Using IDVD to author menus

Is it possible to author the DVD menu, sub menus, etc. in iDVD and export it as a Disk Image into Compressor for compressing and burning to either DVD or BD?

No, it can't be done.

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Using IDVD to author

I am trying to learn DVD SP and finding it very difficult. Has anyone tried authoring the DVD menu in iDVD and exporting the menu as a disk image to Compressor for compressing and burning? iDVD makes the process so much easier.
Thanks
Kent

There are a few ways to do what you want (basically bring the menu into DVD SP?)
1.) Depending on the version of iDVD and DVD SP, DVD SP maybe able to open the project. Though if it is a recent version of iDVD, it is probably a non-starter.
2.) Access the assets of the iDVD template and make your own menu from the items (sounds like that is probably not what you want to do.)
4.) Use something like DVDAfterEdit to work with the .img reauthor (but that is a larger learning curve, and probably not what you want.)
3.) Build the iDVD project to a .img. Mount the image then use [MPEG Streamlclip|http://www.squared5.com> to open up the menus. If you look about halfway down [This Page|http://dvdstepbystep.com/vts.php] you will see a list of items in a VIDEO_TS folder. The menus will be in the VIDEO_TS.VOB, VTS_01-0.VOB, VTS020.VOB, etc. (Though it may be just in VIDEO_TS.VOB, was on one of my projects I just tested on. Not sure if different versions of iDVD wrote/write to different VOBs. Then you would need to set in and out points in MPEG Stream Clip) Demux the applicable VOBs to m2vs and use those for the menus.
You would need to rebuild the highlights and if you look around in the iDVD packages for the template highlights they should work. (You would need to still assign colors.) The highlight templates may have to be resized (have not looked at them recently) so if the highlights are off that would be the issue.
FWIW the templates in DVD SP are pretty easy to deal with (and can use some of the iDVD templates) so you may be ultimately better off getting a handle on those than going through all the steps

Use iDVD to author .exe Games?

I have searched the Apple/iDVD forums and found nothing on this topic.
Do you know if it is possible to use iDVD 5 to author a DVD of executable [.exe] game files?
I would like to put several childrens games on one DVD. Set up the menu to go to the various Game Start Page - to read about the game and be able to press "Play" to launch game [the .exe game file] Once game is finished, I would like a page giving a choice to Continue Playing [launch the game file again] or Go To Main Menu.
I have the .jpgs and .gifs about each game to bring in as footage - will iDVD allow me to bring in the .exe files as footage? Or is there another or better way to get the .exe files into iDVD?
When it comes to launching the game, do I need to add special code to button? When game is finished, how do I get it to go to page giving the choice to Continue or Go To Main Menu [instead of it automatically going to the Main Menu]?
This is my first time trying to use iDVD this way. I have only used iDVD with video movie footage and stills for slideshow.
Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks in Advance.

This isn't something you can do with iDVD. I think you can do this with Apple's DVD Studio Pro.

Extract DVD videos, to author a new DVD using iDVD...?

I want to extract seveal chapters from a few DVDs, and then make a new DVD (using idvd) from these chapters. What is the best method/video format I should use to extract the chapters to begin with, so here is minimal loss if quality in the final DVD? I was thinking of using Handbrake to extract chapters (from several DVDs) as mp4 files, and then use iDVD to author a new DVD from those files. But what format in Handbrake should I use to ensure best quality? Is Handbrake the best way to go anyway? Thanks, Fox.

