Section 14.3. The Project Trash


14.3. The Project Trash

You can get rid of a clip either by selecting it and then pressing the Delete key or by dragging it directly onto the project Trash icon.

The iMovie Trash has a lot in common with the iPhoto Trash, the Finder's Trash, or the Windows Recycle Bin: it's a safety net. It's a holding tank for clips, photos, and sounds that you intend to throw out. They're not really gone, though, until you use the File Empty Trash command.

In iMovie HD, you can even open the Trash "folder," look over and even play back the clips inside, and rescue or delete individual audio and video clips without emptying the whole Trash.

To open the new Trash window, click the Trash icon or choose File Show Trash.


Tip: If you just want to empty the whole Trash right now, without having to wait for the Trash contents window to open, press the and Option keys as you click the Trash icon.

The fact that you can open the Trash window isn't the only startling change in iMovie HD. You should also be aware tha:

UP TO SPEED
Why Emptying the Trash Doesn't Restore Disk Space

OK, this is so weird. I had a ton of stuff in my iMovie Trash. But when I emptied it, the little "free disk space remaining" counter didn't change at all! I had 532 megs available before I emptied the Trash, and the same amount after !

No doubt about it: iMovie HD's revamped editing-and-Trash features are a blessing and a curse.

Here's the blessing: In iMovie HD, you can use the Revert Clip to Original command any time , even after emptying the Trash, even months or years later. You can also add back a missing chunk from the middle of a clip that you'd previously lobotomizedagain, even after emptying the Trash. You can chop, truncate, split, and shorten clips to your heart's content, and at any time, restore what you'd eliminated. (In previous iMovie versions, emptying the Trash meant that portions you cut from clips were gone forever.)

Here's the curse: These features work because iMovie quietly preserves the entire copy of every clip you import. If you split a clip in half, drag the second part to the Trash, and then empty the Trash, you don't get back one single byte of disk space. iMovie is hanging onto the entire original clip, just in case you change your mind someday.

The only time emptying the Trash actually frees up disk space, in fact, is if you've put an entire clip into it. If even one frame of it appears in the Timeline, iMovie still preserves the entire original clip on your hard drive.

So what if you've imported a 40-minute tape all in one clip and you intend to work with only the first 5 minutes' worth? Will that iMovie project occupy 40 minutes' worth of space on your hard drive forever?

Yes, unless you the somewhat drastic steps described on Section 32.3.2. (In short, the process involves exporting the short clip to your hard drive as a full-quality DV movie, deleting all scraps of the original clip from iMovie, and emptying the Trash, which returns all that disk space to you. Finally, you drag the good part of the clip from the desktop back into the iMovie window. iMovie will be convinced that this 5-minute segment is the entire clip. )


  • Whenever you choose File Empty Trash (or double-click the Trash can), you lose your ability to undo your recent steps; the Undo command is dimmed. In fact, emptying the Trash also disables the Revert to Saved command and vaporizes whatever's on your Clipboard. (You can still use the Revert Clip to Original command, however.)

    So when would you ever choose File Empty Trash? The short answer is, only when you need to reclaim the hard-drive space its taking up, and perhaps once when your project is finished.

  • On the other hand, emptying the project Trash doesn't always restore free disk space, for the technical reasons described in the box on the facing page.

  • Emptying the Trash is very fast in iMovie HD, even if there are thousands of clips in there.




iLife 05. The Missing Manual
iLife 05: The Missing Manual
ISBN: 0596100361
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 314
Authors: David Pogue

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net