iMovie to Premiere Pro, CapCut or DaVinci Resolve

iMovie exports projects only to Final Cut Pro, so that's the way to CapCut, Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve today. In iMovie, choose File > Send Movie to Final Cut Pro. In Final Cut, move the media into a folder and choose File > Export XML. CutConvert then turns the XML and that folder into a CapCut project, a Premiere Pro XML or a DaVinci Resolve project. You need Final Cut Pro 12.0 or later: $299.99, or Apple Creator Studio at $12.99 a month after a free month.

CutConvert can't read an iMovie library directly yet. Drop yours below to ask for that converter.

iMovie can't hand a project to Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve or CapCut. Its menus have no XML, EDL or AAF export, and none of those editors opens an iMovie library. The one way out for an editable timeline is File > Send Movie to Final Cut Pro. Final Cut Pro can then export the project as FCPXML, and that's the file CutConvert converts. On October 27, 2026 I built a test movie in iMovie 10.4.5 for Mac and sent it to Final Cut. The Final Cut steps come from Apple's guides for the current version.

What you need

• iMovie 10.4.5 or later on a Mac. It's free on the Mac App Store and needs macOS 26.6 or later. On macOS 27, iMovie 10.4 wouldn't open at all until I updated it. Projects from iMovie for iPhone or iPad go through a Mac too. Their steps are further down.
• Final Cut Pro 12.0 or later. iMovie 10.4.5 sends the movie as FCPXML 1.14, which Final Cut first read in version 12.0, according to Apple's Final Cut Pro release notes. Final Cut Pro 11.2 refused my test movie with "DTD version is not recognized." The current version, 12.4, needs macOS 26.6 or later, according to its Mac App Store listing.

Final Cut isn't free. Apple's Final Cut Pro trial page now offers a free month of Apple Creator Studio, the subscription that includes Final Cut, rather than a trial of Final Cut on its own. Your options in the US, from Apple's Final Cut Pro page and its Creator Studio page, checked October 27, 2026:

Creator Studio also includes Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Motion and Compressor. If you only need Final Cut for this one move, the free month covers it. Cancel before it renews if you don't want to keep paying.

Step 1: send the movie from iMovie to Final Cut Pro

1. Open the project in iMovie. Double-click it in Projects view.
2. Choose File > Send Movie to Final Cut Pro.
3. Wait for Final Cut Pro to open. It makes a new library named after your iMovie library, with an event that holds your project.

If Final Cut says the XML document from iMovie "could not be imported" because the "DTD version is not recognized", your Final Cut is older than 12.0. Update it, then send the movie again. With an event or a whole library selected in iMovie's sidebar, the same menu item reads Send Event to Final Cut Pro or Send "iMovie Library" to Final Cut Pro instead.

Apple's guide to sending projects to Final Cut Pro says the project and the media it uses are copied into that Final Cut library, so your iMovie library keeps its own copy. Only movie projects can be sent. A trailer needs one extra step first.

Step 2: move the media into a normal folder

Final Cut keeps the copied clips inside its library, which Finder shows as a single file. CutConvert needs to see the clips themselves (step 4), so move them out to a folder first. Apple's guide to setting storage locations has these steps:

1. Make a new, empty folder in Finder, for example "iMovie media" in your Movies folder.
2. Select the new library in Final Cut's Libraries sidebar and choose File > Library Properties.
3. Click Modify Settings. In the Media pop-up menu, choose Choose, pick your new folder, click Choose, then OK.
4. Click Consolidate in the Media section of Library Properties, then OK.

Final Cut moves the clips into your folder, according to Apple's guide to consolidating media. The project keeps playing from there.

Step 3: export XML from Final Cut Pro

1. Select the project in the event Final Cut made.
2. Choose File > Export XML.
3. Keep the newest XML version and click Save.

Final Cut saves XML version 1.10 and later as a .fcpxmld bundle, according to Apple's guide to exporting XML. Finder shows it as one file. It's a folder with the XML inside, as What is an FCPXMLD file explains.

Step 4: convert the XML for your editor

1. Open the converter for the editor you're moving to. Final Cut Pro to CapCut, Final Cut Pro to Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro to DaVinci Resolve.
2. Drag the .fcpxmld from Finder onto the page. Dragging opens the bundle. The click-to-choose button can't, so if you choose it that way, right-click the bundle in Finder, choose Show Package Contents and pick the Info.fcpxml inside.
3. Add your media folder. Click Add folder under Media folder and pick the folder from step 2. Final Cut's XML doesn't say which sound tracks a MOV or MP4 video plays, so the converter reads that from each clip's header. Without the folder it stops and asks for it. It reads the headers only, not the video.
4. Convert and open the result.

• CapCut. You get a CapCut project folder. Copy it into CapCut's drafts folder and the edit shows on CapCut's home screen. CapCut can't import XML itself, as Does CapCut export XML explains.
• Premiere Pro. You get an XML that Premiere imports with File > Import. Premiere doesn't read Final Cut's FCPXML, so this step is needed.
• DaVinci Resolve. You get a .drp project to open from Resolve's Project Manager with Import Project. Resolve can also import Final Cut's XML on its own with File > Import > Timeline.

