IDVD Project Size Stuck @ 4.54 GB

I created an iDVD project using Magic iDVD and the Pass Through theme (6.0 theme). These are the contents:
(1) a main menu movie of 6 MB and a 30-second soundtrack (not the same soundtrack as the movie)
(2) 3 submenus with still photos and a 30-second soundtrack for each
(3) 2 movies, one 840 MB and the other 870 MB (made with iMovie)
(4) 3 slideshows of only 10 seconds each. The slideshows each have only 2 pictures.
The project size, using professional quality encoding, ended up at 4.54 GB. This seemed strange to me because I had previously created an iDVD project with 5 submenus, five 10-second slideshows, a 2.88 GB movie (made with iMovie), and using professional quality encoding...and it was still able to fit in one DVD!
Here's the other strange thing: When I replaced one of the movies with a 1.99 GB movie (also made with iMovie), the project size still showed up as 4.54 GB! So I think there's definitely some program glitch here somewhere, either in iDVD or iMovie.

So to clarify: iDVD doesn't care abt the size of the movies but abt the total running time of the movies...is this correct?
That is correct. With the exception of adding content to the dvd-rom section, iDvd only looks at run time or total QT playback (not to exceed 2 hrs. per SL Dvd-R). If you do add content to the dvd-rom section it then reduces available QT Playback. Same holds true when you add audio files, motion menus, photos, titles, etc. The available playback is shortened / reduced each time these additional /extra features are added to your dvd. That's why it's always a good idea to keep a close eye on the Capacity Meter within Project Info. It'll tell you how much space is remaining as well as how much is currently used by all of the content on your dvd.
Another item you need to watch very carefully is iDvd's Map View. If after you add content you then see an exclamation mark (yellow warning sign); iDvd is telling you you must address this file properly before it can be burned to disc. Otherwise it will likely choke during the encoding process.
Message was edited by: SDMacuser

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How do I archive iDVD project? Best/Smallest size?

Hi,
I need to know the best method to save a movie project that was made in imovie, then burned to DVD using iDVD. I want to save a copy of the finished product for archival purposes on an external drive. I want to be able to pull up this archive and be able to burn another copy of it to DVD or just be able to view the archived movie on my powerbook (directly from the external. I want it to be saved in the smallest size. I am ruling out saving the imovie project, as that is usually up to 12 or 14gb. I tried to save the iDVD project that was burned to a disc, but I wasn't able to view that again, or burn it to another dvd disc? Would it make sense for me to edit the project like always in imovie, open iDVD, and save it as a disc image first, and then burn it to DVD-R whenever I need a copy? And if I do this, is the disc image file going to be able to be viewed on the powerbook, without using the burned DVD? Also, I read on here that the iDVD doesn't have an option to burn to disc image? I know Toast Titanium does. I have that also. But, can I edit the movie in imovie, and then just open Toast Titanium and use it to make a disc image? And then at a later date, call up the disc image with Toast and just use Toast to burn a DVD? Also, I should note that I will need to burn 2 imovie projects to the DVD (they are 1 hr long t.v. episodes each) I need to put 2 episodes on each DVD. I know how to burn them from imovie directly to iDVD, but then I am back to the whole question of archiving them in something other than imovie projects or iDVD projects?????????
Thanks to anyone who can advise
-Tom

Oh my, where to begin.
If you think you will ever want to change your saved iDVD project (change the menu, add more videos) then keep the Project file. That is what iDVD can read. After you've burned a DVD (or made a disc image) with iDVD there still is an encoded MPEG inside the Project file. So you don't need to save the iMovie, just the iDVD project file (or project folder if your version has more than just a file).
A disc image is the same thing as having the video DVD written to your hard drive. iDVD doesn't open a DVD; nor will it open a disc image. When you mount a disc image (double-click on it) there will be a new icon on your desktop. If you open DVD player, it will play the movie from the mounted disc image the same as if it was playing a DVD disc. You may need to choose Open VIDEO_TS in the DVD player File menu and select the VIDEO_TS folder in the mounted image in order to play the video. If nothing appears on the screen, press the space bar to start playback.
Disc images are burned in Toast using the Image File option in the Copy window. You can burn one disc image to one DVD.
What I recommend is that you add your multiple movies to your one iDVD project before saving a disc image or burning a DVD. iDVD 4 can handle up to 2 hours of video per DVD, although I think it is best to keep at near 90 minutes or less for best quality.
As for saving a copy for future use: you need to save the iDVD project itself if you want to re-use it in iDVD. If not, you can save a disc image which is the same as burning another DVD except it is on the hard drive. By the way, Toast can make a disc image from your burned DVD. Insert the DVD, select it in the Toast Copy window and choose "Save as Disc Image" from the Toast File menu.

