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trevor2522

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 1, 2011
73
1
I have a 2011 Macbook Pro and can't believe how difficult Apple makes it to write a series of Youtube mp4 clips to DVD to watch via a DVD player on a TV. iMovie is truly the worst piece of Apple software I have ever encountered.

I loaded all the clips on to a new iMovie project. The process/conversion took several hours: far longer than the cumulative clips themselves. I presume that was converting the mp4s into avi files? I then clicked 'Finalize project' ... but nothing happens.

Now I understand I have to select iDVD to write to disc ... but iDVD is greyed-out under 'Share', even if I open iDVD separately!

There doesn't seem to be any way to save the project anywhere, let alone write it to DVD.

How do I write my project to disk? Thanks.
 

ChrisA

macrumors G5
Jan 5, 2006
12,541
1,653
Redondo Beach, California
Which version of iMovie are you using? The new one that just came out of the older version 9 I don't think the new iMove even can create DVDs.

If you have an old copy of iDVD you are best to just drop your video clips there. iMovie is for creating videos not so much for packaging them.
 

Chupa Chupa

macrumors G5
Jul 16, 2002
14,835
7,396
Save your video as a stand alone file then open that file directly from iDVD. I don't believe the current version iMovie passes video to iDVD since it's EOL'd.
 

trevor2522

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 1, 2011
73
1
Which version of iMovie are you using? The new one that just came out of the older version 9 I don't think the new iMovie even can create DVDs.

If you have an old copy of iDVD you are best to just drop your video clips there. iMovie is for creating videos not so much for packaging them.

I have iMovie '11 9.0.4 (Macbook was purchased May 2011)

iDVD is an Application but in iMovie it is greyed-out.

The original problem was my 3-year-old DVD player wouldn't recognise mp4 clips directly off YouTube. Does iDVD convert them to a format playable on modern DVD players? What does iDVD accomplish over and above simply right-clicking video files and burning them to disk?

iMovie & iDVD are nasty, mutually-incompatible pieces of Apple software. Is there a good, commercial software program (for Macs but not from Apple) which can easily write YouTube clips onto a DVD my player can read? Thanks again.
 
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Dane D.

macrumors 6502a
Apr 16, 2004
645
8
ohio
iMovie & iDVD are nasty, mutually-incompatible pieces of Apple software. Is there a good, commercial software program (for Macs but not from Apple) which can easily write YouTube clips onto a DVD my player can read? Thanks again.

The software is NOT nasty, it works great, you need to know what to do. What I do is import the mp4 into iMovie (I use iMovie '08). In my menu bar under Share>Media Browser>Choose size>Publish. Open iDVD and select Theme, Customize DVD menu and import movie. Click burn icon and you are done.

There probably are other ways but this way has always worked for me.
 

trevor2522

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 1, 2011
73
1
The software is NOT nasty, it works great, you need to know what to do. What I do is import the mp4 into iMovie (I use iMovie '08). In my menu bar under Share>Media Browser>Choose size>Publish. Open iDVD and select Theme, Customize DVD menu and import movie. Click burn icon and you are done.

There probably are other ways but this way has always worked for me.

I import the mp4s and can see hundreds of pretty, but useless, little picture-boxes stretching for miles below, then go: iMovie>Share>(All 13 headings are greyed-out, except for 'Remove From')>End-of-Story.

iMovie IS junk, QED. It appears Apple removed all normal functionality since iMovie '08.

Forget useless free Firefox and Apple products -- what commercial software does the job? I don't want to nerd-around with dysfunctional products -- just watch YouTube clips on TV! Apple has a real deal in turning simple tasks into rocket science.
 
Last edited:

firedept

macrumors 603
Jul 8, 2011
6,277
1,130
Somewhere!
I import the mp4s and can see hundreds of pretty, but useless, little picture-boxes stretching for miles below, then go: iMovie>Share>(All 13 headings are greyed-out, except for 'Remove From')>End-of-Story.

iMovie IS junk, QED. It appears Apple removed all normal functionality since iMovie '08.

Forget useless free Firefox and Apple products -- what commercial software does the job? I don't want to nerd-around with dysfunctional products -- just watch YouTube clips on TV! Apple has a real deal in turning simple tasks into rocket science.

