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I have a movie imported ages ago that used to work fine in iMovie but now comes up with 'missing plug in' when I try to open it and no other information. Might I be missing a codec or something?
Using Big Sur 11.2.3 and iMovie 10.2.4
Not sure what is causing the 'missing plug in" message. Possibly you got a bad download. You might try updating to the most current iMovie (10.2.5) and Big Sur (11.5) versions and see if that cures it.
If still no luck, try these procedures:
Deleting 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 library. Reopen your old library to get back to your projects. Deleting preferences is a safe procedure that will not cause data loss or disruption to your project.
Resetting the System Management Controller
Try resetting the System Management Controller (but no longer available for the new M1 computers):
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295
Resetting the NVRAM or PRAM
Try resetting the NVRAM or PRAM:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063
-- Rich
Not sure what is causing the 'missing plug in" message. Possibly you got a bad download. You might try updating to the most current iMovie (10.2.5) and Big Sur (11.5) versions and see if that cures it.
If still no luck, try these procedures:
Deleting 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 library. Reopen your old library to get back to your projects. Deleting preferences is a safe procedure that will not cause data loss or disruption to your project.
Resetting the System Management Controller
Try resetting the System Management Controller (but no longer available for the new M1 computers):
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295
Resetting the NVRAM or PRAM
Try resetting the NVRAM or PRAM:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063
-- Rich
In re-reading your post, another thing occurred to me. Since the video was imported "ages ago" it could well be that it is in a legacy (older) format that is no longer compatible with the Big Sur 64 bit platform. Here's a link to an Apple bulletin that explains the issue and shows what formats are now supported:
https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT209029
If the video is in an unsupported legacy format, such as .avi for example, you can use the free download Handbrake to convert it to one of the compatible formats, such as H.264, Mp4/AAC.
You can get Handbrake here:
A simple way to do it is to open Handbrake and do a File/Open Source. Navigate to your video and choose it as the source from the resulting screen. Then do File/Start Encoding. Wait a couple of minutes for the conversion to complete. Then save and import the converted clip into iMovie.
-- Rich
Thank you for your replies. The updates to latest Big Sur release and iMovie didn't fix the problem.
I will try your later suggestion. Thank you.
Nick.
Thank you very much, yes this is exactly the right solution. I am very grateful. Nick.
Great! Glad it worked for you.
-- Rich
IMovie missing plugin