Is there a way to increase the size of the thumbnails in an iDVD project?

Is there a way to increase the size of the thumbnails in an iDVD project?
Thanks,
Paul

There is a way within apple's Final Cut Studio 2.
However, I have Not been able to do likewise within iDvd alone.

Why does the file size change when put into an iDVD project? And problems with dual layer discs...

I exported a short video of mine from Final Cut Express and the size of the file came out to 7.3 GB. When I put it into an iDVD project, it says that the file is only 800 MB. I tried just burning it onto a dual layer disc anyway to see if it might still burn at the original file size, but the disc came out unusable for some reason, and obviously hadn't been burned anywhere near full-capacity. So, I tried it again, and the exact same thing happened.
I guess my first question is: why is iDVD changing the size of the file? I want the quality to be the best it can be, so keeping it at 7.3 GB as opposed to 800 MB is rather important.
Secondly, why did the dual layer discs come out unusable? I've burned single layer discs before and they haven't been an issue. Also, I know for a fact that the drive can burn dual layer discs, so that isn't the issue.
Thanks in advance to anyone who can provide me with help on this issue.

LivelyJamesS wrote:
I exported a short video of mine from Final Cut Express and the size of the file came out to 7.3 GB. When I put it into an iDVD project, it says that the file is only 800 MB.
Guessing here but it looks like you edited/exported an SD/DV sequence of about 30 min in FCE. DVD needs to be MPEG-2 so iDVD compresses the original file down to the size that you report.
LivelyJamesS wrote:
I guess my first question is: why is iDVD changing the size of the file? I want the quality to be the best it can be, so keeping it at 7.3 GB as opposed to 800 MB is rather important.
The quality will be what the MPEG-2 compression and the software allow for. MPEG-2 is DVD standard .... there's no way around that.
LivelyJamesS wrote:
Secondly, why did the dual layer discs come out unusable? I've burned single layer discs before and they haven't been an issue. Also, I know for a fact that the drive can burn dual layer discs, so that isn't the issue.
Guessing again but it would seem that you burned a Data DVD instead of a Video DVD which would be unusable by a set-top player. As I said above you can't get around DVD standards.
If by any chance your video was HD originally you can try to go the Blu-Ray route using Roxio Toast or FCS 3 (discontinued) or FCP X. You will also need a Blu-Ray burner.

Can iDVD 09 open and work with an iDVD project i made in 06?

I am bringing over my iMovie 06 and iDVD projects over to new mac with iDVD 09. I took out iMovie 09 and resinstalled 06HD. The iMovie 06 files now open ok, but not the iDVD 06 projects, when I try to open them with iDVD 09. Should I remove iDVD 09 and install iDVD 06.
I heard that iMovie 06 files will import ok into iDVD 09, but now assuming that the iDVD 06 projects themselves will not open in the newer program.

i uninstalled iDVD 09 and installed iDVD 06 to see if I could open the G4's old iDVD projects.
Error message says iDVD 06 will not work with this OS. What gives? Apparently iMovie HD06 will work, as far as I can tell, with just a few tests.
What CAN I DO HERE to bring over my iDVD 06 projects so I can work them on Snow Leopard?
Luckily the dvd projects are not many and not complex. But there are so many issues with all of this. I might as well have a computer that knows only Chinese characters. I got the new mac so my video work wouldnt clog up on the old G4. But this is beyond clog. This is cement, stuck at the starting gate.

