iDVD Tutorial

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Description

iLife ’05: iDVD Tutorial Brazos Price Information Technology Lab School of Information University of Texas at Austin Summer 2005 I. Introduction Welcome to this iLife ‘05 Tutorial. This is the iDVD Tutorial. iLife is a suite of applications developed by Apple to assist users in organizing and creating media. iLife includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie HD and iDVD. This tutorial assumes a completed iMovie project; please see David Wilson’s iMovie tutorial for information about how to create an iMovie project. So what does iDVD really do? It takes video from iMovie (or elsewhere) and encodes it into a format that can be burned onto a DVD. This sometimes takes a really long time. Goals: After completing this tutorial you will be… …able to use and be comfortable with the iDVD5 interface. …able to use and customize menu themes …aware of iDVD’s limitations …able to import pictures and movies …able to burn your project to a DVD II. Getting Ready This section will: • Get you up to speed on iDVD • Explain when to use • Elucidate the interface • Speak to the limitations of the program a) When to use? iDVD is an application designed to help you, the user, burn audio/visual information to a DVD - it is best used in concert with iMovie. If you need to burn data to your DVD you may do so using the finder. It is not necessary or even preferable to use iDVD to burn data-only DVD’s. iDVD should be used when the user desires the ability to ...

Informations

• Publié par: Choon
• Nombre de lectures: 26
• Langue: English

Extrait

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iLife ’05: iDVD Tutorial

Brazos Price

Information Technology Lab

School of Information

University of Texas at Austin

Summer 2005

I.

Introduction

Welcome to this iLife ‘05 Tutorial. This is the iDVD Tutorial. iLife is a suite of

applications developed by Apple to assist users in organizing and creating media. iLife

includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie HD and iDVD. This tutorial assumes a completed iMovie

project; please see David Wilson’s iMovie tutorial for information about how to create an

iMovie project.

So what does iDVD really do? It takes video from iMovie (or elsewhere) and encodes it

into a format that can be burned onto a DVD. This sometimes takes a really long time.

Goals:

After completing this tutorial you will be…

…able to use and be comfortable with the iDVD5 interface.

…able to use and customize menu themes

…aware of iDVD’s limitations

…able to import pictures and movies

…able to burn your project to a DVD

II.

Getting Ready

This section will:

•

Get you up to speed on iDVD

•

Explain when to use

•

Elucidate the interface

•

Speak to the limitations of the program

a) When to use?

iDVD is an application designed to help you, the user, burn audio/visual information to a

DVD - it is best used in concert with iMovie. If you need to burn data to your DVD you

may do so using the finder. It is not necessary or even preferable to use iDVD to burn

data-only DVD’s. iDVD should be used when the user desires the ability to create menu

screens - these are the navigation menus that appear when you put a DVD into any standard

DVD player.

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b) Interface

iDVD has 7 drop-down menus at the top of the application window and 7 buttons on the

view screen of the application.

The 7 drop-down menus are: iDVD, File, Edit, Project, Advanced, Window, and Help.

The 7 buttons are: Customize, Folder, Slideshow, Motion Map, Preview and Burn.

Drop-Down Menus

A.

iDVD

The most important aspect of this menu is access to the preferences menu. It is in

the preferences that users can remove the Apple logo watermark from their iDVD

productions. There are also options based upon what quality of asset encoding individuals

require.

This tutorial operates

using a set of preferences.

Under

General

the

standard selections are:

•

Show Drop Zones

•

Best Performance

- Enable

background

encoding

•

NTSC video

standard

It doesn’t matter if you select

Check for iDVD updates automatically

.

Under

Slideshow

everything should be checked. Under

Movies

,

Automatically Create

Chapter Marker Submenu

should be checked.

B.

File

Here you will find the typical actions, such as new, open and save, that are associated with a

file menu. In addition to the standard fare, the file menu also houses options to import

media as well burning the DVD.

C.

Edit

The edit menu is pretty standard as well, it allows for cutting and pasting as well as undoing

and redoing.

D.

Project

This Menu is basically a repeat of the buttons, and will be mentioned in more detail later.

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E.

Advanced

The important options in this menu are Show TV Safe Area and Edit DVD-ROM Contents.

TV Safe Area is important for iDVD menu creation. Menu size can influence button

placement, be sure and place all your buttons in a TV Safe fashion. If you are interested in

adding data that can be accessed by a computer in addition to Audio/Visual Media, the Edit

DVD-ROM Contents will allow you to do so. You would then burn your DVD normally.

F.

Window

Used to access different open windows.

G.

Help

One can get extra assistance using this menu.

Buttons

A.

Customize

This button opens up a slew of options. Most of which are used for added customization of

the menus.

i.

Themes

Here a user can select and apply themes from allversions of iDVD.

ii.

Settings

This menu allows for the most customization of all the iDVD menus. It allows for

customization of the background image/movie as well as sound on the menu

screens. These are what is seen when the DVD is in the drive - before the movie

plays. Buttons and fonts can also be changed using this menu. See section IV -

Designing your DVD for more information.

iii.

