Import iMovie Mobile Projects

This is by far the most serious problem with iMovie 10. Apple has removed support for import of iMovie mobile projects which was the key to my workflow. I have discussed this with a senior tech at Apple and they have referred the matter to Apple software engineering, but of course they could not tell me if this function is slated to be included in a future update of iMovie 10.

I have reverted back to iMovie 9 on the Mac and iMovie 1.42 for iOS. Unfortunately you cannot use the new iOS version of iMovie (ver 2.0) because a imoviemobile project exported by the new iMovie for iOS will NOT import into the old Mac version of iMovie.

Furthermore, you cannot downgrade to an older version of an iOS application using the App Store. Your only hope is to find a copy of iMovie.app in a backup of your iTunes media folder from before the update. Delete the new iMovie for iOS from both iTunes and your iPhone or iPad. On your I-device, turn off automatic app updates (and do the same on your Mac).

Now find the old iMovie for iOS file on your backup drive (hopefully you have this on your time machine) and just double-click the file name. This will add the app to iTunes on your Mac. Now connect your iPhone or iPad and sync this app to your I-device. Now you should be back in business.

Good luck.

Are you serious? There is no way to Import a project made on the new iPad AIR into your Mac?

That's correct, but the problem is not with the Air nor with the new iOS version of iMovie. The problem is the new version of iMovie on the Mac which cannot import an imoviemobile file. Please complain to apple about this and maybe they'll fix it.

iMovie for iOS Projects no longer work on the Mac (for now)

http://www.macworld.com/article/2057972/imovie-for-ios-projects-no-longer-work-o n-the-mac.html

Hey Dolphinesian,

I just got off the phone to Apple support and they had no idea. Their solution was to revert back to iMovie 9.x. Unfortunately then i cannot use iOS' iMovie 2.0's file format *.iMovieMobile (which has my edited video).

A reason why this is annoying so many of us could be because Apple has gone into a let's-rebuild-our-apps-from-scratch phase (read let's use the code base that we have for iOS and modify it for Mac OS X). As a developer I understand the motivation behind this move (the old version of iMovie must have been a nightmare to maintian). However Apple is a huge company and cutting back on features to re-add them in later versions (à la Pages / Final Cut Pro X, etc...) is REALLY FRUSTRATING to customers.

Futhermore, from my impressions of the last WWDC, Apple works in tiny teams and really seems to work under-resourced (obviously this is an outsider's point of view). So they tend to be aware of these issues but have a priority based checklist they have to follow to maintain these tight deadlines.

The best thing we can do as disappointed customers is to flag these issues here, by calling support, by filing radar bugs and/or by simply pressing the point. SO APPLE PLEASE ALLOW US TO IMPORT IMOVIE PROJECTS FROM iOS (and iMovie projects created by another iMovie 10 library).

Sincerely,

A saddened iMovie customer.

Wish I would have read this thread before buying iMovie for IOS 2.0 a couple weeks ago. I was planning to shoot wrestling video footage directly into the timeline and export it to my Mac Book through iTunes for final editing and DVD burning. I just realized this won't work when I got the message in iMovie 11, "iMovie can only import mobile videos prior to v1.4.2."

Thanks for the warning, Apple. A little heads up prior to purchase would have been nice.

My work around is to record the videos with the Movie Pro App and import directly into iMovie 11 on my laptop. I wasn't aware of the fact (I just found this out by accident) that when I have iMovie open on my laptop with my phone plugged in, it appears as a camera and allows me to import the footage off my phone directly into a new iMovie Event. I thought I was going to have to import these into iPhoto and go from the iPhoto Library into iMovie...then try to remember to delete the videos from my iPhoto library, etc. Thank God I don't have to do that.

It makes iMovie on my phone useless, as I can't make the movie in the field, but it gets the video where I eventually need it.....in my laptop where my DVD burner is.

Apple, you owe me $5 for your "worthless to me" mobile app.

Ouch. It's like one of those old Microsoft moments.

My wife shoots video on her iPad, edits the clips and puts them in the order she wants, for me then to transfer to the Mac via iTunes, to apply cropping, pan and zoom, add backing tracks and voice overs etc. With the last project, which is visible and selectable in iMovie 9.x but which said program can't play, I'm going to have to deprive her of her iPad while I re-import all the clips and try and emulate the wasted work she already did.

This is really frustrating to run up against unexpectedly. Apple need to reinvent the relationship between development and support. Apple could have at least kept the downgrade as an option they offered, rather than one that users have to hack.

Panpsn wrote:

Apple could have at least kept the downgrade as an option they offered, rather than one that users have to hack.

iMovie version 9 should have been left behind in your Applications folder when you upgraded.

Matt

This really *****, I def figured it be easier than this. I did come up with a simple idea which might help me and others for now. I'm just going to do as much as I can from my iphone imovie app and then export it as a movie, then import the movie into imovie on my Mac and finish up editing the vid on my Mac. Its going to be a pain but I think its doable for now. Thoughts?

You can do that, Joey, but the problem is that when you export your iOS project to a movie you are rendering all the transitions, cuts, etc. that you make in iMovie for iOS, and then if you need to do more work with the movie on your Mac, you have to ultimately render it again. Each time you render a movie, you degrade the final quality since the mp4 compression codec used by iMovie is a "lossy" codec.

This is why we NEED the original functionality restored to the new versions of iMovie for iOS and iMovie for Mac. The old method allowed us to export and import the PROJECT with the original untouched video files, finish our editing, and render the project ONCE. Please Apple, restore this functionality to iMovie.

As I have previously suggested, there is nothing in the new versions of iMovie on either platform that comes close to being as valuable as the ability in the old versions to export from iOS and import the projects into iMovie for Mac. This is why I have downgraded my workflow and still use the old versions of both apps. If Apple ever restores this function, then I will happily start using their new versions of both programs.

Yes, I've got iMovie 09, but because we regularly upgrade the iPad software, clips shot on it will not import to version 09 iMovie on the Mac. So I've got to use iMovie 10.

The Microsoft moment workaround is to plug the iPad in to the Mac, import all the original clips and photos that were used in the project, ad reassemble them in a new project in the same order as in the project my wife started in iMovie on the iPad.

That sounds like a massive duplication of effort to me. I would suggest you downgrade the iOS version of iMovie (see if you have the old version in a time machine backup) and follow my instructions above on how to re-install the old version to your iPad.

Yes its a huge duplication of effort, thanks Apple!

I'm only just about tech savvy enough to follow your instructions. It'll probably take me an afternoon, and there's no way I can prise the iPad out of the hands of my better half for that length of time. Plus I've got other things to do, and now we know about the problem, we'll shoot on the iPad, and use it as a plug in camera to iMovie on the Mac. Just robs us of the flexibility of two of us working on the project, now means I've got to do it all.

Check out this article:

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH3240

I cant believe this, was in the same way working a lot on the ipad and planing to finish on the Mac and BAM!!

Backwards!!

Apple please take care of customers informing not to upgrade if so important features are to be taken away,

we trust and then....

i dont even know if they take care of this posts, woukd be nice to hear something

Sorry I am disapointed

Hope the feature comes back and we can continue just working 😐