IMovie

If you are using an authoring DVD application, as Rich mentioned above , then you should get around 2 hours of video on one single sided DVD disc.

It is not the size of the video file that matters , it is it's time length. This is because the file is converted to a format that is required for DVD authoring .

If your almost 17 GB video is less than 2 hours long then you should be OK .

Make two duplicates of your project. Delete the second half of the first duplicate to create Part ! of your DVD. Delete the first half of the second duplicate to create Part 2 of your DVD. Then share out each duplicate so that you have Part 1 and Part 2. Burn each part to a standard DVD-r disc at 4x speed. You can use two discs or one double layer DVD disc.

However, if you are using an authoring DVD app (like iDVD or DVD Creator) then that app will compress as much as 26GB of video to fit on a 4.7GB standard DVD. So you may not need to split the movie into two parts unless it exceeds 26GB.

On the other hand, if you are creating just a standard data DVD disc, then your movie would need to be limited to 4.7GB in size because the video would not be compressed.

-- Rich

What thesurreyfriends tells you is important.

The file size is immaterial as the only thing that matters is the length of your video.

2 hours or less is ideal but up to 4 hours can be accommodated providing the DVD authoring app allows you to reduce the bit rate.

However, is it vital to use a DVD?

Most people nowadays create mp4 files which are higher quality and can be played almost anywhere on TVs, Computers, Tablets and mobile phones or even uploaded to the internet.

Another consideration is the longevity of the storage, since you want the video to be passed on to future generations. For physical storage, optical disks are the best, and you would want to get archival grade discs like Blue Ray or M Discs. Blue Ray discs I think last about 80 years. M Discs have been said to have a 1000 year life, although obviously that has not been fully tested. Also, you would need to hope that there would be playback devices available in 50 years or so.

Flash drives are not suitable for long term storage, as they need to be refreshed every 3-5 years or they will fail. They mostly are intended to transfer data from one device to another rather than for passing on archival data.

Cloud storage is another possibility, although you would need to trust the cloud provider to protect your data and be around in future years.

Might be safest to store on more than one type of media.

-- Rich

DVDs are now considered obsolete and we don't know how long there will be equipment to play them.

The way to go at the moment is .mp4

3 hours of HD video will take around 10GB of space depending on the compression used.

The videos could be uploaded to the cloud where all your family members could download copies to fit on their computers, tablets, phones etc.

They could also be stored on hard drives and memory sticks.

However, something to be aware of is that in the last 20 - 30 years or so, delivery/storage systems have come and gone at an alarming rate. We had cine film, VHS video, DV, DVD and they are fading into the past.

Soon .mp4 will inevitably follow suit, so every few years it will be necessary to re-encode your films using the method of the time.

I know how you feel about preserving your father's photos and films as I went through the same emotions around 25 years ago. However, from my experience (which I suspect is common), other family members do not have the same enthusiasm and after maybe one casual viewing, will probably never look at them again.

Most people in the twentieth century did not have these problems as all their memories were stored on physical photographs which would last over a century and could be viewed at any time by anybody without any special equipment.

Modern technology is fantastic but it is also a curse in that we are overwhelmed by the number of photos and videos we can make but have no long-term storage solutions.

Look at DVD Creator by peng GUIPING at the app store for $14.99. Some posters here have recommended it as an iDVD replacement. Of course, nothing is as good as iDVD.

— Rich