Importing from iMovie 11: Unexpected Error - "not a movie"

Hi,
I was creating and cutting my videos from my last vacation in iMovie and wanted to export it to iDVD. It worked for the first project just fine, but get an error message for the next iMovie project: "Unexpected Error" and "This is not a movie"
I tried it several times, always the same result, although there are some other error messages sometimes.
Does anybody know what this could be? This is very frustrating. Unfortunately this is not the only problem I got with iMovie.. I really think about switching to something else, that actually works for a change :-(

try opening with any other programs you have. Also ask the site you got it from.

Similar Messages

Importing from iMovie 09

I have iMovie 09 and I just bought Final Cut Express. I created a simple movie in iMovie 09. I exported it as Final Cut XML. I imported the file in Final Cut Express. All as described in the Final Cut Express video tutorial.
However, I just get a "Media Offline" message... the import doesn't seem to work. I have tried this multiple times.
I have tried reconnecting the files, but it doesn't seem to let me select the right file...
Very confused... Is there anything I can do to get this working? (Preferably without having to attempt to reconnect the files)
Thanks!

Thanks Tom.
In the video tutorial it appears as if you do not need to reconnect the files. I assumed that this would only be necessary if the files had been moved, but I didn't move them. I thought that the XML files would include directions to where the video clips are stored. Do you have to manually point to the files every time that you import from iMovie?
My iMovie project is a screen recording. It consists of several .mov files. I have tried removing all the titles / fades / transitions but it still cannot see the video clips when I import them to FCE.
The movie's about 8 minutes long. It's in widescreen. I haven't changed any settings.

Importing from iMovie 06, lose capture dates

When I import old iMovie 06 movies, the capture dates gets lost. Here is one of the original clips in iMovie 06:
However, after importing in iMovie 11, the capture dates are lost. I tried many variations, like import the iMovie 06 project, or cd to the *.iMovieProject directory and import the actual clips, etc.
Now, good iMovie11 clips have the capture date imbedded in the file name (as in clip-2010-03-14 hh;mm;ss.dv). However, the ones imported from iMovie 06 end up in iMovie 11 with simple names such as clip55.dv. So it's not surprising I cannot see the capture dates in iMovie 11.
So I looked inside the *.iMovieProject directory hoping to find the capture dates either in the file name or in a plist, but I couldn't (nothing in the plists below)
... Jan 23 2010 Cache/Thumbnails.plist
... Jan 23 2010 Cache/Timeline Movie Data.plist
... Jan 23 2010 Cache/Timeline Movie.mov
... Nov 8 2009 Media/Clip55.dv
etc
Finally, I opened Clip55.dv in QuickTime and looked at MovieInspector, but I could not see any capture date (similar to exif in jpegs).
So obviously I missed them. My question is where in the iMovie 06 project can I find them? If accessible, I can write a script to fix the clips imported in iMovie11 by changing their names. I tried it manually, and it worked.
Thanks in advance

Hi - Couple of things.
Click on the offending clip that you imported from iMovie in your FCP Bin and type Command + 9 to see the item properties. Either report those item properties, or if easier, take a screen shot of the item properties and post that.
Then click any where on the timeline you are having trouble with and type Command + 0 (Zero) to see the sequence settings. Either report those settings or take a screen shot of the Sequence Settings window and post that.
In order for FCP to use the video without rendering, both the items properties of the source clip, and the sequence settings must match - and both must be within standard production parameters.
Also, you can click on the source clip in the FCP Bin, then control-click on the clip and select Reveal in Finder from the drop down menu. Once that file is revealed, open it in Quicktime 7 and see if if plays correctly there.
Hope this helps.
MtD

I am trying out Final Cut Pro X and trying desperately to import a project from iMovie 11 (version 9.0.9). There is no export to FCPX in iMovie 11 nor is there import from iMovie in FCPX.

Can someone please help me?
I am trying out Final Cut Pro X on a 30 day trial. So far so good.
I am now trying desperately to import a project from iMovie 11 (version 9.0.9) into FCPX.
I have read multiple posts on this subject and they all recommend File/import/ from iMovie project in FCPX
However there is NO such option under File/import in FCPX - nor is there an option to export to FCPX in iMovie 11
Can anyone please enlighten me.

The current version of FCPX does not work with that version of iMovie. You need version 10.0.3, which allows you to send a project to FCP.

