Question about how Mac OS X stores file information for iMovie and iPhoto

Question

I'm relatively new to Macs (am using a 3yr old iMac and a new MBA running 10.6.4 and iLife 11) and I have this general question.
I'm using the iMac for a lot of Movie projects and photos. I've very quickly filled up my 500Gb hard drive and I don't understand why other than this:
I import a movie using iMovie and it's stored in an Events folder. I then make a project and it's stored in an Projects folder, I then share it to iTunes and it's stored in the iTunes Music/Movies folder. And I also see the movie in an iMovie Shared folder. In other words, it appears that a 2Gb movie (as an axample) becomes about 10Gb because it's saved in multiple places. Must I keep all of them?!
With iPhotos, I've imported about 6Gb of photos from my Windows PC. No problem. I copied across all the directories and then imported them into iPhoto. I then thought I could delete all the directories as the iPhoto folder became 24Gb in size! Not sure how but it seems that as well as keeping my original 6Gb of photo directories it's also put them into the iPhoto directory and somehow made it a big folder size?! If I delete the original folders (since they're now in the iPhoto app folder) then I can't actually browse the JPGs files can I except from within iPhoto only?
I've got about 80Gb of music, about 6Gb of photos and about 80Gb of movies. Somehow it's pretty much filled up 500Gb of hard drive (and very little other programs or files other than the normal iMac stuff it comes with) because of the way the Mac (iTunes, iMovie and iPhoto) seems to have the same thing copied everywhere.
All input greatfully receive and apologies if I'm being thick.
Richard.

Answer 1

Richard
I'll answer the iPhoto part for you.
If you use iPhoto in its default setting then the images are copied into the Library on import. Yes you can now delete the directories you have copied over.
then I can't actually browse the JPGs files can I except from within iPhoto only?
Yes and no...
The point of iPhoto is that it's your Photo Manager. It's the "go-to" app when you want to do anything with your Photos. - View them, edit them, email them, print them, use them in other apps, upload them whatever - all of these things are done from iPhoto.
There are two advantages to working this way.
1. You get to work with your Photos and don't have to think about files. This means the organisation possibilities are much greater than just files in folders. You can use Keywording, Smart Searching, Albums, Events and a plethora of other bases for categorising and therefore find your pics.
2. iPhoto is integrated throughout the entire OS. That means your Library is available throughout the OS without iPhoto being open by means of Media Browsers. You can search your Library from a MEdia Browser and so on.
So, while, yes, the files are not browsable via the Finder, there's no need to. Everything you need to do can be done with iPhoto.
Want to edit the pics in something other than iPhoto:
You can set Photoshop (or any image editor) as an external editor in iPhoto. (Preferences -> General -> Edit Photo: Choose from the Drop Down Menu.) This way, when you double click a pic to edit in iPhoto it will open automatically in Photoshop or your Image Editor, and when you save it it's sent back to iPhoto automatically. This is the only way that edits made in another application will be displayed in iPhoto.
Note that iPhoto sends a copy+ of the file to Photoshop, so when you save be sure to use the Save command, not Save As... If you use Save As then you're creating a new file and iPhoto has no way of knowing about this new file. iPhoto is preserving your original anyway.
There are many, many ways to access your files in iPhoto:
*For Users of 10.5 and later*
You can use any Open / Attach / Browse dialogue. On the left there's a Media heading, your pics can be accessed there. Command-Click for selecting multiple pics.
Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!
(Note the above illustration is not a Finder Window. It's the dialogue you get when you go File -> Open)
You can access the Library from the New Message Window in Mail:
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*For users of 10.4 and later* ...
Many internet sites such as Flickr and SmugMug have plug-ins for accessing the iPhoto Library. If the site you want to use doesn’t then some, one or any of these will also work:
To upload to a site that does not have an iPhoto Export Plug-in the recommended way is to Select the Pic in the iPhoto Window and go File -> Export and export the pic to the desktop, then upload from there. After the upload you can trash the pic on the desktop. It's only a copy and your original is safe in iPhoto.
This is also true for emailing with Web-based services. However, if you're using Gmail you can use iPhoto2GMail
If you use Apple's Mail, Entourage, AOL or Eudora you can email from within iPhoto.
If you use a Cocoa-based Browser such as Safari, you can drag the pics from the iPhoto Window to the Attach window in the browser.
*If you want to access the files with iPhoto not running*:
For users of 10.6 and later:
You can download a free Services component from MacOSXAutomation which will give you access to the iPhoto Library from your Services Menu. Using the Services Preference Pane you can even create a keyboard shortcut for it.
For Users of 10.4 and later:
Create a Media Browser using Automator (takes about 10 seconds) or use this free utility Karelia iMedia Browser
Other options include:
1. *Drag and Drop*: Drag a photo from the iPhoto Window to the desktop, there iPhoto will make a full-sized copy of the pic.
2. *File -> Export*: Select the files in the iPhoto Window and go File -> Export. The dialogue will give you various options, including altering the format, naming the files and changing the size. Again, producing a copy.
3. *Show File*: Right- (or Control-) Click on a pic and in the resulting dialogue choose 'Show File'. A Finder window will pop open with the file already selected.
Regards
TD