Fixing corrupted video files

Question

Hello,
So an unusual thing has happened to a project I have been working on in iMovie'11. I hope I can explain it properly, since the circumstances seems quite complex (to this layman at least).
It began when I tried speeding up one of the clips I was using. When I applied this function, it corrupted the project: when spooling through the clips in the project editor, the corresponding video didn't appear in the screen to the right, so I couldn't edit it any more. So I undid the Change Speed edit, shut down iMovie and restarted it, hoping that I could pick up again from where I left off, without the final speed change edit. I have done this a number of times when this problem occurs, and it usually works.
Unfortunately, this time, the project was still corrupted. In fact, all the projects I was working on, bar one, were corrupted, and I could no longer edit them. I couldn't even go into any of the projects, since the text in the button at the top left saying "Edit Project" was grey and didn't respond to clicks.
Trying to salvage the project, I removed the New Event folder from the iMovie Event folder in Finder, and restarted iMovie. When it started, I was now able to enter my projects although of course, without any clips in the iMovie Event folder, I could only look at the individual thumbnail clips, and couldn't spool through them.
I copied the clips from the project I was working on, created a new project and pasted them into that. Then I put the New Event folder back into the iMovie Event folder, and imported another clip. After I did this, I was actually able to work on the clips from my original project in the new project again. It seemed that the clips from my project were linking to the files in the iMovie Event folder, and the thumbnail files too. I thought I'd managed to save the project, but when I restarted iMovie the next day, the formerly working project was corrupted again.
I know that the clips are there, organised and edited in the way I want them, but I think they are having trouble linking to their corresponding clips in the iMovie Event folder. In the event library in the bottom half, the bits of the clips I am using for this project are marked out in orange lines at the bottom of the thumbnails, as it would with a properly functioning project. So in a sense, the programme "knows" what clips I am using and where, but unless I can edit them properly in the project editor, I can't do anything with it, and certainly can't export it.
I hope I've managed to explain this problem in a way that makes sense, and will be very grateful for your help.
Thank you very much.

Answer 1

I'm having the same problem!
Help! I don't know how to fix it & have spent so much time on this. I just don't know
what's wrong! It have many video clips in my project & had noticed that the viewer
window wasn't playing the events but didn't worry about it. Added more clips to
my project, photos, music & then POOF! One by one the videos in the project are
corrupted! Tried re-importing directly into iMovie then reinserting into the project.
That works but another video will corrupt. Also tried copying project & erasing the
original. That didn't work!
To try to fix this I tried erasing the plist file thing that some threads mention. It
didn't work. All the events are iPhoto videos - does this have something to do with
it?!
I don't know what to do & have many, many videos to process. I went out & bought
FCE (Final Cut Express) to try to continue w/o iMovie but even when I've learned FCE
iMovie will still have things I want to use!
Anyone out here have the solution?? Maybe I should re-install iMovie...