Importing from iMovie to FC Express

I have attepted to import AVCHD files from my Canon XA20 Camcorder to FC Express with no success. I then attepted to import the same files into iMovie with success.
I have 2 questions.
1. How can I import AVCHD files direct int FC Express.
2. To import from iMovie to FC Express I cannot find where iMovie video file are on the system. In FCE you can nominate a drive for the files to be put.

That is PAL 25 fps?
The data rate should be fine.
AVCHD is possible to ingest directly to FCE.
Make sure you set the comatching Easy Setup BEFORE trying to capture.
Use Log and transfer over USB cable.
Al

I am considering the purchase of an iMac or macbook and want to know whether I can import my iTunes library of 400 albums from my Windows PC over my Home Network? 300 of these albums have been imported from CD's, so would not want to have to do that aga

I am considering the purchase of an iMac or Macbook and want to know whether I can import my iTunes library of +400 albums from my Windows PC over my Home Network? 300 of these albums have been imported from CD's, so would not want to have to do that again.

Just copy the entire /Musci/iTunes/ folder from old computer to /Music/ on new computer.
The libraries will be identical (date added, ratings, artwork, etc.).
You can do this easily over the network.

Get an error message when importing from iPhoto says, "There is not enough free space on your Aperture Library volume to import the selected items. It is estimated that you need at least 44GB of free space."

I get an error message when importing from iPhoto that says, "There is not enough free space on your Aperture Library volume to import the selected items. It is estimated that you need at least 44GB of free space." the drive is empty, I just reformatted it to Mac OSX journaled.

I'm guessing this is an extrenal drive, correct? If so make sure the library you're importimng into is really located on the external drive. By default Aperture creates its library in your home pictures folder.

Importing from iMovie HD is not bringing any of my edits!

According to the iMovie 09 help file:
"When you import video from iMovie HD projects:
- All clips from the clip viewer are added to a new Event.
- All clips from the timeline are added to a new project."
But when I import, ALL my work is lost. I get one long event that is the original source and NOTHING else. No new project s created, even though there is stuff in the timeline. (Stuff that took hours to create.) Is the help file lying? Did I really just loose hours of work?

I have exactly the same problem >:-(
The only solution I can think of is exporting each clip, one by one, to full quality QuickTime files, then importing those into iMovie 09. I'm doing that now (roughly 100 clips. Grrrr...)

Keynote4.0.1 does not play videos imported from Imovie

I have exported a film from Imovie (web-quality) to play in a keynote-presentation.
With Tiger all things went well, but with leopard, the slide with the movie is not shown anymore... nothing to see, the screen stays black...
any idea?
the same problem on a Powerbook and my new MacBook Pro...

I'm having the same problem with quicktimes that come from another source (in photojpeg codec). I noticed that some movies worked, and others did not. The ones that worked were in the H.264 codec, so I used Quicktime Pro to Export my PhotoJPEG compressed quicktime movies into H.264 compressed movies, and those playback correctly in Keynote 08 under Leopard.
Hope this helps!
If anyone knows a solution to get other codec quicktimes to play in keynote, please post - this is a pain.

Importing from Imovie 08 to FCE 4 - problems

Hi
Why cant I import projects from Imovie 08 into FCE 4. According to the manuel it should be possible. All I get is a "File error, wrong type" ????
The manuel:
To open an iMovie project:
1 In Final Cut Express, choose File > Open.
2 In the dialog that appears, select the iMovie project you want to open.
The iMovie project opens in the Browser and contains the sequence and the clips as
they appeared in the iMovie Clips pane.
Important: Final Cut Express does not import iMovie sound effects, audio levels, or
transitions. All other applied effects are imported.
3 Double-click the sequence to open the iMovie project in the Timeline.
4 Render the sequence.

Look at FCE tutorial page:
http://www.apple.com/finalcutexpress/tutorials/
Michel Boissonneault

Importing from iMovie HD project

I bought a new iMac and i'm importing in iMovie 08 a project from iMovie06.
But i have 2 problems: first not all the clips are imported and second that the clips that are imported are not in the same order of the original projct.
Does anyone have any ideas?

