Deleting iMovie files

Once I make a YouTube video and/or a quicktime movie, can the clips in imovie be deleted?
I am trying to free up space and I won't be using these clips in this project any more.

Welcome to the forum, Craig.
To make dvd's in the future do I only need the idvd project file and the exported .mov?
To edit a DVD later you need 1) the iDVD project file and 2) the source movie you originally included on that DVD.
If you exported the iMovie project to a movie for iDVD, you don't need to keep the iMovie project any longer. You need to keep it only if you haven't exported the project to a movie for iDVD. If you still have the movie, it's okay to trash the entire iMovie project folder.
Note that iMovie 4 lets you make an iDVD project without exporting the iMovie project to a new movie.
Karl

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Deleting iMovie files & exported movies causes errors in all of iLife

I just went through quite an ordeal...
In an attempt to clean up some space, I deleted a bunch of my iMovie project files and movies after backing them up (files in the default Movies folder). I have deleted iMovie projects before with no issues.
This time, it caused errors in iDVD, iMovie, and iPhoto...it would say: "Connection failed. The server may not exist or it is not operational at this time. Check the server name or IP address and try again." It would say this over and over and over again and often completely hang up my application so that I would have to force quit. This would repeat itself over and over...
I read about this in other forums and erased .plist files in User > Library, etc...This solved the problem for other people, but it kind of made it worse for me. Long story short, I ended up having to restore from Time Machine my entire system just to get iLife working again... I also searched for Aliases and externally referenced libraries or files, and I do not have any.
So now I have those files again. I want to delete them again. But I'm afraid! (P.S. This may also be related to deleting the Aperture Trial Library in the Photos folder...I am also posting about that to the Aperture forum.)
Does anyone know what the deal with this is? How come before I did not have problems but am now? How do I safely delete iMovie files without having this happen again?
THANK YOU!

iMovie is a non-destructive editor, meaning that all original clips are maintained in the folder, even after editing. Until you render the movie to DVD, all the original files are still "in the background". Kind of hard for me to explain. Others here could give more technical details. You would have to delete your movie from the folder to regain all the hard drive space.
If your idea is to archive your movies, a better method is to record them back to tape. Otherwise, get an external drive to store the finished movies and then delete the original files.
One word of caution about emptying the iMovie trash. This has been known to cause problems with a work in progress and it is generally advised to leave the iMovie trash alone until your project is finished and burned to a DVD.

Deleting imovie files after export

Can I delete my imovie folders for movies that i have finished and exported to a .mov file? The folders with the original imovie files are huge (17 gig on average) and I need the drive space. To make dvd's in the future do I only need the idvd project file and the exported .mov?
thanks,
Craig

Welcome to the forum, Craig.
To make dvd's in the future do I only need the idvd project file and the exported .mov?
To edit a DVD later you need 1) the iDVD project file and 2) the source movie you originally included on that DVD.
If you exported the iMovie project to a movie for iDVD, you don't need to keep the iMovie project any longer. You need to keep it only if you haven't exported the project to a movie for iDVD. If you still have the movie, it's okay to trash the entire iMovie project folder.
Note that iMovie 4 lets you make an iDVD project without exporting the iMovie project to a new movie.
Karl

I somehow changed a video in my imovie to zero fps, so it just plays black. The video still exists on my desktop but even when I delete the files from imovie and reimport them the file is still in zero fps and play black.

somehow changed a video in my imovie to zero fps, so it just plays black. The video still exists on my desktop but even when I delete the files from imovie and reimport them the file is still in zero fps and play black.

I'm not sure of your question.
Are you asking how to use Photoshop?
Or are you asking for the dimensions of video iMovie uses?
It edits in 720P HD, which is 1280x720.
You can make it a bit bigger so you can zoom in.
Much bigger then this is a waste of time.

Can i delete iMovie cache files

Is it OK to delete files or do I still need on 2nd hardrive when I back up

In principle it is always possible to delete cache files and it is never necessary to back them up - However, I would not advise touching them unless you are clearly running out of disk space (in which case you probably don't have eneough space for imovie to work well).
Precisely which files you you propose to delete?
Geoff.

IMovie doesn't recognise my 550d anymore I think I may have deleted a file agile

I was cleaning up some old files and I think I might have deleted a file from iMovie
as every time I try to upload movies from my camera it says cannot find camera, is there any way to restore the
missing file? thanks in advance....

How would this help ?
Has You ever before been able to import movies taken with
Your Canon 550D directly into iMovie without first going via iPhoto ?
If so please enlight me on how as You understand that I'm totally lost to this - Sorry
Yours very very intrested to learn more- - Bengt W

Can't find imovie file on my hard drive

I have a imovie file on my hard drive that I can't find. I really want to delete it so
that I can free up some room on my hard rive. It's at least 15 gigs big. I tried using the search icon in the upper right hand corner and I tried using the 'find' option under the 'finder' menu, searching for any files over 5 gigs in size. Can anyone help me find this file so I can get rid of it?
[email protected]

An iMovie project is a package, not a file; the actual files inside it are smaller. Use a tool such as WhatSize to locate it.
(23171)

Is there a way to recover deleted video files from the finder folder

I recently and mistakenly deleted video files that were in my Finder folder,don't know why they were in there but that's another question, in doing this it also deleted them from IMovie and I have lost them unless someone out there know's different,
Colin

If you haven't emptied your trash, they should be there.
If not, they should be in your last Time Machine backup. (Or other backup.)
Matt

If i save my imovie file to my external hard drive, will i be compromising anything if I plug in my external hard drive into a friends computer (not a mac)

Hello All,
I am in serious need of some help at the current moment. I have a very large imovie file that does not fit onto my usb. I was wondering if I saved it to my external hard drive as a quicktime file and then plug it into my friends computer (which isnt a mac) would I be compromising the data already on my external hard drive?

Within the project library of iMovie you should see your external drive listed along with the projects stored on your mac. To copy a project you simply drag the project from its current position to your external drive. You will then get the option of copying just the project or project and events. As Bengt rightly states you should copy both project and Events. If you hold down the alt key as you drag the project you will get the option of moving rather than copying. I would NOT recommend doing this in case there are problems during the copying/moving process (I don't find iMovie to be the most stable of apps) and you might find the original project has been deleted without properly copying it across. Better to copy to the external drive, check it works ok and then delete original.
Hope this helps.
Russ

I accidentally deleted iMovies, how do i get it back?

i accidentally deleted iMovies, how do i get it back?
i went to app store to get it but it says to accept but when i accept it says it that it was already accepted, my mac book is still under warranty.

You'd need to do a full install of the OS, not an update. You can use recovery (Command + R keys) during boot up or restart. Your files will not be deleted (unless you choose to erase your drive) - but make sure you have a backup anyway. General info here:
How to install Safari 7 - Apple Support

Is it safe to delete these files?

I'm making a video in iMovie, and as it is around 15 minutes long, all the clips and audio I have imported into iMovie takes up a huge amount of space on my computer, which means I can't make the video into a file as there's not enough space on the hard drive. But, before I imported all the clips to iMovie they were just on my computer, and they still are (Making the amount of space it comsumes the double.), so can I delete the all the video files that are still on my computer without it affecting the project? (I still keep the files in iMovie)

If your original video clips were downloaded direct to your hard drive (i.e not into iPhoto or iTunes) then iMovie should have made copies and therefore not require the downloaded clips to be present.
However, I would strongly advise against deleting them unless or until you have made a backup of them somewhere first. Also, to be absolutely shure, just delete one clip at first and make sure the clip still appears in the iMovie event.
If you are using iMovie 9 I would avoid deleting still and audio clips since I'm not sure imovie 9 makes copies of these. In the case of imovie 10 it definitely does.
In the longer term I think you will need to put all your iMovie files (excluding the application itself) on an external hard drive.
Geoff.

How do I delete unnecessary files

Mac OS X, V 10.6.8, processor; 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo; Memory 2 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
I would like to clean up my computer of unnecessary files and backups, i.e. email, printers, logs, caches.

