Imac 10.5/dvd photo quality/playback issues

A

arandagirl

Registered
Hi
I have several problems with my NEW Imac. First is trying to archive photos. I select the correct amount of photos from IPhoto to fill a DVD. I initiate the burn process. Near the end of the burn I get a message "error." No explanation, no advice just 'forget it.' I have wasted a few discs before abandoning this operation but my photos are mounting up and I fear losing them if they are not archived. Any ideas?

Second is a major problem with creating a slideshow in IDVD. I get a faultless preview. Excellent image quality from my photos. I burn a DVD. I then try to play it and it jams up on the 3rd photo. I skip forward and it jams again after one or two photos. Also the quality of the photos is terrible, the dissolves are jumpy and the 'grain' and noise of the photos makes them look like 5th generation VHS... BUT it will play on my $60 DVD player to my television. Same horrible, unacceptable quality and there is always one 'glitch' in the sound, which of course wasn't there in preview.

These applications are quite useless unless something can be done to correct them. Mac help is of course no help at all.

I'm hoping for a magic button somewhere that will unlock these problems.

Third is unrelated to photos. My Epsom colour printer will not print with the font that I have selected for my work. It's there in the font book and my laser printer finds it and prints with it. The Epsom will print this font from my G3 but not from my Imac...?

Regards

Bruce
 
Bruce,

It sounds like you have a hardware problem with your DVD drive. You'll need to call Apple. Look in your documentation. There's a number for AppleCare. Explain the steps carefully, what you did to attempt to fix the problem, and the fact that you ended up with several defective discs.

For your Epson printer. Have you gone to Epson's website and downloaded the latest Mac OS X driver? What model Epson?

D
 
Thanks D

Well Apple Care don't take into account that I had not used IDVD application until after the 90 day 'free advice' period. So they refused to help. It seems to me that one should go through the complete computer immediately after buying it to find faults... But in practice you only use what you need and in my case having moved slowly forward from OS9, learning everything again, I had not progressed to IDVD until now, a few days after the 90 day period.

So I still have the problem.

I fixed the Epson issue. Interesting that I spoke to two gentlemen on the Epson help telephone line and each gave me opposing advice. Just as the second person told me emphatically that InDesign is a postscript system and my Photo-stylus 895 would not accept InDesign's commands, and that he could offer no help (except get a new printer), it printed perfectly (with a new driver) and the issue is resolved...

So much for expert help from the manufacturer.

Before I take the computer to a repair shop to fix the IDVD problem, any further ideas?

Regards

Bruce
 
Bruce, Apple misunderstood. You don't need help with iDVD, you have a defective DVD drive. It's covered under warranty for a whole year. I'd take it to an authorized Apple dealer for a warranty repair. Explain how all you can make are defective discs and the error message in both Finder and iDVD. But don't mention that you're a novice user or that you're just learning the software. You didn't get a hardware failure because you're a novice user.

Good luck!
 
Just one thing to add. The result plays on my home TV through a DVD player. This result is horrible, with the dissolves jumping, the quality terrible, the grain (or noise) bouncing in and out, strange streaks in sky and other uniform areas, blocks of electronic distortion... Doesn't this suggest that the recording is faulty, not the playback?
 
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