Why does iDVD '11 make my footage look darker?

I don't have any specifics for you but here are some general good practice tips:

It's best to use export the video out of iMovie or iPhoto at Large or Medium Size. That saves iDVD from having to down size it during encoding even further.

If coming from iMovie use the Share to Media Browser rather than Share to iDVD. Share to iDVD is less desireable that Share to Media Browser.

Follow this workflow to help ensure the best quality final product:

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 and launch DVD Player and play it. If it plays OK with DVD Player the encoding was good.

Then burn to disk with Disk Utility or Toast at 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.

OT

Hi Old Toad

Isn't it so that there might be something as color-spaces (or alike)

If I understood it right - material recorded with ProDV ??? ( ProRes ? ) (4.2.2) has another color space than that one used by iMovie and if photo is used and in anything but .jpg it also might be affected.

I know that my .bmp photos got severely RED - but after conversion to .jpg they worked OK.

Just thinking

Yours Bengt W

I'm only famiilar with color profiles in still photos. For iPhoto books Adobe RGB color profiles make the prints too dark and muddy and when printed with an inkjet printer. But when used in a QT movie slideshow slideshow I don't know if the color profile would be a factor.

TSlabaugh:

What color profile do the still photos have?

My error. Saw the 960 x 540 and immediately thought image. 😟

Some thing here may help:

Preparing your Final Cut Express or Final Cut Pro movie to work with iDVD at http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=iDVD/7.0/en/6652.html

Hi Klaus1

Strange link - I don't see the right page !

my thoughts about going from FCE/P to iDVD

Several things

• How to go from FCE/P to iDVD

• Free space on Start-up hard disk

• Encoding

• Brand and type of DVDs used

• Burn speed set

• iDVD BUG

• Chapters

How to go from FCE/P to iDVD I do

• Disable Screen and Energy saver

• IMPORTANT --> FIRST in FinalCut - Mix Down Audio under Sequence Menu / Render Only / Mix-down

• Export out as a QuickTime .mov file

• Select with Mark - Chapter Mark

• Not as Self-Contained (not important but saves time and space)

• NO QUICKTIME CONVERSION (IMPORTANT)

This QT.mov file I import into iDVD from within iDVD.

Free space on Start-up hard disk

I set a minimum of 25GB (for Mac OS and iDVDs temp files)

Encoding

• I use Pro Quality encoding

Brand and type of DVDs used

• I use Verbatim

• I use DVD-R

Burn speed set

• I set down this to x4 (or x1)

iDVD BUG

• One can not go back to movie-project for any alterations and then go back to

the iDVD project. It will notice and ask You to either Up-date or Cancel. Neither

of them will work.

Medicine - Start a brand new iDVD project.

Use of Chapters

• I only use a to z and 0 to 9 in naming them. NO other symbol/letter !

• NO Chapter-mark at very beginning - iDVD NEEDS TO set this by it self

• No Chapter marks in or within two seconds from a transition

(Way around this last one - Export movie as QT full quality and NO Chapter marks

Import this into a new Movie-project and now You are free to set C-Ms where You want

them except at very beginning - still)

Material used to build movie

• video - I use streamingDV (or convert all other to this e.g. .mp4, .avi, .wmv etc)

• audio - I use .aiff 16-bit 48kHz or from Audio-CD (44.1kHz) - no .mp3 or direct from iTunes

• photos - I use .jpg - no .bmp etc

Trash iDVD pref. file and run Repair Permissions - and have a re-try.

from post ??

May not be relevant, but I had the same problem with iDVD, where burned DVDs showed a green screen. It was cured by quitting Quicksilver and Quickeys as well as disabling sleep and screen-saving

Yours Bengt W

You are right Bengt, that article has been removed - but then of course they also withdrew FCE!