Move iMovie Events & Projects to a new Mac

I just got a new Mac and want to move my iMovie events and projects from the old machine to the new one. I seem to recall reading an article on Macworld a while back saying that you shouldn't just go through the finder to copy the files from one disk to another. What is the proper way to move the files from one machine to another - there are roughly 200GB worth of files.
Both units are running iMovie '11

AppleMan1958... unlike many posts I find on these forums I really appreciate that you answer the questions and do so quite authoritatively.
In keeping with the theme of this particular discussion, I have a question for you (or anyone else who can answer it).
I moved several iMovie 11 project files along with the associated events to a Mac OS Extended (Journaled) external hard drive. I did this within the iMovie Project Library window on a Mac Mini running OSX 10.6.6
After properly ejecting the drive I connected it to a Mac Pro running 10.6.5. I open iMovie on the new machine (iMovie 09) and the drive shows up in the Project Library window but the projects do not show up under it. (The projects are there because I see them in the Finder.) What I want to do is move the projects to the new machine.
I did this before so I know it works. My question is: why would the projects I want to move now not show up in the Project Library window?

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After updating to iMovie 10.0 in Finder appears a 'iMovie-library' but the folders 'iMovie Events, Projects and Sharing' are still there too. These last folders are roughly same size as the new 'iMovie-library'. Can you delete these old folders? I could use the space!
I have already updated my old library.
Thanks in advance!

I updated to Mavericks and the new iMovie last night as well as I have always been an early adopter. Unfortunately this time, I think I was a little too quick.
From what I can tell, the new iMovie takes all old events and creates a new iMovie library. I believe if you wanted to, you could potentially revert back via time machine and grab the old imovie back and use the old events and projects folders? Can someone please confirm? I would like to do this.
After I did my upgrade, I was left with to iMovie events libraries. One was called iMovie events and the other imovie events 1. The second one is my old library that resides on my external thunderbolt drive where I would like to keep it. The iMovie theater folder was also added but inside the Movies folder on my internal drive. I don't want that either.
I usually adopt pretty quickly to iMovie changes but at this point it might have finally pushed me to Final Cut Pro X, to get back that iMovie linear "feel". I can't see anything at all anymore in the new iMovie that shows any time line and ease of use.
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Hi,
I need to import my movies via firewire, but can only do it through my brother's macbook, as my new macbook does not have firewire.
Therefore, I imported 100 GB worth of movies onto his computer, then transferred the iMovie Events and iMovie Projects folders onto a hard drive, then transferred them from the hard drive to MY macbook. Now they are sitting on the desk top.
How do I get them into iMovie on my macbook, now that I have transferred the files from my brother's macbook onto my macbook's desktop?
Thanks!

I guess I just needed to drag my events into my user folder ---> movie events, and then when I launched iMovie, it found them.

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I have an iMovie '08 project on my Core 2 Duo iMac, and I and going out of town. I'd like to move the iMovie '08 project to my MacBook Pro.
Copying the project over via flash drive doesn't seem to work. The project doesn't open on my MBP. iMovie 08 only launches a new project. I When I show the bundle contents, I can see that everything's there.
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Hi p
As I understand it - I would try to do like this:
• Connect the lap-top via FW and start it with T-key pressed to get it to present itself as
an external hard disk
• This should be able to add to browser window in iM08
• Now move the material in the browser to Your lap-top.
Think/Guess that this should work. I did likevice to my external "My Book" drive.
Yours Bengt W

How to move book project to a new Mac?

