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willab · Jun 29, 2003, 11:54 PM

DVD that were taking 3hrs to burn are taking 6. I don't have enough time considering I have close to 100 hrs of video. Is there no faster way to burn them. Please help. I will spend money if it will make a dramatic speed difference.

willab · Jun 30, 2003, 01:09 AM

Originally posted by willab:
DVD that were taking 3hrs to burn are taking 6. I don't have enough time considering I have close to 100 hrs of video. Is there no faster way to burn them. Please help. I will spend money if it will make a dramatic speed difference.

I have FCP can I import directly to DVD format.

Weezer · Jun 30, 2003, 07:15 AM

you have the wrong expensive program...you need DVD Studio Pro

willab · Jun 30, 2003, 11:05 AM

will DVD Studio Pro go faster. It is currently taking 18 hrs

TheBum · 11:59 AM

Originally posted by willab:
DVD that were taking 3hrs to burn are taking 6. I don't have enough time considering I have close to 100 hrs of video. Is there no faster way to burn them. Please help. I will spend money if it will make a dramatic speed difference.

The big bottleneck in DVD production is the MPEG2 encoding. One way you can streamline the process would be to allow the video to encode overnight. It should be possible to write an AppleScript to batch-encode iDVD projects, assuming that background encoding is turned on in iDVD. The iDVD AppleScript dictionary seems to have all the necessary support; figuring out the exact syntax can be frustrating, though.

The general sequence would be:

1. Open a project.

2. Wait a sufficient amount of time for the encoding to complete (unfortunately, there is currently no way to query the encoding status of a project via AppleScript).

3. Save.

4. Repeat steps 1-3 for the next project.

Once the video encoding is done, all iDVD has to do when you go to burn the discs is render and encode the menus and multiplex/burn, which should take a total of a little over an hour for a full disc with a 1x DVD burner.

willab · Jul 1, 2003, 01:12 PM

is there anyway encode multiple DVDs at once

TheBum · Jul 1, 2003, 01:44 PM

Originally posted by willab:
is there anyway encode multiple DVDs at once

Not with iDVD, unless you make another copy of the app. Even then, I'm not sure if two copies of iDVD would run simultaneously and they certainly wouldn't run quickly.

Besides, unless you have a dual processor machine, encoding simultaneously would take longer than sequentially because the kernel is periodically interrupting one encoding operation to perform the other one. It's kind of like when you are engrossed in one project at work and then have to "shift gears" to do something else. It takes longer to finish the job after being interrupted than it does to just continue it without interruption.

I'm planning to throw together a little AppleScript Studio app this weekend to automate sequential encodes in a user-friendly way. I also may have found a way around the lack of an encoding status query to make the process more efficient.

willab · Jul 1, 2003, 09:46 PM

I've tried multiple copies no success.

d0ubled0wn · Jul 1, 2003, 11:36 PM

I believe iDVD will use multi-processors anyways for the encoding. Last project I did, I noticed both proc's were pegged almost 100%.

CIA · Jul 2, 2003, 07:42 PM

Buy a G5 when they are shipping?

willab · Jul 2, 2003, 08:26 PM

How rich do you think I am?

itistoday · Jul 3, 2003, 07:53 PM

Well, for a cheaper price you could get a hardware encoder that does it in real-time. Try these sites:

http://www.wiredinc.com/digitalmediapress.html
http://store.yahoo.com/thecanopusonl...pegpromvr.html

Uh, I'm sure there are more but I'm too lazy to search.

willab · Jul 9, 2003, 01:44 AM

Originally posted by TheBum:
Not with iDVD, unless you make another copy of the app. Even then, I'm not sure if two copies of iDVD would run simultaneously and they certainly wouldn't run quickly.

Besides, unless you have a dual processor machine, encoding simultaneously would take longer than sequentially because the kernel is periodically interrupting one encoding operation to perform the other one. It's kind of like when you are engrossed in one project at work and then have to "shift gears" to do something else. It takes longer to finish the job after being interrupted than it does to just continue it without interruption.

I'm planning to throw together a little AppleScript Studio app this weekend to automate sequential encodes in a user-friendly way. I also may have found a way around the lack of an encoding status query to make the process more efficient.

Will you post your applescript?

TheBum · Jul 9, 2003, 09:34 AM

Originally posted by willab:
Will you post your applescript?

I just posted it on Version Tracker last night. Click here to go to the particular Version Tracker page.

CIA · Jul 13, 2003, 02:17 PM

In the first post you said DVD's that were taking 3hrs to burn were now taking 6? What setup are you using?
Also, have you added memory to it recently? (i.e. in the last month or so?)

willab · Jul 14, 2003, 05:25 PM

Originally posted by CIA:
In the first post you said DVD's that were taking 3hrs to burn were now taking 6? What setup are you using?
Also, have you added memory to it recently? (i.e. in the last month or so?)

It's back to normal speeds now thanks to a system restore.