You should never, EVER let a computer hard drive get completely full, EVER!
With Macs and OS X, you shouldn't let the hard drive get below 15 GBs or less of free data space.
If it does, it's time for some hard drive housecleaning.
Follow some of my tips for cleaning out, deleting and archiving data from your Mac's internal hard drive.
Have you emptied your Mac's Trash icon in the Dock?
If you use iPhoto or Aperture, both have its own trash that needs to be emptied, also.
If you store images in other locations other than iPhoto, then you will have to weed through these to determine what to archive and what to delete.
If you are an iMovie/ Final Cut user, both apps have their own individual Trash location that needs to be emptied, too!
If you use Apple Mail app, Apple Mail also has its own trash area that needs to be emptied, too!
Delete any old or no longer needed emails and/or archive to disc, flash drives or external hard drive, older emails you want to save.
Look through your other Mailboxes and other Mail categories to see If there is other mail you can archive and/or delete.
STAY AWAY FROM DELETING ANY FILES FROM OS X SYSTEM FOLDER!
Look through your Documents folder and delete any type of old useless type files like "Read Me" type files.
Again, archive to disc, flash drives, ext. hard drives or delete any old documents you no longer use or immediately need.
Look in your Applications folder, if you have applications you haven't used in a long time, if the app doesn't have a dedicated uninstaller, then you can simply drag it into the OS X Trash icon. IF the application has an uninstaller app, then use it to completely delete the app from your Mac.
To find other large files, download an app called Omni Disk Sweeper.
http://www.omnigroup.com/more
Also, Find Any File
http://apps.tempel.org/FindAnyFile/
Download an app called OnyX for your version of OS X.
http://www.titanium.free.fr/downloadonyx.php
When you install and launch it, let it do its initial automatic tests, then go to the cleaning and maintenance tabs and run the maintenance tabs that let OnyX clean out all web browser cache files, web browser histories, system cache files, delete old error log files.
Typically, iTunes and iPhoto libraries are the biggest users of HD space.
move these files/data off of your internal drive to the external hard drive and deleted off of the internal hard drive.
If you have any other large folders of personal data or projects, these should be archived or moved, also, to the optical discs, flash drives or external hard drive and then either archived to disc and/or deleted off your internal hard drive.
Moving iTunes library
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449
Moving iPhoto library
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2506
Moving iMovie projects folder
http://support.apple.com/kb/ph2289
Good Luck!

How to extract iMovie files from an archived iDVD project

Hi,
After archiving an iDVD project which contained several individual iMovies to my back up hard disk I deleted all of the individual files on my internal HD to free some space.
Query: Is it possible to extract an individual iMovie file from the archived project for future editing revealing all of the transitions, audio tracks, etc back in iMovie ?
I have used 'show package contents' and can see the individual movies as Quick Time files but when I load these into iMovie all I get is the whole movie as one single clip.
I suspect the answer is once it's archived I cannot retrieve the iMovie files ?
Any help appreciated. Many thanks.
iMac G5 20" 2.0GHz 1Gb RAM Mac OS X (10.4.4) eMac 1GHz 512Mb RAM

...I ..can see the individual movies as Quick Time files but when I load these into iMovie all I get is the whole movie as one single clip. I suspect the answer is once it's archived I cannot retrieve the iMovie files ?
that is correct: hitting "export" or share in iM creates a single movie(file); what you have in mind is the imovie project (e.g. where you can change titles, transitions etc)... to make this accessible you need to backup that iM folder/package (the one with a star)... these files are for sure much bigger = containing more data...

Imovie File Storage

I had to capture HD footage using imove HD on my mac workbook pro. now I want to edit this content using Final Cut pro. does imovie store its clips like FCP does and I need to find this folder or does it have some other form of majic and I need to convert the 1hr of HD footage into a super huge 30GB file??? ok thanks??

Gregg's Mac wrote:
.. does imovie continue to reference the original file for future use or could the original file be deleted with no consequence? ..
iM does import any files 'physically' into its own Library, no 'ref links' ..
I'm a bit shy about deleting original files.. for two reasons:
does the original use a different codec than iMovie? e.g. the modern AVCHD-codec from some HDDcamcorders gets converted by iM08 .. probably you're allowed in the future to edit 'directly' AVCHD.. but, if your originals are allready 'iM08 compatible' no need to think abut that...
and: backups, backups, backups.. the 'original' is a copy of your Event.. if you erase it, you have to backup the Libary..

Can't open imovie file!

Oh please help! I am at my wits end. I created a 13 min short movie in Imovie 5.0.2, then copied it and made a shorter version of the film. But now whenever I try to open my original long version, it loads, pops open for a second then shuts down. I then get the 'imovie has unexpectedly shut down" message. I tried copying the long version and that too has the same result. I had saved the movie on an external La Cie drive and have 73 gb available. My computers hard drive does not have enough space on it.
Help please?
Also I (being far from a computer wiz) really would like to clean up my drives and make some more space. What is the best way to do that?
Thanks in advance,
O

Hi o
Two thoughts.
- You moved or captured Your movie to an ext. hard disk.
Then it has to be Mac Extended formatted - DOS and UNIX will not work
If You've saved Your material on such a disk You need Lennart Thelanders
know how to restore Your material - just moving it back to the internal drive
isn't enough.
If Your ext hard disk is Mac Extended formatted:
- delete iMovie pref file
- run repair permissions (Apple Disk Util tool)
- eventually. repair hard disk (Apple Disk Util tool) (You need to start from CD or ext hard disk)
- You should move documents and files (not movie projects) out to Your
external drive and make free space on Your internal drive.
At least: Movie project size + 20Gb
Yours Bengt W

Deleting iMovie files

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