You need to convert the VOB files in the TS-Folder of the DVD back to DV which iMovie is designed to handle. For that you need mpegStreamclip:
http://www.squared5.com/svideo/mpeg-streamclip-mac.html
which is free, but you must also have the Apple mpeg2 plugin :
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/mpeg2/
(unless you are running Lion in which case see below))
which is a mere $20.
Another possibility is to use DVDxDV:
http://www.dvdxdv.com/NewFolderLookSite/Products/DVDxDV.overview.htm
which costs $25.
For the benefit of others who may read this thread:
Obviously the foregoing only applies to DVDs you have made yourself, or other home-made DVDs that have been given to you. It will NOT work on copy-protected commercial DVDs, which in any case would be illegal.
If you are running Lion:
From the MPEG Streamclip homepage
The installer of the MPEG-2 Playback Component may refuse to install the component in Lion. Apple states the component is unnecessary in Lion, however MPEG Streamclip still needs it.
To install the component in Lion, please download MPEG Streamclip 1.9.3b7 beta above; inside the disk image you will find the Utility MPEG2 Component Lion: use it to install the MPEG-2 Playback Component in Lion. The original installer's disk image (QuickTimeMPEG2.dmg) is required.
The current versions of MPEG Streamclip cannot take advantage of the built-in MPEG-2 functionality of Lion. For MPEG-2 files you still need to install the QuickTime MPEG-2 Playback Component, which is not preinstalled in Lion. You don't have to install QuickTime 7.

Burning 2 quicktime movies onto one DVD using iDVD

I wonder if you could help me.
I have 2 Quick time movies - created in FCP - one hour and 10 mins each . Is it possible to put both on one DVD using iDVD? (one is the front view and other side view of a performance).
I have version 5.0.2 iDVD and am burning on desktop G5
Both movies have chapter markers (created already in FCP)
Is it possible to do this and how do I do it using the right menu and proper theme etc- and right method of importing or loading the movies.
Any suggestions?
Many thanks
Nan
Nan Melville
Photography
Home: (212) 873-9829
Cell: (646) 489-5143
[email protected]
http://www.nanmelville.com

Hello Nan,
a Single Layer DVD can hold a maximum of 120 min of video (incl. menus), so either you burn 2 SL DVDs or try to put both movies on a Double Layer DVD, provided you have a burner capable of writing DL DVD.
how do I do it using the right menu and proper theme etc- and right method of importing or loading the movies.
I suggest you have a look at this tutorial by Ken Stone: Authoring with iDVD 5
http://www.kenstone.net/fcphomepage/idvd_5stone.html
hope this helps
mish

Is there any way to get around having to use iDVD to burn DVD?

Is there any way to get around having to use iDVD to export FCE to DVD?
I've been trying to burn a FCE2 sequence to DVD. A friend of mine told me all I had to do was put a blank DVD in, click on the icon on the desk top, export the sequence to Quicktime and drag the QT sequennce into the DVD icon and click burn.
Well something happened! But there's nothing on the DVD!! What am I doing wrong? I loathe iDVD. i don't want to author. I just want to burn the project on a DVD. Please advise. Thanks.
Chuck
iMAC 1.25 GHz PowerPC G4 Mac OS X (10.3.1)
iMAC 1.25 GHz PowerPC G4 Mac OS X (10.3.1)

If you export a sequence at full resolution to can burn it onto a DVD as a data DVD, but this is for transportation purposes only. At full resolution the DVD, especially as it fills up, will not have sufficient throughput to sustain good playback of the material. That's why the material is encoded into MPEG-2 for DVD authoring. If you want to make a DVD for set-top playback it has to be authored to include the DVD format structure. There is no way around that. If you don't like iDVD, take a look at Final Cut Studio, you might prefer DVD Studio Pro. Or you might what to look at Roxio's Toast. It has basic authoring capabilities. Personally I don't think direct playback hardware solutions (except for seriously expensive ones) produce acceptable quality, but that's just me.

I've tried everything-I still get error during rendering/encoding using iDVD

I have a iMac Intel core duo (2005) with OSX10.4.11 and iDVD vers.7.04, 2 gigs of RAM and 56Gigs of free HD space. I can't burn a 3 slide slideshow to DVD without getting rendering/encoding error. I can't save a Disk Image file nor a Video TS folder. I have tried deleting the iDVDplaylist to trash. I have repaired permissions from install DVD. I have also logged on as new user with same results. I've tried using different themes and I have also tried from scratch using Magic iDVD. The built-in dvd burner works fine with regular files so I am confidant it works OK. This is the first time I have used iDVD and all slides are from the media pane and there are no errors in map view. Can anybody help!!!!

