Mac Mini DVD encoding

[AliensAreFuzzy]

A couple of questions. I'm going to get a Mac Mini soon, and I was wondering how long it would take to encode an hour and a half long movie on the 1.25 GHz Mac Mini. And then I want to make multiple copies of this DVD. Could I save the render and just reburn, and if so, how would I do it?

 

[ravenvii]

Encoding a DVD... the iMac G4 800 MHz I had encodes a 30-minute DVD in about 45 minutes. So yours should be able to do a one-and-a-half hours DVD in about 1 and a half hours. And yes you only have to encode once. Once encoded it can be reused to burn as many DVDs as you want.

 

[AliensAreFuzzy]

Encoding a DVD... the iMac G4 800 MHz I had encodes a 30-minute DVD in about 45 minutes. So yours should be able to do a one-and-a-half hours DVD in about 1 and a half hours. And yes you only have to encode once. Once encoded it can be reused to burn as many DVDs as you want.

Thank you very much!

 

[Mechcozmo]

If you quit iDVD then i think it may get rid of your encoding data... but iDVD lets you keep feeding it DVDs until you tell it to stop.

 

[ravenvii]

If you quit iDVD then i think it may get rid of your encoding data... but iDVD lets you keep feeding it DVDs until you tell it to stop.

Nah, iDVD only has to encode your movie once. The subsequent times you open the project, it'll already be encoded. Unless you make modifications, of course.

 

[DavidLeblond]

Don't forget you can also save off the disc image. Well, at least I believe you can with iDVD 5. I know you could with iDVD 4, if hacked.

 

[AliensAreFuzzy]

Don't forget you can also save off the disc image. Well, at least I believe you can with iDVD 5. I know you could with iDVD 4, if hacked.

Then would it be possible to use that disk image to burn from a PC with the right software, and if so, what would that software be?

 

[ravenvii]

Then would it be possible to use that disk image to burn from a PC with the right software, and if so, what would that software be?

It's definitely doable on the PC. The DVD you create isn't copy protected, so you can easily rip and make copies of it. As for what software to use, I don't know anymore, haven't used a PC, other than for gaming, in a few years.

As for doing it on the Mac, it's done in Disk Copy (in Panther Disk Copy has been integrated into Disk Utility, so check there). Here's the procedure, straight from Apple:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=42724

Good luck!

EDIT: Oops, I mis-read your post... I'm leaving the above, it could be useful information for you anyway. As for the real response to your question:

You'll have to convert the .dmg file (I'm assuming it's a .dmg file) to something standard so that a PC can understand, and burn it. You can use a program such as Nero to do it. But the file is huge. How are you transferring the disk image to a PC? If you're thinking of cutting costs and getting the Combo Drive and doing your DVD burning on a PC, that's up to you... but I suggest that if you plan to burn DVDs with the Mac mini, definitely do get the Superdrive, it'll make your life much easier.

 

[Sol]

Nah, iDVD only has to encode your movie once. The subsequent times you open the project, it'll already be encoded. Unless you make modifications, of course.

On iDVD 4 the two-hour maximum video setting had the limitation of deleting the rendered media after quitting (that, plus it took forever to render anything). Projects encoded with the one-hour maximum setting could save their rendered media and re-load them at the next launch.

As for using the Mac Mini for iDVD projects, I would suggest using an external 3.5" hard drive instead of the built-in 2.5" drive. The internal drive would slow down the process of editing and rendering the DVD.

 

[ravenvii]

On iDVD 4 the two-hour maximum video setting had the limitation of deleting the rendered media after quitting (that, plus it took forever to render anything). Projects encoded with the one-hour maximum setting could save their rendered media and re-load them at the next launch.

Ah, good to know. I've never encoded a movie more than 40 minutes, so I didn't know about the limitation. Does iDVD 5 have that limitation too?

 

[Sol]

iDVD image files

Does iDVD 5 have that limitation too?

I am not sure, but I have read that in iDVD 5 you can save the project as an image file. You could use an application like Toast to burn as many copies of that image file as you want.

By the way, the same thing can be done in iDVD 4 with a small hack called Patch Burn. Check out the following link to read how it is done.
http://homepage.mac.com/geerlingguy/mac_support/mac_help/pages/15-burn_idvd_other.html

 

[Mechcozmo]

Then would it be possible to use that disk image to burn from a PC with the right software, and if so, what would that software be?

Nero.. anything that can read a normal disk image. I have the files and instructions for the iDVD 3 and 4 hack-- just let me know if you want them.

 

[ravenvii]

Nero.. anything that can read a normal disk image. I have the files and instructions for the iDVD 3 and 4 hack-- just let me know if you want them.

He's getting (have?) a Mac mini, so he must have iLife '05, and thus iDVD 5.

No hacks needed.

 

[sigamy]

Encoding a DVD... the iMac G4 800 MHz I had encodes a 30-minute DVD in about 45 minutes. So yours should be able to do a one-and-a-half hours DVD in about 1 and a half hours. And yes you only have to encode once. Once encoded it can be reused to burn as many DVDs as you want.

Are you sure about this? A 1.25Ghz G4 can do real time MPEG2 encoding in iDVD? I've never had anything close to these stats on my 1Ghz G4 iMac. I haven't even seen many reports of dual G5 Power Macs getting this type of performance from iDVD. Maybe in DVDSP but not iDVD.

On my iMac 1 hour DVD takes about 3 hours to encode. If I use the new menus of iDVD5 and have a few submenus this time increases.

iDVD will ask you to put another blank DVD in for additional copies. These will use the encoded assets and only take the time to burn the disk. Typically around 15 minutes.

 

[BornAgainMac]

Are you sure about this? A 1.25Ghz G4 can do real time MPEG2 encoding in iDVD? I've never had anything close to these stats on my 1Ghz G4 iMac. I haven't even seen many reports of dual G5 Power Macs getting this type of performance from iDVD. Maybe in DVDSP but not iDVD.

On my iMac 1 hour DVD takes about 3 hours to encode. If I use the new menus of iDVD5 and have a few submenus this time increases.

iDVD will ask you to put another blank DVD in for additional copies. These will use the encoded assets and only take the time to burn the disk. Typically around 15 minutes.

My eMac did 1 hour in a little over an hour for encoding. If you set it for the highest quality setting (to have a movie longer than an hour) then it is closer to 3 hours per 1 hour of video. Try setting your iDVD to the fast setting if your movie is short enough. Eventually when double density burning is supported then you can use the fast setting for 2 hour movies. So far, none of my iMovie projects have exceeded 1 hour. I tend to edit out a lot of junk.

 

[Mechcozmo]

He's getting (have?) a Mac mini, so he must have iLife '05, and thus iDVD 5.

No hacks needed.

Well for those of us out there WITHOUT iLife '05...............
It was more designed for anyone who wants it. Not just for the original poster.

 

[ravenvii]

Well for those of us out there WITHOUT iLife '05...............
It was more designed for anyone who wants it. Not just for the original poster.

Sorry, I mistook your post. I meant no meanness whatsoever. 😉