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Imovie 09 Source Clip Is Missing

This document provides steps to resolve a missing source clip error in iMovie 09. The clip was moved to a new location and is no longer found at the original file path. The steps show how to open the iMovie project package, convert the project file to XML, edit it to replace the incorrect file path with the correct new one, save and convert it back to binary so iMovie can read it again. After following these steps, the missing clip error is resolved.

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Juan Ruiz
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101 views13 pages

Imovie 09 Source Clip Is Missing

This document provides steps to resolve a missing source clip error in iMovie 09. The clip was moved to a new location and is no longer found at the original file path. The steps show how to open the iMovie project package, convert the project file to XML, edit it to replace the incorrect file path with the correct new one, save and convert it back to binary so iMovie can read it again. After following these steps, the missing clip error is resolved.

Uploaded by

Juan Ruiz
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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iMovie 09 "Source clip is missing.

"

This lesson resolves the issue where iMovie reports it can not find the original audio or video files for a
project. This typically happens when you add a new drive, do some "house-cleaning" or you have
incorporated a new media storage plan.

"Source clip is missing."

You open iMovie 09 and see the image above is in the View window of iMovie. In addition, a small
yellow triangle shows up in the lower left hand corner of the clip that is missing. (see below)

iMovie 09 "Source clip is missing." - 1


Indentify missing clip

The clip that is missing is indicated by a small yellow triangle with an exclamation point (within red circle
above.)

Determine where iMovie expected to find clip

When you hold the cursor over the yellow triangle, a small box will appear with the file path of the
missing clip. Note the path of the missing file, in this case it is "/Users/lkoepsel/Pictures/iPhoto
Library/Originals/2008/Ogden Breakfast July 2, 2008/MVI_0661.AVI"

iMovie 09 "Source clip is missing." - 2


Determine where clip has been moved

The clip was moved out of iPhoto Library and in to a new directory for iMovie projects. Complete path of
clip is now "~/Movies/iMovie Events/Ogden/MVI_0661.AVI". Note: Though it is not shown above, the
folder iMovie Events has a longer name, it is this long name that must be used later. To determne the
longer name use Right click (or control-click) on the folder and click on Get Info. In the Get Info box, the
field Name and Extension will show the full name of the folder is "iMovie Events.localized".

iMovie 09 "Source clip is missing." - 3


Find the iMovie project

The iMovie project is called Missing and is in the iMovie Projects folder.

Open the project

Right click (or control-click) on the project file "Missing" and choose "Show Package Contents" from the
menu.

iMovie 09 "Source clip is missing." - 4


See the contents of the project file

The command "Show Package Contents" will open a Finder window showing the projects files. The file
that contains the paths of the media files is called "Project". This file is a binary flie and needs to be
converted to text to edit then back into binary. If you don't make it binary then iMovie won't recognize
the project. Close the window so that you can see the iMovie project.

iMovie 09 "Source clip is missing." - 5


Open Terminal

Within Terminal, you will change the directory to the directory with the Project file. The easist way to do
this is to type the letters "cd " (for change directory) and then drag the project file onto the terminal
screen. This will place the path of the project immediately after the "cd ". Pressing return will change
the directory to the project.

iMovie 09 "Source clip is missing." - 6


Drag project into Terminal

Type "cd " (be sure to add a space after the "d"). From the Finder window on the right side, drag the
project "Missing" into the terminal window. This will put the path of the project on to the command line.
Press "Return".

iMovie 09 "Source clip is missing." - 7


View the contents of the project

In Terminal, type "ls" and press Return to view a list of the files in the project. The file "Project" is the
file that needs to be edited.

iMovie 09 "Source clip is missing." - 8


Convert file

In Terminal, use the command "plutil" to convert the binary file into xml. To do this type "plutil -convert
xml1 Project" and press Return.

iMovie 09 "Source clip is missing." - 9


Edit file

Type "open -a TextEdit Project" and press Return. This will open the file Project in a window in TextEdit.

Find the incorrect media location in the file

Use the Edit - Find - Find... command in TextEdit to find the line that contains the incorrect location. In
this case, I used the word "July".

iMovie 09 "Source clip is missing." - 10


Replace the incorrect location with the correct one

I took the entire path following the "~/" to the filename and replaced it with the new path. Click on
Replace to replace the text, make sure the change is correct then click Next. Repeat this procedure
until "Not Found" appears on dialog box. Note: It is important to use the long name of iMovie Events.

Save and close file

Use File - Save to save file then Textedit - Quit Textedit, to close file and exit TextEdit.

iMovie 09 "Source clip is missing." - 11


Convert file back to binary

In Terminal, type "plutil -convert binary1 Project and press Return. This will convert the file into the
format that iMovie requires. If this step is missed, iMovie won't recognize the project file.

iMovie 09 "Source clip is missing." - 12


Open the iMovie Project

All of the yellow triangles have disappeared! Woohoo!

iMovie 09 "Source clip is missing." - 13

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