Finalise DVD In OSX

[Jeff Gaines]

I have been talking my daughter through moving some video files from her
iMac to an external drive and deleting them from the iMac. We seem to have
achieved that but she also wants to put the original files on to a DVD and
be able to watch them.

I talked her through copying the files to a DVD and they play on the iMac
but not on a DVD player. This usually means the DVD needs finalising. Can
anybody tell me how to finalise the DVD in a Mac please? I did try Google
but the only thread I could find the 50% of people who don't know what
finalise means were argueing with the other 50% who knew what it meant but
didn't know how to do it!

--
Jeff Gaines Wiltshire UK
George Washington was a British subject until well after his 40th birthday.
(Margaret Thatcher, speech at the White House 17 December 1979)

[Oliver]

On 11/09/2013 11:35, Jeff Gaines wrote:
>
> I have been talking my daughter through moving some video files from her
> iMac to an external drive and deleting them from the iMac. We seem to
> have achieved that but she also wants to put the original files on to a
> DVD and be able to watch them.
>
> I talked her through copying the files to a DVD and they play on the
> iMac but not on a DVD player. This usually means the DVD needs
> finalising. Can anybody tell me how to finalise the DVD in a Mac please?
> I did try Google but the only thread I could find the 50% of people who
> don't know what finalise means were argueing with the other 50% who knew
> what it meant but didn't know how to do it!

There is a debate about it here:

<http://www.britmovie.co.uk/forums/home-entertainment-equipment/112032-why-wont-my-burned-dvds-play-my-dvd-player.html>

and an even older thread here but which may give some clues:

<http://www.mac4mac.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=414>

I don't know much about it and have hardly used a Mac but a few
questions to ask:

have you/daughter just copied video files onto a DVD rather than making
a video DVD? The latter will be a specific format whereas the former is
just a data DVD. It's a long while since I made a Video DVD but
software doing the job is more likely to ask whether you want to
finalise or just do it automatically.

What sort of DVD? Some types are more variable than others and may
depend on the DVD player for compatibility.

I think that more than exhausts my knowledge of that subject:-)


--
Oliver

[Indy Jess John]

An unfinalised DVD has some control mechanism in the data that ensures
that only the machine that wrote it can play it back. A finalised VD
contains a specific folder and naming structure that matches what DVD
players look for.


I haven't used an iMac so can't go into specifics, but I have created a
DVD on a Windows PC and it played on a player.

You can't do it with operating system features, you have to use software
designed for the purpose.
I have used Nero in the past - there is a free version that does the
job if you choose the "Project" facility, but strangely it cannot play
back the DVD it creates unless you have the paid-for licence. Nero gives
you options of a DVD that can be added to (= not finalised) or one that
can't (= finalised). I have only asked for a finalised one.
I have now got Serif MoviePlus (there isn't a free one of that that
writes DVDs) because Serif allows me to edit the video and add titles
etc. Serif automatically produces a finalised DVD.
There are probably many other such products, but I have never looked
into them apart from PowerDirector which I looked at but didn't buy.

Whether any of these run on an iMac I don't know.

Jim

[ray]

"Jeff Gaines" <jgaines...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> I have been talking my daughter through moving some video files from her
> iMac to an external drive and deleting them from the iMac. We seem to
> have achieved that but she also wants to put the original files on to a
> DVD and be able to watch them.
>
> I talked her through copying the files to a DVD and they play on the iMac
> but not on a DVD player. This usually means the DVD needs finalising. Can
> anybody tell me how to finalise the DVD in a Mac please? I did try Google
> but the only thread I could find the 50% of people who don't know what
> finalise means were argueing with the other 50% who knew what it meant
> but didn't know how to do it!

Oliver has hit the head on the nail, you've just created a data disk.
You need a software application to do the job. Older OSX Macs came with
iDVD as part of the iLife package( I don't know how old you daughters iMac
is but it might well have this). Unfortunately its no longer available on
the app store so you will have to find a copy of iLife. If not you need
something like Roxip Toast which is not free but is the gold standard for
this kind of work.
Or the following freebie which I have not tried but does come recommended
http://burn-osx.sourceforge.net/Pages/English/home.html


--
The next time a stranger talks to me when I'm alone I will look at them
shocked and just whisper quietly, "You can see me?"

[ray]

Oops just noticed the typo. That's Roxio Toast.