I have many imovie projects made with imovie 9 stored on an external hard drive. 3 years ago I was able to convert these for use with a current imovie app. Now when I try to access these old imovie projects they are grayed out on my external drive. I can use an old imac (high sierra 10.13.6) to at least see the projects and their subfolders. But I cannot even open imovie in that old Imac. I spent hours editing those old projects and thought I had saved them safely. In desperation I tried to just import the HD camera tape to my computer. The camera is not seen! This seems crazy. Is this just copy protection run amok?
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Old imovie projects and library are grayed out
- Thread starter oldimovieuser
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Are these "projects" completed -- i.e., rendered into mp4 (or something like that) -- or are they just "imported clips"?
You mentioned an old iMac?
Do you have a newer Mac?
If so, tell us which Mac it is, what year made, and what version of the OS is running.
Also -- the drive the old iMovie stuff is on -- what FORMAT is it?
Can you go to the OLD iMac, copy a clip or project to ANOTHER drive (could be either a USB flash drive or another hard drive), take it to your new Mac, and access the data that way?
Lots of questions.
Answer them all.
You mentioned an old iMac?
Do you have a newer Mac?
If so, tell us which Mac it is, what year made, and what version of the OS is running.
Also -- the drive the old iMovie stuff is on -- what FORMAT is it?
Can you go to the OLD iMac, copy a clip or project to ANOTHER drive (could be either a USB flash drive or another hard drive), take it to your new Mac, and access the data that way?
Lots of questions.
Answer them all.
Are these "projects" completed -- i.e., rendered into mp4 (or something like that) -- or are they just "imported clips"? The projects that are a problem have not been rendered but just hd tape imported into iMovie 9 and edited extensively and saved as Imovie projects
You mentioned an old iMac?
I have a late 2013 Imac High Sierra 10.13.6 This is the only computer I have that shows the old Imovie projects as NOT grayed out. Newer Imovie projects made with Imovie 10 are fine on my 2021 macbook below
Do you have a newer Mac? I have three macbooks I can access. My current macbook is 2021 Sonoma 14.2.1
If so, tell us which Mac it is, what year made, and what version . the OS is running..
Can you go to the OLD iMac, copy a clip or project to ANOTHER drive (could be either a USB flash drive or another hard drive), take it to your new Mac, and access the data that way?I have done this and the file did copy but it was grayed out on the newer macbook
I have attached below part of chats i have been having with Apple support.
You mentioned an old iMac?
I have a late 2013 Imac High Sierra 10.13.6 This is the only computer I have that shows the old Imovie projects as NOT grayed out. Newer Imovie projects made with Imovie 10 are fine on my 2021 macbook below
Do you have a newer Mac? I have three macbooks I can access. My current macbook is 2021 Sonoma 14.2.1
If so, tell us which Mac it is, what year made, and what version . the OS is running..
Can you go to the OLD iMac, copy a clip or project to ANOTHER drive (could be either a USB flash drive or another hard drive), take it to your new Mac, and access the data that way?I have done this and the file did copy but it was grayed out on the newer macbook
I have attached below part of chats i have been having with Apple support.
Just a thought...
On one of the NEW Macs...
Could you download the TRIAL VERSION of Final Cut Pro?
I believe it will run for around 30 days.
If you can get FCP running, is it able to "see" these old projects?
More thoughts...
These "old tapes" from which you extracted the video...
Do you still have the video clips, as "stand-alone" files?
What format are they in?
Click on one, type command-i to bring up get info. That should tell you.
Even if you can't bring the iMovie projects over, could you bring the raw video files and "reconstruct" them into NEW projects on either a newer copy of iMove or perhaps FCP?
On one of the NEW Macs...
Could you download the TRIAL VERSION of Final Cut Pro?
I believe it will run for around 30 days.
If you can get FCP running, is it able to "see" these old projects?
More thoughts...
These "old tapes" from which you extracted the video...
Do you still have the video clips, as "stand-alone" files?
What format are they in?
Click on one, type command-i to bring up get info. That should tell you.
Even if you can't bring the iMovie projects over, could you bring the raw video files and "reconstruct" them into NEW projects on either a newer copy of iMove or perhaps FCP?
Many thanks. FCP is a great idea. If it works I will be so jazzed. Slow internet here 50 min download.
Working on your other thoughts
Working on your other thoughts
Damn FCP can't see the projects.. I have the hd tape that was used to import and edit in making the iMovie projects. If necessary I can go back to that but that would mean redoing many hours of efditing my old video. thank you so much for your help
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Do you have a small snippet of one of the original files that is not "imported" into iMovie?
If you could post it here, perhaps someone could analyze it.
Another thought:
Take one of the original files, and see if anything else could open/convert it.
