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erniegy - Sep 16, 2005 - 6:31 pm
Having made a movie of about 42 minutes which used 13gb of iMovie space, I found that I could only burn a small section onto a DVD-R with 4.7gb capacity. No surprise there then.
How can I record a movie like that?
I asked this question at Apple support but, after talking to some guy in India for ages, I was cut off without any answer whatsoever.
How can I record a movie like that?
I asked this question at Apple support but, after talking to some guy in India for ages, I was cut off without any answer whatsoever.
waveturtle@yaho - Sep 16, 2005 - 9:18 pm
Hey Bill,
Just so I understand the question, are you trying to make a DVD that will play on a DVD player or are you trying to store the iMovie file on a DVD?
It sounds like you are using iDVD, so I will assume you want to make a playable DVD. In this case, no worries.
iDVD will compress your movie to a size that fits on a DVD before it burns the disc. You'll have plenty of space on a DVD for your movie after it is compressed. Just as a head up, the compression process can take plenty of time. Once you hit the burn button in iDVD, be prepared to take a break from your computer while it makes the disc.
The format for video on a DVD is called MPEG2. It is much smaller file size than the DV files you import and edit in iMovie.
Let me know if you have any questions
Rob
Just so I understand the question, are you trying to make a DVD that will play on a DVD player or are you trying to store the iMovie file on a DVD?
It sounds like you are using iDVD, so I will assume you want to make a playable DVD. In this case, no worries.
iDVD will compress your movie to a size that fits on a DVD before it burns the disc. You'll have plenty of space on a DVD for your movie after it is compressed. Just as a head up, the compression process can take plenty of time. Once you hit the burn button in iDVD, be prepared to take a break from your computer while it makes the disc.
The format for video on a DVD is called MPEG2. It is much smaller file size than the DV files you import and edit in iMovie.
Let me know if you have any questions
Rob
erniegy - Sep 17, 2005 - 5:28 am
OK Rob
You are right, this is a first time try at making a playable DVD instead of recording to tape.
Here's the whole thing, boring but I'm confused. The film, recorded on a mini jvc is just over 42 mins. Everything seems to go well in the iDVD process until the disc pops out with just 3 or four of the frames (about 5 minutes) burnt. This has happened with three attempts. When I tried the Onestep it did a tango and it burned zilch. Can it be the discs? They were inexpensive, made by Verbatim and say they are 4.7gb 120 mins 8 x certified.
I really appreciate your time, I'm 68, live in London and have only just moved up to OSX from my lovely old imac DV in classic, ahhh those were the days!
have a great day
Bill
You are right, this is a first time try at making a playable DVD instead of recording to tape.
Here's the whole thing, boring but I'm confused. The film, recorded on a mini jvc is just over 42 mins. Everything seems to go well in the iDVD process until the disc pops out with just 3 or four of the frames (about 5 minutes) burnt. This has happened with three attempts. When I tried the Onestep it did a tango and it burned zilch. Can it be the discs? They were inexpensive, made by Verbatim and say they are 4.7gb 120 mins 8 x certified.
I really appreciate your time, I'm 68, live in London and have only just moved up to OSX from my lovely old imac DV in classic, ahhh those were the days!
have a great day
Bill
waveturtle@yaho - Sep 18, 2005 - 2:40 am
Hey Bill,
I'm not quite sure what is going on. I haven't had a lot of experience with iMovie's one-step process. One thing to note with the one-step process (I believe its called 'magic imovie') is if you have long breaks between scenes on your video, sometimes iMovie thinks the tape is finished and stops the movie.
Good thinking on the quality of your DVD, that can play a role in whether the DVD burns well or not. Have you burned any DVDs outside of iDVD? Is this DVD burner a new addition to your system? External or internal?
If it is an add-on DVD burner, you should check 'System Profiler" to make sure it is fully supported. To do this go to:
/Applications/Utilities/System Profiler
Depending on how your DVD drive connects to your mac, you will either look in:
ATA (for internal drives)
USB or Firewire (for external drives)
For "Disc Burning" you want to see "Apple Supported/Shipped"
If you see something else, let me know. We'll work from there.
