iMovie and iDVD, Stupid Upgrade Questions, Sorry Must Ask

cmashiel...@hotmail.com

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Jan 12, 2006, 4:31:20 AM1/12/06

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Okay, the deal is I have a PowerMac G4 Version 2.1 with a Combo Drive.
I am upgrading to Mac OSX 3.0 so I can do certain things in iMovie and
acquire a better browser. (My constraints on the iMovie project about
which I've been inquiring are that at least 40 people have been waiting
for copies of it for about a month and wondering why I don't come
through with it--I sent a lengthy explanation to the guy who'll be
duplicating it in case anyone asks. That's one reason I'm in such a
hurry I have to ask urgent questions at forums and newsgroups and don't
take the time to read every word ever written on every one of these
systems and their various applications, abilities, and uses.)

I started out thinking I was about one step from having a completed
project and the more I learn, the more grim the situation looks. Yet
I've done ALL THIS WORK already to create beautiful titles and
elaborately-edited outtakes. I HATE to ditch it all if any faint hope
flickers into sight!

My Mac came with the following:

iMovie 3.0.3 -- which seems to be working fine, only problem is, due to
deficiencies in other equipment, I'm having trouble getting my movie to
DVD or into any other form where it can be played anywhere outside the
Mac!

iDVD 2.1 -- My feeble brain, inadequate as it may be, has so far
gathered the information that to go to DVD, a project can't be played
in iMovie and sent straight to a DVD burner (can it?) There has to be
some intermediary step. (Right?) People have argued the various
merits of iDVD vs. Toast to accomplish this step. I hadn't opened my
copy of iDVD because I am in no way near the point of being ready to
make a DVD--I have not yet finished editing the project in iMovie. I
made the hideous error of ASSUMING that since this came installed in my
Mac, it would work fine when needed, just as iMovie did. When I tried
to open it just to see what version I had, it wouldn't open and told me
this:

System Requirements

iDVD 2 requires a PowerMac G4 computer with 256 Megs of RAM, a built-in
DVD-R Superdrive and Mac OS 10.1.3 or later.

Stupid redundant bonus question #1: WHY would this come installed on a
Mac which lacks the hardware to use it? (iMovie could still be used to
edit, and then copy projects--if I had a digital video camera--which I
don't. The only other way we've figured is to send it back through the
Canopus ADVC110 converter I used to get the video in there, and play it
out to a VCR--a cumbersome process I've been assured will result in
crummy quality.)

Okay, here are the REAL questions:

1. I don't suppose there's any way the Canopus could be connected to
the DVD burner and the information sent to a DVD that way? Just
asking.

2. Obviously the upgrade isn't going to fix things to make iDVD work,
as I'm already using Mac OSX 10.2.8, so I would *assume* its discontent
stems from not having the Superdrive--at least, it was complaining
something about inadequate hardware and I think that's what it meant.
Will connecting a DVD burner via FireWire convince iDVD to work (either
automatically or after some sort of tweaking), or am I stuck replacing
the drive? I bought a DVD burner the minute I realized my drive was a
Combo Drive and not a Superdrive (which is the first time I stuck a
blank DVD in it and nothing happened) before learning details about
this intermediary step and that there is more than one way to
accomplish it.

3. Is it even worth replacing the Combo Drive with a Superdrive or is
it more worth buying a whole new Mac? If I am FORCED to buy a new Mac,
what should I do with the old one? (Not only am I ethically opposed to
tossing a perfectly good piece of electronic equipment into the ravine,
I might get fined for littering. Can a good home be found for it? For
that matter it would be a pain as I've saved all sorts of stuff to the
Hard Drive which would have to be transferred to the new one before I
could get rid of the old one. So can I keep the old one...PLEASE?)

4. After making the system upgrade, will I be able to bypass iDVD
entirely by using Toast, or does Toast also have all sorts of
requirements my hardware does not possess so I'll still be SOL, stuck
replacing drives or even the whole Mac, or going directly to
crummy-quality VHS as there is NO OTHER WAY OUT?

5. After making the system upgrade, would I be ready for more advanced
versions of iMovie and iDVD? Are any upgrades free, or does every
improvement cost? Do I get them all at the Apple site, order some of
them from some supplier or other the way I did with the Mac OSX
upgrade, or what?

Thanks for helping to clear up my massive confusion!!!

