Comments on: Final Cut Pro-to-iDVD Chapter and Widescreen Woes

By: LLOYD .E

LLOYD .E — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:52:42 +0000

Hi Guys, thank you so much for the link, I do hope that Apple.Inc reads this Blog. It’s been a great help to me and my friends.

A friend of mine has the latest FCS, and still this issue has not been resolved, and thats very surprising.

Thanks
Lloyd .E

By: -chris

-chris — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 11:31:42 +0000

Yer welcome! It was a problem that was driving me crazy and after some exhaustive googling I found it. As with you, I still don’t understand many of the features of the program but for the issue we have it works great.

By: -chris

-chris — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 11:29:20 +0000

Roy – read the previous comments for a solution I posted in January.

mDVDEdit is the interim solution to the 16×9 issue.
http://www.mydvdedit.com/
Export your clip from FinalCut with Chapter Markers as 16×9. Import into iDVD, complete DVD, Save as VIDEO_TS folder. Once that is complete open the VIDEO_TS folder with myDVDEdit and change the one problematic indicator from 4×3 to 16×9. It takes about a minute to correct. Once corrected I just burn the VIDEO_TS to disc with Toast.
Alternatively you can save a Disk Image from iDVD – you just need to change the permissions before opening the VIDEO_TS with myDVDEdit.

By: Aaron Nielsen

Aaron Nielsen — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 02:37:21 +0000

Chris,

I’m editing a video at the moment in Final Cut Express 3.5, where the source clips and the final sequence are 16:9 anamorphic. The problem is that I can export a FCE movie, which preserves chapters but not anamorphism, or I can convert it to QuickTime or MPEG4, with which I can force the resolution but which (amazingly) doesn’t keep the chapters.

Workaround: Convert to QuickTime, use iMovie or GarageBand to re-insert the chapters, re-encode the movie as MPEG4, and feed that into iDVD.

Better workaround: Export as (4:3) FCE movie, use iDVD to make a DVD image (or VIDEO_TS folder) complete with chapters, and use myDVDEdit to change the main video title from 4:3 to 16:9. That last step took less than three minutes on an 86-minute movie.

Anyway, I just wanted to thank you in advance for how much time this is going to save me on this project. I’d never heard of myDVDEdit before, and I don’t understand all of its features yet, but the anamorphism problem is a real pet peeve and I’m glad to have something that works for me so easily.

Many thanks,

Aaron

By: Roy

Roy — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 07:55:29 +0000

About two week ago I bought my first Apple: a 15″ Macbook Pro. I want to use Final Cut Express 4 to make a movie of my recent holiday. To test things out I created a short sample movie, did an export of it. Launched iDVD and imported the movie. The menu is in 16:9 format, but when I play the movie (in preview, not burned yet) it is in 4:3 format…. :-(

My holiday movies are shot with a Sony HC47E in DV PAL 16:9 format. Is there any chance I can get the movie to show in 16:9 format with iDVD?

By: eyedropper

eyedropper — Thu, 21 May 2009 09:49:23 +0000

I’ve found that exporting the movie out of FCE, then importing into iMovie, then ’sharing’ to iTunes, then selecting it as a media choice in iDVD works, but it’s a right royal pain in the arse to have this tour of all the Apple apps when it should just work.

By: Greg

Greg — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 22:41:56 +0000

Isn’t export using compressor the same as having MPEG 2 output in Final Cut Pro? You can’t buy FCP without compressor. Wouldn’t you rather use compressor anyways. Trust me, it’s not about brand loyalty as much as it is workflow. FCS’s workflow is great. That’s why I use it. I’ve gotten into Adobe’s products and their workflow just doesn’t do it for me.

Also, if you’re doing professional DVDs, wouldn’t you want some control over the DVD creation, instead of automatic burning?

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 22:32:01 +0000

I just need to say that in the DVD creation world, DVDSP is the slowest I’ve used.
Yes, there are lots of options, and the template targets are great,
but man, Apple really could make life easier for some of us if FCP simply had a DVD burn option, or even just include an MPEG 2 output in FCP. It’s soooo obvious they want you to buy more overpriced products.

Now I love my new mac pro, and I love FCS. But this whole brand loyalty thing has got to stop. Some of us Mac users can be such defensive little twits. Emotionally driven brand loyalty is for suckers!

Don’t forget that most of the big pro animation and render farms are done on PC’s. And I’m not talking about the HP-Dell off the shelf crap. I’ve built PC’s that scream through video, and never crash. I still prefer to work on my MAC, but we have to always keep an open mind and not be mislead by our mac ‘pride’ non-sense.