Rob
I'm not quite sure what is going on. I haven't had a lot of experience with iMovie's one-step process. One thing to note with the one-step process (I believe its called 'magic imovie') is if you have long breaks between scenes on your video, sometimes iMovie thinks the tape is finished and stops the movie.
Good thinking on the quality of your DVD, that can play a role in whether the DVD burns well or not. Have you burned any DVDs outside of iDVD? Is this DVD burner a new addition to your system? External or internal?
If it is an add-on DVD burner, you should check 'System Profiler" to make sure it is fully supported. To do this go to:
/Applications/Utilities/System Profiler
Depending on how your DVD drive connects to your mac, you will either look in:
ATA (for internal drives)
USB or Firewire (for external drives)
For "Disc Burning" you want to see "Apple Supported/Shipped"
If you see something else, let me know. We'll work from there.
Rob
erniegy - Sep 18, 2005 - 2:42 pm
Thanks again for replyng Rob.
No there isn't any add-on, maybe I am not offering the movie to iDVD incorrectly or iDVD is not compressing it. Do I have to turn on compress movie anywhere?
Here's the process, I make the movie, edit the dumb bits and save it. it ends up in Docs on the HD from where I move it to the desktop.
I open iDVD, choose create a new project and watch as those damn Themes go round and round....can I turn them off somewhere? After choosing the blank frame I drag the movie from the desktop into iDVD having put the disc in the slot somewhere along the way and click burn. iDVD then goes through all those long processes showing the thumbnails of the whole film and gives up with the message your movie is ready but, as I said before, it has only burnt the first few frames. Looking at the burnt disc, about 75% has been used burning from the inner ring outwards which is why I am guesssing that something is wrong with the compression of the movie.
I look forward to your next suggestion Rob
regards
Bill
No there isn't any add-on, maybe I am not offering the movie to iDVD incorrectly or iDVD is not compressing it. Do I have to turn on compress movie anywhere?
Here's the process, I make the movie, edit the dumb bits and save it. it ends up in Docs on the HD from where I move it to the desktop.
I open iDVD, choose create a new project and watch as those damn Themes go round and round....can I turn them off somewhere? After choosing the blank frame I drag the movie from the desktop into iDVD having put the disc in the slot somewhere along the way and click burn. iDVD then goes through all those long processes showing the thumbnails of the whole film and gives up with the message your movie is ready but, as I said before, it has only burnt the first few frames. Looking at the burnt disc, about 75% has been used burning from the inner ring outwards which is why I am guesssing that something is wrong with the compression of the movie.
I look forward to your next suggestion Rob
regards
Bill
waveturtle@yaho - Sep 18, 2005 - 6:13 pm
Hey Bill,
Ok, I think we may have it now.
Compression should be done automatically when you set the disc to burn. As I said before, the compression process is SLOW. Be prepared to be away from your computer for a good couple of hours if you are encoding 40 minutes. The other pointer is to close all other applications before so you free up the maximum processor power for encoding.
To shut off the motion menus, you can click the "Motion" button at the bottom of the iDVD interface. That will stop the motion in the menu themes. It ALSO removes any motion in the menu once it is burned to a dvd. So if the motion is a hassle while you work, but you want it on your final DVD, be sure to turn it bback on before you burn.
Now, here is what I think is going on with your discs. When you drag and drop a movie into the iDVD window, you get one of TWO kinds of drops.
1. Drop area is surrounded by a black and yellow striped box.
This box is for menus. iDVD lets you put an actual movie in the menu to play as a preview. The preview movie generally only plays for 1 minute or so, and then restarts.
2. Drop area is not surrounded, and you just get the green "+" below your cursor.
This is the way to drop actual movies. The name of your movie file will appear and it will be a menu item. So, when you drop your movie onto the iDVD screen make sure the area you drop it on is not surrounded by a black and yellow striped box. Also make sure the name of your movie appears somewhere on the screen as it becomes the selectable button when you put the dvd in a dvd player.
You can also preview the DVD by clicking the "Preview" button at the bottom of the iDVD interface.
Let me know if this helps. If not, I can resubmit you back to the queue for another tech who may be able to help better than I.
Rob
Ok, I think we may have it now.
Compression should be done automatically when you set the disc to burn. As I said before, the compression process is SLOW. Be prepared to be away from your computer for a good couple of hours if you are encoding 40 minutes. The other pointer is to close all other applications before so you free up the maximum processor power for encoding.
To shut off the motion menus, you can click the "Motion" button at the bottom of the iDVD interface. That will stop the motion in the menu themes. It ALSO removes any motion in the menu once it is burned to a dvd. So if the motion is a hassle while you work, but you want it on your final DVD, be sure to turn it bback on before you burn.
Now, here is what I think is going on with your discs. When you drag and drop a movie into the iDVD window, you get one of TWO kinds of drops.
1. Drop area is surrounded by a black and yellow striped box.
This box is for menus. iDVD lets you put an actual movie in the menu to play as a preview. The preview movie generally only plays for 1 minute or so, and then restarts.
2. Drop area is not surrounded, and you just get the green "+" below your cursor.
This is the way to drop actual movies. The name of your movie file will appear and it will be a menu item. So, when you drop your movie onto the iDVD screen make sure the area you drop it on is not surrounded by a black and yellow striped box. Also make sure the name of your movie appears somewhere on the screen as it becomes the selectable button when you put the dvd in a dvd player.
You can also preview the DVD by clicking the "Preview" button at the bottom of the iDVD interface.
Let me know if this helps. If not, I can resubmit you back to the queue for another tech who may be able to help better than I.
Rob
erniegy - Sep 19, 2005 - 5:24 am
Hello Rob
Did all that again as suggested, green box - plus sign, set it up and went to bed!
Got up this morning to find exactly same situation, disc burnt only as far as three frames of movie, about 6 minutes.
I seriously believe that the compression is not working on this machine but I am going to make another movie from an older Sony camcorder in Hi 8 just to see if that makes a difference.
I sometimes consider myself a nerd but, having bought the Boom Box and converted audio tapes to CD's on this iMac, I don't think I'm that far removed.
Thanks again for all your time, it is really appreciated
Did all that again as suggested, green box - plus sign, set it up and went to bed!
Got up this morning to find exactly same situation, disc burnt only as far as three frames of movie, about 6 minutes.
I seriously believe that the compression is not working on this machine but I am going to make another movie from an older Sony camcorder in Hi 8 just to see if that makes a difference.
I sometimes consider myself a nerd but, having bought the Boom Box and converted audio tapes to CD's on this iMac, I don't think I'm that far removed.
Thanks again for all your time, it is really appreciated
waveturtle@yaho - Sep 19, 2005 - 12:52 pm
Hey Bill,
I'm sorry we haven't been able to get this one fixed! I thought that would be it. I'm at a loss, I'll send your question back to the queue for another tech. I really hope you get it resolved.
Rob
I'm sorry we haven't been able to get this one fixed! I thought that would be it. I'm at a loss, I'll send your question back to the queue for another tech. I really hope you get it resolved.
Rob
erniegy - Sep 19, 2005 - 4:27 pm
Thanks again Rob for trying
I went back to Apple Support today and spoke to one of my friends in India (outsourcing is a pain) and we are now going through a step by step process. First, I have burned the movie in a file..works fine on here. Their next suggestion is to change the user proflie and burn as usual so I headed the imac up in my wife's name and burnt another disc...guess what...hers are as bad as mine...lol..so that was a dumb suggestion. I am convinced that the compression isn't working. I will let you know how things move along for your future knowledge.
Bye for now
Bill
I went back to Apple Support today and spoke to one of my friends in India (outsourcing is a pain) and we are now going through a step by step process. First, I have burned the movie in a file..works fine on here. Their next suggestion is to change the user proflie and burn as usual so I headed the imac up in my wife's name and burnt another disc...guess what...hers are as bad as mine...lol..so that was a dumb suggestion. I am convinced that the compression isn't working. I will let you know how things move along for your future knowledge.
Bye for now
Bill
LKT - Sep 19, 2005 - 5:54 pm
Hi, Bill,
When you said that you burned the movie as a file, does that mean that you used iDVD and created a Disk Image? If not, doing it that way is a good way to check that the compression is working.
You should then be able to use Disk Utility and burn a disc of the Disk Image. If that doesn't work, then I would say that there is something wrong with your DVD drive.
If you can create a Disk Image of your movie then there is nothing wrong with the compression.
Let me know if that helps you resolve your issue.
