Question Burning DVDS with mac, IMOVIE andIDVD--DVDs aren't burning properly

[Steffanie Dilts]

I don't *think* I'm posting exactly the same problem as the last thread that was like this, so here I go. Okay, I don't understand much computer-speak, so please keep that in mind:

1.I took a firewire and hooked up my Canon NTSC ZR40 or 2R40 (whichever it is--it's hard to read) to my mac laptop.

From there, I tried two paths to success, and neither one worked.

attempt 1:
imported it through iMovie, adjusted chapters, chapter settings, refinements, etc.
exported it to iDVD.
I got the menus to work, or so it seemed when I was putting it together.
Verified that the length was short enough to fit onto the DVD
I tried burning several DVDs. They wouldn't read in the machine at all. I tried a second machine; same thing.
I verified that the machines I'm trying to play them with both read DVD+R disks, which are what I'm using.
I changed the file to an image, which resulted in partial success;
The first 2 and 1/2 chapters (out of 14) played fine; after that it either skipped or froze, claiming it couldn't read the disk past that point and/or the data was bad. The most recent attempt to burn a DVD resulted in only the 1st chapter working.

attempt 2:
started from scratch and transferred an entirely different video from my camera to my mac laptop (same one), through iDVD (rather than iMovie), once again using a firewire.
used the iDVD feature called "one step DVD" to transfer everything "as is" to a disk and burn it.
I followed the directions, which were to put the camera on VCR setting and tell the program to proceed.
The DVD plays in both of my players, but skips constantly, as if it's on fast forward--and eventually it freezes and skips back to the beginning. I suspect a frame-rate issue, but have no idea how to correct it.

So my question is--do you think that the 2nd half of my stack of DVDs is defective (I've tried memorex and verbatim, I think)? The other things we've burned on them seem to have worked okay. Or do you think glitches were introduced with iMovie? Or with iDVD? I've tried to go back through iDVD and fix things, but the program strikes me as rather unreliable. If anyone has any suggestions, that would be great.

Steffanie Dilts

 

[wildwell]

Your DVDs are probably fine. I've had a lot of problems with the optical drives Apple includes in their computers myself, but it sounds like your problem is probably with the settings in your authoring software.

It's a bit much to cover in a forum such as this, your best bet is to probably take your laptop to an Apple store and speak with an Apple support person (aka. "Genius"). It's best if you make an appointment. Most Best Buy stores also keep a qualified Apple support technician on hand in their "Geek Squad."
Please note that iMovie and iDVD have been around for a while now, and the current versions are completely different from the older versions. Since you are working in a standard definition DV tape based workflow, you may also be working with older software, and current Apple techs may be of limited help.

Good luck.

 

[Steffanie Dilts]

Well, I suppose I'll have to take another look at my software, and see if I can either update it or figure out what the problem is. Thanks, anyway.
Steffanie 🙁

 

[jcurry23]

Apple doesn't want you to burn dvd's

 

[ram1009]

I don't *think* I'm posting exactly the same problem as the last thread that was like this, so here I go. Okay, I don't understand much computer-speak, so please keep that in mind:

1.I took a firewire and hooked up my Canon NTSC ZR40 or 2R40 (whichever it is--it's hard to read) to my mac laptop.

From there, I tried two paths to success, and neither one worked.

attempt 1:
imported it through iMovie, adjusted chapters, chapter settings, refinements, etc.
exported it to iDVD.
I got the menus to work, or so it seemed when I was putting it together.
Verified that the length was short enough to fit onto the DVD
I tried burning several DVDs. They wouldn't read in the machine at all. I tried a second machine; same thing.
I verified that the machines I'm trying to play them with both read DVD+R disks, which are what I'm using.
I changed the file to an image, which resulted in partial success;
The first 2 and 1/2 chapters (out of 14) played fine; after that it either skipped or froze, claiming it couldn't read the disk past that point and/or the data was bad. The most recent attempt to burn a DVD resulted in only the 1st chapter working.

attempt 2:
started from scratch and transferred an entirely different video from my camera to my mac laptop (same one), through iDVD (rather than iMovie), once again using a firewire.
used the iDVD feature called "one step DVD" to transfer everything "as is" to a disk and burn it.
I followed the directions, which were to put the camera on VCR setting and tell the program to proceed.
The DVD plays in both of my players, but skips constantly, as if it's on fast forward--and eventually it freezes and skips back to the beginning. I suspect a frame-rate issue, but have no idea how to correct it.

So my question is--do you think that the 2nd half of my stack of DVDs is defective (I've tried memorex and verbatim, I think)? The other things we've burned on them seem to have worked okay. Or do you think glitches were introduced with iMovie? Or with iDVD? I've tried to go back through iDVD and fix things, but the program strikes me as rather unreliable. If anyone has any suggestions, that would be great.

Steffanie Dilts

Get a real computer.

 

[kenrivers]

Have you tried lowering the "burn" speed? For example going from 8x to 4x or 2x. When I encountered a simialar problem on a PC I found that lowering the burn speed helped. May not work but it is worth a shot.