iMovie 09 doesn't accept the iMovie 08 sparsebundle trick!

[davegadgeteer]

I tried the trick (sparsebundleimage) shown in this forum for getting iMovie 08 to see video files stored on the ReadyNAS, but then I upgraded to iMovie 09 and now the volume shows with the ! again and won't show any video files in iMovie anymore.

Has anyone found a way to make iMovie 09 work with ReadyNAS yet?

[caraco]

I'm having the same issue. Has anybody found a solution?

[sphardy]

Hello

I don't have iMovie '09 so cannot try this, but there are 2 possibilities you can try

1. While iMovie '08 did not recognise AFP shares, it would recognise CIFS shares. Therefore if you setup a CIFS share, create the appropriate 'iMovie Events' folder in the root of that share and copy an iMovie event from your sparse bundle to this new share/folder - this may be a workaround (Note: the Sparsebundle method was primarily a workaround for environments where CIFS was not used)

2. Use symbolic links to point to an iMovie event on the NAS: Copy an event to any folder on your NAS, then create a symbolic link in your local Movies/iMovie Events folder that points to the event on the NAS eg in a terminal window

Code: Select all

cd ~/Movies/iMovie\ Events.localized/
ln -s /Volumes/media/nas_imovie_event_folder/test_event test_event


The above makes the folder 'test_event' to appear in you local iMovie Events folder as if it was a local folder. You could also just setup a link such that all you iMovie events are stored on the NAS with:

Code: Select all

cd ~/Movies
ln -s /Volumes/media/nas_imovie_event_folder iMovie\ Events.localized/


Let us know if either of these options work in '09

///P

[majayjay]

I'm a newbie with the ReadyNAS but I was able to get it to work properly with iMovie 08 and I was able to get time machine working with the readyNAS as well.

I tried setting up a CIFS share on the ReadyNAS and it is not working for me with iMovie 09.

I created a Share called "Videos-2" on the ReadyNAS. From Finder, I created a folder on that share called "iMovie Events" and then copied a clip into that folder.
The "Videos-2" share shows up in iMovie 09, but it has the little yellow triangle with the exclamation point inside it and does not allow me to copy clips to it from within iMovie. In addition, I am unable to see the "iMovie Events" folder or the clip that is in that folder, which both reside on the "Videos-2" share.

I would encourage someone else trying CIFS shares, it is possible I am not doing something correctly...

I have not tried the symbolic links yet.

[sphardy]

2 things to note re. the CIFS share solution

1. the iMovie Events folder MUST be in the root of the share - the previous poster seemed to have done that, but did not state this explicitly so worth checking

2. You must take care with the name of the folder - while the folder is shown as 'iMovie Events' within ~/Movies on a local drive, if you were to list this folder from a terminal window it would show as 'iMovie Events.localized'. Try naming the CIFs folder to this 'localized' version - or to be sure to get it correct, copy the folder over from the local drive

///P

[majayjay]

Thank you for your help...

1. It is in the root of the share.
2. I renamed the folder iMovie Events.localized directly on the readynas and that did not seam to help. I created a new folder with the same name on my local drive and then copied it over and that did not seam to help either.

FYI-I am doing all this through Finder, not in terminal. I don't know what I am doing in terminal so I am afraid to try it because I don't want to mess something up and not be able to figure out how to undo it. Also, when I rename it with the .localized ammendment, it appears to take, but the folder in Finder does not display that ammendment.

My Preference really is to have it work through AFP. Hopefully someone more comfortable with terminal can give your other suggestion a try and report back...

[sphardy]

mayjayjay

To try the symbolic link approach is relatively easy and I'm 99% certain this will work. If you wish to try here are the instructions (it's just 2 commands in a terminal window)

Assumptions:

• Share on NAS = <share>
• Folder on Share holding iMovie Events = <events>
• Specific event within the NAS iMovie Events folder = <single_event>

Open a terminal window and enter the following (replacing the placeholders listed above with your actual names)

Code: Select all

cd ~/Movies/iMovie\ Events.localized/
ln -s /Volumes/<share>/<events>/<single_event>


For the test, make sure you only have alphanumeric characters in all the names - no spaces or punctuation - this would complicate things and is unnecessary for just a test where we first just need to check the method works.

If this works, the specific event should appear in iMovie. Note that you will not see it under the reference to the NAS share in iMovie, but as if the event was on your local disk.

///P

[majayjay]

First I tried this using actual folder names:
JJ-MacBookPro:~ Majay$ cd ~/Movies/iMovie\ Events.localized/
JJ-MacBookPro:iMovie Events.localized Majay$ ln -s /Volumes/Videos/iMovie Events/NAS Event 2-1-09
ln: 2-1-09: No such file or directory
No effect in iMovie.