Hi
Did You in iDVD - Turn on TV-Safe area ?
Anything goes beyound this - OR EVEN Touching IT ! ? - It must not.
Titles and Chapter names (on menus) - Only A to Z and 0 to 9 - NO OTHER letters as : - ; . etc.
Yours Bengt W

Slide Show from Fotomagico to .mov to DVD using iDVD 08

I used to make slide shows using analogue equipment (multiple slide projectors and electronic controlled slide changes involving fading and timing). These slideshows were projected onto a large screen (2m * 2m). With the introduction of large high definition TV screens and advanced display options it is natural to aim for this media. I use Fotomagico to develop slideshows and aim for quality high definition and smooth transitions (pan, zoom, fade). As long as I use the Fotomagico for screening transitions are smooth but once I take the show thru the conversion process (part of Fotomagico) to make .mov files for QuickTime or that matter for iDVD, pan/zooms may or may not come out jerky on the screen be that on the computer screen or the TV. However this never happens when using "Front Row". Is it possible that Quicktime and iDVD (08) do not make proper use of hardware resources available? Is there any software that would not cost me an arm and a leg that would overcome this problem? My system is a Mac Pro Q-Core 2.8 GHz and 6 GB of RAM and I have 200 GB HDrive available. One of the offending pictures has 344 KB with an aspect ratio of 3.6 taking 12 seconds for the pan (screening the picture from let to right in slow motion) and increasing the screening of one image to 20 second may reduce the jerky motion slightly. Fotomagico staff is aware of that problem that will not occur as long as the show is screened using Fotomagico - of course the whole exercise is to bring a show to anyone using DVD players and TV screens. I am highly suspicious of QuickTime and iDVD since shows play ok using "Front Row". Any suggestions or questions?

What am I missing? How come DVD recorders can record and play back good to very good resolution and motion in HD coming from TV broadcasts or for that matter coming from professionally made DVDs?
Maybe I left something unexplained in my post: Slideshows developed with Fotomagico and transferred to .MOV format and then recorded on DVD (using iDVD) in 1920*1080 are coming out quite good on my large screen TV (LG DLP 52" 1280*720p) and the same is true playing the .MOV file on the Mac or a PC. I do not use a projector for play back.
It is only when it comes to PAN/ZOOM motions that the display can become jerky. During the translation from Fotomagico to .MOV format I am using the best resolution and compression available to me. I am aware that during the translation (authoring?) massive amounts of data have to be processed to generate the illusion of a slowly moving picture passing across the TV (monitor) screen especially so considering the wide screen (16:9) format.
I am new to making movies for DVDs and I like to learn and why not from the best; any help with my problem is much welcomed and I apologise if I don't use the proper terms or if I bark up the wrong tree.

Screen Scrambles when using iDVD

Sometimes when using iDVD 08 the screen scrambles while I'm putting the DVD menus and such together. It doesn't crash per se, I can still run it, but I can't tell where anything is because the video is scrambled. Restarting my 20" aluminum iMac is the only thing that fixes this problem. It's like living in Windows all over again! Anyone else have this problem? Anyone know of a solution?

+Actually this is often the case when using most software...+
I'm not sure what software you're using, but I cannot think of a single piece of software I've ever used on my Mac that has required me to restart because it routinely messes up the graphics or the computer in any other way. That doesn't happen even in Windows with any single app (although it randomly seems to occur in any app at various times). Maybe you could clarify what you mean about often having to restart when using most software, because that has never been my experience.
I have not burned DVDs or disc images when that has occurred, mainly because I wasn't done editing and could no longer see what was going on well enough to finish the editing process. I have restarted my Mac and then finished the editing process, then burned. All my finished discs have looked like I have expected them to look.
Thanks for everyone's comments. Keep 'em coming!

First time using iDVD for slideshow, need some guidance

I want to make a dvd that consists of 3-6 slideshows, plus "extras". Each slideshow will have 50-150 photos, but the "extras" section I want to have all the photos (including some not used in the slideshows) for a total of about 1300 photos.
1. How do I get the photos not used in the slideshow in the "extras" section?
2. Can I put anything in the "drop zones"? or does everything just go in the "slideshow" section?
This is the first time I have ever used iDVD and could use any help or suggestions at all.....
thanks

Don't use over 99 images in a slideshow. You may have trouble:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302961
1. Just create a new extras slideshow menu from the main menu by using the + button and select Add Submenu. Then go there and add slideshows the same way, only select Add Slideshow and then drag your images in; or use the Import funtion.
2. Drop Zones are for single images/movies.
I think you need to spend some time learning how to do this, rather than guessing.
iDVD 6 Getting Started PDF download
Apple's iMovie Learning Site
Apple's iDVD Learning Site
iLife ’06 Multimedia Tutorials
General Learning Center
Ken Stone: Authoring in iDVD 6
My favorite, by far:
iMovie HD & iDVD 6: The Missing Manual
You can download Chapter four: Camcorder Meets Mac.
iPhoto 6: The Missing Manual

Multiplexer Error message when using iDVD

I have been using iDVD successfully but now have a problem. I set up the program and everything is working fine then, just towards the end of the build, I get a 'multiplexer error' message and everything stops. It does NOT say 'not enough memory'. What could have gone wrong? (The particular .mov file, produced on Final Cut Express, I am attempting to burn has been successfully run on iDVD previously without menus; the only change has been to create chapters and setting iDVD to make a menu.)