Cori

cmashiel...@hotmail.com

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Jan 12, 2006, 5:12:35 AM1/12/06

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Partly answering one of my own questions (although I'd appreciate
confirmation from someone who actually knows,) if these Toast 7
requirements mean what I think they do, I don't see anywhere that it
says the computer MUST have a Superdrive and CAN'T use an external DVD
burner!

Toast 7 Titanium

Requirements:

* PowerPC G4 processor or faster (G5 recommended for viewing DivX files
on your Mac)
* PowerPC G3 processor and Mac OS 10.2 users, see Toast 6 Titanium or
Popcorn
* Mac OS X v10.3.9 or later
* 300 MB of free disk space to install
* Up to 15 GB of temporary free disk space during usage
* QuickTime 7 or later
* CD or DVD burner and recordable media

If this is true (that I can use an external DVD burner) I like Toast
already! My Quicktime Player is only version 6.5.2--is it going to be
difficult, expensive, or both, to upgrade that? If it is or the other
System Requirements are not met I can just go with Toast 6.

As far as those requirements, I promise you I don't understand a word
of it but here is what my System Profiler says my Mac has. Maybe
someone can make sense of it and help me decide which version of Toast
to get or, if not, what to do:

System Profile
---------------------------------------------------
Software Overview:

+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
|
|
| System version : Mac OS X 10.2.8 (6R73)

(As I said, I'm upgrading to 10.3.0 soon, and obviously if I want Toast
7 gotta figure out the best way to go to 10.3.9 or higher.)

| Boot volume : Hard Drive
|
| Kernel version : Darwin Kernel Version 6.8: Wed
Sep 10 15:20:55 PDT 2003; root:xnu/xnu-344.49.obj~2/RELEASE_PPC |

Hardware Overview:

Memory Overview:
Location Type Size
DIMM0/J21 DDR SDRAM 256 MB
DIMM1/J22 DDR SDRAM 512 MB
DIMM2/J23 empty
DIMM3/J20 empty
Network Overview:
Built-in:

+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
|
|
| Flags :
0x8051<Up,PpoinToPoint,Running,Multicast> |
| Ethernet address : 00.00.00.00.00.00
|
| IP : 67.0.142.95--> 67.0.128.6
|
| Subnet Mask : 255.0.0.0
|
|
|

+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
---------------------------------------------------
Devices and Volumes
---------------------------------------------------
PCI:
SLOT-1(AGP):

+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
USB Information:
USB Bus 0:
Apple internal modem:

FireWire Information:
No FireWire devices found.:

(Unsure why it says this as the Canopus Converter is a FireWire device
and it's connected, turned on, and has been working.)

Bus:
CD-RW/DVD-ROM:

+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
|
|
| Disc Burning : Fully supported.

(Obviously this means CDs only, not DVDs.)

Hard Drive:

+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
Hard Drive:

One thing which may really sway me in favor of Toast is, will it make
possible burning 2-hour DVDs? Supposedly iDVD will not enable anything
longer than 90 minutes, and when I get to the other big project for
which I really want to use the Canopus ADVC 110 converter, that is,
converting my home movies from either VHS or 8mm video camera tape to
DVD--well, ALL of my tapes are two hours long, because that's the way
they come!! I don't see being limited to making 90-minute DVDs as
anything but another GIANT PAIN of which I'm already amply supplied!
So if Toast will fix this dilemma I'm ALL FOR IT!

As always, thanks for help and advice.

Cori

Warren Oates

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Jan 12, 2006, 8:07:24 AM1/12/06

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In article <1137058280.4...@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
cmashiel...@hotmail.com wrote:

> I started out thinking I was about one step from having a completed
> project and the more I learn, the more grim the situation looks. Yet
> I've done ALL THIS WORK already to create beautiful titles and
> elaborately-edited outtakes. I HATE to ditch it all if any faint hope
> flickers into sight!

I was a professional film editor for a while, and I never spent a lot of
work on my outtakes ...

Having said that, I think you're trying to do too much at once without
looking at each step independently. In the old celluloid days, we edited
and edited and edited until we were happy with the film and then we
ordered our dissolves and supers and titles and so on from the optical
house, and when we were happy we sent the whole "cutting copy" to the
negative cutters who were a bunch of well-paid professionals in whom we
had complete confidence and of whom we stood in awe (did y'all know that
Marilyn Monroe's mother was a neg cutter?) who would cut the master from
the camera. At the same time some sound editors were putting birds in
the daytime scenes and crickets in the nighttime scenes and that dog in
the distance. And then they'd mix all that together and make an optical
negative to go with our cut picture negative and then we'd send that out
to make a composite print for God and everyone to look at (and listen
to) and dump on.

