Getting Started with iDVD Before you can create a DVD, you need to assemble your media and be sure your movies are in the right format for iDVD. All movies in QuickTime format except MPEG files, QuickTime VR, and Sprites can be added to an iDVD project. For best results, export your movies as QuickTime files that are in DV (digital video) format. If you are working in iMovie you can create "chapters" and go directly to iDVD from the iMovie user interface. Both IMovie and Final Cut export into QuickTime format natively. Make sure that you have a DVD-R disc when you are ready to burn your final project. Open IDVD (launch from dock). Click "new project." It will automatically ask you to name and save it, which you must do. You will then be ready to create your DVD.

The main screen opens up, which looks something like this:

Click on "Customize" and the following screen will show up. Here is where you can pick your background, add movies, music, titles, and more.

Themes, Settings A "theme" is a combination of the background image or background movie, a music clip, and the button style that appear on your DVD menu. In each theme that comes with iDVD, the fonts, sizes, and locations for titles and button labels are already set for you. You can use one of the themes that come with iDVD, or you can create and save your own customized version. Some themes are accompanied by music, but you can replace the existing music or add your own music to all of the themes (you can find these options under "settings"). You can play around with options here, either adding your own pictures and audio, or using the existing ones in IDVD. Under settings is also where you can make your titles, change the font, size, color, and positioning. Customize your Background You can play short movies in the background of your DVD menus. You can use one of the motion themes that come with iDVD or make a custom motion theme by using your own movie in the background. To make a custom motion menu: 1. Click Customize to open the Customize drawer, and then click Settings.

Customization, or “Settings” panel.

2. Drag a movie file to the Background well. You can drag a file from the Finder, or click Media in the Customize drawer, choose Movies from the pop-up menu, then drag the movie you want to use and hold it over the Settings button until the Settings pane opens. Then drop the file in the Background well. You can also hold down the Command key as you drag a movie file to your DVD menu. If your menu has drop zones, they are replaced with the movie you added. To leave the drop zones intact, hold down the Option key as you drag the movie to the menu. 3. To see how the movie will look when it plays and how long it will be, click the Motion button at the bottom of the iDVD window. The duration of the menu is set to the length of your movie. 4. Drag the Duration slider in the Settings pane to set how long the movie will

play before it repeats (or "loops"). The menu can loop up to the length of the video. After you pick/customize your theme, you are ready to add your movie to your project. You can simply drag the movie file directly onto the screen. A menu can have only six buttons. If you want to put more than six items on your DVD, use one or more of your six available buttons to link to another menu (or "submenu"). If you have multiple submenus in a series, each menu can have five buttons that link to movies or slideshows, and a sixth button leading to the next submenu. Creating Slideshows You can use iDVD to create a slideshow from a series of images. Each slideshow on the disc can have up to 99 images. You can add music to accompany a slideshow. You can also create a slideshow by dragging images directly from the Finder to your DVD menu, or creating a slideshow button first, then opening the slideshow editor and dragging images to the slideshow editor. 1. Double-click the new slideshow button to open the slideshow editor. It opens in thumbnail view, the default. To change to list view, click the list button in the upper-right corner of the slideshow editor. If you want to add other images, drag image files from the Finder to the slideshow editor. To reorder the slides, select the slides you want to move, and drag them to a different position. Finishing Up Because you can only write to a DVD-R disc once, you should preview your project before you create the disc. 1. Click the Preview button. Use the arrow buttons on the remote control to select a button and then press Enter. (You can also click the buttons directly on the DVD menu using your pointer.) When you activate a button, the movie or slideshow it links to plays. When a movie is finished, you see the DVD menu again. 2. Use the Next button on the remote control to advance through the slides in a slideshow or chapters in a movie and click the Menu button to return to the DVD menu. When you are done with your preview, click the Preview button again or click the Exit button on the remote control. 2. 3. You can let viewers of your DVD copy files directly from the disc by adding the files to the DVD-ROM part of the disc. These files will be accessible when your viewer views the disc on either a PC or a Macintosh computer.

You can drag any kind of file into the DVD-ROM part of your DVD and it will be included on your disc when you burn your DVD. To add files to the DVD-ROM part of your disc: 1. Choose Advanced > Edit DVD-ROM Contents. A window appears. 2. Click Add Files and browse to select your files, and then click Open, or drag the files from the Finder to the DVD-ROM Contents window. 3. Click New Folder and drag the files in the DVD-ROM Contents window to reorganize the files. Be sure to check the DVD Capacity meter in the Status pane of the Customize drawer to find out how many gigabytes of disc space are used up. The DVD Capacity meter shows the disc space taken up by the video portion of the disc as well as the DVD-ROM portion.

To delete a file from the DVD-ROM portion of the disc, select it in the DVD-ROM Contents window and press Delete. Some files are automatically added to the DVD-ROM contents. They appear dimmed in this list and cannot be deleted. To burn your DVD: When you are finished with your iDVD project, you can burn it to a blank DVD-R disc. Burn a disc only when you are sure that you are finished with your project. Once you burn a DVD-R disc, it cannot be burned again. If you change anything in your iDVD project, you have to burn it on a new, blank DVD-R disc. 1. Click the Burn button once to indicate you are ready to burn, and a second time to begin the burning process. When prompted, insert a blank disc into the drive. 2. Save the project if you intend to burn additonla DVD’s of the same project or edit for future burning