Newbie Question: Why can't I open my iMovie project in FCP?

Hello all--
I'm sure some variation of this question has been posted a bajillion times but I can't seem to find the answer. At this point I feel like a damsel in distress. Rescue me?
I've been working with iMovie for about two years now and I've recently been learning Final Cut Pro to up the ante on my videos. However, when I tried to import an iMovie project into FCP yesterday, it didn't quite work. Let me explain what I did and what happened:
1) I exported my (edited but previously unpublished) iMovie project by clicking Share>Export Final Cut XML
2) I opened FCP and clicked File>Import>XML and then selected the XML, leaving all the boxes checked
3) FCP imported the project as a sequence; however, the entire sequence reads "Media Offline" in the Canvas.
4) I clicked File>Reconnect Media and the list of offline files is overwhelming. I tried my luck by clicking "locate" and going to my imovie folders to find the clips, but even when the browser allowed me to select a clip, when I double clicked it, nothing in the sequence changed - it's all still "offline."
I really don't know much about media management, I'll admit - I'm wondering if maybe iMovie saves edited clips in a folder other than the events or originals folder - maybe the edited clips become "temporary items"? I know I have a ridiculous amount of imovie cache and temporary items and I never touch them because there are just so many of them and I don't want to mess anything up. But could the files that FCP claims to be "offline" in fact be located in these "temporary" folders? I mean, I've looked everywhere else on my hard drive and nothing is working! Sorry, I am probably just confusing myself MORE (and you), but maybe SOMEONE will know what in the world I should do
Thanks in advance.

Welcome to the family. I don't think many of us have ever used iMovie so your post might be more quickly answered in that forum.
My suggestion is to forget trying to move the project. Rebuild it in FCP. The exercise will teach you much more about your new software than fighting XML.
If you don't feel like doing that, try a smaller iMovie project, something with only two or three clips and one dissolve.
The larger issue is probably how iMovie stores its captured media which is completely different from how FCP does it. And the format is different. FCP does not, IIRC, view iMovie's default dvstream codec. You will want to export your movie clips as DV.
bogiesan
Message was edited by: David Bogie Chq-1 correct fifth grade typos

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Message was edited by: Hazell

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Newbie Question: Why can't I open my iMovie project in FCP?

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