Alright i have a DVD issue here.

[Londonrockz568]

So i converted the .avi file to mp4...added it to my iphone and all is well. Converting, is so easy! Thanks Acosmichippo.

My friend wanted a copy of the movie, so i burned it to a DVD+R 120min disk.

He tells me his DVD player wouldnt recognize the disk.

Did i do something wrong? Did i buy the wrong type of discs?

[aknightstale41]

Im thinking he has an older DVD player, because a DVD + should play fine in most players.

[Napoleon_PhoneApart]

Also, though it happens rarely nowadays, a DVD player will have an issue with a particular brand of DVD recordable.

My DVD+ of choice is Verbatim, for what it's worth.

[acosmichippo]

What do you mean you "burned it to a DVD"?

Is "it" the .m4v or .avi? If so, that's your problem. You should use iDVD to convert either of those compressed files into DVD format and burn it to a disc. It's pretty easy to use. Pick a template, drag in the movie, and burn.

[Londonrockz568]

I didnt use IDVD to burn it to a disk.

-Downloaded the movie
-Converted from .avi to .mp4 with handbrake.
-Inserted a blank Memorex DVD+R 120min disk
-Opened iTunes made a playlist titled Slumdog Millionaire draged the movie into it
-Pressed Burn in the bottom right corner, selected the option burn to data dvd.
-Burned in like 3min.

Went to play the dvd in my dvd player (panasonic) and it said Unknown Disk. Went to play it in my friends dvd player and his Sony player said the same thing.

[psylichon]

For a DVD to be universally playable, it needs to be "authored" with the appropriate software. It's not as simple as burning the file directly to a disc, and you can't do DVD authoring with iTunes. As Hippo said, you can use iDVD to easily make a properly-formatted video DVD.

Some newer DVD players will read various video formats burned directly to a DVD-R including Divx, but this is a special feature and not the norm.

[Londonrockz568]

lol, As a first time mac owner. Is there a topic, or place to go to where i can learn how to use iDVD.

I was playing around with it today, i managed to get as far as making a menu, then the ability to chose "Play". However i couldnt burn because the idvd said i need encoding or something like that.

Another question, was it wise to buy 4.7gb 120min disks? or should i have bought 240min ones.

[psylichon]

No, you bought the right DVDs. Unless you have a dual-layer DVD burner, but I'm guessing no.

re: encoding... the software should have a built-in encoder to convert to the proper MPEG format. I guess just keep playing with it some more :)

[Londonrockz568]

LOL. I went out an bought DVD+R DL 240min dvds. 65bucks ouch!

I put the dvd into the mac, and resumed my project. It kept telling me there isnt enough space on the disk, so when i click the error box down and it showed with media menu and movie the project is 6.5gb. (idk why its so high) Anyway, so i ejected the 240min disc and closed idvd and opened it again, reinsterted the disc and then idvd tells me my project is small enough for single layer discs (im like omfg). So i put in the 120min disc and it shows the option to change it from Best picture to high quality to professional quality. I select High Quality and it starts burning.

Idvd project details. (again idk why its 6.5gb)
-Just 2 drop boxes.
-1st box is the 1st theme u can chose. titled Slumdog Millionaire.
-2nd box is the movie.
I learned to add buttons so all i did was add "play" for the button for the movie box.


Srry if i make like no sense lol. Idvd is really fun heh.

[acosmichippo]

http://www.apple.com/ilife/tutorials/#idvd

[Londonrockz568]

Thanks Hippo!

btw, I learned (or self taught) myself today im pretty proud. Thanks for the help guys.

So i waited 2hours and iDVD finished burning my first dvd. (ive burned music before but dvd's heh i always just bought em from a friend who did it, its super ez!) I loaded it into my dvd player, and it played!!!! However, i saw that some of the subtitles in the movie get cut off from both left and right sides of the screen. (i tried correcting with the dvd Aspect ratio settings, it helped but still was cut off)

Excited yes! first time blunder? lol whatever you learn from errors. I went back to my iDVD project, changed the AR to widescreen, and changed its settings to Professional Quality. I noticed the greener the bar, the better the picture, Professional was better than high, and the discs im using dont have 6.5gb for best Enhancements. iDVD is so easy to learn.

Its now burning and ill post the results after i watch some of it on my TV in 4hours (lol long burn times geeze!!:eek:) Anyway to make it burn faster?!

[acosmichippo]

maybe you could tease it with a carrot...

[Napoleon_PhoneApart]

Four hours?!?!

Something doesn't sound right.

[Londonrockz568]

Im like great... the first burn took 2hours.

The burn im doing now is 4hours. Superdrive = superslow?

[acosmichippo]

superdrives are just fine.

it takes four hours because iDVD needs to encode it properly first, and THEN burn it to the dvd. The higher the quality you choose, the longer it will take.

[Londonrockz568]

Heh, in this case i chose Professional Quality haha.

There is no way to like set the burn rate higher? Why does the disk say up to 16x lol.

[Napoleon_PhoneApart]

superdrives are just fine.

it takes four hours because iDVD needs to encode it properly first, and THEN burn it to the dvd. The higher the quality you choose, the longer it will take.

Coming from making DVDs in Windows, that still seems incredibly long to me.

[Londonrockz568]

Im guessing its the encoding part. Because it prepared the disc in 4seconds, did my menu in 5min, skipped slideshow (since there isnt one) and is now encoding the movie. It does the movie frame by frame. The movie itself is 2hours long. Towards the end of the movie it then does Audio, and other things, then its done.

Im hoping Doubt wont take as long as Slumdog did. Doubt is 104min.

[Londonrockz568]

Alright the burn Finished.

Sigh. I went to play it in my DVD player on the tv. Even tho i burned the CD in Widescreen 16.4 Ratio The subtitles are still just a hair off of the screen from the right.

I give up.... the picture quality is phenomenal and the sound is perfect. Im guessing its the DVD player (crappy Walmart Panasonic) im using or this "relic" 52" Toshiba Big screen im using. Its a Rear projection, weighs a ton and is about as deep as its big... lmao circa 2000.

It plays perfectly on a computer so im guessing its the tv.

Next up... Burn Doubt and Madea goes to jail while i sleep.