Q: Can AVCHD burned to a regular DVD be played on a regular DVD player?
-
Oct 13, 2015 2:27 PMby Old Toad,No. It can't be played one any video player until it's been burned to disk with a video DVD authoring application like iDVD. And the AVCHD format may not be compatible with video authoring apps.
If you don't have iDVD go to the App Store and search for "video DVD" to get a list of the potential candidates for video authoring.
There are some apps that are free but have paid for versions with additional features.
If you want to burn a Blue-Ray video DVD you'll need an app that can create a BR video project and software to burn to a BR disk.
-
Oct 13, 2015 3:20 PMby collin9090,So with iDVD I can get the AVCHD footage onto a regular DVD and it will be able to play on a consumer DVD player?
These are my direct instructions :
"Please ensure that the DVD submitted is an Authored DVD playable on a consumer (non-professional) DVD player. We will not accept data DVD's (no quicktime files (Movs), Mp4s, H264s)."
Old Toad, so you think iDVD would be best for this...but it may not be compatible? Ill pay for whatever program. I'm sending this out of the country so I want to make sure I get it right.
Thanks
-
Oct 13, 2015 3:42 PMby Old Toad,iDVD will by far produce the most professional looking video DVD and is the most versatile as far as theme and menu design and modification is concerned.
So far iDVD works with El Capitan and earlier systems. However, with El Capitan one can't directly access a Photos library to import images to be used in the project. It can access an iPhoto library.
If iDVD was not preinstalled on your Mac you'll have to obtain it by purchasing a copy of the iLife 09 disk from a 3rd party retailier like Amazon.com: ilife 09: Software or eBay.com. Why, because iDVD (and iWeb) was discontinued by Apple over 4 years ago.
Why iLife 09 instead of 11?
If you have to purchase an iLife disc in order to obtain the iDVD application remember that the iLife 11 disc only provides themes from iDVD 5-7. The Software Update no longer installs the earlier themes when starting from the iLIfe 11 disk nor do any of the iDVD 7 updaters available from the Apple Downloads website contain them.
Currently the only sure fire way to get all themes is to start with the iLife 09 disc:
This shows the iDVD contents in the iLife 09 disc via Pacifist:
You then can upgrade from iDVD 7.0.3 to iDVD 7.1.2 via the updaters at the Apple Downloads webpage.
Export the slideshow out of iPhoto as a QT movie file via the Export button in the lower toolbar. Select Size = Medium or Large.
Open iDVD, select a theme and drag the exported QT movie file into the open iDVD window being careful to avoid any drop zones.
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.
The iLife 09 disc is about twice the price of the newer iLife 11 disk ($80) which doesn't have all of the themes.
If you're only going to make a couple of disks you might want to consider one of the apps in the App Store. Try a couple of the free versions and if you like one there's probably a paid version with more features that you an buy. They will be much less costly than an iLife 09 disk.
-
Oct 13, 2015 4:09 PMby collin9090,Thanks for the amazing explanation. I greatly appreciate it.
I honestly just want these folks to be able to put the DVD into the player and play it without a hitch. Simple and easy.
So would I be okay with iLife 11?
Just to reiterate, this will allow me to put my AVCHD footage onto a plain old regular DVD and it will play it a regular consumer DVD player... right?
-
Oct 14, 2015 1:08 AMby thesurreyfriends,I'm sending this out of the country so I want to make sure I get it right.
Are you in PAL or NTSC land? Is your DVD going to a PAL or NTSC country?
These options can be set up in iDVD
You have Final Cut Pro X which is able to burn a DVD directly ( and also Blu-ray), but the menu is not as fancy as iDVD.
http://wolfcrow.com/blog/the-final-cut-pro-x-export-guide-part-one-sharing/
In this link note the part that says .....redo your project to a 25p timeline ( or visa versa for Pal to NTSC)
NTSC or PAL decided by timeline settings – E.g., if you have a 30p timeline and want to create a PAL DVD, you’ll need to use Compressor, or redo your project to a 25p timeline.
If you want to create a disk image first, as mentioned by Old Toad above, select your hard drive in Output Device.
In the shot above BUFFALO Optical Drive is selected but you would select your Hard Drive for a disk image.
-
Oct 14, 2015 8:38 AMby Old Toad,Just to reiterate, this will allow me to put my AVCHD footage onto a plain old regular DVD and it will play it a regular consumer DVD player... right?
Right. But read thesurryfriends post carefully to make sure you set the mode for the part of the world that the DVD will be played in, i.e. NTSB or PAL:
