Rescuing old iMovie files without file extensions

John Dasher wrote: "The document “Clip 03 01” could not be opened. The file isn’t compatible with QuickTime Player."

That's the clue!

I looked into this tonight with some of my old (circa 2005) iMovie projects. The early versions of iMovie did not store clips, transitions, etc., the way modern versions of iMovie do.

A file like "Clip 03 01" without a file extension is an old raw DVStream clip. It would be the raw DV footage copied from a DV tape camcorder by an early version of iMovie or such a clip modified in iMovie. If you do GetInfo you will find that the "Kind" = DV Movie but there is no information about the codec. A QuickTime .mov or .mp4 file is a container format that contains video and/or audio as well as identifying information about the associated codecs.

If you add the file extension ".dv" to the file you should be able to open & play it in QuickTime Player and you should be able to import it into a modern version of iMovie. It may be a single clip or it may be a movie file based on one or more clips from iMovie but it will not be an iMovie Project that you could continue to edit.

I just did this with a few similar files of my own (Clip 01, Clip 02, Cross Dissolve 08, etc) - all having no file extension and are Kind = DV Movie. They do not open or play as is. But when I add the ".dv" file extension to them they open & play just fine.

With files that old, I wouldn’t add extensions or modify the originals yet. Make a copy first.

The missing extension by itself doesn’t necessarily mean the files are damaged. Older Mac files could rely on file metadata instead of a filename extension.

I’d first select one in Finder and choose File > Get Info. Check what it shows for Kind, Open with, and the file size. If Finder identifies it as an iMovie project, try opening a copy with iMovie.

Apple still provides an Update Projects and Events command for projects created in older versions of iMovie, but that migration path is for older supported iMovie project formats and may not reach all the way back to iMovie 1 or 2.

If you can post what Get Info > Kind says for one of those files, plus whether each item is a single file or appears as a folder/package, that would help narrow down what you actually have.

John Dasher wrote:

I have a number of old iMovie (maybe version 1 or 2??) files that I want to rescue. They are from 2002 and 2003. They do not have file extensions. Ideas on how to do this?

Actually, they are not missing their file extensions. They're just hidden. Select one of the iMovie libraries, then do GetInfo (CMD-I or File > GetInfo). In the GetInfo pane there is a checkbox called "Hide extension" that is normally enabled. If you disable Hide extension, the file extensions will appear in the Finder.

Do a test - copy of one of your own files, add the ".dv" file extension to the copy and see if it opens & plays.

Try opening them with Handbrake. In my experience if a file can be processed somehow then Handbrake will be able to do it. It doesn't need a file extension to understand the format.

Hi, John Dasher,

Take a look at the thread in this link, and see if anything in there helps you:

How do I convert old iMovie projects to t… - Apple Community

-- Rich

If you double click on these files do they play in Quick Time Player?

John Dasher wrote:

My goal however, is to be able to re-construct the iMovie file (making it openable in iMovie), otherwise I have no way of knowing what order all of the clips are supposed to go in.

To reconstruct the original iMovie project you will need either the original .iMovieProj file or the finished movie.

If you have the original .iMovieProj file you could open the file in TextEdit and you should be able to visually parse the sequence of clips.

Here's an example of two clips in sequence in an .iMovieProj file. The clip files are Clip 05 and Clip 06.

Clip: DV Morris 5

File: Clip:05

Frames: 5314 In:62 Out:5376 Thumb:1

Timestamp: 108909128.000000

RecordDate: -1128633198

Clip: DV Morris 6

File: Clip:06

Frames: 6329 In:0 Out:6329 Thumb:1

Timestamp: 108909280.000000

RecordDate: -1128632981

Where there are transitions there will be a transition clip that will reference the neighboring clip(s) associated with the transition. The transition clip is a real clip created by iMovie, stored in the Media folder along with all the other clips. Here's an example of a Fade-In to Clip 05. The Fade-In clip itself is a file named Fade In 03: