Converting old imovie projects

Hi,
I just bought a new imac and used migration assistant to move all my files from the old mac. When I look in the movies folder I see all my old movies from my old mac however when I open imovie, there sees to be no "open" command under the file menu. It seems to only list projects that were created in this version. When I goto the movies folder and double click on one of the old files, the mac asks me what application to open it with? Is there a way to convert these old projects??
Thanks
Joe

When I look in the movies folder I see all my old movies from my old mac however when I open imovie, there sees to be no "open" command under the file menu. It seems to only list projects that were created in this version... Is there a way to convert these old projects?
Correct. iMovie '08 is a completely new application using a totally different method of storing source and project files. You cannot open your "original" files as such but can "import" projects produced by previous versions of iMovie to some degree. (I.e., it can only import source clips with compatible transitions but no "special effects." You will find this option under the "File" menu. (You can also import source clips, as well as, rendered transitions and special effects or the entire timeline without "tween" tracks manually or an exported version of the timeline if you so desire.)
When I goto the movies folder and double click on one of the old files, the mac asks me what application to open it with?
The project file is set to open in your previous version of iMovie which it appears you may not have been "migrated" to your new computer. iLife '08 does not restrict your use of iMovie '06 along side of iMovie '08. Had you installed the application yourself, your old version would have been moved to a folder entitled "iMovie (previous version)" so you could continue to use it. Since iLife '08 is already present, you can download a free copy of iMovie v6.0.4 at the following URL:
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/imovieHD6.html

Similar Messages

  • Problem old iMovie project to iMovieHD

    I upgraded to iMovieHD ages ago, and today decided to send an iMovie Project I created in old iMovie to DV tape. When I opened the project it asked to convert it to iMovieHD, when it did that playing the project was very jerky. I set it streaming to tape and the DV result is very jerky then stops.
    Is this a none problem with old iMovie project, is there and work around?

    update:
    1. I ran Mac Sweeper: played okay in iMovie but still jerky/stopping sharing to DV tape
    2. I moved project from External Firewire drive to HD (I have previously made loads of iDVD's and DV tapes with project on external Firewire Drives: same results as 1.
    3. Made loads more space on HD, disconnected Firewire and USB external drives and disabled Airport, ran Mac Sweeper again: same results as 1
    4. made new projected, imported a little different footage, made 2 min iMovie and exported to tape, did this to rule out camcorder and cable issues: 2 min movie worked fine
    Never tried doing a flat file before so going to give that a try next if I can figure out how.
    I greatly appreicate everybodies assistance. This is the first time I have had this problem and I have made a lot of iDVD's (and I always send a backup to DV tape before deleting, usually I do that straight away, for some reason I didn't with this particualr project - sods law) todate.
    Regards, Claire.

  • Updating old iMovie projects

    I'm using the latest version of fcpx (10.2) and I'm trying to move all my old iMovie projects into fcp
    I have old iMovie projects on almost every version of iMovie dating including iMovie HD,  iMovie '11, iMovie 10
    I'm very confused between the latest iMovie versions.   I believe that iMovie 11 is actually older than iMovie 10?  ('11 referring to the year it came out and 10 relating it to os X  or fcpX?)
    I think its the iMovie 11 software that used the iMovie project and iMovie events folders.  I think this older iMovie software expected you to import the iMovie project from the old version earliest version of fcpx? (or export an xml file?)  I think the newer iMovie 10 wants you to export the iMovie project to the latest version of fcpx 10.2? 
    Is it possible to move a project from the older iMovie (11?)  to the newest fcpx (10.2)?  Do I need to do an intermediary step and upgrade from the older iMovie to the newest iMovie? Do movie trailers work the same way from both iMovie programs if converted first to movie project form?
    Thanks

    Hi I had the same issue and fixed it with deleting "UpdatedtoiMovie10" see step 4.
    n the Finder, click the Go menu and choose Home.
    Open the Movies folder.
    Move the “iMovie Library” file to the Trash.
    Note: If you have imported content or created projects with iMovie version 10.0, do not delete this file.
    In the iMovie Projects and iMovie Events folders, you’ll find a file named “UpdatedtoiMovie10.” Move this file to the Trash from both folders.
    Open iMovie.
    Choose File > Update Projects and Events.

  • Old iMovie projects have purple background!!!

    This is a strange one...
    I recently upgraded from iMovie 4.01 to iMivie HD 6.03.
    I opened an old project from mu 4.01 version, and although all the data and edits are correct and identical, all the color is wrong. There is no moving video in this old iMovie, just photo's with transitions and heavy effects editing. Everything that is supposed to be black, even the background, is now a horrible purple and the images in my movie have this discoloration consistantly. Even without playback, the iMovie window is purple and not black. With new projects everything is fine, but this color issue seems only related to opening OLD iMovie projects. I looked in preferences for an option, but thereseemed to be no logical solution. Please help!

    Others have reported this problem too, with a variety
    of colors.
    I believe it helped when they changed their iMovie
    playback preferences. The Quality setting.
    Karl
    Thankyou. That helped. Everthing looks normal, as it should. strange bug though, I dont understand how this could occur... weird. I just hope my output now looks normal as well, as when I 'Bounced' to Mpeg with the quality setting fo rplayback at 'highest', it was purple throughout the subsiquent movie file. Now, it saves as normal, but I wonder exactly what the 'Quality' preference really does???
    Having said that, Thank you karl, I can get back to work!
    Top advice!
    Trent.
    G4 1.2 Ghz   Mac OS X (10.3.9)  

  • I previously made an iMovie project, but with the new version of iMovie (10.0.1) it does not have the option to import. How do I retrieve my old iMovie project?

    I previously made an iMovie project, but with the new version of iMovie (10.0.1) I cannot import the project. How do I retrieve and import my old iMovie project?

    You have to upgrade your iMovie 9 projects from iMovie 10 before you can use them.  See:
    http://help.apple.com/imovie/mac/10.0/#mov902ad0c31
    Geoff.

  • Cannot open old iMovie project

    I have an old iMovie project from 2008 that I cannot open.
    If I double-click it, terminal opens.
    Recommended applications are Textwrangler, Terminal.... not really the right thing to watch a movie.
    Final Cut Pro X cannot read the file, because it's in the "bundle" format. Quicktime is also grayed out.
    Is this some weird format that is no longer readable by anything? Or can I turn it into an .mp4 file?
    Thanks.

    iMovie doesn't support importing one iMovie project to another. When we try, we get exactly the error you quoted.
    You can, however, import all the Timeline video and audio as a single clip to a new project. Or you can drag files from the Media folder of the project to the Timeline of a NEW project.
    In the Finder, Control-click on the project icon and choose Show Package Contents from the popUp menu. You'll see the movie "Timeline Movie.mov" in the window that opens. You want to import that movie to a new project, or import selected files in the Media folder.
    To import, drag the file to the Timeline of a NEW iMovie project. If importing the Timeline Movie, everything on the Timeline of the original project will arrive as a single clip in the new project.
    If the project failed on the external drive, it may be because the disk does not use the disk format required by iMovie. Use Disk Utility to check the disk format, which must be "Mac OS Extended". If it's not that format, use Disk Utility to reformat the drive. (Which will erase all the files on the drive, so make backups.)
    Karl

  • Opening old iMovie projects in new iMovie HD

    I have a few old iMovie projects from around 2001/2002 on an external hard disk. If I try to open them, they won't open in iMovie. Instead it would give a "Parse Error". The folder looks something like this:
    Is there a way I can open these projects? I can open the single clips by adding .dv as an extension, but then I'd have to rearrange/remix everything again which I don't want to do.
    Thanks and best regards,
    C.

    It seems as your external disk is not Mac-formatted (Mac OS Extended), but PC-formatted (FAT32).
    First copy your files over to a disk that is Mac-formatted (Mac OS Extended).
    Then you apply my file fixers a bit down on this page:
    http://www.berga.nu/%7Eusrlt/imovie/index.html

  • Opening Old iMovie Projects

    I have many, many old iMovie projects that I would like to open in iMovie HD. Is there any way to do this? The only thing I've been able to do is open a new iMovie HD and drag old media files to the clips pane.
    LaVonne

    Hi Stephen,
    Your memory is probably better than mine but I would go as far to say that you can probably open them with iMovie HD 5 without much ado just not on your intel or any machine running 10.3.9 with QT 7 as things have changed considerably with that combination. If you have or have access to a computer running 10.3.9 or earlier with QT 6.5 or earlier you should be golden provided you didn't save anything while it was opened in 6..
    It's not that I am saying timing is my only problem though either. But It appears to be the cause of why things aren't working correctly and that iM keeps trashing files as nothing is making sense to the timeline anymore and projects created before the 3.9 & 7 combo had no clue what a graphics card even was and now that is the only way they are being processed. Don't get me wrong I do like my Intel but the PPC was a different beast altogether as it was capable of doing things the Intel never could and never will as it doesn't need to and can do what it does best allowing your graphics card to do what it does best as well. They just aren't in sync causing issues in any areas and not just iMovie.
    If you do not need to re-edit you may be able to open the timeline movie in iM6 instead of opening the project though I am not sure how this will work in the long run as it will only be a reference movie and require the original to work.
    Hope this helps. Please let us know how if it works out for you.
    Thank You.
    Sweet Polly

  • I can't open old IMovie project done with ILife09

    I can't open old IMovie project done with ILife09 on my new MacBook Pro Retina with Lion Mountain system.

    you can't just move a project that way. It all needs to be contained properly. If you can find the original imovieHD project folder, you can start again.