Probably a simple answer, but one I can't find on these forums.
I have several book projects that are saved on any older Macbook, that I want to transfer to my new Macbook. How do I copy or transfer the project and all associated images? I'm running iPhoto '08 on both machines?
Thanks and Happy New Year from Southern California!
Ned

Yes - to switch between them launch iPhoto while depressing the option (alt) key and use the select library option or use iPhoto Library Manager - http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/
There is no way to move just a project (book, calendar, etc) they are part of the library and can not be moved separately so the only way is to move the entire library (you can delete the unwanted parts - see Old Toad's Tutorial #9a - http://web.mac.com/toad.hall/OldToadsTutorials/No._9a.html )
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Hello,
I'm trying to move some iMovie '11 projects and their associated events to another hard drive, as my start up drive is full. I currently have projects and events on my startup drive and also on an secondary internal hard drive. That drive along with several others, shows up in my Event Library list. I have tried clicking on my project both with the Command key and without, to drag it to another hard drive that is listed in my Event Library. The hard drive does not "light up" and I don't get the option to "move project or move project and events." I've tried a reboot of the application and the computer. No luck. Is something wrong with my iMovie application? Or is there something else I can try?
Thanks!
Catherine

Here is a writeup on how to do this.
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4141
One thing to notice is that there is an error in iMovie help. It says to drag the icon for the project to the icon for the external drive in the Event library. This is wrong. You drag the project icon to the icon for the external drive in the Project Library. For the Events, you drag the icon for the Event to the icon for the external drive in the Event Library.

Transfer iMovie '09 Files to a New Mac Running iMovie '11

I need transfer/upgrade advice.
I have an old Mac running iMovie '09 (v8.0.6) with iMovie Events stored on an external (Firewire) drive. I have not created any real iMovie Projects yet ("one of these days, I'm gonna I'm gonna make those vaction videos really shine...").
I also have a new Mac, and the App store upgraded it to iMovie '11 (v9.0.4). Have not launched iMovie '11 on the new Mac yet.
From reading some posts in these forums, I realize the transfer of iMovie "content?" from one Mac to another is not necessarily straightforward. Can someone give me step-by-step directions (or point me to a thread/KB article) that does.
Any help greatly appreceated.

AppleMan1958-
Thanks, that did it. Must say I was skeptical with some of the other iMovie file transfer issues I've read about in these forums, but mine was pain-free.
For others/to reinforce:
Connect external drive containing iMovie events (ensure it mounts normally).
Start iMovie '11 (v9.0.4).
iMovie '11 (v9.0.4) immediately recognized that the external drive connected to my Mac contained iMovie Events and displayed them in its "Event Library" (lower left).
Minor delay as iMovie '11 added my events and possibly "upgraded" them to work with the new version of iMovie.
I did not have to "point" iMovie at the external drive, or tell it anything. It just recognized the external drive had iMovie events. Kinda cool how smooth this went!
Wondering what the transfer process would be if I had existing projects to transfer as well (I did not have any; just wondering aloud).

Move iMove from old iMac to new iMac

Hi, could someone please tell me how to move my iMovie events and projects from my old iMac (20" Intel PC, iMovie '08) to my new iMac (24" Intel PC, iMovie '08) without using the firewire method? I have both iMacs on my network, wired, and I can access the old (20") iMac and drag and drop and move files, but I have read that iMovie is not that easy, plus I already copied my events and projects folders to my NAS and of course iMovie on the new iMac can't find them, they are still on the old iMac internal HD though. Thanks a lot in advance for the help.

I figured it out. Since I didn't have a lot of projects I just imported them from the old iMac (connected on network via Ethernet) and viola! Good to go now.

Importing iMovie Events/Projects to FCP X?