If in iMovie 06 have a project with 20 clip in iMovie 08 found less clips but everyone is complete. Entire clips are missing.
1) If you are counting "rendered" clips in the "Project.PKG > Media folder," they are not included in the import. You will have o move them manually if you want them.
2) If you are counting clips included in the source bin, then I don't know if they are supposed to import or not. (I.e., I don't use the built-in HD import option in iMovie '08.) You can check and see if these are your missing clips. if they are, then add them to the HD project before import and see if they are imported to iMovie '08. If they aren't, then you may need to send a feedback to Apple regarding this issue.
And the order in which are imported is not the same as in the original project
Editing and rendering in an iMovie HD project will change the clip names which, in turn, may re-order the files as the finder "sees" them. (I.e., they are ordered alphabetically in the project media folder.) So, if they are imported in alphabetical order, they would be out of their original "source" or timeline order.

Importing from imovie to HD

Im sorry if this is has been already answered, but its 4am here in aus and I just want to finish this schoolies project and then go to bed. Can anyone help me? When I try to import my movie from imovie to imovie HD this message comes up - The file could not be imported" "the file macintosh HD/users/computername/Movies/iMovie projects/" cannot be imported, quicktime couldn't parse it: -43
anyone got any idea what this means? I would really appreciate an answer. Thanks!

So I decided to export the file to the desktop and hope that that works out, if not then hopefully someone will have suggested another way to get around this problem other then starting the whole project again. Thanks again.

Importing from iMovie 08 to FCE4 - aspect ratio!!

Hello All,
I have clips recorded in iMovie 08 (captured from built-in iSight cam) which I'm trying to import into FCE4. Using the standard FCP XML export in iMovie and opening in FCE4, the aspect ratio of all clips is lost.
I am using the built-in iSight cam to record a video blog (please don't give me flack about not using a dedicated cam), is there a way to preserve the 16:9 aspect ratio from iMovie? I have used the motion settings on the clips to attempt to restore the original aspect ratio (-33 seems to be close), but this seems terribly unscientific and mostly guess work. Thanks.

In the browser (view as list) check the Anamorphic Flag associated with both the imported clip and your sequence: both should be set. My guess your sequence is not 16:9, in this case you only have to set that flag in the browser to fix it.
Setting Aspect Ratio = -33 in the Motion tab restores the right proportions of the original video but creates top and bottom bands in a standard 4:3 video and reduces the original video vertical resolution. The anamorphic flag, instead, fixes the video aspect ratio without losing video quality.
Hope it works
Piero

No capture...no import from imovie hd

I've just installed FCE HD. Since the add on apple.com said it worked with most of the recent camecorders, I did'nt checked the "official" qualified list .
Of course, my SONY DCR-PC330E pal is not listed though rather recent and it seems that only a few out of the numerous SONY models are in fact on this list . So, FCE doesn't recognize it .
Anyway, I still have iMovie HD - and my camera works perfectly with it - and I tried to import some iMovie projects in FCE .
It does'nt work either : each time I get an error message, st like "this file can't be opened ".
So, up to now, the only files I can import are pictures files .
And by the way, is there a possibility in FCE to animate these pictures like with the K.B. effect of iMovie ?
thanks for all help to come...!
iMac g5 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Maybe I lied. Does this camera actually record in DV?
http://www.ciao.co.uk/Productinformation/SonyHandycam_DCR_PC330E_5601033
This seems to show the camera as a stills camera with MPEG-1 video recording. Unless it's actually shooting in the DV format you will not be able to capture the material or bring it into FCE.

Video footage I've imported from iMovie to Premiere cs6 is missing after the import! please help!

I initially imported raw video footage from an event that I shot into iMovie 11, but later decided to try an edit the footage in Adobe Premiere CS6. I successfully imported the iMovie file folder into CS6, then saved and exited the program to work on it after lunch. When I returned and reopened the file, the footage could not be found. I attempted to reopen it in iMovie and it came up as a missing file also. I know it successfully opened in Premiere because I've seen the footage. I didn't trash anything so it's not in the trash. Where did my footage go, and how can I retrieve it?

Hi Ann, Hi JSW,
I looked around a bit and noticed that this same problem sometimes happens in iMovie itself. People lose their media because it gets copied inside the project file itself. If you right click to see the package contents, you might be able to locate the media and copy it to a dedicated folder, then reconnect media to it in Premiere Pro. See this post on the apple website: Source clip missing | Apple Support Communities
Thanks,
Kevin

Importing from iMovie 11: Unexpected Error - "not a movie"

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for