I want to initialise a dvd which is connected to my MacBook Air

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Level 1

12 points

I want to initialise a dvd which is connected to my MacBook Air

I want to initialise a dvd which is connected to my MacBook Air via a separate dvd drive. When I go to utilities , no way, just says zero KB and no actions available. I have tried to burn to dvd but message says not enough space. The movie from FCP is 10.9GB and when compressed burned quite happily and played on my iPad but not on the tv - message no playable material, probably because it was compressed.

Any ideas, thanks

[Edited by Moderator]

Posted on Oct 7, 2019 4:49 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Roger Wilmut1

Level 10

131,224 points

Oct 7, 2019 4:57 AM in response to DerekBradley

If you have a movie you want to view on a TV you have to burn it as a DVD, not as a data DVD for most DVD players (one or two will play some types of data provided the formatting is not Mac-specific). To burn it as a normal DVD you need iDVD or a third-party program to do this (Toast can, though its menu structure is limited).

You can't initialize a blank DVD: the formatting is applies when you burn it. You can only initialize a used DVD if it is specifically a re-writeable one.

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Answer 2

babowa

Level 9

78,171 points

Oct 7, 2019 3:31 PM in response to DerekBradley

Well, I hope it works for you. Just to be clear: iDVD was an app included within a suite of apps from Apple and was discontinued years ago. It still works in older OS versions (if you have it) - I have it and use it on my external clone of 10.9 Mavericks (which is the last OS it is stable on). If you are referring to this:

https://www.iskysoft.com/create-dvd/idvd-lion.html

So, that is not iDVD, it is DVD creator and that is compatible up to High Sierre (10.13) - you have 10.14 so you best check with them. According to their tech specs, it is only compatible up to 10.13.

And, be careful with that company; I would not do business with anyone that sells software that can bypass copyright and DRM protections or iOS data recovery stuff. I do not find them trustworthy.

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Answer 3

DerekBradley Author

Level 1

12 points

Oct 8, 2019 1:24 AM in response to babowa

OK, got the terminology wrong, yes it is dvd creator and I have already downloaded from the company, just have to hope I didn't get it wrong but it does definitely work on 10.14 because I did a dvd last night and watched it on tv.

Thanks

Derek

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Answer 4

DerekBradley Author

Level 1

12 points

Oct 7, 2019 2:22 PM in response to babowa

I have MacBook Air with Mojave 10.146 and downloaded iDVD as part of iSkysoft this afternoon which hopefully is going to prove very useful.

Thanks Derek

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Answer 5

babowa

Level 9

78,171 points

Oct 7, 2019 8:41 AM in response to DerekBradley

And you cannot fit a 10+ GB movie onto a 4,7 GB DVD (and a dual layer is only 8.5 GB) - when you burn, you cannot compress.

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Answer 6

DerekBradley Author

Level 1

12 points

Oct 7, 2019 9:43 AM in response to babowa

Of course you can't and my 83 year old brain clearly doesn't compute. Thanks to both of you and I have now found iDVD on the Internet which I ave downloaded, burned the dv and all is happy

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Answer 7

babowa

Level 9

78,171 points

Oct 7, 2019 1:10 PM in response to DerekBradley

Glad to hear that. You must have an old OS version for iDVD to work because it no longer works in the latest OS (that is if you are referring to the Apple software).

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