When importing, does iMovie make a reference or copy?

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When importing, does iMovie make a reference or copy?

I've shot 4k 60fps videos with my iPhone, which amounts to 100GB of files. I've transferred these to my Mac. I want to use iMovie on my Mac to edit the videos.

When importing a video into iMovie, does iMovie make a reference link to the video or a copy of the video? (If it makes a copy, it will use up an additional 100GB of disk space, which seems like a huge usage of space.)

Mac Pro, macOS High Sierra (10.13.6), 15-inch, 2017, 3.1 GHz Intel Core i

Posted on Aug 12, 2018 4:23 PM

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Answer 1

Aug 13, 2018 5:24 AM in response to curt0

iMovie does not use reference links. When you import into iMovie it stores a copy of the video in the iMovie library original media folder. You would be best served by storing your iMovie Libraries on a large usb3 EHD.

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Answer 2

Aug 14, 2018 2:53 PM in response to curt0

The project media shows the media used in your iMovie project. It is a subset of all the media in the library events. When you import clips you can import into the project media or into an event in the library. In either case iMovie will create a copy and store it in the Library.

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Answer 3

Aug 13, 2018 5:24 AM in response to curt0

iMovie stores the media in the Library. So create your library on the EHD for new libraries. For existing libraries in your Movies Folder you can drag the libraries using finder to the EHD. Check that the copied libraries open ok, then you can delete the ones in the Movie Folder. Just a note that Final Cut Pro X does have an option for referenced libraries plus much more sophisticated editing capabilities so in the future you might want to look at it as your skills expand. There is a trial version available for 30 days.

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Answer 4

curt0 Author

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23 points

Aug 12, 2018 6:26 PM in response to Jim Wanamaker

Thanks for the reply.

Isn't this a bad design?

I take 100 GB of videos on my iPhone. I transfer these to my Mac to edit, which uses up 100 GB of storage on my Mac. Now, I need to buy an external drive to store copies of the videos for the iMovie library media folder. Wow.

When taking 4k 60fps videos on the iPhone on one vacation, I used up 100 GB. This means that I need to buy another external drive every couple of years.

How do I tell iMovie to store the media on an external drive?

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Answer 5

curt0 Author

Level 1

23 points

Aug 14, 2018 5:19 AM in response to Jim Wanamaker

In the left column of the iMovie app, there is "PROJECT MEDIA" and "iMovie Library". I see that you can import the video into either "PROJECT MEDIA" or one of the events under "iMovie Library". Am I correct to assume that importing into either makes a copy of the video and enlarges the iMovie Library folder on the (internal or external) disk?

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When importing, does iMovie make a reference or copy?

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