iMovie '08 hangs on launch: iPhoto-related
October 11th, 2007 by Macfixit.com
iMovie '08 (7.x) exhibits an issue, for many users, where the application stalls or hangs -- sometimes indefinitely -- at launch.
We've now received reports indicating that a problematic iPhoto .plist file may be to blame. In these cases, the temporary fix is to delete the following file:
* ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iPhoto.plist
Unfortunately, this is only a temporary fix, as the problem will return the next time iPhoto is launched.
One reader writes:
"I have been unable to get any version of iMovie '08 to consistently start without freezing. I followed all suggestions in the recent 'iMovie 7.1: Hangs on launch, fixes' article to no avail. After deleting iMovie and reinstalling version 7.0 from CD (which still froze on launch), I upgraded it directly to 7.1, but that didn't help either. I even did an Archive and Install of 10.4.10 to solve an unrelated sleep issue, but it had no positive effect on iMovie.
"I did, however, narrow down the issue to the iPhoto plist. After deleting this file, I was able to consistently and successfully launch iMovie 7.1. However, once I launched iPhoto, which recreated its plist, iMovie began freezing on launch once again. I have not yet tracked down which setting in the default iPhoto plist that causes the iMovie failure."
Oh this is a good one I have been looking into how to play flac 
James
October 12th, 2007 at 9:51am
I Had the same problem where iPhoto would take over a minute to load properly (on a 2.8 ghz iMac). After some forum searching i discovered that it was the "Look for Shared IPhoto Libraries" option in preferences. Now it opens instantly. Maybe you should try that?
Iain Ross
October 18th, 2007 at 4:41am
good idea...except that Imovie hangs on startup, so I cant even get to the preferences! thanks Iain
Greg
November 16th, 2007 at 12:37pm
Recently purchased IMac. Installed Leopard drop in disc the moment I got home. imovies won't go. After downloading 200 meg of updates including + 60 meg for imovie it now works. Make sure you have current updates!
Dusty
June 5th, 2008 at 1:19am
Change the screen colors Go to the "Displays" system preferences and change the color output of the screen (either from thousands to millions, or vice versa) and relaunch iMovie. Somehow changing the display color depth modifies the color system so iMovie properly loads. Calibrate the display While for some users calibrating the display resulted in the iMovie error, for others the problem was fixed by re-calibrating the display. Calibrating the display can be an involved process, but it is recommended to ensure your screen outputs the most accurate colors as possible. This option is available in the "Displays" system preferences under the "Color" tab.
Damon
November 11th, 2008 at 8:11am
I've tried all of the above... no dice on any of the. To make things even more maddening, another user on my machine (intel black macbook) can use it with no issue... and I'm the admin user! Tried deleting the iMove plist in my preferences folder too, no change.
Darcie
December 16th, 2009 at 8:43am
I had the same problem--iMovie '09 hanging on launch on a brand-new MacBook Pro. I tried deleting the plist files as described above, but that didn't work. Finally, I moved all movie files from the iPhoto library to a folder on the desktop. That did the trick and iMovie started right up.