How to send iDVD project without burning?

[Kevster89]

I just finished an iDVD project and saved it with the default file extension of .dvdproj.

I want to send this to someone with a Windows PC for them to view, but I do not want to burn it onto a disc because I need to send it overseas and it would take a considerably long time.

Is there any way I can convert the iDVD project to another file extension so I can email it to this person? Or, if I go back into the project is there a way to just save it under a more common file extension?

ANY guidance and suggestions are greatly appreciated with this matter.

Thanks. Kev

 

[sickmacdoc]

One thing I think you are confusing is what makes up a finished iDVD project. The file ending in the suffix .dvdproj is simply a file that contains the locations of assets used in the DVD project (in other words where on your disk you .mov files are, where audio files are and what menu/theme choices you have made. It is simply (to radically simply things) a "recipe" for how iDVD puts things together when burning a disk.

Because of that, just sending the .dvdproj file would be worthless to even another Mac user (not to mention a PC user), since they will not have the "ingredients"-- only the "recipe".

You can save a finished project as a disk image of the finalized, rendered disk or you can save it as an archive that will include all the editable assets that the .dvdproj needs to edit the project on another Mac, but neither choice would be noticeably smaller than the finished burned disk.

 

[JediMeister]

Well, the dvdproj file is made up of references, there is no actual video content unless its been encoded (normally during the burn process). iDVD 7 has the option to save as a disk image which results in a .dmg file. As far as whether that's mountable/viewable on a PC I couldn't say for certain. Since the disk image file would probably be at least 500 MB if not more, there isn't really a good way to send this as an email attachment since most ISPs limit the attachment size to no more than 20 MB. Uploading to a webspace such as iDisk through MobileMe or another service and then simply providing a download link would be one way of getting around this.

 

[Kevster89]

One thing I think you are confusing is what makes up a finished iDVD project. The file ending in the suffix .dvdproj is simply a file that contains the locations of assets used in the DVD project (in other words where on your disk you .mov files are, where audio files are and what menu/theme choices you have made. It is simply (to radically simply things) a "recipe" for how iDVD puts things together when burning a disk.

Because of that, just sending the .dvdproj file would be worthless to even another Mac user (not to mention a PC user), since they will not have the "ingredients"-- only the "recipe".

You can save a finished project as a disk image of the finalized, rendered disk or you can save it as an archive that will include all the editable assets that the .dvdproj needs to edit the project on another Mac, but neither choice would be noticeably smaller than the finished burned disk.

OK, I think I'm beginning to understand things a little bit more. I'm a complete novice as of now when it comes to movie making, video editing, and other things of this nature on a Mac. I've been a mac user for awhile, just not done this kind of stuff really.

So, would you recommend that when I'm done editing the .dvdproj file, (my current iDVD project that I mentioned in my first post), that I just burn the project onto a DVD?

Also, what capacity, or capacities, do writable DVDs come in?

Does changing the encoding from BEST PERFORMANCE to PROFESSIONAL QUALITY mean that something within the project could get messed up?

I figure, the project size is a mere 250 MB (or so) right now, so I wouldn't mind upping the quality even though it means the amount of data will be larger.

SORRY FOR ALL THE QUESTIONS. I know a lot of you Mac users are really experienced with the entire iLife suite, so that's why I turned here like I do with my other Mac questions. Thanks yall! ALL HELP IS FABULOUS! If you can answer 1 or all of my questions, which I know many of you are capable of doing with all your knowledge and experience, that would be awesome.

 

[JediMeister]

Burning would probably be the most cost-effective and time-saving strategy, yes. DVDs come in two sizes, single layer or dual layer. Single layer discs have 4.7 GB of storage capacity, which translates to about 2 hrs of footage. Dual layer discs have 9.4 GB, which is about 4 hrs. Changing best performance to professional quality does a couple of things, neither of which have sharpened the clarity of the displayed image IMO. First, it does add some additional time to the burn process because rather than encoding in the background, as it does by default on best performance, it waits until you give it the command to burn. Secondly, it compresses, in some cases, projects that would otherwise not fit on one of these standard discs. You can monitor how close you are to the project length limit in the Project->Project info menu item. That's also where you can set the video standard from NTSC to PAL if you're making a disc for playback in another country.

