Hi, I can't burn an iMovie project (v9.0.9) in iDVD (v7.1.2). The DVD ejects during the "writing lead-in" step at 13 minutes remaining. The "burn" wheel keeps spinning and the "Creating DVD" window/ box remains open. Has happened multiple times. The project is 4.45G and about 28 minutes long. Thanks.
iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2012), OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)
First how much free space do you have on your boot drive? When encoding iDVD projects I keep a minimum of 20-25 GB free space.
Follow this workflow to help assure the best qualty video DVD:
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, launch DVD Player and play it. If it plays OK with DVD Player the encoding is 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.
Hi, thanks for the reply. I saw that information when you replied to someone with a similar question, I looked but I didn't see a "File/ Save as Disk Image" option. What application should that appear in?
In the iDVD File menu:
Okay, thanks. I saved as a disk image. When I start DVD Player and select "open dvd media" I can see the .img file but it's in light gray, so I can't open it.
Double click on the disk image to mount it an then launch the DVD Player. It should find the image automatically and all you need to do is hit the Play button.
Sorry if this is dumb, but how do I know if the disk image version is playing? I have the same file with extensions of .m4v, .dvdproj, and .mov.
I guess I have other issues....
Yes. That's a hardware issue. Try running the Apple Hardware Test: OS X Mavericks: Use Apple Diagnostics or Apple Hardware Test
Some folks have had success blowing compressed air into the drive, or using a lens cleaner, but neither worked for me. Burning a DVD shouldn't be so difficult, I'll try a different brand of disc but I've spent five hours trying to burn this disc, so for now, I quit. Thanks for your help.
As a workaround if you have access to another Mac with an optical drive copy the disk image to it and burn.
Finally able to burn the DVD after using compressed air again, and after using new disks, using "-R" instead of "+R." Thanks a lot for your help, OT.
Can't Burn iMovie Project in iDVD