So. Work on your finished film until you're happy with it. Don't worry
about getting it onto DVD yet. Someone else can do that for you, or you
can learn DVD authoring as a separate skill (which it is). These days,
you don't have to approximate your dissolves and supers, you've got that
stuff built in and you can see exactly what your finished product is
going to look like.

If you've imported your material correctly, you won't have any trouble
getting it out to DVD.

You have a fast system, and you seem to have a lot of money to throw
around. Upgrade to OS X 10.4.4, don't go through 10.3.x at all. Your
machine will handle it.

I don't know if iMovie is what you need for what you're doing. It's a
bit late, but you could get Final Cut Pro and take a course in digital
editing and you know that _King Kong_ was cut in FCP, right? iMovie
isn't going to cut it after a while; it's good for storyboarding, but I
still don't think it will output an EDL.

Toast is for burning DVDs, not for authoring, I don't care what Roxio
are pushing. You need DVD Studio Pro, and you'll need a really good
tutorial, and it requires Photoshop skills and none of this is cheap.

Baby steps. It's NOT all one project, it's about four, five if you spend
a lot of time editing your elaborate outtakes.

If you're really getting rid of that Mac, though, send it to me.
--
W. Oates
"I thought I was the last son of Krypton,
but you people keep popping up." -- Clark Kent

unclejr

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Jan 12, 2006, 10:05:25 AM1/12/06

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cmashiel...@hotmail.com wrote:
> Okay, the deal is I have a PowerMac G4 Version 2.1 with a Combo Drive.
> I am upgrading to Mac OSX 3.0 so I can do certain things in iMovie and
> acquire a better browser. (My constraints on the iMovie project about
> which I've been inquiring are that at least 40 people have been waiting
> for copies of it for about a month and wondering why I don't come
> through with it--I sent a lengthy explanation to the guy who'll be
> duplicating it in case anyone asks. That's one reason I'm in such a
> hurry I have to ask urgent questions at forums and newsgroups and don't
> take the time to read every word ever written on every one of these
> systems and their various applications, abilities, and uses.)

What LaserDisc are you transfering to DVD?

-Junior

cmashiel...@hotmail.com

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Jan 12, 2006, 2:29:55 PM1/12/06

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From: "unclejr" <wats...@kenyon.edu>
Date: 12 Jan 2006 07:05:25 -0800

What LaserDisc are you transfering to DVD?

-Junior

Not sure whether this question is in earnest, but, in short, what I am
trying to do is:

1. Transfer some material out of iMovie into a form playable on my
VCR/DVD combo without greatly compromising quality or spending hundreds
if not thousands more to obtain said quality, and

2. Transfer some home movies to DVD. Some of them are on VHS and some
on 8mm camcorder tape.

Not messing with Laser Disks but if I had one the Canopus ADVC110
converter I've got should be able to transfer it into usable format as
it does with other medium.

Cori

cmashiel...@hotmail.com

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Jan 13, 2006, 1:20:13 AM1/13/06

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STOP THE PRESSES!!!

I've just learned that not only did my Mac come with iDVD 2.1, but the
LaCie DVD +/- RW 16x4x16x Double Layer Firewire Device DVD burner I
bought came with Toast 6!

So I HAVE a fairly old version of iDVD and a fairly new version of
Toast! Now just gotta figure out which to use and how to make them
work!!

Cori

Ralph E Lindberg

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Jan 13, 2006, 10:46:45 AM1/13/06

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Get iMove and IDVD The Missing Manual and read it see
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/imoviehdtmm/

Upgrade the OS to 10.4

Upgrade Ilife to at least 05, and 06 would be better (iDVD06 supports
burning to additional DVD drives) .

Ya it will cost some money, but well worth it, trust me

--
--------------------------------------------------------
Personal e-mail is the n7bsn but at amsat.org
This posting address is a spam-trap and seldom read
RV and Camping FAQ can be found at
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cmashiel...@hotmail.com

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Jan 13, 2006, 9:44:49 PM1/13/06

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Ralph E Lindberg wrote:
> Get iMove and IDVD The Missing Manual and read it see
> http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/imoviehdtmm/
>
> Upgrade the OS to 10.4
>
> Upgrade Ilife to at least 05, and 06 would be better (iDVD06 supports
> burning to additional DVD drives) .
>

> Ya it will cost some money, but well worth it, trust me.

Okay, maybe, but I am a "one thing at a time" type.

Cori