# iMovie project has disappeared!



## macmel (Aug 5, 2013)

Hi there!
This will be a rather long question, so hang in there. Your help is GREATLY appreciated.
I have a major reel in the works and a producer is waiting for it by Tuesday. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are hanging on this, and my stupid self thought iMovie would be sufficient. The quality is, it's only a demo reel, but I guess the trustworthiness of iMovie isn't.
I had a problem with a project a few days ago. The "edit project" button was greyed out on a few projects. I stayed on the phone with Apple Support for SIX HOURS, and we finally figured it out. We removed a corrupted video from iMovie and from the iMovie Cache and the projects were able to be edited again. However, a few days later, the button started to grey out again. I couldn't be bothered fiddling with it again; I just didn't have the time. So I started from semi-scratch by working on a project that was allowing me to edit it that had some of my footage in it already, and adding pieces from my bulk raw footage and other projects. Everything was absolutely fine. Three nights ago, I finalized my project. It took 8 hours (it's 30 minutes HD), but it still worked. But two nights ago, I tried to save my progress by finalizing again. It said it would take 8 hours, but at the seventh hour, a box popped up that said "Unable to prepare project, error in user parameter". I simply clicked "okay" and continued to edit. Still, everything was working properly, until I was editing an already existing title. The little spinning wheel suddenly popped up, and then iMovie "quit unexpectedly". I was given the option to re-open, so I did. When I opened it, my project was gone. Obviously, I flipped out. 
I looked in my Trash, and I found the first finalized version from 3 nights ago in .mp4 and .mov formats. I was able to import the .mov back into my iMovie - it was as one bulk piece instead of individual cuts, but better than nothing. But I REALLY need my other version!!! Preferably in an editable iMovie project format, but a .mov format will be good enough. 
I searched and searched and finally found the version that I had last worked on. When I clicked on "Get Info", it says it is an iMovie project and that the last edit was on August 4 at 6:07 pm, which was correct. But it won't open. I have dragged it back into the iMovie Projects folder, I have quit iMovie and reloaded it, I have (tried to) reformat it to .mov, I have tried everything that I, and a man on Apple support, can think of thus far. I put the project into my hard drive and put it onto my other Macbook Pro (called Mac 2 from here on) and it does the same thing on there, which leads me to believe that it is the project instead of the program or computer. BUT - something you should know - The projects that have a greyed out "edit" button on my main computer do NOT have it greyed out on my Mac 2, and are able to be edited. My events have not been imported, just the projects, so there are little yellow caution signs on all the clips because their footage is not in the Mac 2. This leads me to believe that perhaps there is a clip that I am using that is causing my projects to be corrupted. It is just odd that some of the projects at least exist, but this one disappeared entirely. And it is odd that those projects would work on my Mac 2, but not this particular one that I need. If I can just get into the project, I could possibly fix it. At this point, having the project in some format would be magical. I do NOT have Time Machine, as no one ever thought it would be a good idea to tell me to get it...which I certainly will now.
This is all the info I have, so you geniuses do with it what you will!!! Please let me know if there's anything else YOU need to know. I will do whatever it takes to make this project open. I have had TWO experiences with Apple, one in the store and one on the phone, where they told me a project was corrupt and unable to be opened. I told both of them that they better just figure it out, and I pushed and pushed and helped as much as I could until they finally found a way. In fact, the man on the phone called me back the next day and said, "Thank you for pushing me and for not letting me give up because now I learned things I didn't know before that can possibly help future callers. Thank you for forcing me to figure it out." So I KNOW this situation can't be any different. There HAS to be a solution out there somewhere, and I'm trying every avenue!!! I'm hoping someone on here has some experience with this!


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

I greatly dislike the new iMovie for reasons like this. This is why I have a copy of the old iMovie HD and have keep moving it to my newer Macs as I go. Therfore, I have very little to none experience with the current iMovie.

With that disclaimer, this is what I do know/understand about it. It's save files are just container files, meaning that it's a really fancy folder. And as for clips, it doesn't actually move them to the file, just references them, which is why you have the warning on Mac 2. If you moved them to Mac 2, you should be able to work with the file again. You should be able to right click on the saved file in the Finder and select Show Contents. Now you have the titles and transitions and video file shortcuts/links. You might try creating a dummy project, and then opening it in the Finder and movie items to it one by one from the bad file. Open it each time and see if they show up. As for a bad video file trashing your save file, it sounds about right. You need to find that file and move it away from iMovie's reach.
Unfortunately, once a file is corrupt, there usually isn't any way to save it. As for viewing that other video file, have you tried VLC? It's pretty good and trying to play even corrupt files.


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## turnell (Aug 26, 2012)

The first thing you need is an external Hard Drive. Secondly what version of iMovie are you using. How did you import your footage.


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

What does an external hard drive have to do with anything?


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## turnell (Aug 26, 2012)

Because video files on your main hard drive can play havoc.


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

I've done it since iMovie 1st came out and have never had a problem. Pros do it on external drives because of huge file size, and faster speed of the interface.


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