Media

This menu cross-references iTunes, iPhoto and iMovie into one platform and

assists with getting this information into the iDVD project.

iv.

iStatus

iStatus shows how much space is left on the DVD; how much time is left in the

motion menus; how many tracks have been used and how many menus you can use.

B.

Folder

This adds a folder to access data. It is originally represented on the menu screen as

a button with the word folder on it. This button, like all buttons can be renamed.

C.

Slideshow

This adds a slideshow to your DVD. Just drag and drop pictures!

D.

Motion

This turns motion in the menus on or off. Motion can be turned off during

encoding to conserve resources. However, it must be turned on before burning if

motion menus are desired on the actual DVD.

E.

Map

Shows a global map of the menus that you have created.

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F.

Preview

Gives a preview of the iDVD project - here you can see your project as it appears in

a DVD player.

G.

Burn

This burns the project to a DVD - turn on motion before burning.

c) Limitations

TV Size – Menus are optimized for the computer screen. Be aware that television screens

have lower resolution as compared to computers. Take the necessary steps to insure the

menu design is optimal for a TV screen. Doing this is especially important when placing

buttons - buttons that cannot be seen have a difficult time of being used. To access this

feature go to the

Advanced

drop-down menu and select

show TV safe area

.

Menu Creation – Users still do not have full control over creating menu themes. These

limitations are ameliorated somewhat by increased control over the backgrounds and sounds

that are associated with themes. Be aware that it is not

yet possible to completely customize themes. For

example, users are still unable to create individually

customized drop zones.

III. Importing

Importing video and chapter markers from an iMovie

should be done preferentially using iMovie. See the

iMovie tutorial for more details. It is possible to import

other movies into iDVD. One only need go to the

File

menu then to I

mport

then to

Video

.

Importing

Video

creates an editable button on the

menu that can be used to play the video. In this way

multiple videos can be put on one DVD.

Using this menu for

Audio

,

Image

, and

Background Video

imports the media for use in

the background of the DVD menu.

Clicking on the

Slideshow

button is a separate option for importing photos. It creates an

editable button on the menu that once clicked displays the images in a slideshow format. It

is possible to add sound and change the duration of each image in the slideshow. Adding a

slideshow can be done in addition to film and data.

IV. Designing your DVD

This portion of the iDVD tutorial will assume a completed project imported from iMovie,

using iMovie that has a number of chapter markers. So once you use iMovie to send over a

video to iDVD with chapter markers, return to this section.

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The Menu Screens are the most customizable portion of iDVD. They are in some sense the

face of iDVD. We have the option to edit the background image or video of the first splash

screen.

Once we have imported a movie with chapter markers it looks like this:

Notice that chapter submenus have already been

created. This was done automatically as specified in

the

iDVD

Preferences

menu. Recall that you can

see all your menus by choosing the

Map

button.

•

The first thing that you are going to want to do

is select a theme for the initial menu screen.

•

Click on the Customize button then Theme,

and choose a theme that is right for you.

•

Double click on the theme in order to apply it

to the screen that you are on.

Many themes have drop zones where you can insert

images or short movie clips that are separate from the

background of the menu. In order to insert a picture

or movie into the drop zone, drag and drop the file into

the desired drop zone. You can pull clips straight

from your iMovie project into these drop zones.

It is also possible to change the background sound or

video for a particular theme.You can change the image/movie and even the music. This is

done using the

Settings

menu under the

Customize

button. Drag and drop the desired

file into the background or audio slot to change it.

Under this sub menu many things are possible. You can change the size, font, or color of

the text. You can also change the button shape, size, and location.

Keep in mind that changing the background can sometimes eliminate the drop zones and

make it difficult to read text. As always, test-drive your changes and customized theme by

using preview. This will make sure that everything is TV safe and usable. You can repeat

this scenario to create a multi-tiered menu system, perfect for adding those DVD extras that

you have always dreamed of creating. Director commentary tracks galore!

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V.

Burning your project to a DVD

Burning is as easy as having a super drive, inserting a burnable DVD into your drive,

clicking the burn button on a completed project and then waiting, waiting, waiting. It is best

to quit other programs while burning because iDVD uses a hefty load of resources and in

previous releases of iDVD, crashes often occurred. A crash can sometimes render a DVD

unusable.

Things to keep in mind during burning:

•

iDVD uses a high percentage of system resources

•

Quit other applications

•

Do not let your computer go to sleep mode

•

iDVD may fail to burn if it goes to sleep

•

SleepLess can stop your computer from going to sleep

•

On iSchool computer SleepLess is located in the applications folder

Don’t forget to turn motion on, and be sure and leave yourself adequate time to complete

burning your project to a DVD. Depending on the speed of your computer and the size of

your project it could take up to 3 or more hours for iDVD to complete asset encoding and

burning. You can monitor the progress of the burn by choosing the iStatus button that is

accessible via the customize button. Now that you have finished, enjoy your fresh,

awesome, and new DVD!

As always we are striving to improve our tutorials, please drop by our website

http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/technology/tutorials/index.php

and check out our other

tutorials - then leave us some feedback. Thanks!