By: Greg

Greg — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:36:15 +0000

Dude, if you have FCS, why are you complaining about speed? DVDSP is slow? and unreliable? You probably just don’t know how to use it. No, I don’t work for Apple. I know a good product when I use it. DVDSP isn’t slow. I can turnaround projects extremely fast with DVDSP. Maybe you should take one of those classes on DVDSP. It’s the player, not the game that has issues…

By: Phil

Phil — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:27:21 +0000

Greg,obviosly you either work for Macintosh or dont get the fact that software made by the same company should be compatible, no matter what the price. I already have FCS, but do not rate DVD studio pro, due to its unreliable nature.I never considered Ilife as an editing package however it does have a piece of software that is supposedly capable of burning DVDs in 16:9. I would like something where after you complete you online edit, can be put on a DVD quickly and viewed by an audience for feedback. I do not enjoy having to wait hours on rendering processess that other cheaper software churns through at a far faster rate and with less RAM. God even my old version of Blade wipes the floor in the creation of making DVd’s that work and this piece of software was around before the first version of final cut. Some users do not want to make professional CD’s all the time. Turnover on some jobs, especially overnight for next day requires speed and software that works. DVD studio pro, slow and unreliable. FCS, Final cut great, DVD options, to reliant on quicktime and quictime compressor.

By: Greg

Greg — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 19:34:25 +0000

#9, you’re an idiot. You think iLife is an editing package? You get it for free with a new mac, or can buy the upgrade for $99. You get what you pay for. If you want to do professional stuff, get FCS. If you want consumer grade stuff, stick with iLife or Final Cut Express.

By: Phil

Phil — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:30:07 +0000

Whatever happened to a MPEG2 export option, drop into a menu and burn. How simple is that. Macintosh have their arms so up quicktime. Go and buy DVD studio Pro. Why the hell should I when I’ve spent enough on an editing package that cannot even export to DVD without a separate software platform. I use both Macs and Pcs every day. Macs the friendly platform. Horse shit. I work with people nearly every day who use Final cut Express. Where are the codecs to work with DVD studio Pro, oh oka then i’ll export to IDVD, shit there goes my Widescreen. Yea i’ll go in and fix your binary code settings, oh admin lockout. Nedver been so disapointed in an overpriced, underfunctioning piece of crap software that cannot even perform a basic function like burning to DVD. Oh i’ll just do an MPEG 4 conversion and stick it on YOU TUBE. Ohh feel the quality.!!No i’ll spend more cash on DVD studio Pro!!

By: Connor Sprague

Connor Sprague — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 22:37:57 +0000

I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one having this problem. I can publish a DVD with either chapter markers in a distorted 4:3, or a DVD with no chapters and 16:9. Either way the software is not fulfilling the purpose that i purchased it for.

By: Hank

Hank — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 03:42:01 +0000

In fear of sounding too snarky, I totally agree with Clayton.

If FCP’s drop down says ‘all markers’, then all markers should be included. If iDVD is supposed to work with widescreen material, then it should recognize an anamorphic movie regardless of the app or camera that created it.

@Allen, I believe the solution you’re referring to is mentioned above as Knowledge Base Article TS2179,

By: Allen Huffman

Allen Huffman — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 15:54:32 +0000

I don’t have the link with me at work, but Googling should show a solution to the widescreen video issue. You just open the file in QT and make a width/height change then save it back, then iDVD will see it just fine.

I run in to the same thing all the time, but going to Final Cut Express, and sometimes the DVD markers work fine, and sometimes they don’t. I haven’t noticed any correlation (video imported from HDV to Apple Intermediate).

By: Clayton Lai

Clayton Lai — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 13:01:20 +0000

Pike – I would’ve gone that route if not for the fact that DVD Studio Pro had problems interpreting my HDV 1080 file correctly.

BK – Nothing wrong with having both apples and oranges if they’re all there on the table…

Chris – Thanks; I’ll look into that.

By: HobbesDoo

HobbesDoo — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 16:06:38 +0000

I have to agree with #1 and #3. Although one would expect that all applications made by Apple would play well together, in this case we’re talking Pro applications working well with consumer applications, which understandably was never Apple’s intention as they target different audiences. I use both sets of applications, but don’t remember ever having the need to ever mix them.

By: BK

BK — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 14:09:40 +0000

This is what DVD Studio Pro is for. You’re mixing apples and oranges.

By: -chris

-chris — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 13:24:53 +0000

mDVDEdit is the interim solution to the 16×9 issue.

http://www.mydvdedit.com/

Export your clip from FinalCut with Chapter Markers as 16×9. Import into iDVD, complete DVD, Save as VIDEO_TS folder. Once that is complete open the VIDEO_TS folder with myDVDEdit and change the one problematic indicator from 4×3 to 16×9. It takes about a minute to correct. Once corrected I just burn the VIDEO_TS to disc with Toast.

Alternatively you can save a Disk Image from iDVD – you just need to change the permissions before opening the VIDEO_TS with myDVDEdit.

By: Pike

Pike — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 03:57:23 +0000

Do you think you could have used DVD studio pro? I have been using Apples pro software for a couple years and it makes sense that Apple has their software work the way it does.

iLife apps are simple for consumers. Pro apps have 100 fold more settings and options.
So when you go from Final to iDVD there will be mishaps.