbnail) for an iMovie, download MetaDoctor. It costs about $8 (or $16 for the PRO version) from the App Store. It allows you to set a .jpg as the poster frame and to add chapter markers to .mpv and .mov files.
Works with iMovie 10.2.2 running macOS 10.15.7.
Thank you MetaDoctor.
An EVEN BETTER SOLUTION! Its simple, and free.
After having created a .mp4 or .mov file from Project in iMovie, import it into your library using Apple TV app. Go to Get Info from the three dots on the bottom right of the icon. Select Add Artwork from the Artwork tab, browse to the .jpg you want and click OK. You may need to do this twice before the file "takes".
You can even use a .png file from a screenshot taken of a paused frame from your .mp4 or .mov iMovie file.
I don't know how long this simple functionality has existed for, but its great. And I've been looking for several years now for a solution.
An EVEN BETTER SOLUTION! Its simple, and free.
After having created a .mp4 or .mov file from Project in iMovie, import it into your library using Apple TV app. Go to Get Info from the three dots on the bottom right of the icon. Select Add Artwork from the Artwork tab, browse to the .jpg you want and click OK. You may need to do this twice before the file "takes".
You can even use a .png file from a screenshot taken of a paused frame from your .mp4 or .mov iMovie file.
I don't know how long this simple functionality has existed for, but its great. And I've been looking for several years now for a solution.
Rich,
No I haven’t tested whether it carries over from app to app. Sorry. But I reckon it would as MetaDoctor edits the metadata of the .mov or .mpv file.
When I originally posted a couple of years back looking for a way of creating poster frames I was particularly interested in doing so when using VLC via tvOS (Apple TV). I’ve found no need to use VLC anymore because accessing mp4s via Computer on the Apple TV is so much simpler (and its stable!).
Rich,
Just checked VLC (v3.0.12) under tvOS - the poster frames/thumbnails are all blank.
So I think that's a VLC issue. But as I said in an earlier post, I've stopped using VLC anyway in favour of the Computer app access on the Apple 4K TV box - far simpler and stable.
Fantastic. Glad that you posted that.
Have you verifed whether the thumbnail carries over from app to app?
— Rich
It would be interesting to see if the thumbnail carried over to other apps, as that is the main issue.
-- Rich
I'll have to try that.
-- Rich
Poster Frame for iMovie
