Burning compatible DVD with iMovie?

MiniD3

MiniD3

macrumors 6502a
Hi Guys,
Read through a lot of archive here but still not sure which way to go,
As most have found, DVDs from iMovie are not compatible on DVD players

This appears a problem since the absence of iDVD

Had a look at a bunch of software on the net but unsure of a "safe" site

Or should I bite the bullet and pony-up for final cut pro?

I have been given the task to put a bunch of tapes on DVD, (about 20-30 of them), being the photographer of all the relatives, I have the task

Regards,
Gary
 
Thank you Dave,

Will try one of those,
I'n desperation last night I purchased ********* Mac Video converter Platinum
Unfortunately, it has a mile of choices for conversion, I chose the ones containing a PAL option but none of them worked, I was guessing PAL would work here in Australia
....Gary
 
Tks Dave,

Got one to work on Divx Video
Just having trouble getting the second one to load
Guess I'm just plagued with my inexperience and op errors with video
Still persevering!
,,,,Gary
 
Got one to work on Divx Video
Click to expand...
Just googled that, and I'm not sure why you chose that to use, as it doesn't seem to be what your after, as it seems to be software for playing DivX video.

If you're using iMovie and want to make a video dvd, then from iMovie's Share Menu, use the Export Movie option and then use Burn/Toast to make the dvd using the resultant movie file. Nothing could be simpler.
 
Hi Dave,

Hi Dave,
The program I got has a bunch of video types to select for the conversion,
I had gone through 10 disks that, when converted didn't work,
Finally had a look at my Panasonic DVD player manual and it listed the following payable formats it could read,
My DVD blank disks are -R and under the -R list was,
AVCHD_JPEG_MPO_MP3_DivX and MKV
Had heard of DivX so gave it a go, it worked
Should I be choosing one of the others on the list?
....Gary
 
MiniD3 said:
Hi Dave,
The program I got has a bunch of video types to select for the conversion,
I had gone through 10 disks that, when converted didn't work,
Finally had a look at my Panasonic DVD player manual and it listed the following payable formats it could read,
My DVD blank disks are -R and under the -R list was,
AVCHD_JPEG_MPO_MP3_DivX and MKV
Had heard of DivX so gave it a go, it worked
Should I be choosing one of the others on the list?
....Gary
Click to expand...

If you want to create a standard DVD then NONE of those are standard. They might play on your player but they are not standard DVDs.

real DVDs use a complex set of files described below. Don't expect DivX or AVCHD to work on most stand alone players people have on there TV sets.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD-Video

If you want to use Apple software to make a DVD get "Compressor". You don't need FCP X unless you want to edit. But be warned the Compressor is very slow. It can take hours but it WILL get you the best possible quality.

You can find totorials on Youtube for using Compressor. It does have a learning curve as does most profesional level software. But it's only $50 in the App Store.

"Toast" is easier to use and has a nice features where you give it just about any video file and tell it to compess it only enough to fill the DVD. So if you place less footage on the DVD you get better quality.

But I think Compressor wins in terms of quality of results if you take the time to lean how to use it. There are some good books and there is also three on-line classes here: It is worth buying a $25 subscription to the site.
http://www.macprovideo.com/tutorials/compressor-application

Actually the unit on DVD builting does not coe up until chapter 6 and 7 on the third class. That's something like 10 (?) hours into the session. Finish all three and you will be at the expert level at video encoding.

Of just buy "Toast" and let it default nd do whatever it does. It mostly just works. But at $50 each Compresser and "Motion" are the two best deals Apple offers.
 
Last edited:
MiniD3 said:
I think the wife will kill me if I buy another program :)
....Gary
Click to expand...

$50 is not a lot if the job is to translate 30 tapes. OK, you'd need to buy a $25 subscription of get the training. But even so $75 is astonishingly cheap for a high end professional setup.

OK maybe more then $50 as compressor can reach over the network to other Apple computers that also have Compresser installed and put them to work. You can have a row of Mac Pros all doing this. I've seen places where they have six of them going.
 
ChrisA said:
$50 is not a lot if the job is to translate 30 tapes. OK, you'd need to buy a $25 subscription of get the training. But even so $75 is astonishingly cheap for a high end professional setup.

OK maybe more then $50 as compressor can reach over the network to other Apple computers that also have Compresser installed and put them to work. You can have a row of Mac Pros all doing this. I've seen places where they have six of them going.
Click to expand...
Hi Chris,
I guess its the tight budget thing at the moment,
Computer transpired, (PC), bought a maxed out iMac, Daughter bought a 27" one as well, thankfully, not maxed out, (Dad covering the finance :rolleyes:)
Read your links, very informative, a lot more to it than I thought,
Dont really do video these days, that may all change if I go D800 next year but for now, mainly still image editing,
....Gary

----------
Dave Braine said:
So try Burn. It's free!
Click to expand...
Thank you,
If all else fails Burn is it!
....Gary
 
suddenly my DVDs play in black and white???

ChrisA said:
If you want to create a standard DVD then NONE of those are standard. They might play on your player but they are not standard DVDs.

real DVDs use a complex set of files described below. Don't expect DivX or AVCHD to work on most stand alone players people have on there TV sets.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD-Video

If you want to use Apple software to make a DVD get "Compressor". You don't need FCP X unless you want to edit. But be warned the Compressor is very slow. It can take hours but it WILL get you the best possible quality.

You can find totorials on Youtube for using Compressor. It does have a learning curve as does most profesional level software. But it's only $50 in the App Store.

"Toast" is easier to use and has a nice features where you give it just about any video file and tell it to compess it only enough to fill the DVD. So if you place less footage on the DVD you get better quality.

But I think Compressor wins in terms of quality of results if you take the time to lean how to use it. There are some good books and there is also three on-line classes here: It is worth buying a $25 subscription to the site.
http://www.macprovideo.com/tutorials/compressor-application

Actually the unit on DVD builting does not coe up until chapter 6 and 7 on the third class. That's something like 10 (?) hours into the session. Finish all three and you will be at the expert level at video encoding.

Of just buy "Toast" and let it default nd do whatever it does. It mostly just works. But at $50 each Compresser and "Motion" are the two best deals Apple offers.
Click to expand...

Chris, or anyone else out there who might have a hint about this--I've been using EyeTV software and the 250plus to transfer old VHS tapes to DVDs. Other home made movies have worked fine, but I just tried to transfer some tapes done by a pro for the local museum and they worked OK, except that my JVC DVD player plays them in black and white, not color. My MacBook Pro plays them in color, but I need to put them in a universal format that will play on anyone's DVD player. Is there a setting I need to adjust or a particular format I need to choose?
The procedure I've been using is to start up EyeTV, choose VHS assistant, record the tape, let EyeTV finish, then use Toast 10 to make the DVD.
Can anyone tell me what I need to do to get them to play in color?
Thanks, ....Tom
 
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