iMovie (2013): Organize your events and projects

Organize your events and projects

Whenever you import video footage, iMovie automatically places the clips into events, based on the date and time the video footage was recorded. Events are like folders that contain your clips and the projects you create with them. Despite their initial time-based grouping, you can use events to group clips, trailers, and movies any way you like.

When you select an event in the Libraries list, the clips and projects it contains appear in the browser. You can double-click a movie or trailer project to open it, and you can select clips or portions of clips to add them to your movie or trailer.

Figure. Event selected in the Libraries list.

Create and rename events

You can create new events at any time (in addition to the events created automatically when you import footage). To create a new movie or trailer, see Create a new movie or Create a trailer.

  1. If you don’t see the Libraries list, click the Show button Figure. Show button. on the left side of the toolbar.

  2. If you have more than one iMovie library, select the library where you want to create an event.

  3. Choose File > New Event.

    The new event appears in the Libraries list, with its name highlighted.

  4. To rename the event, type a new name.

    Figure. Renaming an event in the Libraries list.
Note:   To rename an existing event, select it in the Libraries list, press Return, and type the new name.

Copy or move clips and projects between events

You can copy or move clips and projects from one event to another.

  1. In the Libraries list, select the event that contains the items you want to move or copy.

  2. In the browser, select the items you want to move or copy.

    Note:   To select multiple items, hold down the Command key as you click the items you want to select, or drag a selection rectangle around the items.
  3. Do one of the following:

    • To move items between events: Drag the selected items from one event to the other.

    • To copy items between events: Option-drag the selected items from one event to the other by first starting to drag and then holding down the Option key as you drag.

The procedures for moving or copying clips and projects from one hard disk to another are slightly different from the steps described above. For more information, see Work with multiple libraries.

Duplicate movies, trailers, and clips

Duplicating a movie or trailer is useful if you want to work on a new version of the movie or trailer. Duplicating a clip is useful if you want to apply an effect or make other changes to a version of a clip.

  1. In the Libraries list, select the event that contains the item you want to duplicate.

  2. In the browser, do one of the following.

    • To select a movie or trailer: Click the movie or trailer.

    • To select a clip: Double-click the clip.

    If you select part of a clip, the entire clip will be duplicated.

    Note:   To select multiple items, hold down the Command key as you click the items you want to select, or drag a selection rectangle around the items.
  3. Do one of the following:

    • To duplicate the selected clip or movie: Choose Edit > Duplicate Movie.

    • To duplicate the selected trailer: Choose Edit > Duplicate Trailer.

Merge or split events

You can merge (combine) two or more events in the Libraries list (for example, if the footage they contain is very closely related). You can also split a single event into multiple events if you find an event is getting unmanageable because of the number of clips it contains.

In the Libraries list, do one of the following:

To merge events: Select an event and drag it to the event you want to merge it with, or select the events you wish to merge and choose File > Merge Events.

Figure. Merging two events into another event in the Libraries list.

To split a single event: Create the new events you need, and then move the clips or projects you want to separate from the original event to the new events.

Delete movies, trailers, clips, and events

You can delete unwanted movies, trailers, and clips from an event, and you can delete an entire event in order to free up space on your hard disk.

  1. In the Libraries list, select the event you want to delete, or select the event that contains the item you want to delete.

  2. In the browser, select the movies, trailers, or clips you want to delete.

    Note:   To select multiple items, hold down the Command key as you click the items you want to select, or drag a selection rectangle around the items.
  3. Choose File > Move to Trash.

    If a clip you’re deleting is in use anywhere else in your library, the clip is not deleted.

Note:   Selecting a clip and pressing Delete marks it as rejected. For more information, see Mark clips as favorite or rejected.
Last Modified: Nov 3, 2013
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