[Stephen-I-Am]

I'm trying to make a video DVD in iMovie/iDVD for the first time.

I have Sony DVD-R blank DVDs that say that they are 120 minutes long. In iMovie the project length is 1:12:38, but iDVD days the project is too long to fit on a DVD.

How much footage can one actually fit on a DVD?

Stephen

[loki74]

depends on how compressed (what type of compression) you use.

[k_munic]

using iDVD<5 maximum is 60 minutes, iDVD as part of iLife05 fits maximum 120min (a little less, iDVD needs some bits&bytes for menus etc.)

BUT:
as loki said, a dvd-r is ~4.4GB, not "minutes"… I own a Pioneer520 hd/dvd-r standalone recorder, it offers a compression code up to 10 (ten) hours on one single layer dvd-r… ok, don't ask for quality

using professional compressors as "Compressor" (part of DVDSP) you can fit more then 120min on a dvd-r in a tolerable quality…

[Spoffo]

If iDVD insists on making a file that is too big for a DVD, have it save to a disk image instead (which can be any size). Then copy the VIDEO_TS folder from that image back onto your hard drive and open it with DVD2oneX (an essential tool if you're going to be messing much with DVDs). In DVD2oneX, set it for "Disk Copy" and "DVD±R(W)" for size. It will compress it to burnable size, probably with no visible loss of PQ.

[k_munic]

Originally Posted by Spoffo

If iDVD insists on making a file that is too big for a DVD, have it save to a disk image instead (which can be any size). Then copy the VIDEO_TS folder from that image back onto your hard drive and open it with DVD2oneX (an essential tool if you're going to be messing much with DVDs). In DVD2oneX, set it for "Disk Copy" and "DVD±R(W)" for size. It will compress it to burnable size, probably with no visible loss of PQ.

to my knowledge, iDVD doesn't accepts files longer then 120min…

[loki74]

DVD Studio Pro is incredible. I've never heard of DVD2oneX, but the use of the "X" suggests a tie with the DVDxCopy, software I was not impressed with.

I suppose that Apple figures that no consumer is going to want to do anything > 120 min, but once again, its iffy workingin minutes; bytes are what matter. They should not have made it cap off on time, or actually on size either. I think that capping (better word?) like that should be in the DVD authoring software (will not accept files that will not fit on the DVD). Not to mention that that gets confusing if you want to have video in the DVD menu. (you can do that in iDVD, right?)

[k_munic]

Originally Posted by loki74

…

They should not have made it cap off on time, or actually on size either. I think that capping (better word?) like that should be in the DVD authoring software (will not accept files that will not fit on the DVD). Not to mention that that gets confusing if you want to have video in the DVD menu. (you can do that in iDVD, right?)

iDVD is a consumer product… every consumer knows what a "110min long movie" is… and I don't know, what a 16min long movie with a very high delta, converted with a medium high bandwidth and vbr will result in, measured in Gb (btw: no app can calculate BEFORE converting…)

for convenience plus for a very high standard of quality, we Apple users are famous for, the limitation by "time" is from my p.o.v. absolutley correct.

besides: my family starts to yawn after 20minutes of homebrewn movies… , so no trouble with "limitation" to "just" 120min…