The original project remains untouched, and you can continue working on it as much as you’d like.

When you export a project, you’re making a copy of it that compresses all the parts into one stand-alone video file that will play on the web (and most computers). That’s why iMovie, like most video editing programs, has an Export feature. So if you want to share an iMovie project with a friend, you wouldn’t send them the iMovie project file because that file doesn’t include all the associated media files. For example, if you bring a photo into iMovie and crop or brighten it, that effect will apply only to the iMovie project, not to the original file.īecause this is how iMovie works, the iMovie project files on your computer can only be used on YOUR computer (or on an external HD that has all of your media files on it). IMovie is a non-linear video editing system, which means that it allows you to assemble video projects from a variety of media files on your computer, without making changes to the original files. (View on SlideShare) The Long Version Understanding Video Editors If you have iMovie ’13 (which came with Mac OS 10.9), follow these steps instead: Export a Web-Ready Video from iMovie ’13 The Short Version If you have iMovie ’11 (which came with Mac OS 10.7 and 10.8), follow the steps below.

Exporting imovie