Hi
From FCE/P I do
• Export out as QuickTime .mov file
• Not selfcontained (not important but saves time and space)
• NO QUICKTIME Converstion
This file I import into iDVD.
*Multiplexing Error*
PART One.
Use of strange video/audio material eg .avi, .wmv, .mp3 etc.
I only use.
Video - StreamingDV (miniDV tape via FireWire) and
Audio = .aiff (as on audio-CDs) (else coverted to this .aff 48KHz)
*Using strange letters in video project name* eg +,/; etc. keep to a-z and 0-9
strange letters in project name eg +
as described by Donnyboy69. Does the title of your project have any symbols or decimal points in it. If so, that is why you are getting the error. I had a project that had a + sign which caused the same problem. I renamed it without the symbol and low and behold, it worked.
PART Two.
from Robert Modero.
"Multiplexing Error. Problem during initialization of tracks"
Simply remember to add subtitles to your Quicktime files and menu buttons.
Once I did that, I was back in business.
from Boise Jim
Do a safe reboot (by holding down the shift key until you see the spinning gear on grey background, then release, then restart when your start-up screen appears).
I always makes a DiskImage first and test this so that it runs OK
I use only - Verbatim DVDs
I use only - DVD-R
I burn at an as slow speed possibly eg x1
This gives good DVDs
PART Three.
Multiplex Error
Chuck, Chicago 2/7/2009.
Back again. Here is what I have found to work. I also have and use a LaCie DVD-R/RW DL external drive and a LaCie external hard drive as well. Since yesterday I have tried a few ways to burn a themed iDVD project having four 56 minute movies on it, amounting to 226 minutes onto a DVD DL disc, capacity 240 minutes. Apple tech support really didn't know what to do but gave me a very good tip. I had two options left. Apple tech support's tip was to try disc image. One of the replies on a thread with this subject said not to, but my experience today is good. Put your project onto "Burn to disc image," under "iDVD, file." Yesterday encoding took me 23 1/2 hours. Overnight for iDVD disc image, encoding took 21 1/2 hours (again) while I slept. This morning I tried to copy/burn disc image to a DVD with Roxio Toast 7, and it stopped near the end of the burn with some kind of "error" message. So then I tried Utilities> Disc Utility> Burn icon, and followed it through. Be sure to click the DVD DL drive in the window "Burn disc in:". I had one other problem though. At the end of a 46 minute copy, it started to verify, and at the end of verify it rejected the burn. So I tried again, and when "verify" appeared, I clicked on "Skip." The disc finished burning and is doing fine and well. A long and tortuous process, but at last something works. I made several additional copies using Disc Utility. Best wishes. Chuck, Chicago.
2. Disconnect any other external devices not absolutly needed.
eg external USB/USB2 hard disks, other FW hard disks etc.
3 Chapter marks in transitions - minimum 2 sec from
FROM Bev.
(Not a 'guy' but I will answer!)
First, I do not think that mixing widescreen and standard makes a difference in iDVD.
Second, you should use a better brand of DVD disk. Also, many of us have experienced fewer problems on playback with DVD-R disks. Recommended brands here are Verbatim, Maxell and Taio Yuden. Memorex and TDK are not consistent and may not give you a correct burn. They apparently have fewer layers in the composition of the disk. I have always used Verbatim DVD-R disks and have not had any burn problems.
Also, choose a slower burn speed, 4x or less.
Third, to determine if the iDVD project will burn properly, create a disk image file (from within iDVD, go File->Save as Disk Image) and test it. Mount the disk image and then open DVD Player (in Applications) and view your project. If it plays correctly, you can then burn the actual DVD disk from the disk image file using Disk Utility.
From: Boise, Idaho
I did everything I've seen suggested, but a friend (who used to be an Apple Genius) suggested that I do a safe reboot (by holding down the shift key until you see the spinning gear on grey background, then release, then restart when your start-up screen appears).
It worked, and I got a clean burn from iDVD.
Hopefully this can help other people.
by dheb0422
Well, I finally got it, and it was odd enough to post here incase anyone looks this topic up again. Many things were tried, including burning the uneditited film, the edited film without titles and chapter markers, abbreviating the chapter markers in case length was the issue (remember the old iMovie used to truncate them when moving to iDVD?). In the process, I noticed that one, and only one, chapter marker was on the same line as the title marker. All the others were on the line above. The only way I seemed able to change that was to clip a few seconds of film. After that last clip, the offending marker took a place on the line above, as were all the others. That run published, compiled completely and burned. That's one for the books.
Yours Bengt W

Using IDVD for music promo

Hi guys,
Would really appreciate some advice on this:
Using IDVD I have produced a kind of interactive demo for the purpose of showcasing examples of my music productions. This project only uses audio files and images (no video). I realise that idvd is really for 'moving' media like video, but I really liked the graphical interface and want to produce something classier than just an A4 biog.
It all looks great, but when it comes to saving the project as a disk image it says "There were errors during the project validation. These errors have to be fixed before burning the project.". I think this is because there is no video in my submenus, just audio and background images (an exclamation mark appears on each of the submenus' frames).
Is it possible to use IDVD in the way I want or am I barking up the wrong tree?
If I am, what can I use to make a similar promo resource for my music?
Thanks in advance guys!
Ben, Brazil

Hello Ben,
I may be mistaking what you want to do, but if you have no video files linked to any of the menus, iDVD may be confused. To remedy this, you could either create a very short and quiet movie in iMovie (eg, your name on a single slide) and then link it to each submenu. Depending on the theme you're using, you may be able to "hide" the button by editing the button text to a period or a couple spaces. The other option is to create an alternate combination of your music and still images in iMovie and link it in a visible way to the menus.
If you are adventureous, the combination of Quicktime Pro, Photoshop/Elements, MakeEffectMovie, and iMovie can give you many of the same types of effects as the iDVD themes. Although the book is a bit dated now, many interesting ideas using that software are contained in "iMovie 3 Solutions" by Erica Sadun.
John

How to get good picture quality on a burned DVD slideshow using IDVD?