Leigh
When you said that you burned the movie as a file, does that mean that you used iDVD and created a Disk Image? If not, doing it that way is a good way to check that the compression is working.
You should then be able to use Disk Utility and burn a disc of the Disk Image. If that doesn't work, then I would say that there is something wrong with your DVD drive.
If you can create a Disk Image of your movie then there is nothing wrong with the compression.
Let me know if that helps you resolve your issue.
Leigh
erniegy - Sep 19, 2005 - 7:13 pm
Hello Leigh
No, I didn't burn a disc image but I am doing that now on your advice. The support guy in India told me to open a New Burn Folder and drop the movie in that....which produced a perfect disc but only readable by computer.
Looks as though the disc imaging will take just as long as the normal burn so I'll go to bed and let you know tomorrow what has happened if I may.
thanks for your reply
Bill
No, I didn't burn a disc image but I am doing that now on your advice. The support guy in India told me to open a New Burn Folder and drop the movie in that....which produced a perfect disc but only readable by computer.
Looks as though the disc imaging will take just as long as the normal burn so I'll go to bed and let you know tomorrow what has happened if I may.
thanks for your reply
Bill
erniegy - Sep 20, 2005 - 4:44 am
OK Leigh
Now today I have a new item on the desktop titled movie.img A file with a slotdrive thing in it which opens with two folders Audio_TS and Video_TS but I can't do anything with them?
regards
Bill
Now today I have a new item on the desktop titled movie.img A file with a slotdrive thing in it which opens with two folders Audio_TS and Video_TS but I can't do anything with them?
regards
Bill
LKT - Sep 20, 2005 - 12:47 pm
Hi, Bill,
That's actually great that you got that! It means that iDVD is making the movie.
Let's check a couple of things before we burn the disk. First click on the slotdrive thing and select File - Get Info. Under "Capacity" make sure that the size is UNDER 4.3 gigs. (4.3 gigs is how much info can be burned onto a DVD.)
You should also be able to open DVD player which should just automatically start playing your movie (or will bring up the menu to play your movie). If it doesn't, try going to File - Open DVD media then navigate to the Video_TS folder.
If everything works, next open Disk Utility. You should see down at the bottom an icon that has the name of your project and the extension of .img
Click on that, then click the "Burn" icon. For speed, I would recommend that you choose to only burn at 4x speed. I would also recommend that you use DVD-R disks. You said that you were using Verbatim disks which should be fine but if they were really inexpensive, they may also be causing the problem. If burning the Disk Image doesn't work, try a different brand of DVDs.
Let me know how it goes!
Leigh
That's actually great that you got that! It means that iDVD is making the movie.
Let's check a couple of things before we burn the disk. First click on the slotdrive thing and select File - Get Info. Under "Capacity" make sure that the size is UNDER 4.3 gigs. (4.3 gigs is how much info can be burned onto a DVD.)
You should also be able to open DVD player which should just automatically start playing your movie (or will bring up the menu to play your movie). If it doesn't, try going to File - Open DVD media then navigate to the Video_TS folder.
If everything works, next open Disk Utility. You should see down at the bottom an icon that has the name of your project and the extension of .img
Click on that, then click the "Burn" icon. For speed, I would recommend that you choose to only burn at 4x speed. I would also recommend that you use DVD-R disks. You said that you were using Verbatim disks which should be fine but if they were really inexpensive, they may also be causing the problem. If burning the Disk Image doesn't work, try a different brand of DVDs.
Let me know how it goes!
Leigh
erniegy - Sep 20, 2005 - 5:37 pm
Ok Leigh
That burn is underway although I couldn't find any info on the burn speed. The DVD is DVD-R but I am beginning to consider that the discs may be at fault.
Today, I made a 20 minute movie in one frame from an older Sony camcorder in Hi-8. The burn looked ok but, as usual the movie only plays for 3.48 minutes. I then put the four remaining discs that I have (I've dumped four more) through the iMac dvd player. Amazingly, some played throughout but I think the dvd player was reading the img file? When I trashed all the original iMovies, each disc played approx 3.50 mins so they all seem to quit around the same time.
