iDVD3- How is it working for you?

[Bill Ronk]

I was actually torn between writing a very detailed post or keeping it 
general. Since the question was  generally stated, I decided to post in 
kind. I am happy to elaborate.

I've encountered 3 separate issues with iDVD3.

The first project I tried to burn was an existing project from iDVD2. 
When burning it would progress to the stage 4 Multiplexing and burning 
stage, then iDVD would unexpectedly quit, and eject the disc with an 
error message stating it was unreadable. Several different disks, same 
result. So I started from scratch.

The next project was created entirely in iMovie 3 and iDVD3. This time 
the burning process stalled at stage 3 asset encoding. Stalled means 
hours of no activity and several successive tries with the same result. 
I then went to the Apple iDVD discussion forum. There are many posts 
describing similar activity.

http://discussions.info.apple.com/WebX?14@228.cag6a4BHhV2.12@.eebeb28

   The recipe that worked for me:

1. When working with the iDVD project, make sure that all files have 
completed encoding in the status window of iDVD. It says done when it 
is done. When the project is finished. Save the project, then quit 
iDVD. and shut down.
2. Boot from a CD and repair permissions.
3. Restart and open iTunes, iPhoto, and iMovie in that order - Do not 
open iDVD or the iDVD project directly. Rather, set DVD preferences to 
launch iDVD on disk insertion. Then insert a blank DVD-R.
4. Be sure all energy saving and screen effects preferences are set to 
never.
5. Burn

I can assure all that my comments were not meant to be cavalier. 
Rather, I  admittedly lack the knowledge to know which of these steps 
are actually helpful, and which are akin to sticking pins in a doll. 
Also, as a subsequent post has noted, I only went through this process 
once, and have burned a couple of DVD's since with varying results.

The third problem I encountered was the playback quality of 2 
"successfully" burned disks. One stutters and pixelates at several 
points during playback, and the other freezes at the same place during 
playback. The problem is present on my iMac, iBook, and standalone 
player. Bad media? I have burned several other disks that seem to play 
fine.

Bill

On Thursday, February 27, 2003, at 08:22 AM, Macintosh Digital Video 
List wrote:

> Dear Bill,
> Would you mind detailing the steps you mention at the end of your post?
> Each and every step would be appreciated. You mention opening iApps "in
> order" without mentioning what order is the only one that works. You
> mention saving the project and then quitting iDVD without mentioning if
> that precedes the burning or what order is involved? This is a very
> confusing post. I would prefer you write stupid step by steps rather
> than caviler remarks that don't really explain anything.
>
> Thanks.
>
> k
> On Wednesday, February 26, 2003, at 06:32  PM, Bill Ronk wrote: