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In the past I have been able to include photos from my photo library as stills in a movie. I can't access the photos now. In iMovie, the Photos tab shows up as blank - 'no photos or video'.
My video and movies are stored on an external drive connected to the Mac.
The photo library in Photos is selected as system default (greyed out in Preferences)
iMovie 10.2.3
Photos 6.0
macOS Big Sur 11.3.1
iMac 21.5″ 4K, macOS 11.3
Is it possible that you are using iCloud Photos and have the optimized storage option enabled? That might prevent iMovie from reading many of the photos in the Photos app library. iMovie won't read photos stored in the cloud.
The format of your external drive that stores the Photos library should be Mac OS Extended (Journaled). If you need to reformat be aware that reformatting will erase all data on the drive.
Also, try deleting preferences, as that sometimes cures iMovie misbehaviors. Open iMovie while holding down the Option and Command keys and select to delete preferences in the box that appears. iMovie will open in a new library. Reopen your old library to get back to your projects. Deleting preferences is a safe procedure that will not cause data loss or disruption to your project.
If still no luck, you can drag your photos directly from the Photos library into the timeline of an iMovie project. Or drag to your desktop and them from there into iMovie.
-- Rich
Is it possible that you are using iCloud Photos and have the optimized storage option enabled? That might prevent iMovie from reading many of the photos in the Photos app library. iMovie won't read photos stored in the cloud.
The format of your external drive that stores the Photos library should be Mac OS Extended (Journaled). If you need to reformat be aware that reformatting will erase all data on the drive.
Also, try deleting preferences, as that sometimes cures iMovie misbehaviors. Open iMovie while holding down the Option and Command keys and select to delete preferences in the box that appears. iMovie will open in a new library. Reopen your old library to get back to your projects. Deleting preferences is a safe procedure that will not cause data loss or disruption to your project.
If still no luck, you can drag your photos directly from the Photos library into the timeline of an iMovie project. Or drag to your desktop and them from there into iMovie.
-- Rich
Hi Rich
Thanks for comments.
I do not use iCloud for Photos, so I don't think that is issue. My photo library only on my external drive.
My drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
I did try delete the preferences. Still can't see the photos.
I will try the drag and drop route - thanks for that.
You could also try redownloading iMovie.
To update/redownload iMovie 10, drag your iMovie 10 app from the Applications folder into the trash, but do not empty the trash. Sign in to the app store and open your purchases folder by clicking on your name at the bottom of the app store side bar. You will see your purchases displayed, including iMovie 10. Redownload/update iMovie from there. If not successful, drag your present iMovie app out of the trash (if you moved it there) and return it to the Applications folder.
-- Rich
Using photos in iMovie
