IMovie Missing Projects & Media Using External Drive

Question

Level 1

4 points

IMovie Missing Projects & Media Using External Drive

Prelude:

I purchased a new MacBook Pro. My old one was still good but was aging and had a very dangerous swollen battery. I had the iMovie projects and media put on an external drive based on recommendations. (My previous MacBook Pro had 1 TB and all IMovie stuff on it.) At first, everything was there, and I had no issues. Then one day, iMovie started acting strangely. I could not share my projects as MP4 (which I normally do). Then, when I inserted the external drive and clicked on things, several of my projects and about half of media seemed to disappear. I was frustrated. More projects actually seemed to disappear as time went on.

To clarify, it showed they were still on the external drive but were not popping pop in the iMovie program. I did delete iMovie and re-installed it - twice as a matter of fact. Apple Support had me click on some things, but this did not help.

Temporary Solution?

This went on for about three frustrating weeks. One day, I was considering trying to transfer all of my media and projects from external drive back on to my Mac Pro as a desperation attempt. I actually went to Best Buy for assistance with the Geek Squad. Here's the kicker! Just after I inserted my external drive (with the girl ready to assist me), ALL of my projects and media miraculously showed up in the IMovie program. Although I felt stupid at that moment, I was just delighted, but had no idea why it or how it happened. The girl mentioned something about "background". This I had no clue about? I just knew those things were always there on the external drive. I did manage to make several important presentations and share then as MP4.

Reoccurring Issue!

Just recently (two months later), I was unable to share a simple project to MP4. I had a bad omen. Now, same issues as before. About half of my media and many projects don't appear on IMovie when using my external drive.

Does anybody have any idea what may be happening - many of my media and projects seem to be missing but show they are on the external drive? Could the SanDisk external drive bad? Best Buy says it's NOT the disk.

Is it an IMovie issue perhaps? Do I need to do things in my Preferences?

I just feel screaming "Give me my old MacBook back with my TB - swollen battery and all!" Yes, I've always backed it up on another external drive. This current external drive, despite recommendations by many Mac Book Pro users and YouTube videos, is not practical for me when using IMovie!

Should I transfer the external drive back on the MacBook Pro? I do have enough memory. I could always add more to avoid the hassles and unreliability of the external drive.

Although I'm retired, I do make many presentations about African wildlife to supplement my pension income + it's fun doing this. I depend on my IMovie. Can't have these issues! I really don't need Final Cut Pro.

Any assistance please? Thank you, so much Mac Book Pro and IMovie folks!

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 12.7

Posted on Apr 14, 2024 5:26 AM

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Answer 1

Rich839

Level 8

47,250 points

Apr 18, 2024 5:56 PM in response to SafariKev

Hi,

First thing is to confirm that your external drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled) or APFS. To store an iMovie library the external drive must be set in either one of those formats, or data can be lost. Neither of the Windows formats, FAT32 or exFAT are suitable. If you need to reformat, be aware that reformatting erases all data on the drive, so first backup on a separate drive any data that you want to keep.

As a test, you can select the library's icon on the external drive and then Edit/Copy, Edit/Paste, it onto your Mac's internal drive. See if it works fine there. If it does, then the problem likely is with your external drive. Either the format is wrong, or perhaps it is failing.

However, before doing any reformatting, or copying of the iMovie app, try deleting/resetting preferences. To delete/reset 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 empty library. Reopen your old library to get back to your projects. Now see if the library works correctly. Possibly you may need to reboot to set the changes. Deleting preferences is a safe procedure that will not cause data loss or disruption to your project.

-- Rich

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Answer 2

SafariKev Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 19, 2024 8:16 AM in response to Rich839

Thank you so much, Rich, for your willingness to assist me and for the information! ALL of my media and projects showed up AGAIN a few days ago when I took my MacBook Pro and external drive to Best Buy. This happened the last time I went there, so desperation made me try it again - and it worked! I was superstitious!

However, while I was there, a very proficient Geek Squad guy detected something.

This person assisting me "thinks" the issue was this. Evidently, I downloaded some WD program a while back from another WD external drive? (a backup one) This was interfering with my SanDisk external drive which has my iMovie only files. He did notice when I plugged in any SanDisk drive and clicked on it, the WD icon appeared and started bouncing up and down like the program wanted to come up. I also recall this happened many times previously when my projects and media were not showing up. This guy uninstalled the WD program and trashed some things related to this. Lately, everything from iMovie is there, so I've been quickly making revisions to some of my presentations and even making new ones. I can share these as MP4 files now without issue. In fact, the whole IMovie files now download much much faster too. Perhaps there was some interference?

I'll keep my fingers crossed that this was the issue. If not, then it must be some paranormal issue with Best Buy? LOL

The Best Buy guy says the external drive is properly formatted. (They were the ones that did it during the transferring of information.) Thank you again, Rich, for your efforts!

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Answer 3

Rich839

Level 8

47,250 points

Apr 19, 2024 10:59 AM in response to SafariKev

Hooray! Hats in the air. Glad you got it working.

-- Rich

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IMovie Missing Projects & Media Using External Drive

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