You can have iMovie display the precise duration of the video clips in your Events (source video), and of the video clips and other elements in your projects. iMovie displays this timecode information in the standard format of HH:MM:SS:Frames (hours, minutes, seconds, frames).
Imovie Video Editor
Imovie Video Editor
That said, when the video was on the iMac, it would have been in a folder called iMovie Events. Make sure that it is in a folder of the same name on the external hard drive. In iMovie, you should. If you're importing video from a camera or other flash memory device, make sure the file format of your video is MPEG-2 or MPEG-4, which are compatible with iMovie. If you're importing from an AVCHD camcorder, make sure you're using a Mac with an Intel Core Duo processor or better. During import, select only the clips you want. Don't select 'iMovie Cache' & 'iMovie Thumbnails' created by the first import. Those black clips should appear again in the iMovie's preview window. Extra finding: Before making the steps above, I had an iMovie project whose edited content wouldn't display either. When I am in iMovie, I can see thumbnails just fine. When I scrub or play footage, however, no video appears in the viewer. I can hear audio, and what is especially weird is that iMovie still acknowledges that there is color there (things like the white balance eye-dropper detect color) and the histogram reflects color, but I can not see any. Poloponies, thanks for the suggestion, the videos are there along with the photos, iMovie just refuses to see them. Videos that were taken with my iphone4 show up in iMovie, no problem. It's the video that comes from my Panasonic digital camera that iMovie does not recognize.
Imovie Video Tutorials
To display timecode values:
Choose iMovie > Preferences, click General, and then select 'Display time as HH:MM:SS:Frames.'
The iMovie menu appears in a light gray bar across the top of your computer screen.
In the Project browser, durations are displayed in timecode format as you move your pointer over the left end of video clips and over transition effect icons. They also appear in the upper-left corner of the colored bars that represent background music, titles, sound effects, and voiceovers.
In the Event browser, durations are displayed in timecode format as you move your pointer over video clips.
Trim Video Imovie
You can also set iMovie to show playhead information, which lets you see the timecode values for the frame where your pointer rests as you skim your video.
