N easy way to export all movies from iPhoto into iMovie

imovieiphoto

Is there some easy way to just move all of my movies out of iphoto and into imovie?

Best Answer

First steps, in iPhoto:

  1. Create an Smart Album (⌥+⌘+N). Name it Movies, or whatever you like.
  2. Under "Match the following condition:", set the first drop-down to Filename, then next to "Contains", type "mov" in the box (without the quotes). This assumes all of your movies were created with an iDevice. If you have Vine videos you'd like to move as well, you'll need to set the first drop-down to "Any Text", then next to "Contains", type "H.264" in the box (without the quotes).
  3. Click OK. This should show you all of your movies.
  4. The easiest thing to do from here is create a folder on your Desktop (⌘+⇧+N), name it Movies, and open it.
  5. Then back in iPhoto, press ⌘+A to select all of your movies, and drag-and-drop them into the folder you just created on your desktop. This step may take a few minutes.

Once it's done, go into iMovie:

  1. Go to File > Import > Movies.
  2. Click on Desktop in the sidebar, then find the folder you created above. Double-click on it.
  3. Press ⌘+A to select all contents.
  4. Select "Create New Event" and enter a name. (You can sort them into separate events later.)
  5. Click Import. This process may take some time.

Once everything is imported, go to Window > Show Event Library. All of your movies are going to be grouped into the event name you entered above. The following steps are optional, if you want to sort by events:

  1. Go to File > New Event and create each event that you want to.
  2. Right-click on a movie, choose "Select Entire Clip", and move your cursor to an edge until the cursor changes to the hand.
  3. Drag-and-drop it into the event that you want. iMovie will prompt you to confirm and then move it.

At this point, you can remove them from iPhoto:

  1. Go back to the iPhoto album you created that shows all of your movies.
  2. Press ⌘+A to select all.
  3. Press ⌘+⌥+delete to move them to the iPhoto trash.
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