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Cannot import movies in iTunes 11

For some reason, I cannot import any movies in iTunes 11. I've read other threads where it says imported movies go to the "Home Movies" section but nothing shows up there. When I look in my iTunes music directory on my hard drive, there is a "Home Movies" sub directory and my imported movies have been copied there but they have not been incorporated into the iTunes library and do not show up anywhere. Help!!! I want to watch some movies on my Apple TV. Previous version of iTunes worked perfect, why is it screwing up now?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Dec 1, 2012 8:08 PM

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36 replies

Dec 3, 2012 2:50 PM in response to Michemouche

On your hard drive you have an iTunes "Music" folder. Inside that folder is your music as well as the sub folders "Movies" and "TV Shows". iTunes 11 has created a new folder called "Home Movies" where it copies any imported movies to. After messing around with it for a while and not really paying attention to what I was doing, my movies suddenly showed up. So maybe I did something or maybe it just needed to process the files into the library. Sorry I can't be much help beyond that but it is working for me now.

Dec 10, 2012 3:06 PM in response to GogoGadget69

I have the exact same problem. Exactly. You described it perfectly.


One bug I found which can cause this is extra "dots" in the file name. I had trouble importing a file named "show.S01.E02.mp4". If I rename the file "showS01E02.mp4" it imports fine.


Computers are weird. I know better than download software called 11.0. When will I learn to wait for 11.01? I guess I like punnishment.

Dec 24, 2012 3:26 AM in response to GogoGadget69

I had this problem too but I think I have found the source of the problem.


After I imported some movies I noticed the iCloud icon (next to the Library selection popup) was showing continous activity. This made me suspect the problem was something to do with iCloud syncing.


I went to iTunes Preferences -> Store and unchecked Sync Playback information across devices and my recently imported movies immediately showed up in the list.

Dec 26, 2012 11:17 PM in response to chriscurnow

I think I have this figured out now. After you import a movie or video to iTunes, go to the music library and select the "Recently Added" smart playlist. It will show your video there. Right click on it and click "Get Info". Go to the options tab and change media kind to "Movie" or "TV show" depending on what it is. You can also add show information, year, artwork etc from here. Your movie should show up in the proper location now. I think it's stupid that the only place that consistently shows your newly imported videos is in the music "Recently Added" playlist but there you go.

Dec 29, 2012 8:11 AM in response to GogoGadget69

I do not like having them seperate like this. I wish they kept movies as all movies vs seperating it out like this! If you change to list view in 11 as well you will all the movies regardless of the category they are assigned to. I like the overall look and feel of the new iTunes but do not like this option. IMO "Movies" should show all and if you want to drill out different "categories" that option is still there.


Anyways, thanks for the tip all...I had one movie imported like seven times until I was able to locate it LOL. I am surprised that I was never asked if I wanted to replace the existing file.

Jan 4, 2013 10:37 AM in response to GogoGadget69

Great idea about the "Recently Added" Smart PlayList, but my version of 11.0.1 iTunes doesn't have such a Smart PlayList.

I have waited the now-famous "15 Minutes," but nothing has shown up. No error message in iTunes to let you know what is happening is, in my opinion, a clear violation of the Apple GUI.

It discourages me mightily that Apple's standards are slipping so badly.

Jan 4, 2013 10:54 AM in response to Steve Taylor1

Thanks, Steve. I now have a "Recenty Added" SmartList. But the m4v file that I've asked iTunes to Add to Library doesn't show up in the new SmartList. When I search the iTunes Library, the requested m4v file is simply not there. When I drag the file into the iTunes Library open to Home Videos, the window is outlines in blue (just as normally when you add a file), a green plus sign appears next to the dragged icon, and then absolutely nothing happens.

I'm moving from discouraged to disgusted. Do you have any other ideas?

Tim

Cannot import movies in iTunes 11

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