how to get original clips out of imovie

Question

Level 1

8 points

how to get original clips out of imovie

I'm using Version 10.1.6 of iMovie.

Background: I'm on my third Mac in the last 12 years, and we've gone through a number of cameras, videocameras, and smartphones in that time as well, and so my iMovie library is a tangled mess of wrong dates. I finally have the time to deal with this and I have a strong suspicion that all the updates/migrations/different formats are what have caused the mess.

My movies are also taking up an enormous amount of space on my hard drive.

I no longer want to store video clips in Photos and iMovie, and I want my original clips in ONE single place on my HD, organized by year. I wanted to sort my original raw videos manually using Finder. I have made a set of folders for each of the years I have video clips for.

(Going forward, I want to use iMovie or another editing software for editing only, for one year at a time. Not storage.)

To my question: Up until now I imported my videos from my camera using iMovie. How can I best get my original raw clips back OUT of iMovie? Can I just go via Finder into the iMovie events and Original Media folders and drag-and-drop the original clips into my new file system? Or will I mess up my clips somehow?

I also see that my events folder is at around 193 GB while my iMovie Library is at 168 GB. These are two separate items in my Movies folder. Ultimately I do not really understand how my videos are being stored and I know that is the root of this, so I'd be so grateful if someone can help me understand this.

iMac with Retina 5K display, macOS Sierra (10.12.5)

Posted on Jun 22, 2017 1:50 AM

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Answer 1

Jun 24, 2017 11:45 AM in response to LauPat

The point I was making regarding iMovie events folder is that the media in that folder should already be in your iMovie library bundle because when you upgraded to iMovie 10 and updated your projects it was copied. The simplest way to get your originals out of iMovie library is to open the library bundle by right clicking on the library and selecting show package contents. Find the original media folder within each project folder open it and you will see the individual clips/photos used in that project. Option click on a file and drag to the desktop and it will copy the file. You can then place it where ever you want in your file structure. Hope that answers your question.

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Answer 2

Jun 24, 2017 11:45 AM in response to LauPat

The iMovie Events folder contains the media from an older version of iMovie. When you upgraded to iMovie 10 that media was moved into your iMovie library structure so it should already exist in your library. If you open the iMovie Events folder you should see a file titled UpdatedToiMovie10. As far as getting media out of the library is concerned it is not advisable to mess with the iMovie library bundle. The safest way is to select a clip in the browser and do to the file menu and choose reveal in finder (command shift R) In the window that opens select the clip and copy. Then go to the desktop and paste item. It is also possible to duplicate and drag to the desktop but is riskier. Hope this gets you started.

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Answer 3

LauPat Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 23, 2017 5:56 AM in response to Jim Wanamaker

Hello Jim, Thanks for your answer. My library is so messed up from years of neglect that I really just want to start fresh. So I'm not worried about my library being intact. I was unsuccessful at changing dates on a number of them and it's all a tangled mess. My question is basically if I can copy or move those clips into my own manually organized file folders, or if they've somehow been formatted specifically for iMovie and I've locked myself in by importing that way. Since the clips have sentimental value, I am loath to make any mistakes!

I plan on using Image Capture in the future, and manually sorting my clips, only importing them to iMovie or another program when it's time to edit. I'm hopeful this will be a cleaner way of doing this.

I know I don't understand much about this, but I've never had a ton of time to spend on getting into the guts of my software!

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Answer 4

Jun 23, 2017 8:24 PM in response to Rich839

Hi Rich

I hadn't really thought about it, but I believe if you select the Library in the side bar and then the my media tab at the top you see all the media in the Library whether it is used in a project or not. You can then select a clip/photo and in file menu do a reveal in finder. From there you can do an option click and drag to the desktop. Having said that I have found one clip in an event by looking at the Library via finder that does not appear in iMovie. Can't explain that.

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Answer 5

Rich839

Level 8

48,156 points

Jun 23, 2017 9:02 PM in response to Jim Wanamaker

Hi, Jim,

I think you are probably right. It is a bit time consuming to test for and therefore I haven't looked into it. I never import directly into iMovie and so it hasn't been an issue. I was just curious because lots of people who post here import directly into iMovie. I see little benefit to doing that, and more downside as the original poster in this thread describes.

Cheers,

Rich

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