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library takes space, but shows no content in imovie

On a new iMac with my iMovie library of 84GB, but when I open iMovie I only see event names with no content. How do I get to my content?

iMac 27″, macOS 10.12

Posted on Sep 30, 2021 5:01 PM

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Posted on Oct 1, 2021 12:50 PM

Yes, you can go into the Package Contents of your iMovie library and open each project and event to access the Original Media folder. The Original Media folder contains all of the media in the project. You can Copy-drag (drag while holding down the Option key) to copy the media to your desktop.


You might also try copying the entire contents of the Show Package Contents into the Show Package Contents of a newly created library, to see if you can restore the link to those projects. Take a look at this link where I discuss my test findings re doing that:


https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250092880


-- Rich



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Oct 1, 2021 12:50 PM in response to JackWojo

Yes, you can go into the Package Contents of your iMovie library and open each project and event to access the Original Media folder. The Original Media folder contains all of the media in the project. You can Copy-drag (drag while holding down the Option key) to copy the media to your desktop.


You might also try copying the entire contents of the Show Package Contents into the Show Package Contents of a newly created library, to see if you can restore the link to those projects. Take a look at this link where I discuss my test findings re doing that:


https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250092880


-- Rich



Oct 1, 2021 10:03 AM in response to JackWojo

Confirm that you are opening iMovie in the correct library (it happens). At the top of the Projects browser screen there is a selection box. Click on it and a drop down display will show what library you are in. Click on the correct library and the projects should appear.



If still no luck, go to your Movies folder (Go/Home/Movies) and control click on your library's icon. From the pop up menu, select Show Package Contents and confirm that your projects and events are in there. Since the library shows 84 GB the projects should be there. You can open the projects and see the contents of the subfolders, but you can't play the projects there because they contain only data and codes. Do not modify, move or delete anything in the Show Package Contents folder or you risk corrupting your library.


If the projects are contained in the library, then iMovie is not linking to them or possibly the library is corrupt. Try deleting preferences to see if that cures it. 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 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.


If the projects are not in there, look in the iMovie backups folder to see if there is a previous backup of the library where your projects will appear. To get to the iMovie Backups folder, follow this file path from the Finder menu:


Go/Home/Library/Containers/com.apple.iMovieApp/Data/Library/Caches/iMovieBackups


When you get there you will see a list of previous backups of your iMovie library.  Click on one dated just before your issue started.  iMovie will open in that library.   Navigate to your projects browser (where your projects are displayed as icons) and see if your projects are intact.


Failing that, try re-downloading iMovie. To update/redownload iMovie 10, drag your iMovie 10 app from the Applications

folder into the trash, but do not empty the trash. Sign in to the app store and open your purchases folder by clicking on your name at the bottom of the app store side bar. (NOTE: For El Capitan and older, click on the Purchases

tab at the top of the app store screen and then sign in. Click on Purchases again to reveal your purchases.)  You will see your purchases displayed, including iMovie 10. Redownload/update iMovie from there. If not successful, drag your present iMovie app out of the trash (if you moved it there) and return it to the Applications folder.


Another way would be to go to your Time Machine backup, if you have one, and restore the library to a previous date. You should restore it to a different location so as not to overwrite the current library.


I can't think of anything else that would explain why iMovie is not reading your library's projects, other than perhaps updating your software to the most current versions.


-- Rich








Oct 1, 2021 5:51 AM in response to Rich839

Nothing there. I have the names I assigned from the various tapes as I imported them, but don't see any content in them from within iMovie. Finder says the library is 84GB. They were there at one point, after the import but I haven't tried doing anything with them for over a year. I believe iMovie had an upgrade since then, so not sure if that caused the problem. Thanks for trying to help!

Oct 1, 2021 11:40 AM in response to Rich839

Wow. First of all Thank you so much for taking the time to provide such detail accurate information. That is very kind of you.

The good news is that I checked on the content of the library as you recommended and I do see my clips in there. Prior to your response I "imported" another video tape into the library. That is there as well and unfortunately is the only "event" that's appears with content in iMovie. The delete preferences didn't help, and I re-downloaded iMovie as you suggested. The results are the same...only that new content is visible.


Not sure what happened. These are files that I simply imported from home video tape and did not spend any time editing them as of yet. So no "lost work", just hoping to avoid having to re-import since I'm not sure how long my camera will last. Is there a way to extract the data files from the library then import them back into iMovie so that I wouldn't have to go through the whole tape to Mac process again?


Thanks again!

Oct 1, 2021 1:53 PM in response to Rich839

Thanks Rich! Was going to try and do the whole content as you suggested, but I ended up moving a folder by mistake (I thought copy was default, anyway) moving each event and reimporting (in seconds) works great. If I had done a lot of editing it would be another story. Just glad to not have to rerun all the tapes through camera realtime. Thank you SO MUCH again.

library takes space, but shows no content in imovie

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