Then I tried this to see if I needed to direct it to the actual movie clip:
JJ-MacBookPro:iMovie Events.localized Majay$ ln -s /Volumes/Videos/iMovie Events/NAS Event 2-1-09/clip-2009-02-01 11;28;18.mov
ln: 11: No such file or directory
-bash: 28: command not found
-bash: 18.mov: command not found
No effect in iMovie.

Then I renamed folders and tried the simpler names as indicated below:
JJ-MacBookPro:~ Majay$ cd ~/Movies/iMovie\ Events.localized/
JJ-MacBookPro:iMovie Events.localized Majay$ ln -s /Volumes/Videos/Majaymovie/NASEvent
NASEvent became visible in iMovie as if it is on my local hard drive, but the clip inside it is not visible in iMovie.

Tried the following to see if I could make the clip visible:
JJ-MacBookPro:iMovie Events.localized Majay$ ln -s /Volumes/Videos/Majaymovie/NASEvent/clip-2009-02-01 11;28;18.mov
-bash: 28: command not found
-bash: 18.mov: command not found
JJ-MacBookPro:iMovie Events.localized Majay$
No effect in iMovie.

Then I changed gears and tried this from your prior posting
JJ-MacBookPro:iMovie Events.localized Majay$ cd ~/Movies
JJ-MacBookPro:Movies Majay$ ln -s /Volumes/Videos/iMovie Events iMovie\ Events.localized/
JJ-MacBookPro:Movies Majay$
No effect that I could see. Do I need to “undo” this step?

Then, as another check, within iMovie, I tried moving a clip that actually was on my local disc to the “NASEvent” folder within iMovie and it did allow me to move the clip and it remained visible in iMovie and also physically copied it to the readyNAS as verified in Finder. I still cannot see the clip that resided in that folder originally.


As another test, I worked through finder to create another folder on the NAS
Volumes/Videos/Majaymovie/NASEvent2
I then copied some clips into that folder
I then drug that folder into my local iMovie Events folder as an alias.
This process did not allow iMovie to see the NASEvent2 folder.


Yet another test, if I capture video off the iSight camera, it does not allow me to select anything other than the local hard drive for the location to capture to. No NAS access.

So it seams some progress has been made, but I don’t understand how to piece it all together to make it work smoothly? It seams as though it would be a pain in the ** to have to rename every folder from the default name iMovie creates and then also have to manually create links in terminal. I also don't understand why it doesn't recognize the video clip that was already in the EventsNAS folder.

[sphardy]

Then, as another check, within iMovie, I tried moving a clip that actually was on my local disc to the “NASEvent” folder within iMovie and it did allow me to move the clip and it remained visible in iMovie and also physically copied it to the readyNAS as verified in Finder.

This was the most important info - it means the method does actually work

Your earlier attempts appear to be due to errors in your commands, primarily caused by the use of spaces in file/folder names. But the fact you can create a link to your NAS and copy iMovie clips there proves the method works.

Now to figure the best way to proceed: Do you intend to keep ALL you iMovie clips on the NAS and to access them from there? Or will you ever need to have some clips on your local drive? Answer to this is key to determining the best way to advise you

///P

[majayjay]

I may need to have them on the local drive from time to time (import off camcorder while traveling away from home or depending on the performance of my network I may need to copy the events to my local drive, make my movie and then delelete the events off my local drive) but the majority of the time I would just store them on the NAS.

Will you please confirm that I don't need to "Undo" the command that I inquired about in the previous post. Thank you!

[sphardy]

I may need to have them on the local drive from time to time (import off camcorder while traveling away from home or depending on the performance of my network I may need to copy the events to my local drive, make my movie and then delelete the events off my local drive) but the majority of the time I would just store them on the NAS.

That makes it a little more awkward - let me think of the best way to advise you and maybe get back to you tomorrow. I know there's a graphical utility around that lets you create symbolic links without resorting to the command line, but I haven't used it. Might make things simpler.

Will you please confirm that I don't need to "Undo" the command that I inquired about in the previous post. Thank you!

You probably will - but it's hard to say for sure given you've only given a snapshot of what you have done and I can't see the state of your Movies folder. Have a look in your local iMovie Events folder and see if all looks fine. If not, or if you just want to restart clean then do the following:

1. Make sure you have an movie clips/events on your local drive all backed up
2. In Finder, got to your Movies folder and delete any references to 'iMovie events' and to any of the clips you experimented with.
3. Start iMovie and it should re-create the iMovie Events folder
4. Copy back any iMovie events you need into the iMovie Events folder

///P

[sphardy]

I've investigated this a little more, and there are 2 options for creating the links needed to make an iMovie event folder on your NAS accessible from iMovie

1. Command line - ie using terminal
2. A shareware graphical utility - Make Symlink

Note: I have not purchased this utility so have not been able to set it up to make creating the links a 'one click' deal, but I have tested it with the default settings available without registering and it seems to work well.

Instructions for each method are below - but first a point on notation. I will assume that the iMovie video clips are stored as follows:

Code: Select all

<nas_share>
    |
    `--<folder_storing_all_events>
              |
              `--<folder_storing_specific_event>


A specific example:

Code: Select all

media
  |
  `--Video_Clips
          |
          `--Video_Event


Command LIne:
To create the link required to access the specific event as describe in the example above, use the following commands in a terminal window

Code: Select all

cd ~/Movies/iMovie\ Events.localized
ln -s /Volumes/media/Video_Clips/Video_Event


If done correctly, on restarting iMovie, the event should appear in iMovie as if it is a local event.

Notes:

• The 2nd line of this command must be modified to reflect your own setup.
• If any folder names have spaces in them, a '\' character must be placed in front of the space. See the first command in the above that shows an exampel of this this (cd ~/Movies/iMovie\ Events.localized)
• The link can be removed using finder by simply deleting it - this will NOT delete anythign from your NAS, only the link itself

Using the Make Symlink Utility

• Download and install the utility
• Navigate in finder to the folder containing your events (eg media/Video_Clips)
• Ctrl-Click on the event you wish to make available in iMovie
• Select from the popup menu 'More -> Make Symlink in -> Desktop'
• Drag and drop the resulting 'file' that appear on your desktop to your 'Movies/iMovie Events' folder

Again, if done correctly, on restarting iMovie, the event should appear in iMovie as if it is a local event. It may be removed also by deleting using finder

Note that steps 3 and 4 could be combined into 1 step by purchasing the shareware and setting it up to have an option to create the symlink directly in 'Movies/iMovie Events' rather than creating on the desktop and moving

Have tried to make this as clear as possible - good luck

///P

[majayjay]

Thank you sphardy!!

This appears to work correctly.

I have a couple comments for others...
1 Symbolic Linker is Free and is available
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/10433
2) It took an unusually long time to copy/move all of my video files from the original iMovie 08 sparsebundle that I had on the NAS to the new iMovie 09 iMovie Events folder on the NAS, so don't be surprised. It is possible that there is something wrong with my setup and others will have faster results, see below.

My problem now is that when I play any of my video files through iMovie09, the video does not playback in real-time and iMovie hangs. It plays back okay for the first few seconds and then becomes very choppy and freezes on past frames. Audio comes in and out.
It appears to be a buffering issue, or that the NAS is not pumping it out quick enough, or the network is slowing it down. All clips have this issue and it always happens. I've toggled Enabling/Disabling Jumbo Frames with no effect. I've included my setup information in my signature, do you see any issues or have any suggestions? So close, yet so far... Thank you!

[sphardy]

Thank you sphardy!!

This appears to work correctly.

You're welcome - may have to now think of upgrading...

I have a couple comments for others...
1 Symbolic Linker is Free and is available
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/10433

Nice find - also I found with this plugin that you can select multiple events and then run the action so it's possible to create multiple links to all your events rather than one at a time. Shame it adds the 'symlink' extension though...

2) It took an unusually long time to copy/move all of my video files from the original iMovie 08 sparsebundle that I had on the NAS to the new iMovie 09 iMovie Events folder on the NAS, so don't be surprised. It is possible that there is something wrong with my setup and others will have faster results, see below.

Note that, as you have to mount the sparse image to do the copy, you are effectively copying all of your video clips to your mac and then back to the NAS. So yes - I would expect this to take a while

My problem now is that when I play any of my video files through iMovie09, the video does not playback in real-time and iMovie hangs. It plays back okay for the first few seconds and then becomes very choppy and freezes on past frames. Audio comes in and out.
It appears to be a buffering issue, or that the NAS is not pumping it out quick enough, or the network is slowing it down. All clips have this issue and it always happens. I've toggled Enabling/Disabling Jumbo Frames with no effect. I've included my setup information in my signature, do you see any issues or have any suggestions? So close, yet so far... Thank you!

I would suggest you start another topic for this - but one thing to help try and narrow down the issue: Open one of your NAS-based video clips directly in quicktime and play it. Do you see the same issue? If so - this would suggest you have a networking or pther such performance issue rather than the problem being specifically iMovie related

///P

[majayjay]

Within iMovie 09, if I select a portion of any of my clips residing on the NAS and then try to mark it as a favorite, it does not allow me to do so...
After I have selected the portion of the clip I like, I select the button that has the "green star with the plus sign to the upper right hand side of it" but the clip does not show the customary green bar at the top indicating it was marked as a favorite. Also, if I select the option to view favorite clips, the selection does not show up there either. Any ideas why this is not working properly and if there are any work around for this?