DVD Studio Pro vs iDVD

I have to make a dvd at work - it's just going to be b-roll video with buttons to select different sections of the video. I'm pretty sure we should be using DVD studio pro but my project manager thinks we should use iDVD since it's free. Can anyone fill me in on the major differences between the two?
Thanks!

DVD Studio Pro is worlds more complicated than iDVD, and even though newer versions offer some of the ease-of-use of iDVD, there are many settings you'll have to worry about that just aren't an issue with iDVD. Furthermore, if you're used to AfterEffects, the timeline is probably going to cause you to approach DVD authoring in the same linear fashion as creating video effects, and that will only cause headaches in the future. Most importantly, your Flash/Director experience will probably leave you infinitely frustrated with the limitations of DVD when it comes to creating a "multimedia" interface, because with DVD it's all an illusion. Nothing is loaded into the player beforehand, so everything is a stream, not a routine running on computer hardware that can do several things at once. My best advice is to use iDVD until you need to move forward, or experiment with DVD Studio Pro on your own time until you feel confident enough to do real work with it.
The biggest point I'm trying to make is, to quote Yoda, "You must unlearn what you have learned."

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DVD Studio pro vs iDVD: DVD Quality?

Do the DVDs made by DVD studio Pro look better than those from iDVD?
I have very good looking HD videos, made in iMovie: which look quite good as QT movies, but quality deteriorates a fair amount when iDVD makes it into a DVD. looking for better DVD product. Will I notice a difference with DVD Studio pro. kinda expensive if doesn't improve quality of final product.
roger

If you use the default compressor built into DVDSP it will probably be very similar to iDVD.
If you buy Final Cut Studio to get DVDSP you will also get an application called Compressor that allows for very high quality HD to DVD compression if you customize the presets.

Quality of DVD Studio Pro vs iDVD

I have been trying to obtain a DVD output with DVD Studio Pro where moderate speed pans don't jerk. Oddly, I get better results using iDVD. The image in iDVD isn't as sharp, but the quality of movement (pans, tilts) is smoother. My program length is only 20 minutes and I have used compressor to encode outside of DVD SP. The compressor setting was for DVD, 60 mins, best quality. Why is it that a consumer software such as iDVD yields better results in this aspect? What am I doing wrong in DVD SP that results in less than professional results. All input appreciated. Thanks in advance

Hal MacLean wrote:
Wow - wikipedia link is a superb article, but a tad geeky...
That is why I refused to understand it, I am not a geek and no one will convince me otherwise... even if every new application and computer released by Apple is like catnip for me

IDVD vs DVD Studio Pro

Please help! I've heard talk that it's better to burn DVDs using DVD Studio Pro than iDVD? Is that true?
I'm asking because I worked on a project that was distributed to over 200 people. Out of those 200 discs, about 30 of them were returned because they skipped, restarted or just didn't play on some DVD players.
I've gone back to the drawing board and made the following changes using iDVD before burning more copies of my project:
1) Purchased Taiyo Yuden 8x discs
2) Changed the burning speed to 1x
3) Changed burning option from Pro Quality to Best Performance
I've also heard that the reason High or Pro Quality isn't a good choice for burned discs to play on standard DVD players is because the Mac burns the disc at too high of a bitrate. Is this true? Either way, should I worry about iDVD not producing a good quality disc vs using DVD Studio Pro?
Help!!!!

hey there Luis,
i doubt that iDVD was the problem since 85% of your DVDs worked. it could be that some of the players were to old to play they type of discs burned. some older DVD players may not like any flavor of recordable DVD, some just may not like DVD+R, preferring the older DVD-R standard. i've used iDVD since iLife 03 & had 3 that wouldn't work on customers players, but that got resolved with customers getting newer players made since 2003/2004. w/out knowing your individual customers DVD players, you may not not hit 100% compatibility.
DVD SP is a much more complicated app than iDVD, but they essentially do the same thing-allow the user to author & burn movies & photo slide shows to recordable DVD media. DVD SP allows for more interactivity & more types of content to be applied in authoring a DVD, such as a game or web site-like "Harry Potter & Sorcerer's Stone" DVD, as such it is more difficult for novices. it has a pretty steep learning curve just like Apple's other Pro Apps & is only available w/ FCS1 or FCS2, also pretty expensive.

Compression quality: iDVD vs DVD Studio Pro vs others?

I am merrily editing along in FCE, and looking to eventually compress and burn onto DVD. Since I can use all the quality I can get, and don't have spare money (so what else is new?), I am wondering about the differences in compressing software. Is there a visible difference in the final product using DVD Studio Pro vs iDVD? Is there something else out there that is better than iDVD but doesn't cost as much as DVDSP? Any opinions or experience welcomed!
Thank you!

