iMovie 10.1.14 doesn't read my SD card; Finder (10.15.5) does

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iMovie 10.1.14 doesn't read my SD card; Finder (10.15.5) does

I have a camcorder that records to SD cards formatted as FAT32 which I have used without incident for many years. Today when I tried to import the clips into iMovie, it saw the SD card, but no clips were listed to import. I copied the (entire) contents of the SD card to a folder; iMovie was able to find and import the clips in that folder.

It has been a year since the last time I imported clips, so this may have to do with Catalina and related iMovie upgrades. (So far) taking the extra step of copying the SD card to the Finder works, but I am trying to find out if there are others out there who have the same problem.

I have tried:

quitting iMovie, rebooting computer, etc.
reformatting the SD card with Disk Utility, but then the camcorder wouldn't read it so I
reformatted the SD card using the camcorder.

Also, the SD card had some photos on it, and I was able to access them with Image Capture without difficulty.

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Jul 6, 2020 9:54 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Rich839

Level 8

47,730 points

Jul 6, 2020 10:27 AM in response to David A. Edwards

If you haven't already, you might try reformatting your SD to Ex FAT. Both your Mac and camera should be able to read it. As you know, reformatting erases all data on the disc, so back up anything that you want to keep.

You could also try redownloading iMovie. To update/redownload iMovie 10, drag your iMovie 10 app from the Applications folder into the trash, but do not empty the trash. Sign in to the app store and open your purchases folder by clicking on your name at the bottom of the app store side bar. You will see your purchases displayed, including iMovie 10. Redownload/update iMovie from there. If not successful, drag your present iMovie app out of the trash and return it to the Applications folder.

-- Rich

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Answer 2

Jul 6, 2020 11:09 AM in response to Rich839

Thanks for the suggestions.

If you haven't already, you might try reformatting your SD to Ex FAT. Both your Mac and camera should be able to read it. As you know, reformatting erases all data on the disc, so back up anything that you want to keep.

The camcorder wouldn't read the SD formatted as ExFAT by the computer.

You could also try redownloading iMovie. To update/redownload iMovie 10, drag your iMovie 10 app from the Applications folder into the trash, but do not empty the trash. Sign in to the app store and open your purchases folder by clicking on your name at the bottom of the app store side bar. You will see your purchases displayed, including iMovie 10. Redownload/update iMovie from there. If not successful, drag your present iMovie app out of the trash and return it to the Applications folder.

I did this, then took a short (2.5 sec) movie to test. Interestingly, it took about a minute for iMovie to display the clip in the "To Import" list, and during this time there was no spinning wheel in the top bar, like there was when I was accessing clips from the internal hard drive. When the problem occurred, the SD card had over 100 clips on it, so I guess it's possible iMovie was just doing its thing (VERY slowly---I need to get a new computer) and I hadn't waited long enough. (Of course, in that case doing the extra step of copying to the Finder would be a time saver.)

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Answer 3

Rich839

Level 8

47,730 points

Jul 6, 2020 11:48 AM in response to David A. Edwards

Glad that you are getting it working, albeit not quite yet up to speed.

Since iMovie is taking a long time to load the clips, it may be that you need to get a faster SD card. Some are much better performing than others. You might try getting a more high end one and see if that makes any difference.

Surprising that your camcorder won't read an Ex Fat card. That's a cross-platform format. But, it is what it is.

-- Rich

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iMovie 10.1.14 doesn't read my SD card; Finder (10.15.5) does

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