 

[Kevster89]

Burning would probably be the most cost-effective and time-saving strategy, yes. DVDs come in two sizes, single layer or dual layer. Single layer discs have 4.7 GB of storage capacity, which translates to about 2 hrs of footage. Dual layer discs have 9.4 GB, which is about 4 hrs. Changing best performance to professional quality does a couple of things, neither of which have sharpened the clarity of the displayed image IMO. First, it does add some additional time to the burn process because rather than encoding in the background, as it does by default on best performance, it waits until you give it the command to burn. Secondly, it compresses, in some cases, projects that would otherwise not fit on one of these standard discs. You can monitor how close you are to the project length limit in the Project->Project info menu item. That's also where you can set the video standard from NTSC to PAL if you're making a disc for playback in another country.

Perfect, thanks for the clarifications. So if I'm just looking to burn a simple 250MB project for USA playback, would you recommend both:

a. Letting iDVD conduct background encoding on BEST PERFORMANCE
b. Leave the video standard on NTSC? I'm assuming PAL is for other countries... ?

 

[Kevster89]

Also, I am utilizing the revolution theme for my project.

When I view it at the normal (or default) preview size, the picture that "forms the virtual tower" on the DVD menu and continually rotates around does so in a very fluid, "non-jerky" manner, if you will.

However, when I preview it on the "Fit to screen" size, this image that forms the "tower" rotates around in a more "jerky," less fluid manner. It's almost as if when the foremost image rotates from the left onto the screen, it looks as if it stops-starts-stops-starts.... until it rotates completely into the frame.

Anyone know what I'm describing? I guess for previewing purposes it's not that big of a deal, because it really isn't, but when I burn this to an actual DVD will it play like this?

 

[sickmacdoc]

EDIT: Never mind-- I took too long to type the info provided by JediMeister above.

<clip>
So, would you recommend that when I'm done editing the .dvdproj file, (my current iDVD project that I mentioned in my first post), that I just burn the project onto a DVD?

Also, what capacity, or capacities, do writable DVDs come in?

Does changing the encoding from BEST PERFORMANCE to PROFESSIONAL QUALITY mean that something within the project could get messed up?

I figure, the project size is a mere 250 MB (or so) right now, so I wouldn't mind upping the quality even though it means the amount of data will be larger.
<clip>

When you have your project to the point where you want to produce a finalized product, you have two basic options- one to go ahead and burn it to a DVD or to use the "File" menu's "Save as Disk Image" choice. They both do the same thing really- but the Disk Image choice writes the completed project to a file on your computer rather than burning it immediately to a disk. You can then use the Disk Image itself later to easily burn a disk if desired.

Writeable DVDs come in two capacities- Single Layer disks (SL) which are most common and can hold 4.7Gb worth of data and Double Layer (DL) disks that can hold 8.5 of writeable data. A movie like you have described will be fine with SL disks it sounds like considering that you can easily fit projects up to two hours in duration on a SL disk in iDVD.

Professional Quality will not mess up your project since you have a small amount of data- but it will take FAR longer than Best Performance (depending on what type of Mac you have even a short project can take overnight in Pro Quality without a huge increase in visual quality). From my experience I would suggest leaving yours set on Best Performance, but you can use the iDVD "Help" menu to read considerably more about the subject by looking up "encoding quality" there. There is a LOT of information in the Help menu of many applications that is often overlooked BTW- and iDVD's Help is no exception.

One more thing- when you are making decisions based on project size or duration, make sure you are determining that by looking at the info in the "Project" --> "Project Info" window, not by the size of your .dvdproj file on your hard drive. I mention that because the 250Mb you mentioned is pretty small- not impossibly so, but still on the small side when it comes to video projects.

 

[Kevster89]

Sickmacdoc, the detailed information you gave me is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for the info. and recommendations!