can you burn a dvd from iMovie with an external dvd player?

Yes, you can burn a DVD with an external DVD player as long as it is also a burner and not just a player. The procedure is to export your iMovie project to a movie file on your desk top and then either open it with the internal Mac DVD burn app or drag it into a DVD authoring program. Use a standard DVD-r disc and burn at 4x speed.

If you just want a data DVD to store your movie, you can burn it with the Burn program on your Mac. For instructions, go to the Finder help menu and type in Burn DVD. A data DVD might play only on a computer and not a DVD player. I understand that some of the modern DVD players have an option to play data DVDs, but mine does not. A data DVD movie file will be limited in size to the 4.7GB capacity of a standard DVD-r disc because, unlike an authored movie DVD, the data is not compressed.

If you want to burn a movie DVD, with menus, themes, and scenes, then you would need a DVD authoring program. iDVD is an excellent one, but has been discontinued and in any event will not work with Catalina or Big Sur. Some posters on this board have recommended DVD Creator by peng GUIPING for $14.95 on the Apple online app store. Not as good as iDVD was (nothing is) but will work to produce movie DVDs. Just drag your iMovie created video file from your desktop into the DVD authoring program, whichever program that you decide to use.

Here's a link to a thread that you might find helpful, particularly the post by Batman-15:

-- Rich

Hi Rich

Is this the link that you intended to post from Batman-15 ? ( yes we have all done it )

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250714476

Yes, that is the link. Thanks, thesurreyfriends. I was a little quick with the “Post” button. 😊

— Rich