Native iDVD file format got me stumped

[micahfaulkner75]

I've searched the web for weeks looking for an answer to this and turned up nothing, so I thought I'd ask here.

Is there a file format and container that can be dropped into iDVD without any encoding necessary?

I assume it would be some flavor of MPEG-2, but I can't find the documentation that would tell me exactly the specs that iDVD would like.

My plan is to run files such as MKVs and AVIs through ffmpegX before running them through iDVD. Mainly, I'm looking for speed of conversion and burning.

Thanks in advance for your help on this and for any other tips you might have for me!

 

[Artful Dodger]

I don't know your answer but I also got a bunch of info & help from www.videohelp.com in the mac section.

Good luck

http://forum.videohelp.com/forums/17-Mac?

 

[cgbier]

Won't work. I tried to import MPEG2 out of Compressor. Didn't accept it.

AVI is a Windows container that is not 100% supported in OS X. You have to rewrap the files into a .mov container, before you can work with it flawlessly.

iDVD is part of an idiot-proof workflow. You best don't shake anything and use what iMovie wants (forces) you to use.

 

[martinX]

If I want to go from a file to a DVD in the fastest way possible, I use Toast. Admittedly I still use Toast 8...

 

[MisterMe]

....

Is there a file format and container that can be dropped into iDVD without any encoding necessary?

...

iDVD prefers standard video in standard .mov containers. If the .mov plays on your computer, then iDVD should handle it.

 

[OrganMusic]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_9 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8E501 Safari/6533.18.5)

Yes, toast will burn mpeg2 files quickly without reencoding. I've found the menu authoring rather limited and I've never managed to get it to obey chapter markers from FCE but if that doesn't matter it does a good job.