Hi I am a complete newbie to the MAC forums. Apologies in advance for the long winded post!
Past:
I have been a Windows / Video Studio user for many years. (Win 7, Q6600 cpu, 8gb RAM)
I principally make DVD's of slideshows, interspersed with video and with a music background for myself, businesses and friends.
I'm not a "Pro" by any stretch of the imagination but I've been successfully making reasonable quality output.
Now
I've moved to the Mac and as my profile shows I've bought a reasonable machine - iMac 27", 16gb RAM, i7 3.4gHz cpu, AMD Radeon HD 6970M (2GB) and 1TB main drive and 3TB external drives.
I have iMovie '11 and (after reading extensive reviews) just purchased FCP X to see if I can -
Utilize the 64bit the iMac is capable of; and
give myself more flexibility for creativity (VS X3 had heaps of themes, transitions, titling etc)
Questions
I expected FCP X to import the iMovie Events and Projects hassle free (most bad reviews referred to comparisons with FCP 7 etc.) However when I import the projects -
The iMovie MAPS feature is not supported (this is a real hassle as this was a recent welcome introduction from iMovie '09 on). Apple support suggested I export the whole project to a QT movie then import into FCP X but as I told them I bought FCP X to speed up the process, not to process a 32bit app then import to a 64bit app to do my final output. (Since then my research suggests there is a workaround to the MAPS problem if I just create the Maps in iMove and export to QT and import to FCP X - Why would Apple not just continue this feature in FCP X?
All of my photos appear full screen in iMovie, however when I import to FCP X some of the photos are significantly smaller i.e. appear in a black frame. Is this a media problem or is FCP X not capable of importing the project in it's iMovie form?
All text frames (as intros to particular groups of photos) lose their formatting and the text is cropped and unreadable.
All this from a product that is purported to "import iMovie Events and Projects". The imported mess I have suggests I'm better off starting from scratch but this means the "import iMovie events" is useless?
Lastly, the plethora of options for output leaves me baffled to say the least. It is not helped because i am not a Pro but even iMovie is difficult to easily produce a high quality DVD for playback on a big screen TV. I try various options, SHARE>Media Browser>LARGE, or 1080p (produces 108 error in iMovie) Then import into iDVD to produce DVD menu and output to Image file prior to burning on SL or DL media.What is the best workflow to produce the best DVD output on a HD TV?
Thanks in advance for any help as time to complete some projects is against me.
George

Thanks Tom.
Do I understand correctly that to produce 90 minutes of high quality I need a Blu-ray burner? I follow that DL discs can only produce HD up to 40 minutes and to go beyond that I need a Blu-ray burner and disc.
On advice from Apple Support, I provided feedback for a feature request when I first struck the problem. I'll research the forums more to seek out answers to my questions. I'll have to find the "spatial conform" section. In the meantime I'll finish these projects as best I can in iMovie and then start my learning curve with FCP X as I am probably biting off more than I can chew at the moment.
Patrick and Tom, I appreciate you taking the time to share your wealth of knowledge.
With thanks,
George (in Tasmania Australia)

Best way to archive HD movie (Raw, events, projects, etc.)

Hi everybody,
I've been using iMovie for the last 12 months, to make small family movies (shared on internet and via DVDs).
I am having more and more footage and the question comes about the archiving of all this.
What's the best way to keep all important files ? (keeping the quality, and saving space if possible)
How do you proceed ?
I have the different ideas, found on internet, but not sure what is the best.
I can directly make disk image from the camera memory cards. If at later stage I need to import again, I can do it from that mounted image. And this is keeping the original quality. (I think.. right?)
After finishing a project, do you still keep the imported files ? (the events, I think it's called).
And, do you also keep the final version of the project, accessible in iMovie ?
I usually send the movie on internet, and burn on DVDs. Is there a need to keep this project, in my archives ?
I am very curious to learn how the advanced users, with tones of footage, are doing to archive their precious movies.
Thanks a lot for your help and information.
Thierry.

