Moving Projects from One Computer to Another

Question

twijit96 Author

Level 1

8 points

Moving Projects from One Computer to Another

Is there a good way to do this?

To be clear I mean the project, not a completed video

iMac 24', Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Oct 25, 2010 8:50 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

AppleMan1958

Level 7

27,492 points

Oct 25, 2010 9:05 PM in response to twijit96

To edit a project on another computer, you will need both the Project file and any event files that it references.

You will need an external drive formatted Mac OS Extended (journaled) - not FAT32.
Firewire and USB will both work fine for this.

In iMovie, click VIEW/Group Events By Disk.

Now you should see your external drive at the bottom of the Project Library List view. Hold down the Command Key while dragging the small icon for your project to the small icon for the external drive.
Now, with the Project still selected, click FILE/CONSOLIDATE Media... and you can move over the Events, Music, and Photos for the project to the external drive as well.

Plug this drive in to the other Mac and you are ready to edit.

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Answer 2

twijit96 Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 26, 2010 7:31 AM in response to AppleMan1958

Awesome! Thanks a lot.

One more question. Can I actually move that project and it's associated files into the other mac? Would I do all that in reverse?

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Answer 3

Oct 26, 2010 10:37 AM in response to twijit96

Yes

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Answer 4

kwolson

Level 1

23 points

Oct 28, 2010 8:19 PM in response to twijit96

Along the same line...

I want to move iMovie 9 video clips/events, etc. from my old G5 onto a newer Intel Mini so I can try iMovie 11. What is the best way to do this?

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Answer 5

Oct 28, 2010 8:30 PM in response to kwolson

The way I described above should work for you.

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Answer 6

kwolson

Level 1

23 points

Oct 29, 2010 10:18 AM in response to AppleMan1958

Thanks, AppleMan. Although I haven't dug into the file structure of iMovie, can I assume that individual video clips are not kept as separate files that could just be dragged somewhere else? From your description above, it looks like all of the associated files are contained in a container or package of some sort.

K

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Answer 7

Oct 29, 2010 11:10 AM in response to kwolson

You can drag individual files if editing further in iMovie is not important to you.

In iMovie, all video clips are kept in Event files. A Project file is really a text file (in hexadecimal) that contains paths to the clips in the event files, in and out points, text for titles, paths and in and out points for music, directions for transitions, directions for color corrections, rotation, ken burns, etc. etc. The Project file is a container that can contain other things besides this text file. One example is rendered movies for the media browser.

So if you change where things are kept without doing it in iMovie, a Project is pointing to a location that no longer is valid, and the project cannot be edited.

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Answer 8

Kaboodle

Level 1

44 points

Dec 25, 2010 4:18 PM in response to AppleMan1958

Hi Appleman & all.

I'm trying to do this but it's not working. The drive is a Firewire connected Mac OS Extended (Journaled) drive and appears in the Event Folder.

But when I try to drag a project to the drive there's no response. The drive name remains greyed in the event library. This applies whether it's a simple drag of Command/Drag.

This is in iMovie11 btw.

Any ideas?

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Answer 9

Kaboodle

Level 1

44 points

Dec 25, 2010 4:23 PM in response to Kaboodle

I may have found something. I found the drive names are also appearing in the Project Library window. I dragged it to the drive name in that window and it worked!

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