iMovie HD PAL as your default project format

Problem iMovie HD (iMovie 6) creates new projects in NTSC format.

Solution You need to change the default project format - which is buried in a text file inside the Application Bundle:

Easiest: right-click or command-click the iMovie icon inside the Applications folder & choose to show package contents. In the new Finder window that opens, navigate into Contents/ Resources/English.lproj and you will find a file called Localizable.strings. Edit this file in TextEdit & change the line defaultVideoFormat = "DV-NTSC"; to defaultVideoFormat = "DV-PAL";

Quicker: startup terminal.app & open /Applications/iMovie/Contents/ Resources/ English.lproj/Localizable.strings in vi. find the same line, change it as above & save...Well, not really all that geeky really.

Discussion This is documented in only a couple of places on the net so it could do with a few more locations to improve search results spread. Apparently, if you have your DV camera plugged in before starting iMovie, a new project will default to the format supported by the camera.