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My imovie project is 134GB. Why please?
- Thread starter Aia
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Sorry, but I couldn't help but ask:
Is the sequence (what you cut together) 10 minutes long, or all clips combined (as your source)?
If it's the latter, I don't have an answer.
If it's the former, how long are all individual clips?
Have you opened the clips in the iMovie scratch folder with Quick Time and looked at the information inspector (Cmd + I) to see more details about your clips?
If you use DV PAL as a setting every hour of footage will take up to 12 GB of storage, or 3.25 MB/s.
And PAL is SD (Standard Definition) and not HD.
Aia:
Both projects (and especially the first one) consist of quite a lot of short clips...I can only suspect that each clip must somehow be retaining information from its entire source footage- could that be the problem, and if so how is that happening? And if not, what is happening? And how do I stop it from happening?
What do you mean with short clips? Have you imported the footage via camera or via hard disk or what?
A clip imported should have no remaining information that links to longer footage. Only if you make a subclip via iMovie (if that is possible - a subclip is a shorter clip made out of the bigger one, but with no extra associated media files, it just points to the original bigger file)
a clip can be shorter but still point to information that is bigger/longer than what you see.
So in the end, could you just give us a rundown of how you created the project?
Where's the footage from, how did you import, how long are the individual clips?
Because the length of a sequence doesn't define the size of a project, the media files are.
For example: at work we have a big project for a stupid candid camera show with 1300 tapes of digitized video which takes up several terabytes, but the following sequences are only about 23 minutes in length and amount therefore only to about 40 GB of final data.
Sorry for the long post.
Is the sequence (what you cut together) 10 minutes long, or all clips combined (as your source)?
If it's the latter, I don't have an answer.
If it's the former, how long are all individual clips?
Have you opened the clips in the iMovie scratch folder with Quick Time and looked at the information inspector (Cmd + I) to see more details about your clips?
If you use DV PAL as a setting every hour of footage will take up to 12 GB of storage, or 3.25 MB/s.
And PAL is SD (Standard Definition) and not HD.
Aia:
Both projects (and especially the first one) consist of quite a lot of short clips...I can only suspect that each clip must somehow be retaining information from its entire source footage- could that be the problem, and if so how is that happening? And if not, what is happening? And how do I stop it from happening?
What do you mean with short clips? Have you imported the footage via camera or via hard disk or what?
A clip imported should have no remaining information that links to longer footage. Only if you make a subclip via iMovie (if that is possible - a subclip is a shorter clip made out of the bigger one, but with no extra associated media files, it just points to the original bigger file)
a clip can be shorter but still point to information that is bigger/longer than what you see.
So in the end, could you just give us a rundown of how you created the project?
Where's the footage from, how did you import, how long are the individual clips?
Because the length of a sequence doesn't define the size of a project, the media files are.
For example: at work we have a big project for a stupid candid camera show with 1300 tapes of digitized video which takes up several terabytes, but the following sequences are only about 23 minutes in length and amount therefore only to about 40 GB of final data.
Sorry for the long post.
Hi - thanks for taking an interest. (sorry, I have been away from my desk for an hour, hope someone is still there...)
Sorry, this will be long, but I'll be really detailed about what I did in case anyone can help me!
(I'll talk about the larger file here. I also mentioned a 36GB project - the proces/problem there is much the same)
The source footage came directly from 3 mini dv tapes - 10 minutes of footage per tape . I imported each one as a whole piece of footage and saved each as a seperate project (call them Projects A, B and C). I then made a copy of one of these projects (Call it Project A Copy) to use as the basis for the final edited version. I extracted the audio from all 3, then deleted the audio for Projects B and C and dropped in a copy the audio from Project A Copy and realigned them with the audio so that all three were perfectly synchronised. (The 3 original tapes where all films from different angles of the same opera performance. Copy A had the best quality sound.)
Having matched up the time codes, I then cut the three into smaller clips (up to this point they were each still one long clip) and pasted copied footage (only, not audio) from B and C into project "A Copy", deleting the corresponding clips from that project.