  • Old iMovie Project Comes Out Choppy on New iMovie

    A couple of years ago, I asked on this forum the best setting to export an iMovie project in HD and to burn in a Bluray format on a DVD. I got a good answer and it worked. After picking up iMovie'11 I dug up that old project, rendered it and burned it under the same settings as before. This time, the movie came out a choppy. The settings I used, which I noted so I would not forget are:
    mpeg-4
    file format MP4
    H.264 data rate 18000 kbits/sec
    image size 1920x1080HD
    frame rate 29.97
    keyframe 24
    multi-pass
    streaming not enabled
    I can go into to the settings I use on Toast but I can see the difference in the resulting video even before burning it to DVD.
    Also the file size of the resulting video is bigger than the old file size. (When I couldn't get the same quality I went digging for the old video connected to the old project and found it. But I want to make sure I can duplicate the nice video for future videos which is why I'm writing on this forum.) The old video size in 1.04 gig. While the new video (same project and same export settings) comes out at 1.26 gig.
    I must be doing something wrong. But whatever I do--change the settings or try different exports like .mov--the choppiness is still there. I can't seem to duplicate the smoothness of that old movie. Again, I'm exporting the project using the same settings as before.
    My main goal is to be able to create a 1080 movie that runs smooth like movies should. I've done it before. Why is it so hard now? How do I fix it?
    Any suggestions?

    Yes it is choppy in the QT player as well. And when I say choppy I mean not as smooth as my old movie nor as smooth as when I connect my camera directly to the TV via HDMI cable. It's most noticeable when things are moving fast. It's as if a few frames were pulled out. For example, there's one scene where I'm filming outside the car window. A light pole zooms by. There is an illusion of movement because the pole flashes several times from left to right causing the look of movement. In the new movie, picture only the pole flashing half as much so that the pole moving across the screen looks like a choppy movement instead of a smooth one. Does that help?
    It's so odd. I continue to play with the parameters to try and find the difference and I am becoming more convinced it's the software.

  • Opening old iMovie project

    Other than tracking down an old fruit colored iMac, is there any way I can open an iMovie project I made in 2004? (I'm assuming I was running the latest version back then -- iMovie 4?)
    What's the oldest iMovie I can run on an current Mac (Intel/Mountain Lion)?

    What's the oldest iMovie I can run on an current Mac (Intel/Mountain Lion)?
    iMovie 6. Earlier versions are incompatible with Mountain Lion.

  • Converting old imovies for ipad

    Hello-  is there a way to share or export old imovies in a format that looks better on my new iPad?  I have access to the old and new versions of iMovie (although I haven't really had time to learn the new version yet!)  I know how to convert  and share them to my iPod touch, but of course when I sync my movies through iTunes to my iPad, the resolution is disappointing-  any tips you can share would be helpful

    Just tried Handbrake on one of my imovies-  I had to Share it to full quality first, then convert it, but it looks good-just what I was trying to do!   I'll also try skydiver's tip too.  Now I have my free time cut out for me converting my family imovies, but with the iPad, I can have them with me all the time!  

  • I can't convert an imovie project.  error code =-50.  How can I create a DVD?

    I can't export my imovie project.  I am getting error code =-50.  I am unable to burn to a DVD for presentaion.  Any suggestions?  Thanks in advance for your help!  Stefan

    There may be more than one cause for this error, but in most cases the project to be published includes short clips of less than about 1.5 seconds duration.
    Duplicate the project. From the duplicate, delete the short clips and try to publish. If that doesn't solve the problem, see the post by Didorx in the thread linked below:
    ERROR -50 ... IMOVIE EXPORTING...: Apple Support Communities

  • IDVD '06 Sees Old iMovie Projects But Not New Ones

    I have found that iDVD '06 will let you do something really neat, that ended up in me discovering something really dumb.
    First, if you want to add a folder with media in it to the Media section of iDVD, you can literally just drag/drop the folder there and POOF it shows up and your media shows up.
    BUT... Ugh.
    iDVD '06 does NOT see iMovie '06 project files. So, if you have a folder with iMovie '05 projects in it and iMovie '06 projects in it, and you drag that folder into the "Media" section of iLife '06, the '05 projects show and the '06 projects don't.
    And this all came up because of another issues in iMovie '06 (posted about over here: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=421159&tstart=0 ) in which iMovie '06 doesn't actually delete video in cropped videos, discovered because I no longer can see video snips of a current iMovie project in iDVD (I used to see just enough to use in the menus, which was fine).
    So, this sounds really weird to me. iDVD '06 can't see iMovie '06 project files? That can't be right, can it?

    Never resolved but marking as answered to clean up my profile and login.

  • Opening old iMovie projects in iDVD

    I'm relatively new to all this. I've made several iMovies and have burned them all through iDVD. But, when I look to re-open them on iDVD only a couple show up on my RECENT PROJECT list. The others do not. Is there a way to reopen those on iDVD? I've tried going through OPEN and IMPORT, but I can't seem to get it right. Thanks...

    Sorry, I interpreted "old projects" as having come from an older version of iMovie.
    I've tried going through OPEN and IMPORT, but I can't seem to get it right.
    Have you tried and failed with "Open Project" in iMovie as "Open Recent" only holds the most recent and holds none after a delete of preferences.
    Have you tried locating them in Finder and going within the Project folder, either to double click on the project file or using "Open with"

Maybe you are looking for