After importing media into iMovie for use in the timeline to create a movie within a library, is there any need to keep the source file of that media? That is, does iMovie ever need to access that source file?
MacBook Pro (M2, 2022)
iMovie refers to (accesses) a duplicate of the source media that is stored in the Original Media folder (a Finder folder) in the iMovie library. Deleting the source duplicate file from the iMovie library will remove it from all projects that may be referring to that media, thus essentially disabling those projects. Original source media stored elsewhere than in the iMovie library can be deleted as long as a duplicate of it is in the Original Media folder of the iMovie library. A duplicate is created whenever media is imported into iMovie.
— Rich
iMovie refers to (accesses) a duplicate of the source media that is stored in the Original Media folder (a Finder folder) in the iMovie library. Deleting the source duplicate file from the iMovie library will remove it from all projects that may be referring to that media, thus essentially disabling those projects. Original source media stored elsewhere than in the iMovie library can be deleted as long as a duplicate of it is in the Original Media folder of the iMovie library. A duplicate is created whenever media is imported into iMovie.
— Rich
Any Need for Keeping the Source Media File in iMovie?
