iMovie loading plugins on start-up

Question

iMovie loading plugins on start-up

iMovie has recently starting displaying alert boxes on startup complaining that certain audio plugins need to be authorized. My iMovie version is 10.3.1.

A few years back I bought some audio plugins I use in ProTools on my iMac. I didn't buy all the plugins from the vendor but I appear to have downloaded a larger set of them than I purchased. I moved the ones I didn't buy to an "unused plugin" folder which fixed ProTools being annoyed at loading unauthorized plugins.

Recently (probably with the upgrade to Big Sur, but not sure, sorry), iMovie started complaining about unauthorized plugins (psp audioware). I found all those and deleted them, but iMovie is still complaining. I can just tell the alert dialogue to 'quit' and, after a half-dozen plugins, iMovie will start. It seems to work without any issues.

It's a bit annoying and/or troublesome. How can I get iMovie to not behave this way? Thanks.

iMac 27″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Nov 16, 2021 7:58 AM

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Answer 1

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Rich839

Level 8

48,156 points

Nov 16, 2021 9:33 AM in response to JohnnyRichGuitar

Since iMovie is detecting unauthorized plug-ins they must exist somewhere on your Mac. Perhaps there were some that escaped your deleting process. Have you tried looking in other locations for the plug-ins? The iMovie plug-ins are in the iMovie Show Package Contents. Go to your Applications folder and control click on iMovie app icon and then click on Show Package Contents/Contents/Plug-ins. See if the unauthorized plug-ins are there. Before deleting I would just move them to your desktop first, to make sure that iMovie will open without issue.

-- Rich

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Answer 2

Rich839

Level 8

48,156 points

Nov 16, 2021 1:19 PM in response to JohnnyRichGuitar

Try deleting preferences. 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. See it the unauthroized plug-in notification appears. Then reopen your old library to get back to your projects and see if the notification is gone. Deleting preferences is a safe procedure that will not cause data loss or disruption to your project.

Also, you can try opening iMovie in your Mac's Guest account and see if that eliminates the plug-in notification.

-- Rich

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Answer 3

Rich839

Level 8

48,156 points

Nov 16, 2021 6:35 PM in response to JohnnyRichGuitar

Before calling Apple Support you might try redownloading 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. 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 and return it to the Applications folder.

Good luck with this.

-- Rich

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Answer 4

Dec 16, 2021 11:35 AM in response to JohnnyRichGuitar

HI

Don't know if or how you solved the problem, I had the same problem here, a lot of Soundtoys audio plugins to activate when opening iMovie, I deleted all of it in the library/audio/plugins.

cheers

Miguel

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Answer 5

Rich839

Level 8

48,156 points

Nov 16, 2021 3:48 PM in response to JohnnyRichGuitar

Hmmm. I don't know what could be causing the plug-in issue. You might try contacting Apple Support. The techs there have the capability of remotely accessing your computer that we cannot do here. To contact apple support click on the Get Support item in the upper right hand corner of this forum’s screen. Navigate to a place where you can enter your phone number.

-- Rich

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Answer 6

Nov 16, 2021 11:23 AM in response to Rich839

Thanks for the tip, but still no dice. The unauthorized plugins weren't in that plugin folder (or any subfolders) you see by right-clicking iMovie. I ran 'find' from the terminal and it didn't see any files that correspond to the plugin names (though it didn't let me see into every directory). I dismounted all my external drives and rebooted the machine. Still the same old issue.

Curiouser and curiouser ...

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Answer 7

Nov 16, 2021 2:55 PM in response to Rich839

Thanks, Rich - however, it's still happening in the guest account after deleting the prefs.

I should mention that 1st time in the guest account I didn't hold down the right keys and iMovie started in regular mode and asked to authorize those plugins; it took quite a long while to start. Oops; then I started it properly and deleted the prefs but it still asked to authorize those plugins.

Over time I've accumulated quite a number of iMovie libraries in different directories. I use iMovie sporadically and I'm telling myself this is likely tied to the Big Sur upgrade which I put off for quite some time until ProTools (etc) would work. I think this is the first time I've worked with iMovie since then.

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Answer 8

Nov 16, 2021 2:57 PM in response to JohnnyRichGuitar

In the big picture, iMovie seems to work properly once I get past the unauthorized plugin dance. I say "seems" as I'm not using it in any sort of sophisticated way and for the dumb stuff I'm doing it works fine.

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Answer 9

Nov 17, 2021 7:31 AM in response to Rich839

I was wondering if re-installing iMovie would help but didn't see how to do that - now I know how, thanks! However, it's time for Apple Support as it's still doing the unauthorized silliness ... oh well. Cheers, John.

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