How do i burn idvd projects in a dvd format to an external hard disk

I have an iDVD project but it is too big to burn to a dvd (11GB!) so I was wondering if I can save the proejct like a dvd onto my External Hard Disk. This is really urgent and important for a school project.
Thanks in advance.

iDVD does not care about file size (it compresses a movie file by about 4:1 o the standard mpeg2 format), only about length.
A standard DVD will hold up to 120 minutes of video, but this includes titles, transitions etc.
iDVD encoding settings:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=iDVD/7.0/en/11417.html
Short version:
Best Performance is for videos of up to 60 minutes
Best Quality is for videos of up to 120 minutes
Professional Quality is also for up to 120 minutes but even higher quality (and takes much longer)
That was for single-layer DVDs. Double these numbers for dual-layer DVDs.
Professional Quality: The Professional Quality option uses advanced two-pass technology to encode your video (The first pass determines which parts of the movie can be given greater compresson without quality loss and which parts can’t. The second pass then encodes those different parts accordingly) , resulting in the best quality of video possible on your burned DVD. You can select this option regardless of your project’s duration (up to 2 hours of video for a single-layer disc and 4 hours for a double-layer disc). Because Professional Quality encoding is time-consuming (requiring about twice as much time to encode a project as the High Quality option, for example) choose it only if you are not concerned about the time taken.
In both cases the maximum length includes titles, transitions and effects etc. Allow about 15 minutes for these.
You can use the amount of video in your project as a rough determination of which method to choose. If your project has an hour or less of video (for a single-layer disc), choose Best Performance. If it has between 1 and 2 hours of video (for a single-layer disc), choose High Quality. If you want the best possible encoding quality for projects that are up to 2 hours (for a single-layer disc), choose Professional Quality. This option takes about twice as long as the High Quality option, so select it only if time is not an issue for you.
Use the Capacity meter in the Project Info window (choose Project > Project Info) to determine how many minutes of video your project contains.
NOTE: With the Best Performance setting, you can turn background encoding off by choosing Advanced > “Encode in Background.” The checkmark is removed to show it’s no longer selected. Turning off background encoding can help performance if your system seems sluggish.
And whilst checking these settings in iDVD Preferences, make sure that the settings for NTSC/PAL and DV/DV Widescreen are also what you want.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1502?viewlocale=en_US

How can I get my iDVD project from my iMac to my MBPro?

I created a slideshow on my iMac in iPhoto, sent it to iDVD, and then burned the slideshow to a disc from iDVD. I'd like to have the iDVD project on my MBPro, too, but everything I've tried doesn't work!
I've read the posts saying that archiving the iDVD project would work...I did that on my iMac and burned it to a disc to transfer it. Well, the archiving made an "Alias" of the iDVD file, and when I tried to open it on my MBPro I got an error message that it "couldn't be opened because the original file can not be found". Of course not! The "original" file is on my iMac!)
Any help would really be appreciated...I'm not real familiar with the whole iDisk thing, but I was wondering if that might work??

I actually did do File/Archive when I archived it; still not sure why it created an alias that I can't work with...I'm pretty sure though that the project is an ok size for a DVD; it's about 25 minutes total, WAY less than 4.7GB that the disk holds. And, I had burned a copy of the final iDvd file to a DVD-R before I decided I wanted to have the file on my MBPro.
Still hoping to find out how I can transfer this file from Mac to Mac...but, thanks for your input!

Edit in iMovie using archived iDVD project?

Well it looks like I may done something rather stupid. Before the holidays I produced a family vacation video, burned the DVDs and sent them out to all my family members. After watching it they pointed out some typos in some captions and some editing mistakes, so I wanted to go back and fix those and burn new DVDs. But I just realized I'd archived the iDVD project but not the iMovie project. I trashed the iMovie project to recover disk space. So now I'm left with just the iDVD archive.
Is there any way to recover my iMovie project from the iDVD archive?
(I can't believe I trashed my iMovie files. That just isn't like me at all. <shame>, <embarrassment>, <lesson learned>)
iMovie HD
iDVD 6
- Lofty

You can recover the movie from the archived DVD project but the movie may be in several sections/clips. Just Control-click on the archived iDVD project file and select "Show Package Contents" from the contextula menu. Then go to the Resources/MPEG.nobackup folder.The sections/clips should be in there.
You can import those clipes into iMovie but won't be able to edit the captions, only cut them out and put new captions in over new clips. If you added captions to a black background and not over the movie itself you could cut out those sections and add new sections. But if you have to cut out parts of the movie with captions to add new ones that could lose a good bit of the original movie. In that case I thiink going with the typos would be the better solution.
When you're done use the Share ➙ Media Browser menu option with Size = Large. This will give a better final image than Share ➙ iDVD will. You will have to delete the existing movie file from the iDVD project and add the new, editied movie.
OT

Best way to divide iDVD project onto 2 DVDs?

