# iDVD error



## nealt (Dec 21, 2007)

I have a small DVD project created by importing a mpeg-4 video into iDVD 08. It plays fine in Quicktime and in iDVD preview. During the Encoding process I get the error:
 Encoding Video
There was an error during movie encoding

That is it! How in the world am I supposed to track down the problem?
Help.

Mac OS 10.5.1, G4 tower


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## jeffyosko (Jun 11, 2008)

Hi Nealt.  Any luck thus far with the iDVD problem.  I'm having the same problem and am sort of stuck.

Jeffyosko


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## victorhunt (Nov 28, 2008)

Please help! Have you resolved the problem or have you had any feedback from anyone? I am sitting with the same problem!


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## jeffyosko (Nov 29, 2008)

I found no answers and just burned a DVD using data files.  I've found this to be pretty frustrating.


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## tonyf12 (Jan 7, 2009)

I have the exact same problem.I have called Mac and they want to sell what is basicly a service contract.I have a MAC book 10.5.6/superdrive less than a year old.It should work.I can't figure it out and I am also frustrated.Any help?


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## Doctor X (Jan 7, 2009)

Good.  I am not the only one.

I find iDVD VERY frustrating to deal with--unlike iMovie/iHD.  I got the same problem--back when I was still in 10.5.5.

Fortunately, I have *Toast*.  It will not make a pretty DVDs--with music in the background and moving previews . . . but it works!!!

If this is a common problem, one would think they would deal with it?  Making DVDs?  Seems a popular pastime?

--J.D.


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## constv (Jan 23, 2009)

This must have been a consistent problem with iDVD for many years. I have found postings in various Mac forums dated as back as 2003 (!) referring to the cryptic "multiplexing error" that pops up at the very end of a very lengthy process. 

I am using a new MacBook Pro 2.53GHz, 4 GB RAM, Mac OS X 10.5.6 (w/latest update) with over 200GB of free disk space. 

I have spent several weeks trying to burn (actually, create a disc image for) a single DVD - just under 2 hours of video and slides - with the "Professional Quality" setting in iDVD 7.  The movies play fine in Final Cut Express 4 where I edited them, in QuickTime, as well as in the iDVD preview.  I need to fit just over 100 min on a single DVD (about 4.1GB total) so the "Best Performance" option is not really an option for me. I need the best possible quality. Both project and global iDVD settings specify "Professional Quality", NTSC, 16:9. No errors or warnings when launching "Save as Disc Image" or "Burn". It takes iDVD about 4 hours to encode all the assets. No warnings on the way. As soon as the "Burn" stage starts, iDVD produces a "Multiplexing error." The help documentation says that the most common reason is missing or bad assets, but all the assets are there, and they all play and encode just fine. The explanation itself is somewhat ridiculous. If you are saying that a missing asset may cause such an error, wouldn't you want to check for the presence of all the necessary items before you launch and run the process for 4 hours?! I had tried wiping out the project, creating brand new ones from scratch in various configurations, re-arranging menus, etc. You name it. It worked once - when I included a single 10-minute movie in the root menu, one slide show, and nothing else. However, iDVD failed to create disc images or burn any configuration of my real project. I called Apple support, they couldn't advise anything other than rebuilding the project from scratch... In other words, after all these years of people struggling with this very issue - regardless of the iDVD version - Apple still does not have a way to pin-point this very common bug. And it is nothing but a defect in their software! Good professional software should be catching any dangerous inconsistencies in the user project before it wastes half a day of the user's time. If an "unexpected" critical error occurs, good software should be capable of providing the diagnostics that would eliminate guesswork. 

People have been searching for clues for years, and Apple seems to have dismissed the problem all together. I think it is extremely incompetent - and disrespectful to the customers - to keep releasing such half-baked software  for years.  You can't just dismiss such things as users- or hardware problems. If there is something with the user's project or the hardware that may prevent the software from creating a DVD then it should be up to the software to detect such conditions and report back what exactly the problem is.  As far as I am concerned, iDVD is nothing but junk, cute-looking but unprofessionally written bloatware that Apple ships with their Macs. Shame!

I certainly don't mind paying for good software as long as it does the job. I have looked at iSkysoft's DVD Creator, downloaded the demo version, but it did not recognize my QuickTime .mov files that I had created in FCE. It did however directly ingest and burn .m2ts (AVCHD) files. I was not at all pleased with the image quality however. Can anyone recommend a reliable high-quality 3rd-party DVD-burning software for Mac OS that works with .mov files (e.g. files created in Final Cut and exported to QuickTime?) 

Thanks for any help or advice!


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## kb8tez (Apr 19, 2009)

I had this issue, and was able to solve it. Apparently, iDVD doesn't like XVID or DIVX movies, if it is in this format, e.g. such as some content from Revision3.com, you must use Handbrake and recode the video into FFMpeg format (That's what I used, I'm sure you could use another format though). Apparently there is some kind of protection in iDVD that prevents you from creating the movie part, it makes it past the menu, then crashes at the movie part. Anyway, this is one solution I found. Just wanted to let everyone know.


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## jegler (Sep 6, 2009)

Just got a brand new iMac x.5 w/iDVD 7. And instead of burning dvds like the happy people in the Mac promo, I'm trolling the flippin forums for help - as Apple addresses this particular and seeming ubiquitous error superficially at best. I've used every concievable method, followed all the forum advice and cannot get iDVD to burn even one single .mov movie to disc or even disc image. multiplexing error. always with the $#@!$! multiplexing error. Seems to be a cruel joke on the customer. Thanks, Apple.


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## joyswellnesstri (Mar 31, 2011)

kb8tez: you said you were able to solve the issue by not using divx files...my movie was created in imovie, so it shouldn't be an issue, right?  Am I missing something?


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## squasher97 (Jun 9, 2011)

If the encoding movie error comes up and you are sure that nothing is wrong then hold the button down until the computer shuts off completely. Wait about fifteen seconds. Turn it back on and log in. Only open iDVD and don't open anything else. Start the creating process again. It worked for me. I was creating a DVD for a documentary that we are taking to state on Saturday and it had to be fixed by today. I hope this helps.


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## joyswellnesstri (Jun 9, 2011)

I'll give it a try.


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## Andy S. (Jul 16, 2015)

The only solution I was able to come up with was to break the "iChains" and resort to Linux Mint 17 and DeVeDe. The menu is definitely not the ones iDVD holds out like a carrot on a string, but DeVeDe absolutely floored me with just how many file formats it can read without batting an eyelash. FLV, MP4, MOV, AVI have all burned smoothly with no issues. While my G5 mac turns it's nose up at the finished product, my DVD's play great on anything else.

I love my Mac. Just wished either the marketing people got with the product design people to verify before they falsely advertised, or the product design people got with the marketing people to design what was falsely promised to its customers.

Guess hype is just that. Big bark, no bite. Apple got it's lucky break from exploiting Open-Source BSD magic... looks like they need to return to this formula. IHO

Will try the reboot thing, but doesn't it seem kinda silly and non-productive to reboot your computer everytime you want to burn a project?! What's next, purchase a new mac everytime you want to re-sync your iphone or how about a REQUIRED broadband connection to run keynote?! Better yet, how about going the Office360/Adobe route and require a monthly subscription to your Operating System!


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## DeltaMac (Jul 16, 2015)

Well, yes, iDVD is not the master of all possible burning formats, but there is other software that you can use, such as Toast, which doesn't require you to run from some other OS.
Anyway, with DVDs going the way of the dodo soon, it's a self-limiting problem to have...


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