Export individual iMovie MacOS projects in *iMovie* (editable) format including clips, music, etc.

Hi,

I agree with MartinR that creating an iMovie library for each project will accomplish your goal. Open iMovie in your master library. Working from within the iMovie app, create a new blank library from the File menu with the same name as the project. In the project browser screen select the project icon by clicking on it. Do a File/Consolidate Project Media. Then move your cursor over the project’s icon to cause a little circle with dots in it to appear to the right of the project’s title. A drop down menu will appear. Select Copy to the newly created project library. Both libraries must be open for the copy option to be available.

To transfer to a 3rd party the new library with the project in it, you can copy the library to a thumb drive, formatted Mac Os Extended (Journaled) or APFS, and then physically transfer the thumb drive. Before copying the new library, select its name in the project’s sidebar and do File/Consolidate library media.

— Rich

Great. Everything worked as it should.

The “no media to consolidate” message didn’t stop you. It means that all media in the library already is consolidated so that you don’t need to do anything further in that regard. Without doing the consolidation procedure you wouldn’t have known that.

It is safest to copy first, rather than move. Then go back and delete the original after you have verified that the copy procedure worked and that the copy is working properly.

—Rich

If you already have multiple projects in a single iMovie library, it will be challenging to unravel them. The only way I can think of is to make a backup copy of your Library, then remove everything from the Library except the clips, timeline & other resources you need for one project. Then save the Library with a unique name. You will then have an iMovie Library containing only that one project.

• Then for your second project, copy the backup Library you made, giving the copy a unique name. Open that copy in iMovie and do similarly for the second project.
• Keep doing similarly until you have separated all your projects into different iMovie Libraries
• If you go this route, make sure to preserve intact the backup copy of your original Library; that's your source for all your projects. Only work on copies of that backup Library. And make sure you only remove items from the Library, not your disk.

And, as a reminder, in addition to the iMovie Library you must preserve all the source clips, audio files, photos and other resources you may have used in the project in order to re-edit later.

It's possible when you create a separate iMovie library for each project. IMHO that's the way iMovie should be used ... one project per Library (or one Library per project, however you may think of it).

👍👍 Thanks, Rich!

I was not aware you could copy projects into a new Library that way! Much easier than the process I suggested earlier, and probably 'safer'.

Looks like you've got it handled perfectly.

-- Rich