Try the free app named "Handbrake".
If you could post it here, perhaps someone could analyze it.
Another thought:
Take one of the original files, and see if anything else could open/convert it.
Try the free app named "Handbrake".
many thanks. i'll give it a shot. Meeting with a person at Apple store this afternoon. Back to you this evening
I tried to import the original file from tape on my canon vixia hv30. Unfortunately the macs I have could not detect it. My tv and an old PC did connect to it. I tried Handbrake and the old projects were grayed out and it gave a "no valid source" error. It worked fine with DVD conversions. I met with guy at apple store and he was a good guy but had no solutions
I am using an HDMI cable and trying to get my macbook to "see" my camera. The camera does not show up in finder or when I try to use iMovie to import it. My macbook is a 2021 model with Sonoma 14.2.1. The chip is Apple M1 Pro. The camera is detected by my TV and also by a PC.
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"I am using an HDMI cable and trying to get my macbook to "see" my camera."
An HDMI cable?
With an iMac?
What are you trying to plug it into?
You have a Canon Vixia HV30, is this correct?
Specifications are here:
For "outputs", it shows
AV in/out terminal (this probably won't work)
USB terminal (this MIGHT work, not sure)
Comp. out terminal (this won't work without additional hardware)
HDMI terminal (again probably won't work without additional hardware)
I'm wondering if the USB out port can output video/audio -- but don't know what could be used to "convert and save it" on the Mac end.
Have you tried connecting via USB to see what options might be offered?
The HDMI out port -might- be used, but you're going to need a device that can convert HDMI signals into a signal the Mac can "understand" and save.
I think a company named "El Gato" sells these.
Let me ask you something:
Do you really, REALLY need the stuff on these old tapes?
Because... it's going to cost you some money to "get at" it, I'm thinking.
How much, can't say.
Do you know there's a separate "digital video" forum here?
You might ask a moderator to move this thread there.
Finally,
There's a web site named "gearspace.com" that is where the audio and video guys hang out.
THEY would know what to do.
Might be worth registering at that forum and asking there...
An HDMI cable?
With an iMac?
What are you trying to plug it into?
You have a Canon Vixia HV30, is this correct?
Specifications are here:
For "outputs", it shows
AV in/out terminal (this probably won't work)
USB terminal (this MIGHT work, not sure)
Comp. out terminal (this won't work without additional hardware)
HDMI terminal (again probably won't work without additional hardware)
I'm wondering if the USB out port can output video/audio -- but don't know what could be used to "convert and save it" on the Mac end.
Have you tried connecting via USB to see what options might be offered?
The HDMI out port -might- be used, but you're going to need a device that can convert HDMI signals into a signal the Mac can "understand" and save.
I think a company named "El Gato" sells these.
Let me ask you something:
Do you really, REALLY need the stuff on these old tapes?
Because... it's going to cost you some money to "get at" it, I'm thinking.
How much, can't say.
Do you know there's a separate "digital video" forum here?
You might ask a moderator to move this thread there.
Finally,
There's a web site named "gearspace.com" that is where the audio and video guys hang out.
THEY would know what to do.
Might be worth registering at that forum and asking there...
Fishrrman you have been so great. I really appreciate all the time and effort you've put into helping me. I still have issues but I've learned a lot. I probably need to try the digital video forum. I'll also try gearspace. Take care of yourself. BTW how do I contact a moderator?
OP:
The manual for the camcorder is attached.
Looking through it, it looks like this offers a "camera-to-firewire" connection for video.
See page 68:
![p68.jpg]( "p68.jpg")
Did you ever use this cable before (perhaps to transfer video to your older Macs)?
BE AWARE that modern Macs DO NOT have a firewire connection, and it's not easy to establish one on a modern Mac (if it's possible at all).
For this reason, for working with the camcorder, I suggest you use an older Mac that DOES have a firewire connection on the back (can be either firewire 400 or firewire 800, doesn't matter). The image above shows the connector (on the right) for firewire 400, but there are adapter cables that can convert that to mate with a firewire 800 port, no problems.
The manual for the camcorder is attached.
Looking through it, it looks like this offers a "camera-to-firewire" connection for video.
See page 68:
Did you ever use this cable before (perhaps to transfer video to your older Macs)?
BE AWARE that modern Macs DO NOT have a firewire connection, and it's not easy to establish one on a modern Mac (if it's possible at all).
For this reason, for working with the camcorder, I suggest you use an older Mac that DOES have a firewire connection on the back (can be either firewire 400 or firewire 800, doesn't matter). The image above shows the connector (on the right) for firewire 400, but there are adapter cables that can convert that to mate with a firewire 800 port, no problems.
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