I know! The title has the word MAC in it! What is wrong with me? Well sometimes you have to use all of the tools at your disposal. I have PCs and Macs and sometimes the Mac is the tool for what I'm trying to do. Right now, I'm doing some Android development. I could do this on a PC, but I have to be honest - the emulator just works more quickly on a Mac. There....I said it!
Anyway, I recently decided to burn some videos using iDVD. However, the videos were .AVI files. That shouldn't be a problem right? WRONG! iDVD doesn't allow you to burn .avi files to DVD right out of the box - at least not the version I have. So what is a girl with .avi files to do when she wants to burn them to DVD using iDVD? DOWNLOAD THE CODEC THAT WILL ALLOW ME TO DO IT! :-)
I found a lot of misinformation out there about how to burn .avi files on a Mac. Some people suggested that I would need to download Toast, which is not free. They also suggested other programs which were not free. Since I have PCs, I'm used to not paying extra for ordinary things like burning .avi files and I'm not going to change that trend. Anyway, follow these instructions to burn your. .avi files using iDVD.
Before you begin, close iDVD if it is open.
1. Download the Divx codec using this link. http://www.divx.com/en/software/download This link will send you to the Divx download page that offers everything you need. Just download it. It is going to contain some things that you likely aren't going to use, but it is all in one package.
2. Once the package has been downloaded, double-click it and walk through the install process.
3. Download Perian's software. This will allow you to hear your videos - which is a nice thing. Go to http://www.perian.org/.
4. Once the software downloads, double-click it and walk through the Perian installation process.
5. After the install process has completed, restart your machine.
6. After you restart your machine, go to iDVD and start a new project.
7. Now select File/Import/Video and select your .avi file.
8. Create the rest of your menu.
9. Check your movie to see if it works the way you think it should. This isn't a tutorial on how to use iDVD, so if you don't know what to do, follow the tutorial inside of the iDVD help area to learn how to make your movie menu, etc.
10. Burn your dvd.
There you have it! Now, here are a few things to remember. You CAN import .avi files into iDVD without doing a thing, however, if you don't have the correct codec installed, you won't see anything more than a green chromakey screen when you try to view your videos. DON'T make the mistake of importing the video and then just burning a DVD. If you can't watch the video in iDVD, then it WILL NOT show up correctly on the DVD you create. You will see the menu and be able to select the movie, however, it will just show up as a green screen on your DVD player. If you do not install Perian, you will not be able to hear your videos. You will be able to see them with Divx, but the audio codec that will allow you to hear the audio encoded into most .avi files will not be present - so make sure you install Perian.
If you are having trouble burning the DVD directly, you might need to create an image first using iDVD and then burn the image to dvd using Disk Utility. If you need to burn an image, select that option on the File menu in iDVD.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
MAKE SURE THAT YOU WATCH THE MOVIE BEFORE YOU BURN IT TO DVD! IF THERE ARE ANY ISSUES, SEEING BEFORE YOU WASTE A DVD IS ALWAYS PREFERABLE.
MAKE SURE THAT YOU DELETE ANY ENCODED ASSETS IF YOU ARE NOT CREATING A NEW PROJECT. (IN IDVD CLICK ON ADVANCED/DELETE ENCODED ASSETS)
MAKE SURE THAT THE SYSTEM OUTPUT VOLUME IS NOT DOWN LOW OR ON MUTE. CLICK ON THE APPLE SYMBOL IN THE UPPER RIGHT HAND CORNER OF THE SCREEN AND SELECT SYSTEM PREFERENCES. UNDER HARDWARE, SELECT SOUND. AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SCREEN, YOU WILL SEE OUTPUT VOLUME. MAKE SURE THAT IS ALL THE WAY UP AND NOT ON MUTE.
Have fun burning your .avi files using iDVD on a Mac for free!
Smooches,
Kila
Anyway, I recently decided to burn some videos using iDVD. However, the videos were .AVI files. That shouldn't be a problem right? WRONG! iDVD doesn't allow you to burn .avi files to DVD right out of the box - at least not the version I have. So what is a girl with .avi files to do when she wants to burn them to DVD using iDVD? DOWNLOAD THE CODEC THAT WILL ALLOW ME TO DO IT! :-)
I found a lot of misinformation out there about how to burn .avi files on a Mac. Some people suggested that I would need to download Toast, which is not free. They also suggested other programs which were not free. Since I have PCs, I'm used to not paying extra for ordinary things like burning .avi files and I'm not going to change that trend. Anyway, follow these instructions to burn your. .avi files using iDVD.
Before you begin, close iDVD if it is open.
1. Download the Divx codec using this link. http://www.divx.com/en/software/download This link will send you to the Divx download page that offers everything you need. Just download it. It is going to contain some things that you likely aren't going to use, but it is all in one package.
2. Once the package has been downloaded, double-click it and walk through the install process.
3. Download Perian's software. This will allow you to hear your videos - which is a nice thing. Go to http://www.perian.org/.
4. Once the software downloads, double-click it and walk through the Perian installation process.
5. After the install process has completed, restart your machine.
6. After you restart your machine, go to iDVD and start a new project.
7. Now select File/Import/Video and select your .avi file.
8. Create the rest of your menu.
9. Check your movie to see if it works the way you think it should. This isn't a tutorial on how to use iDVD, so if you don't know what to do, follow the tutorial inside of the iDVD help area to learn how to make your movie menu, etc.
10. Burn your dvd.
There you have it! Now, here are a few things to remember. You CAN import .avi files into iDVD without doing a thing, however, if you don't have the correct codec installed, you won't see anything more than a green chromakey screen when you try to view your videos. DON'T make the mistake of importing the video and then just burning a DVD. If you can't watch the video in iDVD, then it WILL NOT show up correctly on the DVD you create. You will see the menu and be able to select the movie, however, it will just show up as a green screen on your DVD player. If you do not install Perian, you will not be able to hear your videos. You will be able to see them with Divx, but the audio codec that will allow you to hear the audio encoded into most .avi files will not be present - so make sure you install Perian.
If you are having trouble burning the DVD directly, you might need to create an image first using iDVD and then burn the image to dvd using Disk Utility. If you need to burn an image, select that option on the File menu in iDVD.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
MAKE SURE THAT YOU WATCH THE MOVIE BEFORE YOU BURN IT TO DVD! IF THERE ARE ANY ISSUES, SEEING BEFORE YOU WASTE A DVD IS ALWAYS PREFERABLE.
MAKE SURE THAT YOU DELETE ANY ENCODED ASSETS IF YOU ARE NOT CREATING A NEW PROJECT. (IN IDVD CLICK ON ADVANCED/DELETE ENCODED ASSETS)
MAKE SURE THAT THE SYSTEM OUTPUT VOLUME IS NOT DOWN LOW OR ON MUTE. CLICK ON THE APPLE SYMBOL IN THE UPPER RIGHT HAND CORNER OF THE SCREEN AND SELECT SYSTEM PREFERENCES. UNDER HARDWARE, SELECT SOUND. AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SCREEN, YOU WILL SEE OUTPUT VOLUME. MAKE SURE THAT IS ALL THE WAY UP AND NOT ON MUTE.
Have fun burning your .avi files using iDVD on a Mac for free!
Smooches,
Kila