Hi Thierry,
I am using AVCHD, on MSDuo. Until now, I was doing disk image, from the Apple disk utility. I saw the back up feature in iMovie, but never tried it.
Is it doing the same ? You prefer to use the integrated back up from iMovie ?
Yes, the built-in archive feature in iMovie works much the same as the disk image method you have been using. iMovie can't use the .MTS files on their own, so the archive replicates the camera contents, including the full directory structure. Full quality is preserved, just as recorded by the camera. The only downside is that each time an archive is performed, iMovie archives the full camera contents, irrespective of the fact that some content may have been archived previously. In other words, you can't selectively archive individual clips - it's all or nothing. So, if you do an archive then record further footage without deleting the previous content from the camera (or card), the full content (including the earlier clips) is archived when next performed.
To get around this limitation, I use RevolverHD from Shedworx - found here: http://www.shedworx.com/revolverhdmac (this allows selective archiving from the camera, but there are issues with retaining the timecode when importing from the archive to an Event).
John, you are using external drive for the Events and Projects, meaning that you are working directly from external drive? (or you were refering to the storage, after you are done on the mac?)
I'm working directly from the external FireWire 800 drive for the Events. My Projects are all on the MacBook Pro's internal drive. My understanding is that iMovie works more efficiently with this set-up. My archives are also on the same external drive as the Events - this is probably not a good idea, but I do back-up the drive frequently, and also copy the archives to a portable drive as added security.
Note that my exported Projects are stored by default in the Projects package contents folder on the internal drive (I use Share>Media Browser). But I also copy these exports to a separate portable drive which I connect to a Western Digital Media Player for playing through my widescreen LCD TV. I also produce DVDs from the exported files (but only as required).
And what about the final versions of your movies ? (the one in the media browser, or on the DVD that you burnt) Are you also archiving the final products ? (it's not too heavy to keep all ?)
As I mentioned above, by default iMovie places the shared movies (via Share>Media Browser) in the Project folder (on my internal drive). To access the shared movie, go to your User/Movies/iMovie Projects folder and right-click (or Control-click) on the Project name. From the pop-up menu select "Show Package Contents". Click on the Movies folder and you will see the shared movie, labelled (for example) as 720p.mov or medium.m4v and so forth. The main reason for copying this shared move to a portable drive is to view it through my Media Player. I just unplug the drive from my Mac and plug into the Media Player. I don't need it as a back-up as I'm running Time Machine - this backs up my internal drive, so all my original Projects and exports are covered by Time Machine.
Hope all this makes sense Thierry. I'm probably keeping too much, but have plenty of storage capacity so prefer not to get rid of anything at present. Things may change as storage runs down, of course! I may need to do some housekeeping then.
John

Unable to Understand iMove Events, Projects, or iMovie Photo Library. Help!

I've got iMovie 10.1 and, unlike other Apple software, I cannot make heads or tails about how it is storying my video clips.   Things that appear in IMovie Library do not appear in All Events. How can that be possible? Shouldn't All Events contain any clip I have imported? I can't even figure out what is the difference between those two folders.   I can't figure out what All Projects contains. either. It seems to contain the same thing that is in iMovie Library so why have two folders with different names that have the same things?
I've been trying to research this on the web and have not found anybody who can explain what these different folders mean.   Can somebody here do it?
Also, I can't delete a clip no matter what I do. If I right click on it and say move to trash (while in IMovie Library) it looks like it deleted it but when I go to the actual folder in the Finder, where IMovie Library is, the clip is still there.   This is one of those maddening cases where the delete button does not delete anything.
The help for iMovie is basically useless. I cannot find any explanation as to how to delete a clip or how to organize them using these confounding folder names that seem to be different names for exactly the same thing. Has anybody mastered this?

iMovie 10.1 stores everything in a library package with the extension .imovielibrary but you can have more than 1 library. When in iMovie, 'All Events' should show all the events in the currently open libraries just as 'All Projects' should do for projects. These are not actual folders but simply display all the items currently available from the open libraries.
Deleting clips is described in help under: Browse & organize the library - Organize your events & projects - Delete movies, trailers, clips, and events
Help does contain a lot more information that appears at first but its not always obvious which section to find it in. Its worth going through it all carefully because so many things have been changed in imovie 10 compared to 9.
Some patience is needed to get in tune with the new way of doing things.
Best of luck!
Geoff.

How to move iMovie 08 files to my new MacBook?

Would anyone happen to know how I can move my iMovie 08 projects from my old Macbook pro to my brand new MacBook Pro?
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Thanks-

On the iMac - Turn on Personal File Sharing
On the MacBook - In the Finder, click on "Go", then "Connect to Server...", then type in the address of the iMac (you can find this at the bottom of the "Personal File Sharing" window on the iMac).
Click on "Connect" and enter your account name and password for the iMac.
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How do you move iMovie 09 files over to another Mac?

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