After iMovie Is Embedded In A PowerPoint - Can I Delete It?

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Level 1

9 points

After iMovie Is Embedded In A PowerPoint - Can I Delete It?

This is basically a "storage" issue involving my use of iMovie in conjunction with PowerPoint for Mac. I am looking for a way to get back storage space and NOT have to buy three or four more external drives.

Background: I am using iMovie 11 (version 9.09) - I still like it better than the upgrade. I do most of my editing on my iMac (about two years old.) I use the PowerPoint program in Microsoft Office for Mac. The actual program is: Microsoft PowerPoint for Mac-2011 (Version 14.4.9)

Here is what I do with the programs, to give you the back story: I have been editing video footage imported into iMovie from the web -- first importing it as an Event, then finishing a Project and sharing the finished Project to the Media Browser. Then, when I am in PowerPoint, I can easily insert that finished clip into PowerPoint by simply using the Media Browser. The movie then plays really well in my PowerPoint presentations, which I use over and over again at various locations. (I simply duplicate the PowerPoint presentations and the videos stay perfectly intact.)

My question: Once the project has been inserted into the PowerPoint presentation, can I then remove it entirely from iMovie -- deleting both the Event and Project for that finished clip? The fact is, once the movie is in the presentation, I have no further use for it. I will not be doing any new editing, etc ... .

NOTE: I experimented by doing just that (deleted one Event and its Project) and I now have no problem using that same finished video clip in the PowerPoint presentation by simply cutting and pasting it into a new presentation. I did, however, notice that if I wanted to insert the same clip by using the Media Browser ... it is, in fact, gone ... since I deleted it. But I don't really care about that as long as I am able to use the "already inserted movie" over and over again. Is there any reason why the deletion of the event/project from iMovie would prevent me from re-using the clip this way?

This will allow me to delete so much unnecessary event footage which, to be frank, I use only temporarily to create the PowerPoint clips.

Thanks for any advice you can give me on this front.

iMovie '11, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5), P-Point for Mac-2011-Version 14.4.9

Posted on Sep 3, 2015 7:33 AM

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Answer 1

GeeD

Level 6

9,179 points

Sep 3, 2015 12:54 PM in response to HarryJG

Once you have exported (shared) a movie you can delete the project and events from iMovie if you don't want to do any more editing. The movie now just exists as a file completely independent from iMovie. In PowerPoint you have the option either to embed a movie in a slide or to create a link to the file. In the first case PowerPoint will make a copy of the movie file within the Powerpoint file and you can delete the original. In the second case your need to keep the original. You can of course re-use the movie - in this case the link option will be simpler - I'm not sure how possible/easy it is to extract a movie that has already been embedded in PowerPoint.

You should of course have a backup of everything in any case.

Geoff.

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Answer 2

HarryJG Author

Level 1

9 points

Sep 3, 2015 1:10 PM in response to GeeD

Thank you, Geoff,

I wanted to make sure. I didn't realize there was another option in terms of how to bring a movie/video clip into PowerPoint. I just did a search and read up on it. It sounds like the better way to go is to "embed" vs. "link" ... mostly because my goal is to do away with the original event and project files (thus gaining a lot of hard disc space). Just so you know - I'm doing this only with a certain type of video clip I'm creating (one that is disposable, for the most part. On the other hand, when I have an interview with someone, for e.g. - something I can not re-create, ever ... I will save the event/project on an external drive, that's for sure.

But you have confirmed what seemed to me to be the case: When PowerPoint prompts me to insert a movie - I choose "Browser" (not File) and the window comes up showing all of my finished iMovie Projects. I then simply drag that movie clip into the PowerPoint window and ... it's done. Now you are saying that once that Project is dragged into the PowerPoint presentation ... it is "embedded" in the presentation, and that is that. That final movie clip is in the presentation. I can now move that embedded clip from one presentation to another simply by cutting and pasting it. Does that procedure sound right to you? (NOTE: I tested this earlier today by removing a clips event and project ... then going back to the PowerPoint presentation and moving the finished clip to another/new PowerPoint presentation. It was totally doable, and worked fine. I'm about to do away with a bunch of events and projects, so I wanted to make sure.

Last: Your comment about "extracting" a movie already embedded in a presentation ... I don't think this can be done. At least not by right-clicking it or something that simple. Maybe if I were to look for the root file somewhere on the hard drive -- the files making up the final presentation -- it can be done. But I don't care about doing something like that anyway.

Again - thanks for your help!

Harry

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Answer 3

GeeD

Level 6

9,179 points

Sep 3, 2015 2:25 PM in response to HarryJG

"That final movie clip is in the presentation. I can now move that embedded clip from one presentation to another simply by cutting and pasting it. Does that procedure sound right to you? (NOTE: I tested this earlier today by removing a clips event and project ... then going back to the PowerPoint presentation and moving the finished clip to another/new PowerPoint presentation. It was totally doable, and worked fine. I'm about to do away with a bunch of events and projects, so I wanted to make sure."

I was not sure if embedded video would paste with the slide that contains it but you seem to have demonstrated that it does by test.

Geoff.

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