IMovie Project File Problem - Won't Play After HD Format

Hi everyone, I have a MacBook Pro (OSX 10.4.11) running iMovie 08 (7.1.4). A few months ago I created a slideshow in iMovie and it was saved in a folder on my laptop as an iMovie Project file (159MB). Whenever I wanted to show someone the slideshow, I just double-clicked the iMovie Project file and it opened automatically in iMovie and the slideshow played without any problems.
Earlier this week I had to format the HD of my MBP (I wanted to get rid of the Windows partition I had). Before I did this, I obviously backed-up all my files onto a portable HD and reinstalled them on my MBP. Today, when I attempted to open the iMovie Project file (again, by double-clicking on it in Finder) I ran into a problem: iMovie 08 opens, but the file will not play. It doesn't even appear anywhere in iMovie. Before, it would appear in iMovie and show all the individual frames, audio track, etc.
(Unsurprisingly) I also cannot open this iMovie Project file in any other program, such as Quicktime, etc...
Can anyone tell me how I can open this file in iMovie again and/or import it back into iMovie and watch/edit it there? It is quite important that I can open it again.
Thank you very much, Scott

AM1958, you are a lifesaver!! Thank you very much -- moving the .rcproject file to user>/Movies/iMovie Projects/ fixed my problem and I can now play my slideshow movie. I really appreciate the assistance. One more (small) thing: it seems to me that the quality of the movie has been somewhat compromised, in that I recall the images looking sharper and clearer before. This could be my mind playing tricks on me, but I am just wondering if this is possible... Or am I imagining this?

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I recently purchased QuickTime 7 Pro to convert avi files to mov files for editing on Imovie. However, QuickTime won't play the files. How can I get them to play and how can I convert them to mov files?

I recently purchased QuickTime 7 Pro to convert avi files to mov files for editing on Imovie. However, QuickTime won't play the files. How can I get them to play and how can I convert them to mov files?

I recently purchased QuickTime 7 Pro to convert avi files to mov files for editing on Imovie. However, QuickTime won't play the files. How can I get them to play and how can I convert them to mov files?
Both the AVI and the MOV file extensions refer to the file container and not the compressed data the file contains. Both are generic file containers in that each may contain any valid combination of audio and/or video data that is compatible with the codec component configuration of the system on which the file was created. On the other hand, whether a file is playback compatible, conversion compatible, and/or edit compatible depends on the data actually contained in the file container. So, you are basically dealing with two separate issues here—the container and what is inside it.
Basically, if you want to make your files ediit compatible with iMovie, you must change your file container to one that is acceptable to iMovie and convert the data to edit compatible audio and/or video compression formats as may be necessary. The best approach is to determine what codecs were actually used to create the original AVI files and add them to your system if possible. In most cases a codec package like Perian can be added to your system's codec component configuration to may the AVI file playable. Once they are playable, in the QT 7 app then they can be chnged or converted to file types and compression formats that can be edited in iMovie. (While Perian handles most codecs commonly used to create AVI files, it does not handle all possibilities and, while the Perian codec package still works under cureent Mac OS versions, its development group has decided to drop further development/support of the package.)
Background: AVI is a file container originally developed by Microsoft back in 1992 but for which official support was discontinued about 11 years. Despite its limitations, Windows users still tend to use this file based on its open source ease of use and generic nature, thus, making its use so popular that most users are unwilling to switch to more modern but less generic file types. Since some AVI legacy compression formats have never been transcoded for the Mac or use beyond OS 9 or OS X PPC platforms, it is often important to know what specific compression formats are contained in the AVI file to know which codecs to add to your system and which not to add in order to avoid possible codec conflicts.
You can use many different converters to convert AVI files to iMovie edit compatible files. Most third-party apps contain their own buit-in codecs which do not relay on the Mac codec component configuration. Free ones, like HandBrake, usually have limited conversion capabilities while those that have more varied outputs are usually commercial in nature and will cost you additional cash. QT 7 Pro or the free MPEG Streamclip app allow you to access you own system's component configuration and use any available codec component like DV, AIC, MPEG-4, H.264, Photo JPEG, etc.—all of which are iMovie compatible for editing purposes—but only after making the AVI file QT 7 player compatible.
In order to determine what compression formats wewre used in your AVI files you can
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Here's a fix for uploaded files that won't play.

Is this you? You've found a lot of files were uploaded, instead of matched. Some of those files might even be on albums where other tracks matched. Sure you want them ALL to match, but meantime, it would be nice if uploaded files would actually play! Sure, you can see their names, track durations, etc. but if you try to play them directly, nothing happens and if you try to play an album through, when it gets to an uploaded track, it stalls or skips past it. You've checked the file type and it's an AAC so you figure it can't be a file encoding incompatibility problem and besides, whatever the file type, Apple is red-flagging anything incompatible, tells you it's ineligible, right?
Guess Again - not all AAC files are produced with the same encoder and some of them, while they'll get past Apple's eligibile/ineligible screening process, probably shouldn't.
I routinely record vinyl using Audacity and at various times I've used different encoders (not that I knew it until now). As a result of checking which uploaded files play and which do not, I'm pretty confident of the following. While some AAC files created outside of iTunes might work, those encoded using Lavf52.36.0 will not. Neither will files encoded using Lavf52.64.2. There may be others.
So what's the fix? The same one recommended for getting files flagged by Apple as ineligible to pass muster. You need to make an AAC copy in iTunes and swap that for the uploaded files that won't play.
Here are the steps I use to get it done. You may be able to streamline the process though.
(1) Turn off wi-fi to prevent iTunes Match from attempting to match any new files until you're good and ready. If you don't to this, you may end up with files you've just created being flagged as duplicates.
(2) Select all files in an album that has some bad uploaded files. Select Advanced > Create AAC Version. (NOTE: I don't bother trying to separate uploaded from matched, just too much hassle.)
(3) Select one of the files, so you can File > Reveal In Finder. Generally this will get you to the album folder that includes both sets of tracks. The ones you just created will have a "1" in the file name.
(4) Create a folder on the desktop and move all the newly created files to it. Delete the "1" from the file names. Name the folder based on album title.
(5) In iTunes, delete the listings for the newly created files.
(6) Turn on wi-fi and wait for iCloud to reconnect. Watch the cloud icon - it'll tell you.
(7) Delete the album from iTunes (You're now getting rid of the copy that was originally uploaded, so be sure you've really got the new AAC files handy to replace them with). Note you will see an option to delete from iCloud too. Check it. You want these files GONE!
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(10) Run Update iTunes Match again.
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The general outline here helped me work around the issue and change the media type before the media was re-uploaded to iCloud.
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IMovie Project File Problem - Won't Play After HD Format

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