I have an iDVD project that I've spent sooooooo much time on, and after burning to DVD, the quality was awful (zigzaginess with movement in the shadow areas, etc etc).
The project duration is 80:44 minutes. DVD capacity says 4.4GB of 4.2 GB.
So would the best thing be to divide it into two DVDs? Part 1 and Part 2? Do I just make a copy of the file, and delete chapters 1-25 on one and chapters 26-51 on the other? Is it that simple?

No, a standard DVD-R disk can hold 120 minutes, so you are well within the disk capacity. The file size has nothing to do with it. It is running time that counts. Also, 4.2 GB = 4.7 GB. It is just being expressed differently. But none of this has any bearing on the quality of your final DVD. You are well within capacity. It is not necessary, nor would it be helpful, to divide your project into two DVDs.
If your still images look jaggy, it probably was because you used the Share menu function to share your iMovie project to iDVD and when the prompt came up to render or proceed anyway, you selected render. Don't do that. Always select Proceed Anyway. That way iDVD will do the rendering and it does a much better job than iMovie. iMovie's rendering, in fact, is destructive and can ruin the appearance of your still images on the final DVD.
Instead of using the Share function, I find it best to drag the iMovie project icon (the one with the star on it) into the edge of your iDVD main menu window, being careful not to put it in a drop zone. Your movie will then import into iDVD and iDVD will handle all of the rendering. Your results will be much better.
Then save your iDVD project as a disk image (an option on the file menu) and burn your DVD from the Disk Image using the Disk Utility app on your Mac. That usually yields the best results.
Also, for projects between 60 minutes and 120 minutes duration, you should burn using the Best Quality setting rather than best performance.
If your moving video clips look like they have moving combed lines through them when the clip depicts hard edged images or parallel lines, that is due to interlacing. iDVD is designed to produce projects that play on an interlaced TV. If you play it on a progressive screen TV, or on your progressive computer screen, you may get the wavy lines that come from playing interlaced material on a progressive screen. Splitting your project into two projects will not help that.

Using iDVD project file after deleting original iMovieHD

I've been using iMovieHD and iDVD to convert my home movies from miniDV tapes to DVDs. I've been putting two one-hour tapes together into one iMovie and then creating an iDVD project with themes, chapters, etc.
Each two-hour iMovie file takes up >20 GB. Before I burned my DVD, the iDVD project file took up only a few MB. After I burned the DVD, the file size grew to >4 GB, so I figured (erroneously, it seems) that this new file package contained all of the information needed to keep burning DVDs. Threfore, I deleted the original massive iMovie file and kept only the iDVD project file.
Now every time I try to load the iDVD file, the program lists all the missing files and, other than my themes and chapter titles, there is nothing left of the original project.
Am I missing something here? What's taking up all that space (4 GB)? Am I completely screwed? Is the only way to make new copies of my project to copy the DVD that I made?
Any help would be appreciated.

Hi Jay,
As John has said, you should have created a Disc Image of your DVD project before deleting the iMovie file. When working in iMovie/iDVD you must not delete ANYTHING that is in the project, not even the iMovie trash can, which often mysteriously fills up with "stuff", until you are sure you are finished editing and then have saved a Disc Image to burn further DVD's from. The files you deleted from iMovie were the reference for the file you were using in iDVD. Without that iMovie file, your iDVD project will only show what was created there, like your theme page.
Sorry that's bad news. Your options now are re-create your iMovies from your tapes, OR, rip the DVD you have back to your Mac to burn more DVD's.
Forest
iMac G5 20" 1.8 GHz - 400GB HD - 2GB RAM Mac OS X (10.4.8) 300 GB & 160GB Ext drives, QT 7.1.5 Pro, Panasonic GS-500 3CCD miniDV cam

How do I run iMovie or iDVD projects on Apple TV?