The huge benefit to me through this dialogue is that I am delving far deeper into the machine than ever before which is fun in itself even if my product doesn't work. I will let you know the outcome of the current img burn and take this opportunity to thank you very much for your time.
regards
Bill
oops
the disc has ejected already, so here we go again, disc worked ok on iMac dvd player (but is it reading the img file again?)
No luck Leigh, took it to the Sony DVD player and got...guess what... just short of 4 mins of film. I even selected a disc from the middle of the pack.
But amazingly, the disc plays completely in the iMac again even though I have trashed the img file from the desktop.
That burn is underway although I couldn't find any info on the burn speed. The DVD is DVD-R but I am beginning to consider that the discs may be at fault.
Today, I made a 20 minute movie in one frame from an older Sony camcorder in Hi-8. The burn looked ok but, as usual the movie only plays for 3.48 minutes. I then put the four remaining discs that I have (I've dumped four more) through the iMac dvd player. Amazingly, some played throughout but I think the dvd player was reading the img file? When I trashed all the original iMovies, each disc played approx 3.50 mins so they all seem to quit around the same time.
The huge benefit to me through this dialogue is that I am delving far deeper into the machine than ever before which is fun in itself even if my product doesn't work. I will let you know the outcome of the current img burn and take this opportunity to thank you very much for your time.
regards
Bill
oops
the disc has ejected already, so here we go again, disc worked ok on iMac dvd player (but is it reading the img file again?)
No luck Leigh, took it to the Sony DVD player and got...guess what... just short of 4 mins of film. I even selected a disc from the middle of the pack.
But amazingly, the disc plays completely in the iMac again even though I have trashed the img file from the desktop.
LKT - Sep 20, 2005 - 5:44 pm
I don't understand why it is still being able to play on iMac if you have trashed the .img file. Does that file still show up under Disk Utilities.
I would say that you should try a completely different brand of DVDs.
Have you been able to burn other things to the DVDs? Files and such? I stll do suspect that it is either the DVDs themselves or that it is the DVD burner.
Leigh
I would say that you should try a completely different brand of DVDs.
Have you been able to burn other things to the DVDs? Files and such? I stll do suspect that it is either the DVDs themselves or that it is the DVD burner.
Leigh
erniegy - Sep 20, 2005 - 6:01 pm
I spoke too soon Leigh, I just ran it again and it stopped at 3.40 mins with some message saying that DVD had found an error and couldn't run.
The only other thing I tried , and was successful, was a New Burn Folder which made a disc that plays on here but not on dvd players and that works perfectly as a Quicktime Movie so the discs seem to be good enought for that.
The only other thing I tried , and was successful, was a New Burn Folder which made a disc that plays on here but not on dvd players and that works perfectly as a Quicktime Movie so the discs seem to be good enought for that.
LKT - Sep 20, 2005 - 6:10 pm
Bill,
Boy, I wish I knew what to tell you at this point. I would still suggest that you try a different brand of DVDs but usually, that only makes a difference when you are having trouble with a certain player not several. I don't think that it is the fault of iDVD since it created the .img file and you were able to play that fine on your computer.
Actually, now that I think about it. What version of OS are you running? I am on Tiger and when I use the Burn function in Disk Utilities, it shows a Speed option. If you have that available, try burning the movie at 1x speed.
Other than that, do you possibly have Toast? This is a program that allows you to burn disks as well.
Leigh
Boy, I wish I knew what to tell you at this point. I would still suggest that you try a different brand of DVDs but usually, that only makes a difference when you are having trouble with a certain player not several. I don't think that it is the fault of iDVD since it created the .img file and you were able to play that fine on your computer.
Actually, now that I think about it. What version of OS are you running? I am on Tiger and when I use the Burn function in Disk Utilities, it shows a Speed option. If you have that available, try burning the movie at 1x speed.
Other than that, do you possibly have Toast? This is a program that allows you to burn disks as well.
Leigh
erniegy - Sep 20, 2005 - 6:23 pm
Yep, this is Tiger Leigh, and I am currently trying a burn of 900 photo's from my file. I have downloaded all the latest versions of everything and the lady in India says that everything is hunkydory (or something to that effect) with the iMac so far. She is going to call me back tomorrow for some more tests and to see how my second project turned out (man, is she going to be miffed). I will go buy some expensive DVD-R discs tomorrow to see if that is the problem.
Can I get to Disc Utilities now that I've dumped the img file?
Can I get to Disc Utilities now that I've dumped the img file?
LKT - Sep 20, 2005 - 6:29 pm
You can definitely open up Disk Utilities but it won't have the .img file for you to burn - sorry, but you will have to re-create that.
Don't get too cheap of DVDs. They can cause problems as well!
Isn't making DVDs fun! I do it for a living and there is just a whole slew of issues that you have to learn and deal with when making them.
Let me know how it goes.
Leigh
Don't get too cheap of DVDs. They can cause problems as well!
Isn't making DVDs fun! I do it for a living and there is just a whole slew of issues that you have to learn and deal with when making them.
Let me know how it goes.
Leigh
erniegy - Sep 20, 2005 - 6:58 pm
I haven't come to the fun part yet Leigh!
This silly movie was made at Legoland in the UK last week when we took four of our Grandkids. If I have to watch it again I think I will become a Lego brick!
This silly movie was made at Legoland in the UK last week when we took four of our Grandkids. If I have to watch it again I think I will become a Lego brick!
erniegy - Sep 21, 2005 - 6:01 pm
Good Evening Leigh
things haven't got any better. An assistant in the store where I purchased the discs thinks that maybe iMovie is cropping instead of compressing as it sends to iDVD. Another store guy who says he burns DVDs on the same discs all the time without problems, says that the visual burn area is way too short. India didn't call me back. I made another totally different movie and that played the usual 3.51minutes. Do you know anyone who wants to buy a load of shorts?
I tried to add a title to this new movie (which I am burning on a Sony disc) but, having sorted all the font, colour etc, there was no way to move it to the timeline. What exactly do I click on to drag down there? Also, you mentioned last night that I could alter the burn speed in disc utilities...how do I do that exactly?
Hope your life is far more productive than mine at present!
Bill
things haven't got any better. An assistant in the store where I purchased the discs thinks that maybe iMovie is cropping instead of compressing as it sends to iDVD. Another store guy who says he burns DVDs on the same discs all the time without problems, says that the visual burn area is way too short. India didn't call me back. I made another totally different movie and that played the usual 3.51minutes. Do you know anyone who wants to buy a load of shorts?
I tried to add a title to this new movie (which I am burning on a Sony disc) but, having sorted all the font, colour etc, there was no way to move it to the timeline. What exactly do I click on to drag down there? Also, you mentioned last night that I could alter the burn speed in disc utilities...how do I do that exactly?
Hope your life is far more productive than mine at present!
Bill
erniegy - Sep 21, 2005 - 6:24 pm
HOLY MOLY MACAROLEY LEIGH!!!! IT WORKS!!!!
I put chapter markers and circle in transition effects in this one and burnt it on Sony and............I HAVE A MOVIEEEEEEEEEEE.
It must have been the discs after all.
Can you enlighten me on the title process please.
This movie was made in Disneyworld so, with Tigger in mind....have a grrrrrrreat day Leigh.
Bill
I put chapter markers and circle in transition effects in this one and burnt it on Sony and............I HAVE A MOVIEEEEEEEEEEE.
It must have been the discs after all.
Can you enlighten me on the title process please.
This movie was made in Disneyworld so, with Tigger in mind....have a grrrrrrreat day Leigh.
Bill
LKT - Sep 21, 2005 - 6:31 pm
Bill! I am sooooo glad to hear that!
I haven't worked with iMovie before so I was looking at it to see if I could find a solution for you. What you need to do is drag from the "effect" that you used. Basically, where it says "3D Spin", "Bounce Across", etc. Drag THAT icon to the timeline and you should be good to go.
Congrats again!
Leigh
I haven't worked with iMovie before so I was looking at it to see if I could find a solution for you. What you need to do is drag from the "effect" that you used. Basically, where it says "3D Spin", "Bounce Across", etc. Drag THAT icon to the timeline and you should be good to go.
Congrats again!
Leigh
erniegy - Sep 21, 2005 - 7:17 pm
Ok, I will try that next time.
Please accept my apologies for taking up your time but it was all worth while, I know a lot more about this iMac than I did last week!
Bill
Please accept my apologies for taking up your time but it was all worth while, I know a lot more about this iMac than I did last week!
Bill
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