Running iMovie HD 06 with El Capitan

Joe Gramm wrote:

I read that article a little while ago. I'm not launching the script unless someone in the forum, a lot smarter than me, say's it's okay to do so.

The script is indeed harmless. It contains just two lines:

(sleep 3; osascript -e 'tell application "iMovie HD" to activate') &

/Applications/iMovie\ HD.app/Contents/MacOS/iMovie\ HD

The second line starts the iMovie HD application binary. The first line waits 3 seconds in the background, then switches iMovie HD to the foreground; otherwise it would open behind any other running apps. I presume the 3 seconds is there to make sure iMovie HD has fully launched.

So the script works, but I have figured out a way to modify/patch iMovie HD to run directly. This may or may not be the same as the patch mentioned above, but it works for me. The steps are:

1. Right-click iMovie HD and select Show Package Contents
2. Double-click the Contents folder
3. Right-click Info.plist, go to Open With, then Other...
4. Select TextEdit
5. Once the plist file is open in TextEdit, search for CFBundleVersion
6. You will see 2 lines (amongst a bunch of others):

<key>CFBundleVersion</key>

<string>6.0.4</string>

1. Change 6.0.4 to any other (higher) number. I changed it to 6.0.5 and it worked fine. You might change it to something higher than that in case Apple decides to disallow other 6.x.x numbers in the future. 10 (the current iMovie major version number, no .x.x needed) also worked just fine.
2. Save the plist file in TextEdit

I hope this helps!

Opened iMovie HD 6 via Show Package Contents and Terminal and all seems to well. Imported a few clips and a few transitions and everything works.

As with iWeb, Media/Photos only works with iPhoto.

Pleasantly Surprised!!

Right click on iMovie 6 HD App/Show Package Contents/Contents/MacOS/iMovie HD

When you click on iMovie HD the Terminal opens. Without the Terminal open, iMovie does not run.

That's how I do it. Is there another way.

I read that article a little while ago. I'm not launching the script unless someone in the forum, a lot smarter than me, say's it's okay to do so.

Currently I have the iMovie 6 HD alias in my Finder favorites and it opens pretty quickly. Only drawback is the Terminal window needing to open.

Do you think this script was the fix you read about when Yosemite came out.

It's a pity that no one has the talent to re-write iMovie HD, keep the look and give it a new life. I'd pay £100 for the software and I'm sure that millions would also follow suit. I cannot get my head around the current iMovies no matter how hard I try and I've tried all of the alternatives. Not having HD is the only thing keeping me from upgrading past 10.8.5. myMovie HD

https://youtu.be/qYdRehy-6ck Thanks to Mike Heasley's instructions we make a ready-made info.plist file called 6.5.1 that does the job without the annoying terminal window. Runs great for us. Let me know what you think. https://youtu.be/qYdRehy-6ck

I know that you can have two separate partitions and that is what I've been doing for a long time. With this little ready made .plist file it works great now without the terminal popping up so now I don't have to switch from 10.8.5 to 10.10 any more.

I installed the new plist file and it does seem to work as shown in the link to the video. Haven't had a chance to test it completely, but so far I LIKE what I see.

So glad there are smart people hanging out on the boards!!

I installed El Capitan yesterday and was dismayed to find that iMovie HD wouldn't work (my previous OSX was Lion 10.7.5).

But then I found this discussion link and followed Mike Heasley's (or was it Joe Gramm's?) Oct. 24, 2015 suggestion to modify the Info.plist. His instructions (in this discussion stream) are very simple and don't involve mucking around with Terminal mode. It involves a very simple text-edit, changing the old version number (6.0.4) to something higher. I found four instances of 6.0.4 in the Info.plist. Changing just one didn't work, so I changed all four to 6.0.5 and it worked!! At least it seems to work ok. Haven't encountered any issues yet. Don't have to run Terminal.

Like someone else in this forum said, I have never got my head around the newer version of iMovie. I much prefer the old HD version ....it works the way I think. Also simpler, more intuitive. Yes, the new version has some neat features but I've already pulled too much hair out of my head trying to figure out how to achieve what I want, even simple things. iMovie HD should indeed be kept running in all future versions of OSX. Like the original Mac by-line, it's computing "for the rest of us".

Thank-you Joe or Mike!

Hi Joe,

Can you tell me how to put iMovie HD on my external drive and how would I use it from there? This is what's keeping me from upgrading to a new ios. I'm stuck with 10.6.8 and I think it may be time to move up, but there are certain features on HD that I can't live without. I use the new iMovie just fine and hardly ever go back to HD, but sometimes there is something I really need from there.

I like to edit songs for myself and if they are copyright locked, then I can use iMovie HD to extract them from iphoto slideshows and viola! Stick them into garage band and make them shorter or longer or bleep a word so I can use them in slideshows for school events.

If you know a better way to do that, then I could move on without HD ... but as it is, I do use it for that feature and would like to have occasional access to it.

Same problem exists with El Capitan, and same workaround works.