Moving iMovie Media from Project to Library

Thought I'd give an update on this. I moved all of my projects into the library on my external disk where the media is located. I did a consolidate media on each project and for each project it stated that there was nothing to consolidate because it was already located within the library.

I then checked the original library "pending" where the projects were located and there was no media shown. I tried a consolidate media on the library and it said there was nothing to consolidate. The library file within the finder folder is still 20gb. The file didn't shrink in size until I closed the library within iMovie and quit the app.

We'll see how it goes going forward but I'm going to try to keep the media within the same library for multiple projects.

Here's my workflow so far (to get around storage issues since I have 150gb+ of media overall for the project). I fully admit that I may not be doing it how the software/Apple intends, but I'm trying to understand how it thinks/works to better improve my workflow without having to buy more advanced software than what I need for my level of projects.

I started out learning iMovie for the first time using the default library, no clue how to use it or best practices since it is supposed to be simple. I also am trying to figure out my workflow for future projects so it has been a bit confusing for how to manage the media.

Once I realized that I was going to have storage issues (since it was copying from the location on the drive into the Library) I bought an external drive and formatted it to work with iMovie (apple format). I create a new library "media" on the external drive. I then tried copying the event from one library to another (dragging to new library on separate disk) since they were both open in iMovie and then deleting the original library once I confirmed they appeared to have the same content. All of my projects still appeared to load properly.

I also created a new library on the internal drive called "pending" which contains the videos that are not completed yet but have been started. As I add new media to the "media" library on the external drive I create events within that library and drag the source files into that new event.

My projects were moved to the "pending" library from the default using the built-in move functionality. This library is not large as it only has the new projects in it and I figured it is pointing to the media within the "media" library. The original default library appears to still be 20+gb even though no projects are stored within it.

To this point I don't think that I have ever used the "consolidate" media since I want the media to stay within the "media" library and not within the library that contains the project. I need to be able to access the media from a central place since one piece of media may be in different projects.

I wish there was a way to not only accurately find the media from a project within the project media but also see what library it is pointing at. Maybe there is a way through the filesystem but I'm not that familiar with the library structure yet.

Thanks for the detail Rich. I figured the project was mostly pointers.

My library with the projects is almost 20gb and did not shrink when I moved the media/events to a new library on the external disk.

As I add more media I see the external library grow in size but the local library doesn’t shrink at all. I think it’s possible that the media may be in the local library but the projects reference the external. I only have the default event in the local library but when I click on the Events heading it shows images. The specific event within the library doesn’t show any media.

Is there a way to confirm that the project is pointing to media in a specific library?

Also, any tips on how to manage the dates of media? It seems to not read from the exif data and uses the modified date. That can make the order of media quite difficult to line up.

I thought that’s how it would work but when I started dragging the media into the project my library started growing based on the media I had put in the project. Maybe I did that wrong but it sure looked like it imported the items into the library when I only wanted them on the file system.

My issue is now that I have 10 projects started I would have to entirely redo them once I figure out how to make sure they point back to the finder folder.

I think that’s where I’m confused. You mentioned “Put your source media into a Finder folder and access everything from there” but also that it duplicates into the library.

My files are organized in a Finder folder already and it appears to have added them to my original library (taking up the additional storage in the library file). Now that the projects are not in that library the media is still there and I want them to use the media in a different library/finder folder.

It appears that some of of my projects may be pointing at a different library and there is no way to confirm where an item is from within the project.

Overall I’m making about 15-20 videos using the same media and I’m trying to reduce the duplicate storage as much as possible.

Ok, I think I'm finally getting it clear for me. I've used other video editing on PCs before and this is my first time on a Mac/iMovie so it definitely works differently. Everything I've used before simply links to the media on the filesystem and doesn't store a duplicate copy within the app/project/library.

Sounds like I should just move all my projects into the library where the media is stored (broken down by events) and then each of those projects can access the same media from within the same library. Just need to make sure that library is on an adequately sized volume for all of the projects. I think where I was getting confused is the Finder folders vs Library media vs Project Media (sounded like it stored with the project, not just a list of what is in the project).

When consolidating a project, if the media is in a separate library but also in the one where the project is, will it create additional copies of the media in the current library? Trying to figure out if it will be smart enough to know that it has the same media already within the library where the project is currently.

Thank you for your help in clearing this up for me.

Do you know how Library events are handled when consolidating? Does it put them all into a single event or does it recognize the other events that may have the media in the library?

I think I'm going to need to move all the projects to one library and then do a consolidate. I just wish the dates were reflective of the EXIF data so I could separate them out easier than looking at the filenames.

Are there any good plugins or external tools that could look into an iMovie library to help clean them up?