If your project is under an hour, iDVD will give you very satisfactory results (use the Best Performance settings).
You can create an up to 2 hour movie with iDVD but personally (with Best Quality), I think the quality begins to slide off a bit over an hour
DVD Studio Pro, with Compressor, gives you many more compression options. Compressor has lots more compression pre-sets and you can go in and tweak bit rates, single or double passes, etc. You can do that inside DVD Studio Pro as well. Overall, Studio Pro just gives you a lot more options and control.
Roxio Toast is a relatively cheap (around 80 bucks Cdn) piece of software that will compress your FC movies. You are way limited in terms of things like menus and chapters but compression wise it does a fairly nice job ... again, you don't have the versatility of iDVD. With Popcorn, it will allow you to cram a big movie onto a single layer DVD but the quality begins to hurt
Personally, no matter what you use, two hours is the reasonable quality limit for a single layer DVD

FCE 4 And DVD Studio Pro

What versions of DVD Studio Pro work with FCE 4? My version of FCP has been rendered useless because of upgrading to Leopard, I had to have the iphone! I prefer to stick with DVD Studio Pro over iDVD.
Thanks in advance!

Any version of DVDSP will work with FCE4. It's a standalone application, though it's no longer available outside of Final Cut Studio. It comes with Compressor, its own compression application.

How Do I Use DVD Studio Pro Files In iDVD?

I had somebody create a DVD for me using DVD Studio Pro. (This was a compilation of many different videos.) It turned out great.
I now want to make a DVD of one of those videos on my own using iDVD '08.
I have the raw video/audio files. But, my problem is the raw files that were used for the DVD Studio Pro project are separated into one video file and one audio file. I don't know how I can get them both into iDVD. I was told that I have to recombine these two files into one file. But, how do I do this and still maintain the best quality?
(I am not a video expert by any means, but I can tell you that the video file is a ".mpeg" and the audio file is an ".ac3". When looking at the .mpeg file in the finder it lists its Kind as "MPEG Movie" and when looking at the .ac3 file in the finder it lists its Kind as "Unix Executable File".)
(I'm using iDVD 7.0.1 - I do have Quicktime Pro - I do not have the Quicktime MPEG-2 Playback component - I do not have DVD Studio Pro)
Thanks in advance for your help!

Q: How Do I Use DVD Studio Pro Files In iDVD?
A: You don't, essentially.
DVDSP is apple's top end app and it is intended to be used with FCP > Compressor > DVDSP. All of these are pro apps.
i-Apps are consumer apps all of which are QT based. With that in mind ....
now that doesn't mean you can't use FCP > iDvd. You can. But you have to do it in a way that iDvd will read all the files (meaning you must think in terms of QuickTime and export in this way). So when you export your QT File / Movie from FCP over to iDvd, it will look something like this hopefully regardless of the raw image & audio files you have already compiled which unfortunately will NOT work with i-Apps BUT will work with apple's pro apps which is the intended workflow / direction of said files in the first place.
Btw ... if your QT movie has chapter markers then please use the following settings so iDvd can read these markers. (if on the other hand you were looking to export this file to DVDSP; then you would choose DVDSP Markers.
Let me know if the above helps. If not, just come on back.

IDVD and DVD Studio Pro hang and crash since 10.5.6 update

Seems like there are a lot of problems since this 10.5.6 update... I came here b/c of a prob with iDVD and DVD Studio Pro not working anymore. Was just trying to "Share/Export" an iMovie project to iDVD (and then tried again with DVD Studio Pro) and the program just hung and crashed and also wouldn't let me Restart or Shutdown very easily either. What gives?

nmctech,
Have you tried to reset the SMU/PRAM?
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1436?viewlocale=en_US
Chris
Message was edited by: 2point5

I can't burn a dvd using any method, Idvd tells me that my super drive is missing, dvd studio pro quits when i click burn and disk utility keeps spitting the disk out when i click burn and enter the disk??? how do i repair my superdrive for imac

I can't burn a dvd using any method, idvd tells me that my super drive is missing, dvd studio pro quits when i click burn and disk utility keeps spitting the disk out when I click burn and enter the disk??? how do i repair my superdrive for imac, or how do I do whatever I need to do to get it working: I have already tried using a lens cleaning cd and also restored my nvram or something i forget what it was called but i restarted my computer holding down command+optoion+p+r and still nothing???
Free solutions are the best, although if I have to pay I will, I would prefer to not have to buy an external burner if possible and already know that is an option so please don't give me that answer... thank you for any help you can give

Unless your iMac is still covered by AppleCare, get an external DVD burner.
You can get perfectly good ones from Amazon for less than $40.

Is there is a way to export the themes from iDVD to DVD Studio Pro?

OK...so here's what I'm trying to find out: is there is a way to export the themes from iDVD to DVD Studio Pro? Or can I build the project in DVDSTPRO and import it to iDVD to build and burn?
I've read several threads here and haven't come across my specific question. If I missed it, please copy me a link. Otherwise, I'd like to use the templates/themes in iDVD with my FCP project.
I was thinking about importing the project from FCP to iDVD. Then, I thought about the markers etc....
So, if anyone had an idea, tip or link, I'm all for it!
Thanks!
ron

Importing iDVD Projects and Themes
DVD Studio Pro 4 can import projects from iDVD 3 and iDVD 4. You can import an iDVD theme by using the theme in a project within iDVD and importing the project into DVD Studio Pro. When creating the project within iDVD, you do not need to use the final assets or make a complete project.
Note: DVD Studio Pro will not import projects from iDVD 1, iDVD 2, and iDVD 5. In general, iDVD needs to be installed on the same system as DVD Studio Pro. An exception is if you import an iDVD 4 archive project.
To import an iDVD project or archived project into DVD Studio Pro:
1 Do one of the following:
• Choose File > Open.
• Press Command-O.
2 Locate and select the iDVD project or iDVD 4 archive project in the Open dialog, then click Open.
DVD Studio Pro imports the iDVD project.
About the iDVD Project Import
When DVD Studio Pro imports an iDVD 3 or iDVD 4 project or iDVD 4 archive project, it has standard locations it looks for to find the assets and themes used in the project. This is especially important if the project uses custom themes.
The standard locations that DVD Studio Pro uses are (in this order):
• iDVD project bundle: This is the file created when you save the project.
• [user]/Library/iDVD/Favorites: This folder is located in your home folder.
• [root]/Library/iDVD/Favorites: This folder is located at the root of your disk.
• /Network/Library/iDVD/Favorites: This folder is on a network system specifically
configured by your system administrator for this purpose. (This is not the same as having a server networked into your computer.)
• iDVD application bundle: This is the iDVD application file that contains the default theme elements.
Note: When you create an archive project in iDVD 4, you can choose to include the themes and encoded files. For the best portability, you should include both options. This results in a larger archive file, but ensures you can take the file to any DVD Studio Pro system and import it without missing assets. If you do not choose to include the themes and encoded files in the archive file, those assets must be available in one of the standard locations.
If your project will have automatically-created chapter index (scene selection) menus based on markers embedded in the video, it can be easier to create these within iDVD prior to importing the project into DVD Studio Pro. This ensures the chapter index menus use the selected theme’s background and include arrow buttons to navigate between the menus.
Important: To ensure all iDVD menu elements import correctly into DVD Studio Pro, you must navigate to each chapter index menu within iDVD before saving the project. This is also true for any menus you add to your iDVD project by clicking the Folder button.
Issues With Importing iDVD Projects
There are some issues to be aware of when you import iDVD projects:
• If you import an iDVD project with DVD-ROM content, DVD Studio Pro does not update the settings in the Disc Inspector’s General tab to reflect the DVD-ROM content. You must manually select the DVD-ROM layout and choose the folder to include.
• When you create a slideshow in iDVD, you can add arrow buttons to each still to provide viewers with an additional method of jumping to the previous and next stills. These arrow buttons are not imported when you import an iDVD project into DVD Studio Pro. The viewer must use the Previous and Next buttons on the DVD player’s remote control to jump between stills.
• The button highlights used in iDVD may look different when imported into DVD Studio Pro. In most cases, the text in the buttons is set to be included in the highlight. Additionally, buttons that use an underline in iDVD will not have an underline when imported into DVD Studio Pro.
• When you import an iDVD project, you may find that the button that is highlighted by default on some menus changes. During the project import, DVD Studio Pro numbers the buttons on each menu and highlights button 1 by default. You can assign any button on a menu to be the default button in the Menu tab in the Menu Inspector.
• If you import an iDVD project that contains a drop zone configured as a slideshow and has multiple slides assigned to it, DVD Studio Pro only shows the slideshow’s first slide in the drop zone.
Source: +DVD Studio Pro User Manual+

Quality issues in iDVD - is DVD Studio Pro the answer?

Hi all,
I am having a problem producing a high quality DVD with iDVD. I know this is the DVD studio forum but I am wondering if I need to switch form iDVD to get the results I want. So, this is what I am doing in iDVD.
I am using 13 QT (.mov) movie files that were made using the "Best" quality setting. Their size is 720 X 480. I am using the "Professional Quality" encoding in the Preference dialog and the Project settings dialog. The theme I am using is Revolution. (This is all in iDVD)
I have burned a few DVDs (Memorex DVD+RW, 4X) and at first used the "Best Performance" encoding. It took about 20 min to burn the DVD. The results were too pixelated. Then I read about the other settings, and used the "Professional Quality". This higher setting took over 40 min to burn the DVD. Unfortunately,the results were not that much better.
Can someone help me to figure out what is wrong? I am looking to produce the crisp quality I see when I view the QT movie files (before I incorporated them into my iDVD project).
What I am thinking is that iDVD is not capable of producing the high crisp quality I am looking for and that DVD Studio Pro might be my answer. Or, could it be my QT movie files (thou they look great when I just play them on my computer in the QT player.
Thanks
PS: I posted a similar topic in the iDVD forum but no answers as of yet and I am on a strict deadline (aren't we all...lol)

You didn't mention that you were doing screen captures. That makes a difference. Camtasia is compressing your screen captures. All DVDs use MPEG-2 compression. So you are in fact double compressing your videos (which always results is lower quality).
To get better results see if you can get Camtasia to record uncompressed, or using the Animation codec at Best. This will result in a absolutely huge file, which is what you want. You bring that into iDVD for good results. Or bring it into Compressor and then DVD SP for better results. Or a third party MPEG-2 encoder like BitVice and then DVD SP for best results. Of course using anything other than iDVD will require a couple of weeks training.

Quality of DVD Studio Pro using Compressor vs iDVD

Sorry to repeat the question below, which I have also posted under DVD SP...I thought that perhaps someone watching Compressor would also have input.
I have been trying to obtain a DVD output with DVD Studio Pro where moderate speed pans don't jerk. Oddly, I get better results using iDVD. The image in iDVD isn't as sharp, but the quality of movement (pans, tilts) is smoother. My program length is only 20 minutes and I have used compressor to encode outside of DVD SP. The compressor setting was for DVD, 60 mins, best quality. Why is it that a consumer software such as iDVD yields better results in this aspect? What am I doing wrong in DVD SP that results in less than professional results. All input appreciated. Thanks in advance

Pamela
hy is it that a consumer software such as iDVD yields better results in this aspect? What am I doing wrong in DVD SP that results in less than professional results.
You are messing around with Compressor settings . . . I guess!
Hope that helps !
Alberto

Is DVD Studio Pro faster than iDVD?

Sorry I'm double posting this but I didn't get my question in the Subject line. Is DVDSP faster than iDVD? If so, by how much? I'm on the endless quest for more speed.

I have a feeling you're asking about the time to compress video, in which case it will depend on the settings you've chosen. As a rough guestimate I would say that iDVD will compress as fast as the faster possibilities in DVD Studio Pro (which is using Compressor behind the scenes). Using Compressor would allow you to more carefully get the best quality for a given amount of video, instead of iDVD's one hour or two hour approach.
Usually though you would tend to compress the video before taking it into DVD Studio Pro, and you wouldn't need to compress it again before doing a build or burning a disc.
If you meant is DVD Studio Pro faster to create a title, it varies depending on what the disc needs to do. The important thing is that there are things you just cannot do in iDVD, and if you need to do those you could use DVD Studio Pro to do them.

Getting Chapters from IDVD to DVD Studio Pro

I have a video that must be paused after chapter segments by user and have found that I need to use DVD studio pro which I purchased today with no knowledge of how it works. Post just today explains that.
I built an entire movie with transitions, audio and chapters iniDVD and Now I would like to get those chapter markers into DVD studio pro. Do i have to first export to Final Cut and then export to DVD Studio.
I have made a quicktime movie that when viewed in Quicktime shows all the chapters(31 in all).
Is there a better way to do this than manually find each time points and adding markers in dvd pro?
Secondly, once i get those markers in DVD studio, can i create a pause and next function as one whole movie or do they need to be separate items(term).
Thansk for any guidance.

If you added Chapter Markers in Final Cut Pro, then you are all set. In FCP, Export a QuickTime Movie and when the dialog box opens make sure your Markers are set to "DVD Studio Pro Markers".
If you added Chapter Markers in iDVD, then you are out of luck. You have to do it all over again. You could add Chapter Markers in DVD SP, but I recommend doing it in FCP.

IDVD 08 vs DVD Studio Pro

I've just completed a 66 minute slide-show project on iMovie 08 and I saved it at the maximum resolution possible (960 x 540) MPEG4 format.
When I import this MPEG4 file to iDVD 08, I can create and burn a DVD, and everything works as expected.
Now, I would like to add comments to my slide-show, in the form of subtitles, and I know that DVD Studio Pro (version 3.0.2) can add subtitles.
The problem is : my iMovie MPEG4 file is not recognized by DVD Studio Pro 3.
Any explanations ? Or any suggestions as to the format I should choose to export ("share") from iMovie 08 ?
Thanks in advance.
BimBam

You need Tiger to run DVDSP 3 (which is what I use), not Leopard. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, DVDSP3 won't run with Leopard..... maybe Version 4 of DVDSP?
Fred .... correct me if I'm wrong here please.
You may want to verify this info with the DVDSP Forum as well.
Message was edited by: SDMacuser

DVD Studio Pro vs iDVD

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