Imovie Auto Save

[Hedvig Horning]

Im working on several projects that have material coming in at different times. So I'd like to edit what I can and then save it and move onto the other project. Everything I've seen on this question has me going thru the share function and saving a file. When I save it as a file isn't that the same as finalizing a project. Meaning I can't go in and edit anything except cutting it? No graphic changes or audio tweaks. I just can't believe that's the only way to "save" something.

iMovie 10 automatically saves your project as you are working. You can close a project and return to it later to do more editing. No need to save it as a file, but you can share out a file as many times as you want and always you are able to return to the original project to do further editing.

Thanks for verify my theory on this. I'm going to guess that on Final Cut Pro I could save bits of projects and go back and edit and tweak them to my hearts content. But as we all know if you dance with Apple they take the lead.

Sharing out a project creates a standalone movie. You could drag the moviet into a new iMovie project as one large clip and do some limited editing, like adding titles, doing overlays, adding some effects, splitting and deleting segments. Any edits that were embedded into the movie itself could not be changed.

However, you do not need to edit the shared out movie. After sharing out, the original project still remains and is not "finalized", so you can go back to it, make changes, and share it out again if you want. Also, you can keep any number of unfinished projects going at once and you can return to them later and continue to edit them. The unfinished projects are automatically saved in the Projects browser, that is like a library where your finished and unfinished projects are displayed as icons and are stored for future editing or sharing out.

When you want to go back to a project to make changes, maybe several revisits, you make a duplicate of the project and work with the duplicate. That way you always preserve your original project. To make a duplicate, open the Projects Browser screen (the one where your projects are displayed as icons) and move your cursor over the project's title. A little circle with dots in it will appear to the right of the title. Click on that to get a drop down menu that will give you a "Duplicate Project" option. You can make as many duplicates as you want. They take up insignificant space.

I'm not aware of how other DAWs work in this regard and personally never rely on any auto-save or auto-backup features, I manually save new versions of the project I'm working in every 20 minutes or so. I'd love to have a reliable auto-save+backup feature I can trust but in 30 years of working with computers, I've learned to never fully trust any of those automatic features, and ultimately be responsible for my own saving/backup scheme.

Yeah first time its happened to me. I'm usually good with hitting "save" (in Logic 9 it was to the point of obsession, turning into a rote "command-s" almost constantly), but Logic 10 does a good enough job where its less rote to me now and some hours can go by without me thinking of it.

I honestly don't see why "don't save" is even an option, "save" or "save as" is plenty. Who ever finishes up, closes Logic, and intentionally clicks "don't save." Can't think of an option that's more meaningless that can do so much instant damage. If you want to delete a session after working on it for some mystical reason, you can do it in Finder.

Honestly, I don't think I'm physically capable of doing hours worth of work without saving! (The very thought of that is like climbing solo without a rope - one power cut or crash and it's game over!) Makes me anxious! ?

Yes, it's annoying if you didn't save, and then your click Quit, and when asked to save, click on "No" but there's only so much a computer can do to protect itself from user actions! The best thing is to develop habits to not put you in those situations, especially as different software implements these things differently (or not at all) so it's difficult to rely on being slack in this regard.

So yes, an annoying learning experience, but there's not much professional software I know of that will save a copy of your project, and all assets (potentially a lot of data) even if you explicitly choose not to save it at all...

I would hate to be forced to save it and then physically delete the file on disk, or overwrite a project unintentionally just to prevent someone accidentally pressing a button they didn't want to click on...

Software like Final Cut never asks you if you want to save anything at any point, its saving everything automatically. Your work is always there, you never click "save" or "don't save," ever. If you want to delete, you have to take the step of deleting specifically what you want. This just makes sense, "don't save" is an antiquated option that serves no real purpose. There's absolutely zero reason that creatives have to live with the fear forgetting to command-s all the time while they're in the zone creating, other than programmers made it that way in this still-early phase of digital creation tools.

seriously, whatever you think of it (and i hear you, i appreciate that functionality in final cut), it is what it is. so you need to adapt... as has everyone on this forum (and undoubtedly, most macusers out there).

Exactly. Its just a dumb option that feels antiquated at this point. Its fundamentally anti-creative to have to worry about this stuff, when its so easy to delete scratch ideas or whatever you don't want to keep other ways. Final Cut is the model for how to best set up creatives to create without any fear baggage over their heads of making an error that destroys their work. EVERYTHING should be done by the software to preserve work.

Yes, because before you start work, FCP asks you to create a project/library etc, so it now has a disk project it can save state to... it's like immediately saving a Logic project before you do anything, so save (and autosave) always preserves work...

Yes of course, it is what it is, adapt. First time its happened in years for me. But its shocking that one tiny mis-click can be so damaging. This doesn't need to exist. The cost/benefit is way out of wack.

you're making the same point over & over, we got it. now, if you want this to be a better experience in the real world, adapt. save a started project early on. get used to hitting command-S. and you'll be good to go...

I'm not familiar with FCP but if it works like iMovie for example, then it's not the same. I know that in iMovie, you never have to save anything, and there's no auto-save as we know it in Logic. Instead, whatever you change is immediately written to the file (or at least appears to be for the user). Same experience as when working with iCloud for example.

These repeated posts acting like I'm off base for suggesting Logic be creative-friendly and operate in a way that makes all deletions intentional are what's off base IMO. This is clearly something on the regressive side of things that other professional software solved long ago.

I really disagree with this. If I'm working on something good, I'm saving as I go - I save early, and often. I will be wearing out that command-S key. At this point, it's almost an unconscious impulse.

If I'm noodling around, just playing or exploring an instrument, or loading up Logic to test some behaviour for a forum answer, then very often don't want to save anything, so yes they should have that option - I shouldn't be forced to save something I don't want to save, then have to go and delete it afterwards.

The real answer is for all serious computer users to develop an effectively save strategy, to make sure they are in control of when, and why, they should save their work - with the computer having their back on the occasion they mess up and forget.

Anyone who starts a project, gets something going, and works on it for *hours* and doesn't think "Hmm, I should definitely save this", regardless of the app, is at some point likely to lose work. As are people that do that, then quit Logic, see the dialog box, and don't even think about it while clicking on "Don't save" - you can't really blame Logic in that case if you lose your work. It's a result of poor driving, not a badly designed car, imo.

Wait, so if I open up an existing project just to throw a newly acquired plugin across the master bus to see what it does and how it works, I should be forced to SAVE those changes into an existing project?

Or if I open up a new project to throw a song into for beat analysis and looping for practise purposes, I need to save it first before deleting it from the Finder?

I mean, I've been in the exact same position as the original poster myself, but hell no!

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