This process meant project A copy with about 40 little clips (technically with no sound, although it looks as if in each the audio has not actually been 'extracted', but just turned right down.... although I don't know what the point of using the 'extract audio' feature is if it's just turning it right down)
Looking in 'package contents' each clip is aprox 4GB each, even though some of them are seconds long.
Projects A, B and C - the original source for the clips - are each about 4 GB.
thanks
Sorry, this will be long, but I'll be really detailed about what I did in case anyone can help me!
(I'll talk about the larger file here. I also mentioned a 36GB project - the proces/problem there is much the same)
The source footage came directly from 3 mini dv tapes - 10 minutes of footage per tape . I imported each one as a whole piece of footage and saved each as a seperate project (call them Projects A, B and C). I then made a copy of one of these projects (Call it Project A Copy) to use as the basis for the final edited version. I extracted the audio from all 3, then deleted the audio for Projects B and C and dropped in a copy the audio from Project A Copy and realigned them with the audio so that all three were perfectly synchronised. (The 3 original tapes where all films from different angles of the same opera performance. Copy A had the best quality sound.)
Having matched up the time codes, I then cut the three into smaller clips (up to this point they were each still one long clip) and pasted copied footage (only, not audio) from B and C into project "A Copy", deleting the corresponding clips from that project.
This process meant project A copy with about 40 little clips (technically with no sound, although it looks as if in each the audio has not actually been 'extracted', but just turned right down.... although I don't know what the point of using the 'extract audio' feature is if it's just turning it right down)
Looking in 'package contents' each clip is aprox 4GB each, even though some of them are seconds long.
Projects A, B and C - the original source for the clips - are each about 4 GB.
thanks
Actually, DoFoT9 pointed out that I should have a look at 'package contents' - I've only just actually opened some of the clips in there now (obviously I am rather slow today
) and they are - as i suspected - each carrying the full original source clip - as in the original 10 minutes of footage (audio intact!) that they come from.
) and they are - as i suspected - each carrying the full original source clip - as in the original 10 minutes of footage (audio intact!) that they come from. 
Actually, DoFoT9 pointed out that I should have a look at 'package contents' - I've only just actually opened some of the clips in there now (obviously I am rather slow today
That's what it is suppose to do. Happens with any video editing app; unless you specifically delete the scenes not being used, you are keeping the rips.
Not that hard to figure it out. Just get info on each project file and you'll see how much space it takes up.
All the original footage is backed up on a seperate hardrive, so I can't see how it is connected. The deleted scenes are all moved to the project trash, which I have emptied so surely they are gone?.
I thought when you split a video clip and then copy part of it, you have just copied that few seconds...
I just tried this to see - I copied one clip which is about 3 seconds long, started a new project and pasted it into the new project and saved it. As far as I can see when I watch the new test project back there is just 3 seconds of footage, and nothing in the trash.
But when I look at the size of the test project it is several GB large, I check the package contents in finder and that one 3 second clip is several GB and when I open it from the finder and watch it, it contains the whole 10 minute parent clip (as in the original shot as imported from the camera to start with). This cannot be seen in imovie, all I can see in imovie is the 3second cut.
Surely this is not normal or all and any project made by anyone anywere on imovie would be GB's large??
I thought when you split a video clip and then copy part of it, you have just copied that few seconds...
I just tried this to see - I copied one clip which is about 3 seconds long, started a new project and pasted it into the new project and saved it. As far as I can see when I watch the new test project back there is just 3 seconds of footage, and nothing in the trash.
But when I look at the size of the test project it is several GB large, I check the package contents in finder and that one 3 second clip is several GB and when I open it from the finder and watch it, it contains the whole 10 minute parent clip (as in the original shot as imported from the camera to start with). This cannot be seen in imovie, all I can see in imovie is the 3second cut.
Surely this is not normal or all and any project made by anyone anywere on imovie would be GB's large??