Chapters in iMovie

Hi

Not really getting it.

You've made a movie in iMovie ? - Which version ? iM'11 v.9.0.x ? or iM'08 v.7 or ?

Did You set Chapters here in Project window - or in iDVD ?

Did You make a DVD to be viewed on TV or are You using Apple-TV or what ?

Yours lost already - Bengt W

The chapters will automatically appear in iDVD. The iDVD theme you choose will have an opening page that will have a button for "Play Movie" and a button labelled "Scene Selection". Double-clicking on the Scene Selection button will open another page showing (usually) the first 6 chapters. There will be extra pages for any further chapters (scenes) that you inserted in iMovie. Each scene will be numbered, and each Scene Selection page will have left and right arrow buttons for navigating between pages. Much like what you see on commercial DVDs.

John

PS Here are links to 2 tutorials by Ken Stone. The first is for iDVD 6 and the second is a follow-up covering iDVD 7:

http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/idvd_6_stone.html

http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/idvd_07_stone.html

In iMovie'11 Project window - when a project is selected at top right hand corner there are some small buttons

Two small brownish things and then to the left of them three small blue squares (to turn on TimeLine)

The two brown ones are Chapter Mark respectively Mark. One has to set the right one of these at the proper place in the movie project. Should show up as a Mark in sequence/clip in project.

Then this will not show up more than that when You PLay Movie in iMovie You can go to next Chapter by use of the Arrow-keys on Your Key-board. Chapters function as in-points to movie and then it play on to bitter end.

If You want a DVD - Then do not use "Share to iDVD" but rather "Share to Media Browser" and as Large (Not HD or other resolution). Then in iDVD get Your movie from Media (browser) here ! And now You see in Main Menu Two titles.

Play Movie and Scene Selection (They can be named as You like them here in the iDVD Menu window.)

Play Movie will play from start

Scene Selection will show You next page where You start movie at Chapter one to six or go to next Page then select and play on to end.

May be a little help - Yours Bengt W

To be able to view Your movie on a DVD and on TV then it has to be encoded as Video-DVD and to do this one need a program.

In iLife suite (bought box) - iDVD is included - not on new Macs any more

So when You made Your Movie - How are You going to play it

• On Your Mac - Then it's OK as is

• On TV - then it has to be delivered to this one way or another. Apple-TV or DVD are common ways.

To burn a DVD on DeskTop - will not result in a playable DVD (for stand alone DVD-players) - but You'll get a Data-DVD. Not the same thing at all.

Yours Bengt W

carrie_uk wrote:

You keep mentioning iDVD, what is that, I am using iMovie, do I have iDVD too?

Hi Carrie,

Bengt has given you some information about iDVD. It is part of the packaged iLife suite of programs and is used for authoring and burning DVDs. Unfortunately, it is no longer included with new Mac purchases. Additionally, it is not available for purchase on the Mac App Store. However, iLife '11 (the packaged version) can be purchased from the online Apple Store and Apple retail outlets - this includes iDVD 7 (the latest version being 7.1.2).

The following link will give you the full information on iDVD, including some video tutorials:

http://www.apple.com/ilife/idvd/

Another option for burning DVDs on a Mac is Toast 11 Titanium (or Toast 11 Pro) from Roxio - see here:

http://www.roxio.com.au/ena/products/toast/default.html

John

You've done the right thing Carrie. You use iMovie to create your movie, which includes editing clips, and adding transitions, titles, music and effects as desired. The movie you create in iMovie can be uploaded to sites like YouTube and Facebook. It can also be exported for viewing through an Apple TV or other media player connected to a TV.

If you wish to burn your movie to a DVD, that's where you need a separate program, such as iDVD or Toast Titanium. In iDVD you can choose a theme for your DVD, just like those you see on commercial DVDs. The theme will loop (usually for about 30 seconds) until you click on the play button on the DVD player remote. Clicking on Play will cause your movie to start playing. If you inserted chapters in iMovie, these will carry over to iDVD. The DVD menu will show a Scene Selection button. From that button you can select any of your chapters (again, similar to a commercial DVD).

To send your movie from iMovie to iDVD, you have at least 2 options. You can click on the iMovie menu item "Share>iDVD" - this action will open iDVD automatically and insert your movie into a theme and place a button "Play Movie" on the theme. You can choose a different theme if desired. You will also see the Scene Selection button if you've included chapters in your movie.

Another method is to select the iMovie menu item "Share>Media Browser". After the encoding finishes, open iDVD and click on the Media button at the lower right of the iDVD window. Now click on the Movies tab, locate your movie, then drag it to the iDVD theme you've selected. You will then see the Play Movie button and Scene Selection button.

The second option - Share>Media Browser - seems to produce a better quality DVD than when using Share>iDVD, so I prefer to use Share>Media Browser.

If you have any further questions, please come back. But first have a look at the link I provided earlier (Apple's page on iDVD).

John

Hi

do I have to go back to iMovie, change them, then press iDVD again or can I change them in iDVD.

I would try in iDVD first. If that doesn't work then You've got to go back - BUT ALSO TO Start a brand new iDVD project as - going back to iMovie or FinalCut set's off the iDVD BUG. (All Chapters starts as Chapter 0)

I NEVER use - Share to iDVD - BUT - Share to Media Browser and as Large (Not HD or other resolution)

Also when I play it to see what it's like, the movie is running at a faster speed than normal

Can it be so that You made an NTSC (29.97fps) iMovie project then started an PAL (25fps) one in iDVD or other way around.

That would give a result as You describe it.

Yours Bengt W

Hi Carrie,

You said:

"On the scene selections, 2 of the titles are too long and start to write over the next chapter, do I have to go back to iMovie, change them, then press iDVD again or can I change them in iDVD"

No, you don't need to go back to iMovie. Either click or double-click (can't recall which) on the scene name to highlight it - now you can edit it by shortening it or typing in a completely different name. An Inspector also opens, allowing you to change the font type, style and size. The same applies to other text in the Theme.

You also said:

"...it's not running at a quicker speed, it just looks like it is because it is jerking all over the place, but doesn't in iMovie, what do I have to do to stop that?"

As Bengt has pointed out, you may have selected the wrong format for the DVD. From iDVD's menu select Project>Project Info. In the window that opens, for Video Mode select NTSC if your project's frame rate is 29.97 fps, or select PAL if your project's frame rate is 25 fps. What you select should be the same as used in your iMovie project - otherwise you may see jerky motion. Or possibly your Mac hardware is not up to the task of smooth playback in iDVD. It's best to preview playback by clicking on the Play button (black triangle icon) at the base of the iDVD window (near the centre). When you burn the DVD, playback will probably be fine - it's possibly just a preview issue with iDVD.

John