I know this is a silly question to ask, but I saw this post
http://alex4d.com/notes/item/final-cut-pro-x-plugins-work-in-imovie-2013
and I am interested to try this out.
In this article, the write mentions that that loading the template into iMovie was easy, although unsupported. Does anyone here know the method that would have been used?
Thanks.
iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015), macOS Sierra (10.12), 8gig ram, amd R9 M390, core 1%
I wouldn't recommend it...
That said... I looked all over for instructions how to accomplish this and if Alex had instructions on his site, it looks like he's removed it. The level of features in more recent versions of Motion and FCPX far outreaches the current version of iMovie.
Facts:
There are no external locations for which templates are saved for iMovie as there are for FCPX (for which there are at least 2, not counting importing into Libraries.)
The only location I could find is:
iMovie (> Show Package Contents) > Contents > Plugins > MediaProviders > MotionEffect.fxp > Contents > Resources > Templates /
Inside there are folders for Effects, Generators, Titles and Transitions.
All of these contain themed projects*.
Most of them are "dated" (versioned**) at displayversion 5.0.5. One that I found is set to 5.1.9.1 (there's no such version released to the public - which goes from 5.1.2 to 5.2). This version (5.2) corresponds to Final Cut 10.2.0, so there is likely NO 3D Text support. You will also not be allowed to use any feature of Motion that was added from this time.
Version 5.0.5 (Motion and the XML) corresponds to FCPX 10.0.6.
Any template you would add to iMovie would need to be compatible with FCPX 10.0.6 or earlier! (Motion 5.0.5)
If you should have a template from this time (or successfully create and backdate a template) then you could try to install the *themed* template into the iMovie application (make a backup of your original in case anything goes wrong).
*A themed project is created from within Motion upon Saving. Or, you can edit the XML file which will require adding:
[Motion 5.0.
<template>
<flags>1</flags>
</template>
or
<template>
<theme>ThemeName</theme>
</template>
[spacing and indentation count! That's a 4 space indent.]
to the XML project file just before the <build></build> tag line (with a blank space between the </template> tag and the build line).
Themes are an extra level of "category" in the installation process:
.../Templates/Effects/Category/Theme/Project
** Backdating a project can be done by also simple edits to the Project XML file (all the Motion project types are simply XML / OZML text files — I recommend using BBedit or TextWrangler if you have it). Instructions for backdating a Motion project can be found here:
https://fcpxtemplates.com/fcpx-motion-compatibility/
Best of luck! I'd like to hear if you are successful and how the templates actually work in iMovie (parameters, keyframing and such).
I wouldn't recommend it...
That said... I looked all over for instructions how to accomplish this and if Alex had instructions on his site, it looks like he's removed it. The level of features in more recent versions of Motion and FCPX far outreaches the current version of iMovie.
Facts:
There are no external locations for which templates are saved for iMovie as there are for FCPX (for which there are at least 2, not counting importing into Libraries.)
The only location I could find is:
iMovie (> Show Package Contents) > Contents > Plugins > MediaProviders > MotionEffect.fxp > Contents > Resources > Templates /
Inside there are folders for Effects, Generators, Titles and Transitions.
All of these contain themed projects*.
Most of them are "dated" (versioned**) at displayversion 5.0.5. One that I found is set to 5.1.9.1 (there's no such version released to the public - which goes from 5.1.2 to 5.2). This version (5.2) corresponds to Final Cut 10.2.0, so there is likely NO 3D Text support. You will also not be allowed to use any feature of Motion that was added from this time.
Version 5.0.5 (Motion and the XML) corresponds to FCPX 10.0.6.
Any template you would add to iMovie would need to be compatible with FCPX 10.0.6 or earlier! (Motion 5.0.5)
If you should have a template from this time (or successfully create and backdate a template) then you could try to install the *themed* template into the iMovie application (make a backup of your original in case anything goes wrong).
*A themed project is created from within Motion upon Saving. Or, you can edit the XML file which will require adding:
[Motion 5.0.
<template>
<flags>1</flags>
</template>
or
<template>
<theme>ThemeName</theme>
</template>
[spacing and indentation count! That's a 4 space indent.]
to the XML project file just before the <build></build> tag line (with a blank space between the </template> tag and the build line).
Themes are an extra level of "category" in the installation process:
.../Templates/Effects/Category/Theme/Project
** Backdating a project can be done by also simple edits to the Project XML file (all the Motion project types are simply XML / OZML text files — I recommend using BBedit or TextWrangler if you have it). Instructions for backdating a Motion project can be found here:
https://fcpxtemplates.com/fcpx-motion-compatibility/
Best of luck! I'd like to hear if you are successful and how the templates actually work in iMovie (parameters, keyframing and such).
Hi Fox_M.
I was able to contact Alex via one of the facebook user groups. He says that Apple closed the door on that loop hole a long time ago. Case closed. Thanks for all your information today, I definitely learned a lot regardless.
HI Fox_M,
I just finished trying the back-dating method. I have a test template, it's just a .moti template with some text, sitting in the lower left side, with no animation and the drop zone removed.
I used textedit to alter the information to match, which, as you explained, is indeed identical to the existing .moti files in the package contents directory ( I don't really know what I am saying here)
I saved and closed the textedit - and then I just added the template folder to the same package contents directory in finder. Then I opened up iMovie - and the title isn't shown in the the menu.
That's the result so far.
Alex Gollner (Alex4D) has stated that Apple closed the door on this loophole and that it is no longer possible to open a Motion template in iMovie no matter what. Adding the template won't break iMovie, but it will simply ignore any template not provided with the application.
Hello Fox_M,
Thanks for the this information. I will definitely update you with the outcome 🙂
How to load a Motion Template into iMovie?