I just bought an Apple TV. I see how to view photos, but I can't figure out how to put movie clips in a form that I can transfer to my Apple TV for viewing on my HD TV.

You can't use either iDVD or movie projects with the tv, they are just what they say n the tin - Projects. All projects need finalising before they can be used elsewhere. iDVD projects will be finalised as DVD's and of course the tv doesn't play DVD's.
imovie projects need to be finalised as h264 video files so as to be used with the tv. Quite simple really, just share as a movie, choosing the size of movie that suits the source video you have used in the project.

One Flash CC project gets stuck when publishing in IOS. It will quickly publish as Android, and other projects will publish as IOS. Not sure what to change.

One Flash CC project gets stuck when publishing in IOS. It will quickly publish as Android, and other projects will publish as IOS. Not sure what to change.

Thanks for the info.
I've recently stumbled on an article on how to view the packaged file (apk) published using AIR 3.2 for Android setting (Adobe Flash CS6). All you need to do is change the extension of the file from (.apk) to (.rar) or (.zip) and extract the file as you would with any other zip or rar file. I was able to confirm that the packaged file (apk) indeed contain all the videos for the presentation. I have more than 80 videos in the presentation. All videos included in the package are of the same video format and resolution (FLV 320x240) but of different duration. I intentionally included the all the videos inside the package so I can use the presentation anywhere and anytime without the need to connect to the internet. The packaged apk file size is (1.23GB) the file includes the project's swf and xml file, the component swf and videos.
When installed to android I noticed that the package remained as an apk file. Not really sure if android temporarily unpacks it when you run the app.
Testing phase:
I see no problem when I'm testing the project on my desktop computer. But when packaged and installed on my device the problem arise.
Problem:
I'm able to install and run the app on my device but wont play some of the videos included in the package.
Was this due to the limited RAM or processor of my android device?
I wanted to distribute the presentation to friends so i was trying to package it for easy access and installation on their device.
Alternative Solution:
I installed a third party app called SWF player by BIT LABS. Copied all the files to my device (the project's swf and component swf with the videos). The project worked like a charm the player (SWF player) and was able to run the presentation as if it was running of my desktop. All buttons and videos working properly. Although the alternative solution worked for me I still wanted to package the presentation for easy access and distribution to friends.
Please help...Thanks in advance.

Idvd project won't burn, have I lost my suoerdrive ???

Hi, firstly I'd just like to say I'm an idiot, here's why
I had a large important movie to edit (22gb) in idvd4 on an emac. Did all the work in i movie, sent to idvd but wouldn't burn as I had too little disk space. So I exported from i movie to QT pro and then exported to QT movie and compressed the file , then brought back in to idvd at a suitable size. All good everything working in idvd ( except chapter markers )
Anyway heres the problem, to free up some disk space I previosely deleted loads of stuff I didn't need or use on the computer however I think I may have erased my superdrive/dvd burner using the disk utility. When I look in finder it is just showing the hard drive ? Is this permanent or can I somehow retrieve the situation.
Can I use the restore function in disk utility? How can I see if my superdrive is working correctly or is even there at all ? the dvd player seems to work ok.
What is happening at the moment is everything goes fine with encoding etc but when it comes to saying insert blank disc it just keeps popping them back out asking for a blank disc again. I have tried loads of different discs.
I have an external burner but using toast it won't recognise the idvd project.
This is an important project for me which has took me days to sort so any help greatly appreciated
Thanks