After producing a slideshow on IDVD from either jpg or psd photos, it looked great when I played the project. Picture quality was excellent. When I burned a DVD to share the slideshow with a friend and when I played this on the same computer, it had lost resolution and looks awful. I am using best quality but this made no difference. On a hdtv using a standard player, the quality is mediocre. Is there any way to get a decent picture quality. I have also burned a DVD and CD from the IPhoto album, and the quality is better. IPhoto will not burn a slideshow or at least I do not know how to. Can you produce decent quality DVD using IDVD or is there a better application to produce decent DVD of photo slideshows?

....or is there a better application to produce decent DVD of photo slideshows?
Yes. It's called DVDSP (apple's top of the line DVD Authoring application). It has a much longer learning curve than iDvd and is more $$$ but it does work well. The Help Menu alone is over 640 pages long. However, is this app significantly better than iDvd solely in terms of visual quality?.... No.
But it does offer many more tools to address visual artifacts on the finished DVD, more audio control, much better control of durations per slide, audio, buttons that work as expected, among other things. (for additional examples of this see chapter 12 of the DVDSP Help Menu / starting on p. 373).
Short of DVDSP, and much less money, you can also try these 2 third party apps which come highly recommended on this iDvd Forum:
http://www.lqgraphics.com/software/phototomovie.php
http://www.boinx.com/fotomagico/overview/
At the moment most macs do not yet support burning to Blueray (which does offer much better results). Once this technology is more commonplace, then I believe we will see a significant improvement in what you are trying to do above.
Hope this is helpful but if not just come on back.
Disclaimer: Apple does not necessarily endorse any suggestions, solutions, or third-party software products that may be mentioned in this topic. Apple encourages you to first seek a solution at Apple Support. The following links are provided as is, with no guarantee of the effectiveness or reliability of the information. Apple does not guarantee that these links will be maintained or functional at any given time. Use the information above at your own discretion.

Legalities of using iDVD for commercial productions

Hi all,
How do I stand legally using iDVD to produce home movie DVDs commercially. I've search for answers to this with no clear reckoning.
All input is most welcome.
Thanks in advance.
SR

iDVD is not suitable for any commercial DVD titles (ie: replicated discs) . You need to use DVDSP or have someone do it for you. Factors like bitrate, for example, can really screw up a title - BEWARE- you might be OK, you might not.
Remember, just because a disc works in your set top doesn't mean it will in others and there are millions of players in the world. Authoring a title using professional tools is needed to make sure certains aspects of a title adheres to the DVD spec.
E

Hi, I am using IDVD 6 ver. 6.0.4 (797) receiving an error message.

Hi, I am using IDVD 6 ver. 6.0.4 (797) and when I try to burn my DVD I am receiving an error message. Insert the Sony DVD-R 4.7 GB 1-16 X DVD and the screen comes up showing 5 buttons, prepare is skipped and it goes right into processing menus, then it skips process slideshow, process movie, and burn. Then the DVD is ejected and the Encoding Video: error during rendering/encoding comes up. Can anyone give me any suggestion what I need to do? I have not used this programs for about a year. Thanks in advance for your help in this matter.

Try this workflow:
Once you have the project as you want it save it as a disk image via the File ➙ Save as Disk Image menu option. This will separate the encoding process from the burn process.
To check the encoding mount the disk image and launch DVD Player and play it. If it plays OK with DVD Player the encoding was good.
Then burn to disk with Disk Utility or Toast at the slowest speed available (2x-4x) to assure the best burn quality. Always use top quality media: Verbatim, Maxell or Taiyo Yuden DVD-R are the most recommended in these forums.
OT

Using IDVD to author menus

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