With the recent release of FCP X 10.0.3, a lot has been written about the ability to – at last – move Final Cut Pro 7 projects to FCP X. However, there’s another segment of videographers that can also easily migrate to the power of Final Cut Pro X: iMovie users. Let me show you how to move iMovie Events and Projects into FCP X.
Unlike all past versions of Final Cut Pro, the latest – FCP X – makes it easy to import an iMovie Project or just the media from all your iMovie Events.
IMPORTING iMOVIE EVENTS
An Event is Apple’s name for a collection of media. Most often, this media collection comes from a single activity – a performance, for instance. However, an Event can contain any collection media.
Importing the Event folder from iMovie into FCP X adds ALL the Event media from all your iMovie projects as separate Events in the Event Library of Final Cut Pro X.
The only requirement is that the media needs to be imported into iMovie first.
Here, for instance, I have two iMovie events. Since all Events are stored in the same iMovie Events folder, when I import these into FCP X, all the media from all the Events will transfer.
To import the iMovie Events Folder into FCP X, select File > Import > iMovie Events folder.
FCP X is smart enough to know what it has already imported and, if you’ve already imported media, Final Cut will only import the media that’s new.
After you click OK your iMovie media is imported into FCP X, where each iMovie Event creates its own Event in Final Cut.
This is a very easy way to bring ALL your iMovie media into FCP X.
IMPORT iMOVIE PROJECTS
However, you may not want to import all your iMovie media – perhaps you just want to bring in one project.
That, too, is simple.
Select File > Import > iMovie Project.
Final Cut immediately displays all your iMovie projects; these are stored in Movies > iMovies Projects inside your Home directory.
Select the project you want to import and both the Project file and all its media are imported into Final Cut, ready for you to edit.
Simple and fast.
58 Responses to FCP X: Importing iMovie Projects
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Jesse says:
January 13, 2013 at 9:50 pm
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Larry Jordan says:
January 13, 2013 at 10:25 pm
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Jesse says:
January 15, 2013 at 5:50 pm
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Larry says:
January 15, 2013 at 6:01 pm
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Jesse says:
January 15, 2013 at 7:29 pm
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Roxanne says:
January 13, 2013 at 10:20 pm
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Larry Jordan says:
January 13, 2013 at 10:24 pm
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Roxanne says:
January 13, 2013 at 10:45 pm
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Larry Jordan says:
January 13, 2013 at 11:03 pm
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Roxanne says:
January 14, 2013 at 8:33 am
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Joan says:
January 23, 2013 at 7:07 am
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Billy says:
January 24, 2013 at 3:19 pm
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JDC says:
February 3, 2013 at 7:22 am
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Larry Jordan says:
February 3, 2013 at 8:37 am
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greg says:
July 2, 2013 at 5:19 am
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greg says:
July 2, 2013 at 5:27 am
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greg says:
July 2, 2013 at 8:00 am
← Older Comments Newer Comments →I just tried transfering my first Imovie project to FCP and it worked, kind of. All of the cropping of pictures and sound is wrong. Do I have to fix everything or did I mess something up in the transfer? Vid is 46min long, to big to try to fix each picture.
Jesse:
Where are you seeing the problems – in the Event Browser or the Timeline?
This sounds like the Project settings are incorrect in FCP X.
Larry
Timeline. I am not sure what settings to check or where. I am very new to FCPx. Thanks for your help.
Jesse:
When you say “cropping,” do you mean the size and shape of the image has changed, or where two clips touch in the Timeline has changed?
I’m having a hard time picturing exactly what the problem is.
Larry
Yes, size and shape of image has changed. To be more specific, I zoomed in on a picture using the crop setting in IMovie, now in FCP, the picture is still in the same crop setting but has not zoomed in to fill the frame. So, it is almost like the cropping effect is not working.
After I import the movies into FCP how do I organize them into year taken like they were in iMovie. Right now they are all their in one big lump. I tried to merge them but It didn’t do what I wanted. I like how in iMovie the main folders are by year then when you click on a year year it lists all the events you added to that year.
Roxanne:
I cover a part of this in an article: http://www.larryjordan.biz/fcpx-import-and-organize/
Also, to determine how imported files are displayed in the Event Browser, click the Gear icon just below the Event Browser and select how you want to organize your Event files. (I’ll write an article on this for next week’s newsletter.)
Larry
Ok Thanks. I looked at the link and it wasn’t what I was looking for. What I was specifically looking for and hope is in your article, is how to create the same basic organization that is in iMovie. Not sorting but organizing. I don’t want to have to scroll through 500 events from certain years to get to the year that I want. I would like to be able to click on a year and go from there (like in iMovie). I didn’t see this in the link you provided if it was there, however, sometimes I don’t see a simple solution when it is right in front of me. Regardless an article on the topic in general will be much appreciated.
Roxanne
Roxanne:
It is in the gear menu. I’ll work on the article this week.
larry
I found it. Thank you.
Roxanne
Hi, I have finish one project using files directly from my sony card, but when I try to import the import line become white, so it doesn’t let me do it.Do u know what’s the problem?
Larry,
I’m trying to import an iMovie Project into FCPx. Every time I do this FCPx crashes and closes. Any ideas on what I can do to fix this?
Billy
I also cannot import projects from iMovie without FCP X crashing. I am on the latest version of OS X and FCP X with a high spec iMac. Any ideas?
JDC:
Whenever FCP X is crashing, the first thing you should do – after yelling at the computer – is to trash FCP preferences. Read this article to learn how:
http://www.larryjordan.biz/improving-fcp-x-performance/
Larry
Hi Larry
I got a I movie project sent by mail to me.
I can open it in FCPX and all the medias are OFFLINE.
When trying to re link them, I select the right path, all the medias are there(same name etc) but FCPX tell me that files are different from the original project.
Nothing had been changed and the project opens in Imovie 11.
Any Idea how to link them properly?
thanx
And it seems to have a trouble about audio…which I don t need as it s for a music clip…
Sorry I found out the trouble
I had to reconnect the events in Imovie11 before importing in FCPX
Thanx anyway!