iDVD not for iMe, iNeed to put a bunch of episodes on DVD

boi

boi

official breaker of macs.
i recorded a bunch of episodes of a tv show on vhs. neat. then i ripped 'em to my mac. neat. now i want to burn them on DVD so i can watch them on my DVD player.
iDVD2 only allows 90 minutes of footage on a DVD, regardless of the video quality. i know it has to do with converting to a DVD standard, etc. etc. but is there nothing i can do?

can anyone help me out?
thanks.

- boi ]
 
The 90 minute time limit results from a combination of the capacity of the DVD-R format (4.7 gb) and the compression capabilities of iDVD.

Professionally made DVDs use compression software that can choose optimal compression on a frame-by-frame basis - well beyond a consumer-level program like iDVD.

I suppose you COULD buy DVD Studio Pro -- which allows much finer control over the bitrate.

(Oddly, after perusing Apple's site, I was not able to find out what DVDSP's maximum minutes-per-disc was. Huh.)
 
If you drop the requirement of watching the disc on a set-top DVD player, you can save them in a Quicktime format (mpeg 4 for instance) and burn them onto a DVDR as data. You could potentially get many hours worth that way.

Wouldn't it be neat if that eventually became a new feature for DVD players? Just as many CD players will now play mp3 discs, why not a DVD player that will play mpeg 4 data discs? :D
 
Also you could consider burning them to 70-min VideoCDs. The quality is about that of a VHS tape anyway, and CDs are a dime-a-dozen.

You'd need something like Toast Titanium Pro or something then.

-Rob
 
From what I have read, DVD's native format is a form of MPEG2 video, plus either PCM or Dolby Digital audio.

However, it's not QUITE as simple as that. There are restrictions on the file names, the directory tree, and I think the audio and video may actually be stored in different files. It's weird.

DVD Trivia: DTS is an optional audio format - you actually aren't allowed to sell a disc whose *ONLY* audio program is DTS and call it a "DVD video". However, if you throw on even a DD mono version of the audio, you're fine.


While we're on the subject, here are some DVD questions **I'D** like to see answered:

1) The only audio format iDVD can create is PCM audio. PCM is uncompressed, but Dolby Digital is compressed, and thus takes fewer bits per second. If Apple added DD capability to iDVD, how many additional minutes of program could fit on the disc?

2) Is it possible to create a CD which contains a small amount (say a few minutes worth) of DVD-format audio & video and play it on a set-top player? Are there any set-top players that could do this?
 
2) Is it possible to create a CD which contains a small amount (say a few minutes worth) of DVD-format audio & video and play it on a set-top player? Are there any set-top players that could do this? [/B]
Click to expand...
Supposedly, Yes. Some DVD players look first at file structure without checking the media type, and you could put DVD content on a CD.

I've provided feedback to Apple asking that iDVD be able to burn to a DVD image or just a VIDEO_TS folder, as even Apple's DVD Player will play, because it makes iDVD output that much more versatile.

-Rob
 
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