Recovering a project in iMovie 3???

So I was working on a project and saving often. iMovie 3 then quit unexpectedly, and when I reopened it, my clips were all still there, but back in the clip panel (not in the project)? How can I restore my work without having to re-order my clips? And how do I ensure that this doesn't happen again?
Thanks!
-Chad

It sounds like iMovie has "forgotten" all the clips you've created. It no longer recognizes the clips in the project so when the project opens, it moves them to the trash.
The best solution, of course, is to retrieve to your last backup of the project.
If there is none, then when something like this occurs, be sure to NOT save the messed-up project. Saving updates the project.mov movie so it too contains no clips.
If you have not yet saved, you can import that project.mov (it's in the project folder) to a new iMovie project. That delivers the video and audio of Project A to Project B as a single clip. iMovie 3 has an import limit of about 10 minutes, so if your project is longer than that you'll have to split the project.mov into smaller chunks.
If the project.mov is empty too, then it's best to start over.
Karl
PS: iMovie 3 and 4 were prone to this kind of project corruption. The odds of it occurring can be improved by never emptying the iMovie trash. Or you can upgrade to iMovie HD 5 or 6, which appear to have eliminated such project-corrupting bugs.

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