My photos are visible in the imovie browser but when I try to drag them to the timeline I get a message "You are combining audio and video clips outside the primary storyline" "You cannot add video clips to existing audio-only compound clips." What does this mean? These are just photos from my photos library, no video or audio. How do I fix this?
iMac 27″ 5K, macOS 11.6
To experiment a bit, try creating a new project and dragging the photos into the timeline from your desktop, instead of from the media browser.
Also, you can try deleting preferences. Open iMovie while holding down the Option and Command keys and select to delete preferences in the box that appears. iMovie will open in a new library. Reopen your old library to get back to your projects. Now see if you can import photos into the timeline. Possibly you may need to reboot to set the changes. Deleting preferences is a safe procedure that will not cause data loss or disruption to your project.
-- Rich
To experiment a bit, try creating a new project and dragging the photos into the timeline from your desktop, instead of from the media browser.
Also, you can try deleting preferences. Open iMovie while holding down the Option and Command keys and select to delete preferences in the box that appears. iMovie will open in a new library. Reopen your old library to get back to your projects. Now see if you can import photos into the timeline. Possibly you may need to reboot to set the changes. Deleting preferences is a safe procedure that will not cause data loss or disruption to your project.
-- Rich
I suspect that the “compound clips” error message is the result of a bug. iMovie does not use compound clips, although Final Cut Pro does. Lately several posters on this forum have reported receiving the message. I have not seen any solution as yet. This appears to be something that Apple will need to fix. You might try contacting Apple Support and talking to the techs there.
— Rich
imovie photos won't drag to the timeline
