Sharing imovie with idvd. Having big problems!!!!

Question

I have tried to "share" my imovie project (13.76GB in size, approx 48 minutes duration) with idvd and nothing seems to be happening.
I understand that it will take a long time but it has been exporting for the last 24 hours. I have opened the "project info" window to keep track of the encoding process. After a 24 hour period the encoding bar hasn't filled with any blue to indicate the stage it is at.
I have also made sure the is plenty of space. I read that I need 15-20GB free space. I have 18GB of free space)
Please help me. I thought this part would be hassel free.
ibook superdrive & imac G4   Mac OS X (10.4.7)  

Answer 1

Hi again wwww...,
The reason I recommend using the import video command from the file menu is so there is no chance of mistakenly dropping your 48 minute video into the drop box or background of your DVD menu. It is very easily done.
So, on with the show..... I can't say what is going on exactly, but please follow these steps and you should be up and running again in no time.
Firstly, restart your computer. Now install and run Onyx (it's a free disc maintenance app, link attached). Open Onyx and run 'Automation'. It will take about 10-15 minutes to do it's thing. While Onyx is running, open a finder window and type idvd.plist into the search box and delete this file. It is the preference file for iDVD. Be sure to delete this file ONLY. And repeat the process for imovieHD.plist and empty the trash. When Onyx has finished you will be promted to restart your computer.
After restart, open your iMovie project and go to the file menu>export or share>Quicktime and change the setting to Full Quality DV. Change the destination to the desktop for ease of finding. It will probably take an hour or so to export as a full quality dv movie and will be around the same size (GB) as your project. If you have 30Gb of free space this won't be a problem.
Now you have a self-contained, uneditable Quicktime version of your project. Now, open iDVD select your theme and then select 'import video' from the file menu and import the Quicktime movie. It should only take a few seconds to import. Then got to the file menu again and save the project (or apple command key + 'S'). And go back to the file menu and select 'save as disc image' and let it run. Don't use the computer while it's encoding the iDVD project and make sure you quit any other apps running and the screen saver too.
Just a final note. After you have exported your project to Quicktime you no longer need the iMovie file. You can delete it, however, you should also export your project back to your camera as another back up copy of your project. I have had some glitches with iMovie projects not seating into iDVD, which were solved by exporting to Quicktime. I never went into why, only how!
These steps should get you going again. It does seem like a lot of mucking around, but after you have it going again it will seem worth it.
Good luck and please post back with your results.
SR.
Onyx - http://www.titanium.free.fr/pgs/english.html
G4 iMac, 15 Flat panel. 800MHz, 1GB RAM, 60GB HD, Super drive. Mac OS X (10.4.6) iLife 06, LaCie Ext F/W DVD-R/W & 160GB Ext HD, TiBook DVI, iPod Nano & Photo