Sunday, February 19, 2012

iMovie 11 does not completely import iMovie HD projects

I was infuriated by the data loss during iPhoto to Aperture migration, but that's nothing compared to iMovie HD to iMovie 11 migration [1]. All titles and effects are lost.

This happened years before the better known debacle; Final Cut Pro X does not import Final Cut Pro 7 projects.

How does Apple get away with this?

It's not just a rhetorical question.

[1] Prior versions don't import at all, though you can dig the .DV files out of the Packages and import them by hand. Or open prior projects in iMovie HD, then save them then import.

3 comments:

  1. Certainly, the FCPX launch was a debacle, but not because FCPX couldn't import Final Cut Pro 7 projects. FCPX has new editing metaphors and data structures, making full import fidelity impossible.

    Apple made many mistakes with the FCPX launch, but they didn't "get away with" not importing FCP7.

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  2. I think the distinction is about why FCPX couldn't import FCP7 projects. Not that Apple was simply lazy, but rather than they'd made such radical changes that import was impossible.

    I suspect the iMovie HD to iMovie 11 import failure has similar causes; such radical change that import was not feasible.



    [1] http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2011/06/more-on-apples-direction-for-final-cut-pro-x-express-and-server-going-away.ars

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  3. Appe re-conceptualized video editing, and created new data structures and relationships. It has been a bumpy transition (needlessly so because of some of Apple's other decisions), but I'd say at this point that their direction is a good one.

    Full import fidelity is impossible. Near fidelity is available with the 3rd-party product 7tox:

    http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/7tox-for-final-cut-pro/id496926258

    Have to admit, it irritates me when people excoriate Apple for the import issue. I guess they could have done a better job explaining.

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