Once I burn a movie using iDVD, should I delete the movie?

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Level 1

13 points

Once I burn a movie using iDVD, should I delete the movie?

I am always trying to figure out how to free up memory on my iMac.

When I am making DVDs, with footage from iMovie and using iDVD to actually burn the DVD, it seems like I have the movie saved in two places: iMovie and iDVD.

In the interest of saving space, can I delete the iDVD movie without impacting the original in iMovie?

So if I wanted to come back at a later date and make another copy of the movie, I would have to go through the whole export process from iMovie to iDVD again, but at least it would not be saved in two places.

And, is there a special way to delete a movie in iDVD?

Thanks so much!

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8), also have iMovie and iDVD

Posted on Mar 10, 2013 11:21 AM

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Answer 1

Old Toad

Level 10

207,421 points

Mar 10, 2013 11:50 AM in response to iteachmusic

If you delete the movie you won't be able to retrieve it from the burnt iDVD video disk for other user without a considerable loss of sharpness and resolution. If you intend to use that footage at anytime in the future you should not delete it.

iDVD only has pointers to the original movie file so if you delete the source of the movie, i.e in iMovie, it will be deleted in the iDVD project making that project file superfluous.

If you have to free up space on your iMac I would get an external hard drive and move some of the less frequently used files to it. You do have a backup strategy, right?

OT

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Answer 2

iteachmusic Author

Level 1

13 points

Mar 10, 2013 11:57 AM in response to Old Toad

If I delete the movie in iDVD, but not in iMovie, will I be able to repeat the process at a later date, if needed to make another copy of the movie in iDVD? I know I would have to export it from iMovie to iDVD again in order to do this, but am thinking at least it would not be saved in two places.

yes, I do have an external hard drive, but have never been clear as to the best way to move a movie file to that; think I have been advised by some that this would not be a good idea, even though movies are the things that are taking up the most memory.

also, can you compress movie files? If so, how does that work, and would you do that with the original or on the external hard drive, given that you are able to move a movie to the external hard drive.

some folks have suggested having 2 or 3 external hard drives, each backing up the same thing.....really?

Thanks so much for any help!

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Answer 3

Old Toad

Level 10

207,421 points

Mar 10, 2013 12:07 PM in response to iteachmusic

Yes but that won't save much space. It only deletes the pointer from iDVD to the moive in iMovie. If yo need to user that movie at a later date and free up some space on your boot drive move some files to an external HD, like your iTunes and/or your iPhoto libraries and run them from there.

You should maintain an minimum of 20-15 GB of free space for using iDVD.

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Answer 4

iteachmusic Author

Level 1

13 points

Mar 10, 2013 12:19 PM in response to Old Toad

So moving the iTunes library wouldn't compromise or lose any of the songs? Because as a music teacher, I've got more than 10,000 songs in iTunes! A techie at my school moved the iTunes library on my school computer once and the whole thing quadrupled, so I know that if you move it, there is a right way and a wrong way.

How difficult would it be for me to access iTunes, if I moved it to the external drive? would I still have the iTunes icon on my desktop? And if I purchase songs from iTunes or Amazon, how would they get to iTunes if it is on the external drive? And could I still burn CDs from iTunes if it is on external drive?

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Answer 5

Old Toad

Level 10

207,421 points

Mar 10, 2013 12:45 PM in response to iteachmusic

Yes, you won't compromise the library. Here's how I make the move:

1 - drag the Music folder to an EHD.

2 - make a symlink of the the iTunes library folder on the EHD and place it in the Music folder on your iMac.

3 - move the iTunes library folder out of the Music folder to the Desktop.

4 - launch iTunes. It should find the library on the EHD thru the symlink.

5 - comfirm that the iTunes library is complete and working as it should

6 - delete the iTunes library from the Desktop.

Using the symlink lets your Mac think it's still in the Music folder.

It's different for an iPhoto library. If you want to do it also let me know.

This is what my Music folder looks like on the EHD:

This is what the orignal Music folder looks like on my iMac:

Be sure the EHD is formatted and configured as shown in this screenshot:

Here's what I used to make a symlink: Download SymbolicLinker for Mac - Contextual menu creates symbolic links in Finder. MacUpdate.com

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Answer 6

iteachmusic Author

Level 1

13 points

Mar 10, 2013 1:40 PM in response to iteachmusic

OK......need some interpretations though:

---is EHD "external hard drive"?

--when you say to "drag the music folder" is that the same thing as the iTunes icon or is it the folder that says "iTunes" when I click on Music in the finder?

---I have no idea what a "symlink" is.......

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Answer 7

Old Toad

Level 10

207,421 points

Mar 10, 2013 1:45 PM in response to iteachmusic

Yes, EHD is external hard drive.

The folder to copy is titled Music in your home folder:

A symlink is a high powered alias file. k

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