I know you are frustrated with iMovie, but I have a quick question for you. Are you trying to Share with your movie in the Event Library or Project Library? Because you can only do it from the Project Library and this is probably why all the Share options are greyed out.

iMovie and iDVD are not junk and will work great for you once you learn how to use them. Read through their Help Menus. I use them for quick little video jobs and have never had any issues.

Do not waste your money on commercial software right away as they are all going to have a learning curve. And the learning curves will be bigger than iMovie and iDVD.
 

Dave Braine

macrumors 68040
Mar 19, 2008
3,983
352
Warrington, UK
As firedept says, you can only Share from an iMovie Project, not the Events Library.

However, if you have put your mp4 files into a Project and iDVD is greyed out, try putting a jpeg into your Project. I've had the same problem with mp4 files in the past, and that solved it.
 

trevor2522

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 1, 2011
73
1
Event library, project library? I don't want any libraries; just to play a few short YouTube clips together on TV by burning a DVD-player-compatible disc.

And I have to put a random, still image (Jpeg) into a movie-making program project in order to send it to iDVD? What sort of Machiavellian programmer devised that nonsense? Don't need brain-damage like that. I am fairly computer-savvy but iMovie has the worst user interface I have seen in 17 years' Internet use. My attitude to programmers who deliberately make the fundamental user experience as difficult as possible, like iMovie, is to boycott their products. My philosophy in design is that a person of average intelligence should be able to work out basic functionality intuitively. I've never seen anything as negatively-reviewed as iMovie -- and some poor saps even had to pay for it!

http://www.badappreviews.com/iosapps/5447/imovie/10

What about Aimersoft DVD Maker for Mac at $49?

Aimersoft DVD Creator for Mac: Convert Video to DVD on Mac | OFFICIAL

or iskysoft video converter ultimate at $36?

http://www.iskysoft.us/lp/video-converter-ultimate/index-mac-off.html

That these commercial products exist clearly demonstrates the video market demanded better functionality and user-interface than was supplied with inclusive packages.
 
Last edited:

Dane D.

macrumors 6502a
Apr 16, 2004
645
8
ohio
Event library, project library? I don't want any libraries; just to play a few short YouTube clips together on TV by burning a DVD-player-compatible disc.

And I have to put a random, still image (Jpeg) into a movie-making program project in order to send it to iDVD? What sort of Machiavellian programmer devised that nonsense? Don't need brain-damage like that. I am fairly computer-savvy but iMovie has the worst user interface I have seen in 17 years' Internet use. My attitude to programmers who deliberately make the fundamental user experience as difficult as possible, like iMovie, is to boycott their products. My philosophy in design is that a person of average intelligence should be able to work out basic functionality intuitively. I've never seen anything as negatively-reviewed as iMovie -- and some poor saps even had to pay for it!
You must be a real joy to be around when you can't understand basic production terminology and how to do simple tasks. 17 years of Internet use does NOT qualify you as an computer-savvy individual. I have been using computers since 1980 and still learn something new everyday about using them efficiently.

Your philosophy of boycotting their products is laughable. If you are serious, then sell your Apple laptop and go use Windows because judging by your tone, you belong with them, they are never happy.

My kids can use iMovie, both teenagers, showed them one time how and rarely do I get asked for help.

Have fun learning those apps. Its' your money.

That these commercial products exist clearly demonstrates the video market demanded better functionality and user-interface than was supplied with inclusive packages.
There will always be third-party apps because there will always be people like yourself who just don't get it.
 

trevor2522

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 1, 2011
73
1
All I want to do is to play YouTube clips on a modern, home DVD player connected to a TV. My DVD player does not recognise the DVD disc burned with MP4 YouTube clips.

Would anyone please be kind enough to tell me if it is possible to achieve this task? Or does nobody require or use such transfer capability these days?
 

irishv

macrumors regular
Oct 27, 2008
141
76
All I want to do is to play YouTube clips on a modern, home DVD player connected to a TV. My DVD player does not recognise the DVD disc burned with MP4 YouTube clips.

Would anyone please be kind enough to tell me if it is possible to achieve this task? Or does nobody require or use such transfer capability these days?


As others have mentioned and you've learned, iMovie is not a tool for creating DVDs. If you have MP4 clips downloaded from YouTube, you should be able to drag them directly into iDVD (if you still have it).

If you don't like the options in iDVD, check out Burn, which was also mentioned above. It is free software that lets you drag in MP4 files and burn a disk. The menus are not nearly as pretty as iDVD, but it's easy and functional if all you want are YouTube clips on your DVD player.
 
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