Each download comes with a list of what CutConvert changed or left out.

iMovie on iPhone or iPad

1. Export the project on the phone. Open iMovie, tap the project, tap Share, then Export Project. Apple's iMovie for iPhone guide gives those labels. Its Final Cut guide calls the same steps Options, then Project, so the wording depends on your iMovie version.
2. Get the file to your Mac. AirDrop puts it in Downloads. Save to Files can put it in iCloud Drive, in the iMovie folder there. The exported file ends in .iMovieMobile, or .iMovieTrailer for a trailer, and it carries the media with it.
3. Import it into Final Cut Pro. Choose File > Import > iMovie iOS Projects, pick the file and click Import. Apple says that's the only way in. Double-clicking the file or dragging it into Final Cut doesn't work.
4. Then do steps 2 to 4 above.

Apple's guide to importing iMovie for iOS projects lists what changes on the way in. Storyboards become movie projects, and empty placeholders become placeholder clips. Titles from a Magic Movie or storyboard template that Final Cut doesn't have become its Standard Title. iMovie's built-in soundtracks arrive as plain WAV files that no longer stretch to fit the movie. With the newest iMovie for iPhone, Final Cut may say it can't import the project. Updating Final Cut is the first thing to try.

iMovie for Mac can also take the project, with its own File > Import iMovie iOS Projects. Then send it on with step 1.

Trailers

iMovie won't send a trailer to Final Cut. Turn it into a movie first. Select the trailer and choose File > Convert Trailer to Movie. Apple's guide to converting a trailer warns that you can't turn it back into a trailer, so make a copy first. Empty placeholders show up as grey images in the new movie.

What carries over and what doesn't

The edit goes through two moves, and each one loses something.

iMovie to Final Cut Pro. Apple copies the project and its media. A "Lower volume of other clips" setting becomes Final Cut's Gain filter. iPhone projects also change in the ways the iPhone section above lists.

Final Cut Pro to CapCut, Premiere Pro or Resolve. CutConvert carries the parts every editor shares:

• clips in order, with their trims and splits
• cutaways and picture-in-picture as clips on the tracks above
• separate audio clips and music beds on their own tracks
• clip volume and fades
• transitions in the same places, though a styled one may become the editor's plain version
• clips sped up or slowed down at a constant speed

Some things have no match in the other editors, so you redo them there. Ken Burns moves and Crop to Fill don't carry over, so photos come across still and uncropped. iMovie's clip filters and color effects drop off. Title text and timing usually come across, but iMovie's animated title styles are Final Cut templates that the others don't have. Speed ramps, reverse and freeze frames may play differently. The list that comes with the download names what changed.

Why there's no direct converter yet

An iMovie library is a folder of databases, and Apple doesn't document what's in them. A converter that reads the library directly would skip Final Cut, its price and its extra steps. Whether we build it depends on how many people ask.

To ask, drag your library onto the box near the top of this page. It's in the Movies folder of your home folder and is called iMovie Library unless you renamed it. iPhone .iMovieMobile files count too. The box doesn't open or upload what you drop. It records only the file type and size.

FAQ

Can Premiere Pro open an iMovie project? No. Premiere Pro can't read an iMovie library, and iMovie exports only to Final Cut Pro. Send the movie to Final Cut, export XML there, and convert that XML to a Premiere XML with CutConvert. Premiere imports it with File > Import.

How do I move an iMovie project to CapCut? Through Final Cut Pro. Send the movie from iMovie to Final Cut, move its media to a folder, and export XML. Then drop the XML on CutConvert's Final Cut Pro to CapCut converter with that media folder. You get a CapCut project folder to copy into CapCut's drafts folder.

Can DaVinci Resolve import an iMovie project? Not the library. Send the movie to Final Cut Pro and export XML. Resolve imports that XML with File > Import > Timeline, or CutConvert turns it into a .drp project you open from the Project Manager.

Does iMovie export XML? No. iMovie 10.4.5's menus have no XML, EDL or AAF export. Its only export to another editor is File > Send Movie to Final Cut Pro, and Final Cut exports the XML.

Do I need to buy Final Cut Pro? For this route, yes, or subscribe to it, and it must be version 12.0 or later. Final Cut Pro is $299.99 on the Mac App Store, or part of Apple Creator Studio at $12.99 a month after a free month for new subscribers. Prices checked October 27, 2026.

How do I get an iMovie project off my iPhone into Premiere Pro or CapCut? In iMovie on the phone, tap the project, tap Share, then Export Project, and AirDrop it to your Mac. In Final Cut Pro, choose File > Import > iMovie iOS Projects. From there it's the same steps as a Mac project.

Can CutConvert convert an .imovielibrary file? Not yet. Drop it in the box on this page and we count it. The box doesn't open or upload the library. It records only the file type and size.

Will my titles and effects come across? Clips, trims, audio, volume, fades and constant speed changes come across. Ken Burns moves, clip filters and iMovie's title animations don't, so redo those in the new editor. The download lists what CutConvert changed.