Making a DVD from HV20 HDV video using imovie or idvd

[danjac1]

I have recently purchased a HV20 thinking it would be very easy to take HDV recorded movies and make DVD's out of them for playback in a machine, not a mac. iDVD apparently does not take HDV content from a camara and make a DVD using the onestep feature. It took all day to figure that out and Apple support was not helpful. What is the quickest way to do this? importing into imovie, making a movie, then exporting to iDVD turns a 35 min movie into a 2.5 hour project. Any advice? is there a better program than iDVD or iMOVIE?

[poppet]

Would be interested in the answer to this one to.

Good luck.

[bmpmedia]

I have recently purchased a HV20 thinking it would be very easy to take HDV recorded movies and make DVD's out of them for playback in a machine, not a mac. iDVD apparently does not take HDV content from a camara and make a DVD using the onestep feature. It took all day to figure that out and Apple support was not helpful. What is the quickest way to do this? importing into imovie, making a movie, then exporting to iDVD turns a 35 min movie into a 2.5 hour project. Any advice? is there a better program than iDVD or iMOVIE?


"Even if you plan to edit your movie yourself, Magic iMovie can be a great way to get started because it organizes your video, complete with a title, transitions, and music. It even adds chapter markers for use in iDVD in making automatic scene selection menus. Once your Magic iMovie is created, you can open it as a regular iMovie project and make any additional changes necessary. Simply, don’t check the last option, Send to iDVD." [source: http://www.apple.com/support/ilife/tutorials/imovie/im1-1.html]


I have not used iMovie's "Magic Movie" feature, but that last sentence leads me to believe that if you *do* check the last option, your quest for "one-step" DVD authoring is possible.

[danjac1]

Thanks for the response but I have no desire to do any editing at this point. All I want to do is take a HD video from and HV20 camera and put it on a DVD in less than 5 steps and 2.5 hours for 38 minutes of video. Is the imac the wrong computer for that??? I am shocked that Idvd onestep does not handle HDV. Is there a better software package?

[bmpmedia]

Thanks for the response but I have no desire to do any editing at this point. All I want to do is take a HD video from and HV20 camera and put it on a DVD in less than 5 steps and 2.5 hours for 38 minutes of video. Is the imac the wrong computer for that??? I am shocked that Idvd onestep does not handle HDV. Is there a better software package?

Did you watch the video (from the same page/link above (http://www.apple.com/support/ilife/tutorials/imovie/im1-1.html))? Looks like Apple's got it down to 10 steps (six really)- The "Magic Movie" option requires no editing, just a couple quick setup steps.

Make a movie using Magic iMovie (from the Apple site, edited fand formatted for brevity/clarity):

1. Use a FireWire cable to connect your camcorder to the FireWire port on your Mac, then switch your camcorder to VCR, VTR, or Play mode.
2. Open iMovie. Click the Make a Magic iMovie button or choose Make a Magic iMovie from the file menu.
3. Type a name for your project and choose a location. By default, iMovie chooses the Movies folder on your hard disk.
4. Click the disclosure triangle to select a video format. You’ll probably want to use DV, unless you’re using an HDV camera, an iSight, or you shot your video in widescreen format. Click Create.
5. Give your movie a title. Your title will appear at the opening of your movie.
6. Set your tape options. If you think your tape needs to be rewound, select the "Rewind the tape before capturing the movie" option.
7. Select the transition style to use between your video clips.
8. Click the Choose Music button to select a song from your iTunes Library to play as a soundtrack to your video.
9. Deselect Send to iDVD for now. Click Create.
10. Sit back and watch as iMovie imports your video and creates your Magic iMovie. Once your Magic iMovie is created, click the Play button to watch your new movie.


Looks to me this is the solution to your question, but I have only worked with iMovie and Final Cut (There's "Windows Movie Maker" but that's an entirely different discussion!). If you have access to an Apple Store, I would hit up the staff for a demo!

Hope that helps!

[danjac1]

Thanks for the response. I think the confusion on my part is I have iMovie '08, not '06 which is what you sent instructions for. I can not find a magic movie option even if I type it into a help search. when I open a new project, i do not get the drop down menu shown in the video link, I get a blue screen with the only option being what format and where do I want to save it.

Sorry if I am just not seeing it. appreciate the help.

[Paulumos]

I think the confusion on my part is I have iMovie '08, not '06 which is what you sent instructions for. I can not find a magic movie option even if I type it into a help search.

Apple has made the iLife '06 version available as a free download to iLife '08 buyers. It can be downloaded here:

http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/imovieHD6.html

Not sure if this only works with retail iLife '08 or if it will also work with the version that came supplied with a new computer. Might solve your problem for free, though.

Another option might be Roxio's Toast 8, which has a one-step "plug and burn" feature. I've used this in the past with an Canon Elura but can't personally verify that it works with HD and the HV-20, though. It also costs $80...

http://www.roxio.com/enu/products/toast/titanium/features.html

[twocargar]

Yeah, it looks like the Magic Movie option is only in the latest iDVD ('08) now. Lousy for us HDV peeps.

[Little-Big Sound]

Well there's always the hardware option:

http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4212381

Couldn't get much simpler than that...

[jdog]

so, if you use the mac will it record in hd when you burn it to the dvd?

[twocargar]

Nope. DVDs are standard definition. Unless you have a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD burner in your Mac or PC your video is going to be standard def.

[mac]

I am thinking about buying an imac with 2 GB memory and 2.8ghz Intel Core 2 Extreme - 500GB hard drive. Will this be powerful enough to make the editing of HDV without too much grief? I understand that I should be able to watch the results on the computer but do the imacs have the capabilities to export in HDV to an external Blue Ray recorder for subsequent replay on an High Def. telly? I have asked the staff at the Apple store in Glasgow but they they are very vague in their replies. I don't see much use in getting an imac if it is unable to release edited material in High Definition for viewing elsewhere. Thanks, John

[koolpenguin89]

Well, i edit HDV on a 2gb 2.16ghz c2d macbook, and while rendering is slow, it is very capable. if you can, uprage the ram to 4 gb. Also, unless something recent was released, here are currently no blu-ray burners available for the osx platform.

dylan

[Yositimy]

Nope. DVDs are standard definition. Unless you have a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD burner in your Mac or PC your video is going to be standard def.

The FCS tool set will capture HD video, and, if you want, encode it, and burn HDDVD compliant DVDRs directly using the built in DVD burner. The discs are HD and play on any HDDVD player or recent Mac or PC. I don't know if iMovie or QT pro and iDVD has this capability. Toast is suppose to be able to burn HD images but seems to have problems. Someone has also figured out how to burn HD discs that will play on some BluRay players, but the tools are PC OS based.

[Stephen]

Looks like there are blu ray drives available for mac: http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/25/mce-intros-blu-ray-burner-for-mac-pro-power-mac-g5/

[daci]

Not sure if I know it correctly but iMovieHD (version6) has magic movie feature and iMovie 08 does not. iDVD version 6 doesn't have magic dvd and version 08 has it. So I think you can use iMovieHD (which you can download for free as iLife 08 user) to make magic movie thing and send it to iDVD for the least mouse clicks. (In theory... that is. I never tried the feature ;) )

[bmpmedia]

Looks like there are blu ray drives available for mac: http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/25/mce-intros-blu-ray-burner-for-mac-pro-power-mac-g5/


Thanks for posting that! Somehow that managed to not come up on my radar.
:hv20-smilie70: