Exporting and making a dvd - the best way is . . . ?

Best and fastest don't often go together.

If your Timeline is already fully rendered, the fastest method would be to play the Timeline while recording on a standalone DVD recorder in real time.

Or you can export a self-contained or reference movie, using current settings, then use the resulting file in iDVD or DVD-SP.

The best method would be to export a self-contained or reference movie and use the resulting file in Compressor; choosing one of the "Best Encode" DVD presets based on your program's duration and then use the two files created by Compressor in DVD Studio Pro for authoring and burning.

-DH

>This dvd plays in my computer, but not in my dvd player

Chances are you inadvertantly made an HD DVD instead of a normal DVD. DVD players will only play standard definition DVD discs. The HD DVD format was abandoned a few years ago by its developers, but HD DVDs will play in most later model Macs.

>Would you please tell me why you use Self-Contained and why others tell me not to use it?

I said you could chose either. Personally, I use a self-contained movie ... just so I'll have a finished copy of my edit that will play even if I delete the original media and render files. Reference movies will always need to have all of the original media and render files on the computer to refer to.

-DH

Open the DVD to look at its contents. If you see an HD_VIDEO_TS folder, it's an HD DVD. If not, there are other problems with the disc.

-DH