Good morning,
Bengt has good suggestions, so work with his ideas (and you may find your superdrive is just fine, especially since DVDs still play on it). It sounds like you have several things going on.
As he says, first of all, you'll need space on your boot drive for iDVD to work. Your iMovie project and your iDVD project could have been created on an external drive (I use a Firewire drive, and don't know if a USB 2.0 drive would be fast enough). You can recreate your iDVD project and save it to the external drive, but I don't think I'd move the iMovie project at this point because iMovie may get confused where the source files are (anyone have experience with this?).
Second topic - iDVD doesn't want us to compress files and it will attempt to convert anything you give it into the standard DVD format of mpeg-2. iDVD "cares" about length, not the file size. For videos up to an hour, use the Best Performance setting in iDVD preferences. For longer productions, use Best Quality (I don't remember when Apple changed that algorithm from a 90 min max to a 120 min max).
Third topic - your loss of chapter markers is probably the result of exporting and converting, so another reason not to do the file compression.
Fourth topic - disk rejects. This could be a variety of factors (dusty burner, bad or incompatible disks, a Finder setting, etc.). I'd start by using high quality disks (Verbatim DVD-R is often recommended, I also use Sony DVD-R; don't use +R or rewritable disks unless your drive specifically handles them, and note that they are generally less compatible than -R disks).
John

Not able to archive iDVD project

I cannot get iDVD to archive my project. I get the error message "there was an error while saving the project". I found a couple of discussions on this very error message, both led to insufficient disc storage. This doesn't seem to be an issue in my case and I am unable to figure out what the issue is. I have burned the project first to a disc image and from there to 2 DVDs, both without a problem. I want to archive the project in case I want to change to wide screen formating in the future. OK here's the low-down. The project info window gives the size of the project as 2.24 GB and the available space on my HD as 283.9 GB, when I attempt to archive, the drop down window gives the size as 7.543 GB. Color me ignorant, and you can use dark shades when it comes to this stuff, but isn't that plenty of room? And what's up with discrepancy in project size? The primary "asset" is an iMovie that weighs in at 8.17 GB prior to being exported to iDVD and consists of still photos out of iPhoto with transitions and other edits all rendered in iMovie, so no permission issues I can ascertain. Thanks for your assistance.

Thanks F Shippey… I am attempting to save the archive to my internal HD. I attempted to save to an external drive that is formated for Mac OSX to see if that made a difference but came to the same conclusion, the same error message. Per one of the discussions referenced in my original post, I checked the cable to the exterior drive, it is an OSB cable, not the preferred Firewire, but is that really significant? Both drives have plenty of space left if seems to me. Is this the only line of inquiry there is to this issue? I did attempt to archive another iDVD project that I'd created a while ago to see what happened, but, no surprise, some of the assets couldn't be found and I couldn't retrieve them. I am leery of this project ending up the same way. T.T.

Exporting iMovie/iDVD project for PC friend to edit

I recently posted a question about how to take an iMovie/iDVD project and export the files so that a PC user could take the project and edit on his PC using a video editor. It was suggested that I share the iMovie project to QuickTime and then burn on to a CD. This sounded good at first but then I did some research and saw that sharing to QuickTime means that the quality will be lost (saving to CD setting) and will only be something like 320 x 240. Plus, it takes forever. Even longer if I set it to full quality but by that point, the file wouldn't fit on a CD anyway.
I did see that I could save the movie back to a mini DV tape and then give that to the PC person so that they could just bring it into their computer via their camcorder. But what if that person doesn't have a digital camcorder?
For the project in question, I've been asked to take some VHS tapes and convert them to digital. I've done so using a digital converter. They want a DVD of what was on the tapes, which I've done, but they also want the files so that they can later edit to their tastes on their own time on their PC and then later create a DVD. Given the above, what would be the best way to do this? Isn't there something in the movie project files that I can dump to disk?

a) consider the usage of an ext. harddrive...
b) in iM's "share" dialog, you find the option "selected clips only"; so, select a few clips you like to export, check that box, done... you can "split" your clips at any point to create segments of approbiate size by hitting apple-t at any position in timeline..
c) share/Quicktime/expert options/click "share"/ offers you a dropdown menu, where you can choose the "avi" container...
(your User Interface is for sure english!)
you can click options, and choose the dv codec (which is your project's native video codec)... no loss of quality, and probably compatible for your friend..
d) a dataDVD-r fits ~20min of dv video... 4 disks?
e) using Disk Utility, make sure, you use a PC-compatible disk format....
f) Plan B) export your project back to tape, give your friend the miniDV...

IDVD Project Size Stuck @ 4.54 GB

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