OS Catalina no longer supports iDVD. What can I replace it with

See batman's reply in this topic: iDVD replacement software Recommednations.

The only app I've found that can use still photos to make a video DVD slideshow is DVD Maker Lite - DVD Creator. It has a difficult user interface to learn.

None of the alternatives is as powerful and easy to use as was iDVD.

I fully agree! Old Toad REALLY did not read your original posting and (IMHO) gave some pretty rude responses. I use DVDStyler (https://www.dvdstyler.org/en/). It has a low learning curve and I have used it to create a couple of commercial DVDs (about 100 copies of each). My only problem is that it sometimes will crash, so save your projects often.

For Old Toad: Read the following and repost your responses using proper form: https://www.thespruce.com/proper-internet-etiquette-1216946

Why is that? Your statement was in error and I just pointed it out. Until you tell us what is the end product that you want to have, we can only guess at what it is.

Read the following and repost your problem in detail: Writing an effective Apple Support Community Question - Apple Community

No problem. Let's break things down and make the problem understandable. You want to create/burn a video DVD, ie., a DVD that you can stick into a DVD player and it will play like a commercially created DVD you can get at any store. You have created the content and now you need to make the physical DVD.

First, let's look at what makes a video DVD a video DVD. A video DVD has "rules" that allow a DVD player to recognize and use then content. The first rule: it MUST have a minimum of two folders - AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS. TS stands for "transport stream," which is like .MP4, .MKV, .JPG, etc. Second rule: all of the DVD menus, videos, etc. are inside the VIDEO_TS folder and NO file can be larger than 2Gb. There are many other rules, but those are the two important ones.

DVDStyler is an application that let you create a video DVD, complete with menus, titles, etc. A DVDStyler "project" is ONLY the information that DVDStyler uses to create your DVD. For instance, it knows what photos you want to use and where they are stored, but it doesn't keep a copy of those photos for itself. This conserves space, but can also create a problem if you accidentally delete a photo. DVDStyler takes that information and creates bunches of files the DVD player can use:

To create a physical DVD, you have two options: burn directly to disc (not recommended) or create an ISO file. An ISO file (very similar to Mac OS's DMG/IMG disc image files) is like a Polaroid snapshot of a disk that is kept as a single file. I can double-click on an ISO file and most computers will simply load it up like a CD/DVD. I can also use an ISO file to re-create a physical DVD. If you click on the red disc at the top of the app, it will bring up this box:

I used to burn directly to disc, but sometimes I would waste a disc, simply because I didn't properly proofread a menu title. Now, I create an ISO file of my DVD and save it to my desktop. Once it's created, I simply double-click the ISO and it loads like I had inserted a physical DVD into my computer. I toodle around and make sure everything is the way that I want it. If there are edits, I simply overwrite the ISO file until it is my perfection.

Now, I burn my first physical DVD copy; first, I reboot my Mac to ensure nothing extra is running and the system is clean/good to go. Then, I use the app BURN to burn all my DVDs, both data and video (https://burn-osx.sourceforge.io/Pages/English/home.html). A long time ago, I was taught that apps do one thing really good and everything else ok. For instance, DVDStyler is great to create DVD layouts, but it is really primitive when it comes to actually burning a disc. So, I create the ISO in DVDStyler, but burn it with Burn. Once the disc has been burned and tested, I either toss the ISO file or copy it onto my network server for posterity. I've made probably a dozen or so DVDs for clients and after trial and errors during the first two projects, I streamlined my process and now I can spend more time on the content, rather than the burning process. If you think you will EVER need to burn another copy, keep the ISO file. You can use burn to create an ISO from an existing non-commercial DVD, but it's not recommended (see "bit rot".

The only other advise I can give is to SAVE OFTEN and to keep all of the photos, movies, files, etc. inside a "project" folder. NEVER use originals (ALWAYS use a copy of the original for your project). USB memory sticks are so cheap that I have a small box of them just for these projects. And once I have my ISO and know I won't need to change it anymore, I just erase the USB stick and toss it back into the box.

Hope this helps!!

I do believe DVD Maker Lite - DVD Creator can use both stills and videos in the same presentation. I know it can create separate presentations with videos and stills. I runs in demo mode (puts a watermark on the presentation which is removed when the paid version is used) so give it a try. Just be warned that the user interface is a piece of work and takes a lot of trial and error.

The previous reply to your answer, says the same thing. Not helpful.

Very grateful for your help unfortunately I’m not at all technical! 😞. I just need something really simple. May just try and drag the iTunes copy onto DVD. No idea if that will work! I’m 72 years young! And although I have a lot of patience putting my movies together, there is a limit!!

Age has nothing to do with it. Do you want to create a video DVD that will play the movie on a TV set thru a DVD player? If so you will need to use a video DVD authoring application. Go to the App Store and download Wondershare DVD Creator and try the demo version. It will let you create a video DVD that can be played on a TV set. The free version will have a watermark on the presentation. but you an try it out before purchasing.

First follow this workflow to help assure the best qualty video DVD:

Once you have the project as you want it save it as a disk image via the File ➙ Save as Disk Image menu option. This will separate the encoding process from the burn process.

To check the encoding mount the disk image, launch DVD Player and play it. If it plays OK with DVD Player the encoding is good.

Then burn to disk with Disk Utilityat the slowest speed available (2x-4x) to assure the best burn quality. Always use top quality media: Verbatim, Maxell or Taiyo Yuden DVD-R are the most recommended in these forums.

a c0mputer guru wrote:

For Old Toad: Read the following and repost your responses using proper form: https://www.thespruce.com/proper-internet-etiquette-1216946

I did and I don't like to use acronyms. It's lazy and shows one doesn't care enough to use the full statement. NNYR

Sorry... I did not mean to respond to you... I just came on and did not see the above stream. You've answered my question. However I am new to this... I made a "project" with stills and videos. I assume that is the iMovie? Interesting enough, it does not allow me to save it anywhere. It just remains in the iMovie file as a project. So, my question is, How do I make the project into an iMovie in order to make the DVD. I realize this question is elementary... Can you help? Thanks in advance.

Try creating the slideshow with the video and still photos in Photos or Keynote and then export as a movie file. That file can be added to one of the many video DVD authoring apps mentioned in this topic.

You have to share it in imovie. In top right hand corner there is a a small square with an arrow pointing down in it.

click on your project in the time line then click on the square to share. You will get a message to say when this is done. Then open garage band and drag the movie which should appear on the right side under the movie sign to the time line. Add music if you want to, found if you have any under the music sign. I now have Catalina so from here on in your on your own i'm afraid. Dvd does not work on Catalina which is what I used to use to make my movies. someone above suggested downloading DVD creator so I will try that. Don't forget to Save your project. Good luck .

I use Wondershare UniConverter to burn an iMovie to DVD disc. Very easy to use and works quickly. It is not a free program but well worth the cost given the ease of its operation and ability to burn multiple discs readily.

Just dragging the slideshow movie file onto a DVD will not create a playable video DVD. You must use a DVD authoring application.