How to "simply" create a DVD?

Question

Hello.
Can anyone help me understand iMovie HD 6.0.2?
iMovie used to be simple to work with. Now I find every operation I try to perform is riddled with obstacles and confusion. I can no longer simple go from a completed iMovie file to iDVD. Everything gets screwey. For example, when I select “Burn Project to Disk,” I get this confusing message that says, “This feature creates a duplicate of your project onto a CD or DVD Rom. It does ‘NOT” create a video DVD for playing in a DVD player....???” Huh?
When I click Export, iDVD, I get another confusing message - “send your movie to iDVD - Share?”
I click Share and I get this message: “Your project exceeds the maximum content duration. To burn your DVD, change the encoder setting in the Project Info window to Best Quality.”
What, where, how? Where is the “Project Info Window?”
I tried giving up with iDVD and using Toast. But where is the file to use? Where is the file to burn?
This is maddening. When I use my older laptop running 10.3.9 and iMovie 4, there are no problems. But this current version is driving me crazy. Nothing is simple and nothing works. It seems I have to (from my finished iMovie project) export to a QT movie file in order to then import it to Toast. But even then, what settings to use are a major confusion.
Sorry - I am frustrated. I just don’t understand how come this has become such a difficult chore. All I want to do is capture video and then create a DVD.
Whoosh! What a rant. But, like I said, I am seriously frustrated with this.

Answer 1

iDVD opens and that annoying music is playing which I cannot find a way to shut it off. And it just sits there playing that tune,
The tune is iDVD's default. You can temporarily stop the action on the window while you are working in iDVD by clicking on the circular button with the little man walking in it at the bottom of the window. It will be white when inactive and colored when active. When you want the window to move or have sound AND when you go to burn, the button needs to be active.
To change the music completely, Look on the right side of your iDVD window. Find the tab 'Menu' on the bottom and select it. You will see at the top 'Loop duration.' Setting that to 0 will ensure that your menu page has no sound when burned. If you want sound, but not the default tune, go to 'media' and select 'audio' to find your iTunes music and choose one of them. To set it as your menu tune, click 'apply' and then go back to the 'menu' option to set the loop duration and volume level. Usually, you will not want to play the entire song.
a rapid moving dot or line keeps running left to right across the bottom. There's no clue what to do next.
That moving line represents the loop duration of your theme for audio and video and/or photos in drop zones. When the 'dot' reaches the right side, the action/audio it returns to the left and the action/audio repeats.
The Drop zone is visable but what do I use to drop in it?
The Drop Zone is for you to 'drop' photos and/or short videos to make your iDVD menu more interesting and creative. It is not a part of iMovie. iMovie has no way of knowing that you might want to put some of your favorite photos or movie clips in your drop zone. You have to select for yourself which items you want in your DVD.
Just as commercial DVDs often have clips of their movies moving on their main DVD menu, so you can create this effect. You can change your theme to find one that has only a few drop zones. If you have iDVD's older themes, some of them do not have drop zones and choosing one of those thems might make it easier for you.
Putting a photo in a drop zone is easy to do with drag and drop from iPhoto or from any other photo that you just drag into iDVD.
I tried Open DVD Map and am faced with another mysterious confusing window showing three smaller squares in it, each a small picture of what looks to be the theme and then the first frame of my movie
The Map view is designed to give you a pictorial view of the menus/paths of your movie in iDVD. First will be your main menu and then branching off will be your submenus if you have chapters in your movie. Under each submenu will be a movie icon of the beginning of each chapter.
Your movie must not have chapters, so you should see just three squares. The first one should be gray and say to drag content here to automatically play when disk is inserted. This option is to be used if you don't want any theme, just to have the movie play straight away. The second square will be your iDVD main menu screen and the third will be the first frame of your movie.
Do I click Burn Anyway?
Only if you are satisfied with your iDVD project, have the theme you like, have the audio and its duration you want, filled the drop zones(if any) with your photos and you have checked to see that your movie plays ok with 'preview.'
Most of us highly recommend that before you actually burn a disk, you save your iDVD project using the 'Save as disk image' command. This will look as if the project is burning, but will create an image of the project for you. You can use this to see if there are any burning problems and you can play it back on your computer to see that is is ok before you burn to disk. Then, you can burn directly from the disk image to disks. (When you get to this point, post back if you cannot see how to do this).
Also, PLEASE read and do the tutorials as Lennart advises.....they are quite informative and guide you through this process. You are making it much harder for yourself if you skip this important information source.