How do I clean-up iPhoto library in iMovie '08 and make my new ones appear?

Question

I'm a graphic designer and I use Adobe Bridge to add metadata (keywords) to my pictures so they're searchable on the Internet - not just iPhoto (and iLife?) and after transferring all the image files from iPhoto onto my Time Capsule (external hard-drive) and deleting the Photo Albums from iPhoto, I created a new Album to import still frames/images to use in my new iMovie project. I cleaned out (emptied) my iPhoto trash to help free-up space on my hard-drive, too.
The problem I'm having is that my iPhoto library as viewed from iMovie - still shows all the old photo albums that I've already deleted and the new .PNG I imported doesn't appear; however, the old .JPG files I once had still appear with exclamation marks as the thumbnail images and I can't select or delete them. When I right-click on the iPhoto photo albums library within iMovie, I only get the option to open in iPhoto. I imagine there is some back door manipulation required to fix this. The iMovie and iPhoto software came pre-installed in my computer and I'm not so sure that re-formatting my computer with the start-up disc is the safe or correct answer.
I've been researching the iMovie forum to see if there is a file I should be able to access to fix a Cache file somewhere; however, I couldn't find any .xml files, cache files, or anything anywhere yet. Thanks in advance to anyone willing and able to share some knowledge. I look forward to resolving this troubling experience. My final goal is to use the .PNG file (which contains transparent data, unlike .JPG files which fill transparent data with white pixels) as a frame image if not as a floating graphic (i.e. picture-in-picture).

Answer 1

Sean in the iMovie technical support area (thanks to my lovely Apple Care plan purchase) answered my question about how to delete the iPhoto library, which I no longer use (because I use Adobe Bridge and Photoshop CS3 to browse my photos and update their Metadata to make the images searchable not only on my computer, but others who don't have iPhoto, or iLife as well; even PC users and Internet search engines - when the images are uploaded as-is - without compression and changes that occur when uploaded to image hosts such as Photobucket.com, etc.):
Go to: *Finder >* (click on) *Pictures >* (and on the right, see iPhoto Library, Aperture, etc.? Select those files and...) *Move to Trash*
Now when you look at the Photos Browser in iMovie (⌘2) the folder, files, blank thumbnails and junk are (thankfully) gone!
As for using images located elsewhere for use in iMovie - I just have to locate them via the Finder, then select the file, then drag-and-drop the image for immediate placement into the part of My Project where I want to use the image and repeat this method for each incidence I want the graphic to appear.
Unfortunately, I must upgrade to iMovie '09 if I want to be able to take advantage of the Picture-in-Picture feature, which would enable me to place a logo or image graphic in a video project while other parts of the production are playing, but I can still use the title feature to embed text information such as a business name and phone number or (website) URL pertaining to the project as a surrogate stamp, watermark, or creative signature, but no other graphic image files may be used here.