Q: urgent: Suddenly I can't pick 8,5GB media from iDVD's project info menue anymore, even with no videos in it!

Thanks, will try that next time. In the meantime I solved the problem by shutting down the mac and restart, still not working and then shut down and restart again and 8,5GB was available again.

OT, do you know, if iDVD is "intelligent"? I mean, Even, if I use only 10min. of video and choose professional quality and use a 8,5GB medium it will not use a bitrate of 8mbps, but 5900kbps.

Does it see, that 8000kbps would not add any more to the result and so it saves the space?

Is there maybe a commandline way to tell iDVD to not use PCM 1500kbps but AC3 192-448kbps?

In Toast, when I choose 7mbps average and 8.5mbps max, the result is 5600kbps, too, even, with plenty of space left on the disc.

Old Toad wrote:

 

I don't know what bitrates the different encoding methods use. 

I know that prof. qu. does 2-pass, hence I assume it uses less bitrate, when not needed (since it does use 5900kbps no matter how much space there is left and it uses less, when you put so much content on the disc that iDVD says it is full.

It is interesting though, that it would not use the full available 8.5mbps, if it has the space to do so.

I have finished my project and wanted to start another one with 8.5GB disc, but again it wasn't available. I tried your workaround and still it was not available. I then opened another project and tried it there. Still not available. Then opened a third one, where I then could select 8.5GB again. Seems it always needs 2 restarts.

Also in the other thread I reported that 4:3 themes allow 12 buttons, while 16:9 themes allow 15 (which has worked, when I wrote it). Today no 16:9 theme would allow me more then 12 buttons. It will also always add submenue-buttons (I checked in preference and check marked the field that says "don't add submenues"). This prevents one from adding more menue-buttons to the first layer of 12 buttons. Yesterday I was able to use 15 buttons in the first layer with 16:9 themes. Strange.

Old Toad wrote:

 

I don't know what bitrates the different encoding methods use.

 

Professional quality is good for projects that have movies with fast action/movements.  It does a double scan.  The first  determines which portions would benefit from the least amount of encoding (i.e. fast action/movement areas) and which can endure more encoding/compression without degradation and the second then does the actual encoding/compression.

I put it more precisely: why does iDVD always top out at 5900kbps, when it has space enough to use the full 8mbps?

To the quirks I encountered with the Dual Layer option missing and coming back (and other issues). Could that be, because I updated from 7 to 7.0.4 and then to 7.1.2 and missed out 7.1.1?

google turned out to show me that this is an issue, that others do have, too. Relaunching iDVD several times IS the work arround indeed.

see second post Dual Layer option grayed out in iDVD '08